First face lather shave today...

[Trotters]

Not bad for 1st attempt, I felt like its a lazy way of shaving going from soap to face, rather than taking time to lather in a bowl, but thats just my opinion and initial thought.

I did notice though that a lot of soap disappeared after my first pass and had to re-lather on my soap for my 2nd pass, im wondering if my brush was too wet, or maybe I didnt load my brush sufficiently to cover two passes???.

I'll try again on Wednesday morning.

Cheers

 

[kdalmand]

Face lathering is my standard MO. I've tried bowls and scuttles but find I like the feel of the brush whipping up lather on my face. You may need to load the brush a little more. When you think there's enough in the brush, go at the soap a little longer. There is nothing wrong, however, with hitting the soap for a few swirls between passes.

Ken

 

[kdalmand]

BTW, this thread/tutorial helped me out a lot.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=40745

I resisted the relatively "dry brush" method for a long time, but since I finally converted, I've been getting my best lather ever.

Thanks to Kyle and the gang for sharing thier expertise.

Ken

 

[Commander Quan]

Face Lathering isn't the lazy way to do it, bowl lathering is for people who like extra work & cleanup.

 

[alabamalawyer]

I am a convert to face lathering. I face lather both soaps and creams as I enjoy the extra beard prep the lather building process provides.

 

[Bulldawg]

Face Lathering isn't the lazy way to do it, bowl lathering is for people who like extra work & cleanup.

awesome Since trying it this way I haven't turned back. I actually do a face lather while still utilizing the bowl. Soak brush in hot water in scuttle --> store lathered brush in warm scuttle after lathering up for first pass. Just a little clean up but it keeps the brush warm.

 

[tpoof]

More time with the brush on the face instead of in a bowl...

I don't know... I swing both ways depending on just how I feel and if I have left my stubble for a couple days or so.
If so then a good face lather will do more for softening the whiskers and lessening the chance of irritation than the quick lather and shave it off of a bowl lather shave..

I guess for me, it is more the condition of my stubble that determines whether I face lather or not.

my take on it anyways.

I do love my scuttle though and use it between passes for brush holding whether I use it for building my lather or not

 

[TinFish]

I get lots more lather when I lather in the bowl - more than enough for a three or four pass method shave. Soaps last a little longer, too.

 

[BobS]

I mostly face lather with soap (MWF) and I really load up my brush (a full minute.

I take about 2 minutes to build the lather on my face and that is the best part of the shave.

I still use the bowl to hold the brush and keep it warm between passes. I have no problem getting three passes.

Now that I am mostly over my AD, wet shaving will be cheaper than goo and cartridges, but I am not doing it to save money and a little wasted soap to guarantee a great lather is money well spent.

 

[markb]

Face lathering is the ONLY way I go whether with soaps or creams. I prefer it because to me it 1) further preps the face and beard for shaving and 2) provides instant feedback on the quality of lather.

 

[Hughies_online]

I face lather too. Not because I think its any better than bowl/mug lathering. Its just that I cant be bothered to use a bowl.

 

[moonshine44]

I face lather because I like the scrubbing feeling of the brush...

And it's your soap, you can go back to it between passes if you want. The soap police won't come and put the arm on you for using extra soap...

 

[kingfisher]

I've tried it off and on and had some nice shaves, but I prefer bowl or hand lathering.

I actually seem to get more irritation from the extra face scrubbing.

After I build the lather in the bowl, I massage it into the beard for about 30-45 seconds, then paint a consistent layer on. Then I leave the lather in place for about two minutes before commencing the shave. This seems to soften up the beard for me better than the extra scrub time of face lathering.

 

[Tzar]

I do both. I face lather my soaps, and use a lather bowl for my creams.

It all depends on my mood. There are pros and cons for each.

One thing I do not though, is hand lathering.

 

[SecretAsianMan]

I generally bowl lather because I like the warm feeling. I'm using a boar right now as I am sending in my badger brush for warranty replacement (kudos to Edwin Jagger, by the way), and it doesn't stay warm very well outside of a bowl.

With that said, I think I get a better initial lather directly on my face and a distinctly worse second pass lather. Third pass is usually spot cleaning, so I don't really care about that one.

 

[Emmett]

I generally bowl lather because I like the warm feeling. I'm using a boar right now as I am sending in my badger brush for warranty replacement (kudos to Edwin Jagger, by the way), and it doesn't stay warm very well outside of a bowl.

With that said, I think I get a better initial lather directly on my face and a distinctly worse second pass lather. Third pass is usually spot cleaning, so I don't really care about that one.

Can I just say your user name is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen?

 

[Tzar]

I generally bowl lather because I like the warm feeling. I'm using a boar right now as I am sending in my badger brush for warranty replacement (kudos to Edwin Jagger, by the way), and it doesn't stay warm very well outside of a bowl.

You might be interested in getting a brush scuttle such as the Dirty Bird brush scuttle or Moss scuttle if you want to face lather with a brush that stays warm between passes.

 

[Trotters]

Just been reading the face lathering tutorial that Ken posted a link to. Id not seen this tutorial before only the "How to make a great lather from a shaving soap", so thanks Ken and Kyle, i cant wait for my next shave to try these instructions out.

 

[The National Razor]

I am a convert to face lathering. I face lather both soaps and creams as I enjoy the extra beard prep the lather building process provides.

same here

 

[rmac]

I generallly tend to go between bowl and face lathering, although lately I have been tending to face lather almost exclusively. I find when I use a straight razor I like to build the soap on the puck, face lather for 1-2 minutes then place the loaded brush in my poor mans scuttle. While the lather is warming up, I strop my razor (~60 laps), this gives the semi-warm lather time to soften the beard. I then wash the lather off with a facecloth and apply lather from the scuttle, and it feels damn nice !! Plus I get some of the best shaves this way and find it to be a very relaxing and pleasureable experience. Anyone else do this?