Gave some La Toja a shot last night for the first time which was also my first time face lathering. The process was pretty nice, I was able to get some pretty thick lather painted on using my Simpson special best badger brush which seems to be the perfect size for face lathering. Once I got done with my first pass I had some pain in my cheeks, and noticed my lather seemed a bit dry. After I finished my second and final pass with some additional touch ups, my face hurt. So either I should have used more water or I was having an adverse reaction to La Toja. I would've added more water but I was afraid my lather would get to thin. I used a pretty decent amount of product so I don't think that was the issue. Should I have added more water and kept whippin' my face? I'm going to shave again tonight this time with the Palmolive stick. Gonna use my trac II to give my face a break after yesterday's shave. Any tips for face lathering these soaps is appreciated!
Face lathered for the first time last night. bad results
- Thread starter Sir Chubbles
- Start date
I find I need more water with shave sticks.
I'm not familiar with the soap involved however as is usually the advice (rightly so) in these matters it's likely to be more about the pressure than the lather or anything else.
There is such a thing as optimum lather but having it a little thick or a little think isn't going to make your face hurt until you are using too much pressure.
I'd skip a day and try again.
There is such a thing as optimum lather but having it a little thick or a little think isn't going to make your face hurt until you are using too much pressure.
I'd skip a day and try again.
Might have been a reaction to the soap and/or the face lathering scrubbing action. I would have tried more water, you can always add more product if the lather is too thin. I've never tried a stick, so I have no experience. I was gifted a stick of Arko, but I'm having too much fun "hating" Arko to use it.
Good luck.
Good luck.
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Not sure the Trac II will give you the break you seek. A DE with no pressure might be gentler. If your lather was thick, and felt dry quickly, perhaps you needed a bit more water. Keep at it. It's easier with time and practice.
- Thread starter
- #6
Just finished up with Palmolive. The results were better, I just kept feeding the soap water and working it. Still seemed thick, was having to rinse pretty frequently as the soap was clogging up my Tech. Perhaps even more water is in order...
More water and more time, but it seems like you had a reaction to the soap unless you were pressing overly hard. Gentle face-lathering with Best should not hurt your face at all. Good luck.
I think you needed more water. I started out face lathering and was pretty hit and miss because I was having issues with lather consistency. Ended up bowl lathering for a good amount of time before I revisited face lathering. Now I keep adding a trickle of water to the brush as I'm lathering until fairly close to where it'll turn runny. It takes a little practice but you'll learn to see where that is. It could be pressure since you're still working on technique but if it's not slick and the lather feels dry, it probably is.
- Thread starter
- #9
I'm starting to feel pretty confident with my technique; while it's far from perfect I feel like I don't have to blame it for bad shaves these days. 
My lather building skills with soaps is all over the place... I know I need more practice but sometimes I feel like saying F it and grab some cream. It's a skill I know I need a lot of work on. Maybe my face doesn't like getting so much brush action.
My lather building skills with soaps is all over the place... I know I need more practice but sometimes I feel like saying F it and grab some cream. It's a skill I know I need a lot of work on. Maybe my face doesn't like getting so much brush action.
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Want to check if it's a reaction? Apply some of the product (I do this with soaps/AS/balms etc) to the 'crook' or inside of your elbow. Wait 10 minutes. If it comes up red/blotchy/itchy it's Allergy Town, population You. If it's fine you are too.
Might be 'brush burn' too. How hard did you scrub?
Might be 'brush burn' too. How hard did you scrub?
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- #11
Hard enough to make the brush bloom. It's a pretty damn soft brush though. It's a smaller brush so it's hard to resist pressing hard and getting my scrub on.
Hard enough to make the brush bloom. It's a pretty damn soft brush though. It's a smaller brush so it's hard to resist pressing hard and getting my scrub on.
I had a scrubbing issue when I first started face lathering. I was using a VDH badger brush which was super scritchy, and I was scrubbing too hard. Gave myself some good brush burn. I got some softer brushes and lightened up on the scrubbing and I've been getting good shaves ever since.
My first (several) times face lathering I had a similar problem. At first I thought that the brush was causing the irritation, but as I have learned my lather wasn't as hydrated as it needed to be. When face lathering the lather may appear nice and thick and ready to go, but look closely at your brush and see if there is a nice shiny texture. If not you need more water. I usually go as far as to add a bit more water than usual when face lathering and finish off with some painting strokes to even it all out.
I think everyone is right with the dry lather. I was having the same razor clogging issues with my Spieck and Palmolive sticks some time ago. Someone on this site gave me the advice above (add water until you get the shiny looking lather) and it's been smooth sailing from then out.
Now I face lather exclusively and I'll never look back.
Now I face lather exclusively and I'll never look back.
i find my lather to almost always be too dry when i use a soap stick. i only have 2, arko and latoja, currently, but it happens almost every time if i don't remember to keep slowly adding water.
I tend to find my lather a bit dry on the first pass. So after the first pass I rinse my face thoroughly and leave it very wet so that the brush can pick up on the water. Usually helps
- Thread starter
- #18
The lather just looks so deceptively thick and juicy! I should've known that it was too dry if the razor was clogging...
If you have trouble with rubbing the stick on your face, either grate it into a bowl and load that way or just hold the stick and load the brush from the stick. Palmolive shave sticks are just too good to give up on.
If you knew the lather was dry, why not dip the brush tips before the second pass? What am I missing here?
