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First face-lather; Harris Arlington stick.

This morning I hadn't the time to do my pre-shave shower-prep, so I tried my first face lather, using my D. R. Harris Arlington soap stick. I rubbed the dampened stick over my wet face, then went at it with my badger brush. Fantastic aroma, in the classic-cologne family. The lather wasn't too thick, but had great slickness and enough cushion. My brush had enough for two passes and touch-up. Quick DFS.

I'll never quit bowl-lathering; I like it too much and the lather is superior and plentiful. But for a hasty good shave (or for traveling) I think I've found an excellent substitute.

Did I do it right?
 
with DR Harris, you can do No Wrong!
Congrats! And many more happy shaves!

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Love Arlington soap. Just about to finish a puck of Mikes Naturals, and i'll be adding fresh puck of DR Harris Arlington into the rotation...
 
With only one face-lather under my belt, I'm no expert. But when I bowl-lather, I get lots more lather, thicker and better. And warm from my heated bowl. I definitely will be trying more face-lathering, just to test it out, and then I'll know more about its possibilities. But I do love my bowl lathers.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Congratulations on your success!

I also prefer bowl lathering, also, but I face lather from time to time and enjoy that, as well.

Using a shave stick is only a little different. Just remember to load your face like you're loading your brush, and you're all set!
 
I don't find face lathering quicker. I spend time getting the quality of lather I want. And I believe that all that time spent with my brush working my face is time well spent.

I always start out on the dry side, knowing a can add water as needed.

If your lather wasn't all that think then I guarantee you could do better the next time you feel moved to try.
 
With only one face-lather under my belt, I'm no expert. But when I bowl-lather, I get lots more lather, thicker and better. And warm from my heated bowl. I definitely will be trying more face-lathering, just to test it out, and then I'll know more about its possibilities. But I do love my bowl lathers.

The trick to face lathering to get a nice, thick lather: add more water. Then when you think it is good, add more water again.

This video explains it well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4zESTQWDuw

Basically, water solves all face lather issues.
 
Personally, I enjoy face lathering soft creams, but with hard soaps, I much prefer building lather in a suitable dish/bowl.
I also find it’s gentler to the brush, vs trying to create a dry paste off of a hard puck.
 
With only one face-lather under my belt, I'm no expert. But when I bowl-lather, I get lots more lather, thicker and better. And warm from my heated bowl. I definitely will be trying more face-lathering, just to test it out, and then I'll know more about its possibilities. But I do love my bowl lathers.

Sounds like you didn't rub enough soap on your face. I have using my principal soap in shave-stick form, exclusively, for over 2 years and have never had any issues with thick, creamy, slick, and protective lather. I much prefer this method as it allows for more time on my face with my brushes, which is the most important point, and less time generating lather, compared to bowl-lathering. Of course, YMMV. :001_smile
 
Sounds like you didn't rub enough soap on your face. I have using my principal soap in shave-stick form, exclusively, for over 2 years and have never had any issues with thick, creamy, slick, and protective lather. I much prefer this method as it allows for more time on my face with my brushes, which is the most important point, and less time generating lather, compared to bowl-lathering. Of course, YMMV. :001_smile

That's the secret - more product.
 
I have not tried D.R. Harris soaps yet, but they are on my list! Are the sticks the same formulation as the pucks?
I've only used the puck form of these excellent soaps, but as per one vendor, they are the same: see here, and here.
My understanding is most, if not all, manufactured sticks are of the same substance as the counterpart pucks, but it's just the shapes which are different.
 
With only one face-lather under my belt, I'm no expert. But when I bowl-lather, I get lots more lather, thicker and better. And warm from my heated bowl. I definitely will be trying more face-lathering, just to test it out, and then I'll know more about its possibilities. But I do love my bowl lathers.

Coincidentally, my experience with face vs bowl demonstrated that face provided denser and bowl provided more voluminous lather.
 
I haven't tried this soap (which looks great), but another variable I have seen:

soft soap -> usually loads much faster -> lots of product on face, need to add several passes of water for "normal" lather
hard soap -> need to load a lot longer on the puck -> usually means more normal amounts of product on face so lathers thickly with less water

YMMV. I have found that exceptionally soft soaps (like Maggard's artisan line) load for face lathering *really* fast, in about 5-10 seconds really. Hard pucks take more like 20+ seconds, and if you load a soft soap for that long, it will be about three passes of adding water to the face. This is also fine, and you'll have lots of great, slick lather.
 
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