I have a newb tale for you all that I will x-post in the clinic, but it's more relevant here.
So I've been using Proraso/Bigelow green tube shaving cream in the brief time I've been wet shaving, but decided to try out a soap based on their popularity (this board always has more people viewing it than the cream board). So two weeks ago I bought a puck of AoS Lavender in Grand Central and gave it a go when I got home. I read Jim's thread about soap lathering with the damp brush method and followed it as closely as possible.
The results were poor.
I tried shaving with it, hoping that it would magically transform into pillows of lather on my face. To make a long story short, I more or less used the razor to pluck the hairs out of my poorly lubricated skin.
On my next try, I dipped the brush a few more times, figuring there just hadn't been enough water to hydrate the soap. It was better, but I didn't see what the big deal was. Two more times like this and I went back to the green tube, dismayed. This was about a week ago.
Fast forward to tonight. I decide to do more research into tallow-based soaps and how much water they need. I happened across this video in a thread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIsj58fqVjY
Though the brush and soap are different, I thought that I should just try this method - my puck wasn't cheap and I didn't want it to go unused. The order of the moment was simple: use tons of water. To that end, I soaked my AOS pure badger brush for 15 seconds, held it over the sink until the drips slowed, then went to town on the dry soap puck for about 10 seconds.
The soap's mug isn't big enough to lather in, and I didn't want to use too much of the stuff, so after the 10 seconds on the puck I had to change tactics. Looking around, I realized I had no bowl and no mug big enough to lather in.
Stinging from my lack of foresight, and desperate to not let the mix on my brush dry, I stuck out my left hand and tried out that hand lathering mumbo jumbo.
After a minute or two of clumsily trying to keep the product of my efforts on my hand, I was blown away. See for yourself. I'm sure this is old hat to most of you, but I didn't realize what I had been missing. It was like a thick, melted marshmallow. Can't wait to shave with this in the morning!
http://www.flicker.com
So I've been using Proraso/Bigelow green tube shaving cream in the brief time I've been wet shaving, but decided to try out a soap based on their popularity (this board always has more people viewing it than the cream board). So two weeks ago I bought a puck of AoS Lavender in Grand Central and gave it a go when I got home. I read Jim's thread about soap lathering with the damp brush method and followed it as closely as possible.
The results were poor.
I tried shaving with it, hoping that it would magically transform into pillows of lather on my face. To make a long story short, I more or less used the razor to pluck the hairs out of my poorly lubricated skin.
On my next try, I dipped the brush a few more times, figuring there just hadn't been enough water to hydrate the soap. It was better, but I didn't see what the big deal was. Two more times like this and I went back to the green tube, dismayed. This was about a week ago.
Fast forward to tonight. I decide to do more research into tallow-based soaps and how much water they need. I happened across this video in a thread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIsj58fqVjY
Though the brush and soap are different, I thought that I should just try this method - my puck wasn't cheap and I didn't want it to go unused. The order of the moment was simple: use tons of water. To that end, I soaked my AOS pure badger brush for 15 seconds, held it over the sink until the drips slowed, then went to town on the dry soap puck for about 10 seconds.
The soap's mug isn't big enough to lather in, and I didn't want to use too much of the stuff, so after the 10 seconds on the puck I had to change tactics. Looking around, I realized I had no bowl and no mug big enough to lather in.
Stinging from my lack of foresight, and desperate to not let the mix on my brush dry, I stuck out my left hand and tried out that hand lathering mumbo jumbo.
After a minute or two of clumsily trying to keep the product of my efforts on my hand, I was blown away. See for yourself. I'm sure this is old hat to most of you, but I didn't realize what I had been missing. It was like a thick, melted marshmallow. Can't wait to shave with this in the morning!
http://www.flicker.com
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