Has anyone else found that shaving cream works better if you don't work it till it's fluffy?

[CthulhuShaves]

Today I discovered that if I barely work my shaving cream than it works better for me than if I worked it till it was fluffy.

I've watched load of how to videos and they always have nice looking lather with peaks and all that stuff so I tried to copy that. But today I didn't I just barely worked the and it gave me a lot slicker of a shave.

Has anyone else experienced this or am I just crazy?

 

[Whilliam]

I tend to agree.

I whip up creamy lather, then paint it on to my already wet face without a lot of fluff. Seems to work nicely.

 

[Southern_S]

I agree, if I'm using a brush I try not to put air in my lather but to be honest I've started using my creams without a brush and just rubbing on my face and adding water, so so slick!

 

[SydneyShaver]

Today I discovered that if I barely work my shaving cream than it works better for me than if I worked it till it was fluffy.

I've watched load of how to videos and they always have nice looking lather with peaks and all that stuff so I tried to copy that. But today I didn't I just barely worked the and it gave me a lot slicker of a shave.

Has anyone else experienced this or am I just crazy?

Nope, I 100% agree. Whipping it, so that it is just full of air doesn't really do anything. I just make sure there is enough water/cream mix and that it is properly applied to the face. Obviously, this is thinner lather than what a lot on this site enjoy but it only takes me at most two minutes to lather and the results are far better. Obviously, it isn't gloopy/drippy, its still a lather but just not super thick. If use per shave wasn't a concern, there's a pretty good argument to not use a brush at all and just apply cream straight to a wet face but obviously you'll end up using 2-3 times more cream when you have to reapply to the face between passes.

 

[abershaver]

I think that everyone has different preferences and that you shouldn’t look at the photos of massive fluffy lather and feel you should necessarily emulate that. However, I have tried a few creams that were very ‘cakey’ and needed lots of working to give me a good shave.

 

[pdieten]

The object of a shaving lather is to make your skin slippery so that the razor glides. That's what soap does. It's slippery. If you make a lather full of air, you will lose slickness because air is not slippery.

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

A fairly runny yoghourt consistency definitely works better for me than the whipped cream look, and it's easier to achieve, too.

 

[Dovo1695]

I agree, if I'm using a brush I try not to put air in my lather but to be honest I've started using my creams without a brush and just rubbing on my face and adding water, so so slick!

This is exactly what I do. I've been messing around with brushes and mugs for 20 years, and in that time I have never produced a lather as good as lathering by hand directly on my face. I use shave sticks and hand lathering most of the time. I still use a brush on a regular basis because I like the process, but the lather is never as slick.

 

[beardlyboy]

Yup. Slippery cream.
Fluff looks great in pictures!

 

[Bhugo]

Face lather, perfect consistency every time.

 

[Dovo1695]

If use per shave wasn't a concern, there's a pretty good argument to not use a brush at all and just apply cream straight to a wet face but obviously you'll end up using 2-3 times more cream when you have to reapply to the face between passes.

With most soaps, it's not necessary to add more cream from the tube/puck between passes. I lather with my left hand and leave it soapy during the shave. Between passes, I add a tiny bit of water to the soapy hand and relather. The lather is thinner, but it's nice and slick. I'm testing Arko vs Mogno with this method, and both had no trouble with an 8 pass shave.

 

[ackvil]

What you guys have pointed out is that many new shavers look at the photos of lather-filled brushes and think this is what their lather should look like. I have gotten many PMs from new shavers who are too embarrassed to post on B&B. They tell me their lather looks anemic next to the photos shown. My question to them is: do you want lather that looks magnificent or lather that performs great? With one young shaver (almost everyone is young to me!), I sent him a photo of what my lather looked like. It was not as thick as some others but because of the water content, it was slick. This young shaver told me he was spending almost five minutes (in his words) "stirring up the lather" making it look like whipped cream you would put on a pie. However, it was so dry it provided no slickness.

 

[ouchyfoot]

Don’t add water and then “whip” vigorously. That creates bubbles. Add water and gently stir with just the tips until you can see the water has been incorporated smoothly, without bubbles or foam. Then you can splay your brush and whip the hell out of it. Make sure every time you add water to incorporate it before whipping it.
Perfect lather every time.

 

[SydneyShaver]

With most soaps, it's not necessary to add more cream from the tube/puck between passes. I lather with my left hand and leave it soapy during the shave. Between passes, I add a tiny bit of water to the soapy hand and relather. The lather is thinner, but it's nice and slick. I'm testing Arko vs Mogno with this method, and both had no trouble with an 8 pass shave.

I understand what you're saying but I hate having anything on my hands when I shave. So I always wipe them clean and dry. Obviously, if you don't mind you can keep it on your hand but I do haha.

 

[Messygoon]

Agree 100%. Perhaps the reason a I prefer cream over meringue, Doritos over rice cakes, and a light sloppy lather over good looking shaving fluff - which just doesn’t glide as well, and can clog my razor’s gap.

Mmmm... Doritos.

 

[CthulhuShaves]

Don’t add water and then “whip” vigorously. That creates bubbles. Add water and gently stir with just the tips until you can see the water has been incorporated smoothly, without bubbles or foam. Then you can splay your brush and whip the hell out of it. Make sure every time you add water to incorporate it before whipping it.
Perfect lather every time.

I'll have to give that a try

 

[iShave415]

Yes, the little air bubble you see in the cream is our friend. I know people like to lather until they see the bubbles gone, but I can't do that.

 

[tjsgarden]

Interesting discussion.
I have sideburns and a goatee. I always have to remove cream around the edges to see where to shave. Maybe a thinner lather would help.

 

[Contact_vs_Feedback]

I agitated the lather from creams, and my shave always suffered.
For this reason alone, I've almost given up using the creams and rely only on Tabac and other tallow soaps.

I'll have to try the cream tubes again get back to this thread.

And that's why my Avatar is cooking, because I'm learning to "cook" lathering skills.

 

[karacha]

I never liked fluffy lather. I like creamy, slippery texture instead. Thin layer on the face.