Any tips or suggestions for judging the optimum water content when face lathering?
Face Lathering -judging water content
- Thread starter Mitzie
- Start date
Start with little and add slowly until you get the lather you're looking for. You can always add more in, you can't take it out once it gets too runny or foamy.
Start with a dryer brush seems a good method as over hydration flicks the lather all over the place. Add water as the lather builds up to suit your needs. Near impossible to start with optimum water in the brush.
I do a hybrid of building initial lather in a scuttle and then working on the face for at least 2 minutes to the correct consistency.
I do a hybrid of building initial lather in a scuttle and then working on the face for at least 2 minutes to the correct consistency.
EclipseRedRing
I smell like a Christmas pudding
I load the damp brush and then apply what is almost a soap paste to my face before building the lather. I repeatedly dip the tips of the brush in water as I go until I get the consistency I want. I find it especially important that the brush is barely damp at the start if it is a synthetic.
Great question!
I employ a conceptual advantage! I know my kit well before I start. At most I introduce only one new thing to limit the variables. I also understand my lather preferences (slick and protective is what I want).
Then, I hydrate my beard: shower and CeraVe wash at a minimum. Ideally, a warm towel for extra luxury!
I load my damp brush heavily, with the specific amount depending on the particular product.
Finally, I go to my face using painting motions and add water a few drops at a time until I get what I want!
Hope this helps!!
I employ a conceptual advantage! I know my kit well before I start. At most I introduce only one new thing to limit the variables. I also understand my lather preferences (slick and protective is what I want).
Then, I hydrate my beard: shower and CeraVe wash at a minimum. Ideally, a warm towel for extra luxury!
I load my damp brush heavily, with the specific amount depending on the particular product.
Finally, I go to my face using painting motions and add water a few drops at a time until I get what I want!
Hope this helps!!
- Thread starter
- #6
Presumably this is where badger brushes score with their controlled release of water. A virtue why badger brushes became and still are the best brushes for wet shaving?
I use boar brushes most of the time. They don't hold as much water as badger brushes, so a flick or two while holding the brush with the bristles down, removes some but not all the water. Then, I load it with soap (the loading time depends on the soap) and move to the face. This way it starts a lot wetter and the soap-water mix thickens up as you work it in the stubble. Sometimes I need to add a few drops to reach a good consistency. I find that face lathering helps me judge the hydration level better than bowl.
With badgers and synthetics, I remove most of the water out before loading and add it progressively when building the lather later on.
With badgers and synthetics, I remove most of the water out before loading and add it progressively when building the lather later on.
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
I use a synthetic and I'm exactly the same as @EclipseRedRing. When SR shaving, which I do almost exclusively, I prefer a wetter lather than when I'm DE shaving. That's what suits me.
I have a few high-end badger brushes sitting in front of me but my $2 Chinese guaranteed pure badger synthetic brush is the one I mostly grab.
I have a few high-end badger brushes sitting in front of me but my $2 Chinese guaranteed pure badger synthetic brush is the one I mostly grab.
Optimum water content for me is when the lather looks shiny and the razor easily glides over the skin. Usually means 3-4 iterations of adding water to the brush.
‘Optimal’ for your ideal lather can only be found by observed and challenged trial. It’s the same for whether any bristle type or knot shape (including width and height) is optimal.
I use a damp synthetic brush to make the slick, runny lather I seek and then clean the bathroom afterwards. Mysterious splashes of water and lathered soap are freaking everywhere. Probably goblins.
I use a damp synthetic brush to make the slick, runny lather I seek and then clean the bathroom afterwards. Mysterious splashes of water and lathered soap are freaking everywhere. Probably goblins.
I like a wetter lather since I find it slicker. I take a brush that has been dipped or has sat in the water out of the mug I only use to wet the brush. With larger brushes, I take the brush and make an "O" with the fingers of my left hand and put it around the brush bristles LIGHTLY. I run my fingers down the brush and keep whatever water is left in the brush and then load up. With other brushes, I give the brush a gentle flick and then load the brush. If the brush is too wet I just add more soap.
I have cheap synthetic brush and my lathers are creamy and slick every time, face lathering. Whatever you use, start with drier paste and add drops of water until it get's slick.
As noted above, most seem to start with a dryer brush and add water as you go. But, if your brush is too wet at the start you can add product as well. It's hard to gauge the absolute perfect amount of water to start. Once in a while you may luck out, but the tried and true method, drier brush to start and slowly add water, seems to work for most.
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