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Face Lathering Saponificio Varesino

Just ordered a tub of the SV 70th Anniversary. Never tried any of their soaps. Fans and long time users, how long do you load your brush? For reference my most used brush and soap combination is a Simpson's Duke 3 and MdC Fougere. Loading for around 30 seconds gets me to where I want to be.
 
Initially, the puck will be more resistant to loading. I recommend following their instructions about blooming and not let the soap dry out between uses. That said, literally 5-10 seconds! You won't realise how much soap you picked up until you start adding water, then more and more water. Start low and load more the next shaves.

Edit: 30 seconds is a long load on MdC, so you might need 20 with SV.
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
I just give 20 swirls of the brush and that gives me enough for 3 passes with lather to spare, it is the best lathering soap I have tried. I haven't used MdC yet, but that is something I hope to remedy this year.
70th anniversary smells exactly like Happy by Clinique, a great scent that even the Mrs likes.
 

lasta

Blade Biter
With SV, I do about 120-180 swirls and make thin, yogurty, almost droopy lather.

But I don't bother with blooming.

Maybe hot water soak can get the swirl number down to 1/3 or 1/4?
 
Yeah maybe I’m overdoing it with the MdC. I’m still trying to figure it out. I recently discovered that it likes to run drier than the soaps I’m used to. Maybe I don’t need to load as long if I use less water. Anyway, I’m really looking forward to adding SV to the rotation. I’ll keep the water advice in mind!
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
You load MdC for 30 seconds?????? I load it for about 6 seconds.

But consider the variables:
1. Do you use my brush?
2. Do you have the same amount of water left in the brush?
3. Do you use my water?
4. Do you use the same pressure/splay on the puck?
5. Do you swirl at the same speed?

So the number of seconds really doesn't tell you much. If you're loading MdC for 30 seconds I would bet a fair amount of money your water is harder, your brush has less moisture and backbone and you're swirling slower and with less pressure. If I did my normal routine for 30 seconds I'd end up with enough lather for half the men on my street.

SV is very similar to MdC for load time - for me. The time doesn't really matter - how's the lather? Load as long as necessary to get great lather.
 
10 seconds for MdC, if that. A little longer for SV. I dribble enough water on the puck to wet the surface, then I shake out my brush, then some slow swirls on the puck to pick up soap. Nothing aggressive.

I like to build lather in a scuttle because I like the results better. Plus, it's more fun. I have soft water too, so there's that.
 
Do you pour the bloom water out, pour it onto your brush, or leave it on the puck when loading?
I only apply a thin layer of hot water across the top of the puck to bloom for a few minutes.

I then use my brush to soak up the warm bloom water and apply it to my face as a “pre-shave”.

The puck then loads easily as the top layer has softened and absorbed some of the water. Five to ten seconds of loading is plenty for a 3-4 pass shave.

This system works well for me, and it also leaves the puck pretty dry surprisingly. I do rotate soaps though, so I’m not sure if this will cause the puck to soften with repeated regular use.

Edit: I also have soft water.
 
SV is one of my favorite soaps and I've found it really easy to lather. Like any soap, the load time depends on which brush I use. An ultra-soft, low-backbone synthetic takes more swirls to load than a dense badger brush. Simply looking at the tips tells me when I've loaded enough.
 
10 seconds for MdC, if that. A little longer for SV. I dribble enough water on the puck to wet the surface, then I shake out my brush, then some slow swirls on the puck to pick up soap. Nothing aggressive.

I like to build lather in a scuttle because I like the results better. Plus, it's more fun. I have soft water too, so there's that.
I find MDC loads even more easily than SV and the puck probably lasts longer, but SV definitely has better performance on *my* face.
 

Ravenonrock

I shaved the pig
I used SV today and just go by feel and watching like all my other hard soaps. I can feel things slowing down as the brush gets loaded and see early lather building. It’s a tactile thing for me. I tend to load heavy and add water as I build the lather on my face.
 
With both MdC and SV I scrap a small amount into my lather bowl, bloom it while I’m in the shower and then lather it all up. Works every time.

You’ll get an eye for it after a couple of shaves.
 
SV is one of my favorite soaps and I've found it really easy to lather. Like any soap, the load time depends on which brush I use. An ultra-soft, low-backbone synthetic takes more swirls to load than a dense badger brush. Simply looking at the tips tells me when I've loaded enough.

I've found that my Omega Boar brush does an excellent job picking up soap for a face lather.

I don't do anything special with SV, and find it lathers just fine using that brush. That said, I leave a lot of water in the brush.
 
When I use hard pucks like SV, I wet my face and use the puck like a shave stick. With SV, I'm always amazed how little soap is used versus the explosion of lather once the brush gets to work. When I start with a new soap, I always over load and then back off a bit each day until I get it right which may take a couple of days. TINRS
 
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