Face lathering tutorial~another way to a great shave!

[marvin100]

Is the lather shown in the tutorial considered a good result? I'm used to the thick meringue I get in my bowl--and when I tried a face lather today for the first time I got a pretty huge fluffy Santa Claus beard. A little thinner than I'm used to, but it was a first try.

(Shavemac Finest 21/MWF soap)

 

[Fernando]

Very helpful, especially for new guys. Thanks for posting this.

-Tks a lot.

 

[AdamOz]

I have started doing a bit of face lathering as of late (although for some reason I still feel the need to start in the bowl) and am very impressed with the results. The fact that I am working the lather on the face also ensures it's getting up under each whisker. By adding the hot water to the bristles I can now see why people who use a warm lather rave about it. I think next time I will skip the bowl completely.

 

[blue_titan]

Great tutorial. I've been face lathering for some time but reading this tutorial (and Jim's) has really helped me create much better lather. The key for me is the drier brush when loading it with soap. It really allows me to load much more soap than I would otherwise have. Then gradually adding water gives me much more control over lather consistency.

 

[Bertilak]

Never saw this thread until the last post popped it to the top.

I face lather and developed pretty much the same technique on my own with a few differences:

1. I have never found it necessary to soak the puck ahead of time. Perhaps this is because of the next point...
2. I shake the brush dry but don't squeeze it. Well actually I do give it a little, very light, squeeze so I don't need to shake as vigorously. I probably have a very slightly wetter brush to start with.
3. I never need to add water for the first pass because I start with a very wet face. I either shave right after a shower (being careful to NOT dry my face) or pre-wet my face with a washcloth, sponge or the brush itself before loading it up with soap.

For second and subsequent passes I do as was mentioned earlier by Not A Nice Person -- lightly tap the tips of the brush onto the top of the standing water in the sink. This tiny amount of water "wakes up" the lathering power for those subsequent passes. Sometimes I go back to the puck and load up a little more soap before doing that.

Overall I prefer face lathering because it involves one fewer pieces of paraphernalia to fiddle with, clean and store. It also seems to generate the lather faster -- I am guessing because the surface area involved in the lather generation process (face vs. bowl) is much larger for face lathering. Less wasted soap -- nothing is left over in the bowl.

 

[yeknomusa]

This is awesome! I've been using soap for about 6 months but just recently switch to a straight razor. Having the proper, extra lather should help exponentially!

 

[D/ELong Handle]

Never thought about ringing the brush out before building a lather.

 

[BladeDE40]

Very helpful and informative tutorial. I recently decided to give face lathering a try and WOW what a difference it makes. I have found that I am able to create a better lather from face lathering than I have been able to achieve from bowl lathering. I'm not sure what it is, but I like it...I like it A LOT!!! Besides giving me an incredible shave, I also like the fact that there is no lather wasted in the bowl...it all either ends up on my face or in my bush. I think this will be my preferred method of lathering for awhile!

 

[pauls51]

Just came across this thread!... Fantastic tutorial... Thanks for the info!

 

[hathela]

very informative advice...
thanks for the hard efforts

 

[shmeegs]

Nice..... thanks for showing me that I was doing it right all along.

 

[p.m.a.]

Great tutorial! I've been practicing face-lathering with a puck of MWF that I bought recently. Works really great! I think that the lathering action of brush bristles against face stubble does a much better job of developing lather than my previous method of working the brush on the smooth surface of a bowl.

 

[DanNYC]

Great tutorial. I'm going to have to give this a try, once I get all my supplies!

 

[mboschm]

I don't usually face lather with a soap, but it seems a good method. I am going to try it!

 

[Pulley]

I started facing lathering three weeks ago and love it! This morning I tried lathering in a bowl and it took longer and for me the lather wasn't as good. I know it's my technique using a bowl but face lathering is just faster and easier for me.

 

[SP120K]

Tomorrow morning will be my first time face lathering as well as my first use of Proraso C.O. Bigelow cream. The prospect of better lather, reduced den size, and decreased shaving time all appeal to me. I like taking my time but most days time isn't a luxuary I have much of in the early morning. I'm excited about this next shave.

 

[nixican]

Excellent! I tried this out for the first time this AM after a couple of weeks of getting a lather via instructions from Classic Shave. The brush prep stage is pretty much the opposite from their method but wringing my brush out seems to get me a better, thicker, lather with plenty of moisture. Im sure I still have some learning to do on this method, but I at least feel like Im going in the right direction.

Thanks

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Kyle...great post

Christopher

 

[npsarros]

Thanks. I have no been able to make a good soap lather, probably because I was not getting enough soap on the brush!!!!

 

[dmachine]

I have been wet shaving for a little over a year and have always built lather in a bowl. Face lathering was never considered. However, I wanted to change things up for the new year and I decided to give face lathering a try. I read the tutorial and gave it the ol' college try. I must say my first attempt went quite well. While I'm not a face lather convert (at least not yet), it is easier than I though it would be and provides another option for lathering.