How best to lather Cella

[PaulG]

Hi all,

I picked up a tub of Cella shaving cream after reading a lot of good things here about it. I cracked it open yesterday to give it a go. My process was:

1. Soaked EJ Super Badger in near boiling water, and let my lathering bowl (aka SWMBO's fine porcelain tea cup - please don't tell her!) heat up as well.
2. Did a modified Kyles prep using a spare brush and some proraso (didn't want to waste the cella on the pre-shave prep) whereby I lathered up and then hopped into the shower to steam.
3. Out of the shower, I squeezed the brush out, gave it a quick shake, emptied the teacup, and scooped in an almond size piece of cream.
4. Whipped it around the cup for about 3 minutes, adding a couple of drops of water.

The resultant lather was foamy and watery. Not wanting to waste it, I did a quick pass WTG - basically this was like shaving with a wet face - no real lubrication.

I rinsed out the brush with near boiling water, washed out the bowl, and tried again. This time I swirled the brush over the top of the cream, and, figuring I'd added too much water, made sure the brush was pretty dry. This led to a very thick, dry lather. I added water by the drop until I had something looking a bit closer to beaten egg whites. The lather was better, but certainly not of 'shaving foam' consistency which I can get with Proraso. It also didn't feel slick as I ran my redtip with Personna Red through it.

I really want to like this cream, and will certainly give it several more shots before giving up, but wondered if I'm missing something.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[BladeRunner001]

Hi all,

I picked up a tub of Cella shaving cream after reading a lot of good things here about it. I cracked it open yesterday to give it a go. My process was:

1. Soaked EJ Super Badger in near boiling water, and let my lathering bowl (aka SWMBO's fine porcelain tea cup - please don't tell her!) heat up as well.
2. Did a modified Kyles prep using a spare brush and some proraso (didn't want to waste the cella on the pre-shave prep) whereby I lathered up and then hopped into the shower to steam.
3. Out of the shower, I squeezed the brush out, gave it a quick shake, emptied the teacup, and scooped in an almond size piece of cream.
4. Whipped it around the cup for about 3 minutes, adding a couple of drops of water.

The resultant lather was foamy and watery. Not wanting to waste it, I did a quick pass WTG - basically this was like shaving with a wet face - no real lubrication.

I rinsed out the brush with near boiling water, washed out the bowl, and tried again. This time I swirled the brush over the top of the cream, and, figuring I'd added too much water, made sure the brush was pretty dry. This led to a very thick, dry lather. I added water by the drop until I had something looking a bit closer to beaten egg whites. The lather was better, but certainly not of 'shaving foam' consistency which I can get with Proraso. It also didn't feel slick as I ran my redtip with Personna Red through it.

I really want to like this cream, and will certainly give it several more shots before giving up, but wondered if I'm missing something.

Am I doing something wrong?

The almond size is the right amount and plenty...so, the only thing I can think about is too much water. Go drier and whip it good. Try to mash up the soap against the sides of the bowl before whipping it up. It tends to stay in a lump otherwise and as such, probably don;t end up using the whole amount.

 

[kellicat]

If Cella acts anything like P.160, you'll get much better results from treating it like a soap as opposed to a cream.

 

[texbilly]

I've never tried Cella but seem to remember it's considered a "soft soap". Castle Forbes cream fits this category and I simply use it like a soap - load the brush directly from the jar. Then I build up the lather either on my face or in my bowl.

Cella has a lot of fans so I'll bet you'll dial it in and enjoy it soon. Now I need to as well!

 

[PlasticCity]

Try facelathering as texbilly suggested, it should help. The runny, foamy water may be from too much lather, try different water ratios, see what works. From my understanding, Cella isn't hard to get a great lather from, my buddy really enjoys the stuff.

 

[drumana]

If Cella acts anything like P.160, you'll get much better results from treating it like a soap as opposed to a cream.

I treat Cella like a soap puck. I build my lather directly on the soap with the brush and then face lather or bowl lather depending on my mood. Works great.

 

[PozzSka]

I treat Cella like a soap puck. I build my lather directly on the soap with the brush and then face lather or bowl lather depending on my mood. Works great.

Same here.

 

[cnnc97]

What's the consistency of Cella like? It sounds like it's hard enough that you shouldn't bother trying to put it in the bowl and lather with it but should swirl the brush on it like it's a soap. Is it like the thickness of play-doh? I have some coming for X-mas.

 

[Catalin]

What's the consistency of Cella like? It sounds like it's hard enough that you shouldn't bother trying to put it in the bowl and lather with it but should swirl the brush on it like it's a soap. Is it like the thickness of play-doh? I have some coming for X-mas.

It is like play-doh. And I treat it like hard soap. I get a wicked lather! Cella rocks!

 

[kg0mz]

Yeah. I treat it like a soap and load a damp brush in the tub, then off to the scuttle to build the lather. I soak the brush in hot tap water, and the wring it out. I add a few drops of water to the scuttle, and that seems to be sufficient. I am not one to skimp on soap or cream. I often use both for a super lather.

 

[Smjodo]

If Cella acts anything like P.160, you'll get much better results from treating it like a soap as opposed to a cream.

That's been my experience with it. I've had great results with it that way. I got a sample about the size of a half-dollar and it lasted me all summer. Great lather, but it wasn't as slick as a cream. Still one of my favorites though.

 

[gixxer]

I really do need to try using it as a soap puck. right now I take the brush out of my bowl, pour out the water, and mash the cella in the bowl in the residual water with the spoon I use to get it out of the tub. If I do not mash it up real good then I have a problem with the brush not lathering all of the product. DUH! of course it will happen since the stuff is more dense than regular cream!

Besides not getting all the product, I still get great lather with it though.

 

[PaulG]

Thanks for all the posts, everyone!

Just to clarify, when people say to 'use it like a soap', do you mean putting water on it whilst the brush is soaking, pouring that off, then swirling on the cream?

 

[cnnc97]

Then moving to a bowl, or on your face. That's my understanding.

 

[altshaver]

I use my damp, not dripping wet, SOC boar brush and charge the soap directly from the small red container. Then, I bowl lather adding drops of water as necessary. Basically, I just follow the load hydrate method. Cella works really well. It is a soft soap, but it is not as soft as Castle Forbes. Personally, I would think it would be a little tough to use an almond size piece in a bowl as in the normal usage of shaving creams.

 

[honed]

Thanks for all the posts, everyone!

Just to clarify, when people say to 'use it like a soap', do you mean putting water on it whilst the brush is soaking, pouring that off, then swirling on the cream?

You got it!

 

[PhatMan]

PaulG,

Method 1

Smear the almond sized dollop of Cella across the bottom of your dry lather bowl in a thin even layer. Add about a tespoon of water and leave to soak for ca 10 minutes.

Soak brush, and shake dry. Start on the soap with the brush, adding water a few drops at a time until the all the soap is incorporated into a thick paste.
Proceed then as normal.

Method 2

Smear the almond sized dolllop of Cella acrross the tips of your soaked and shaken brush. Add a few drops of water to your shaving bowl, and start attacking the soap. Add drops of wtaer as necessary, until all the soap is incroprated into a thick paste. Proceed then as normal.

Both the above methods take longer to describe than to do

The important part is getting the soap into the 'thick paste' phase.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

 

[mikey]

Is the consistency similar to Proraso soap?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Marco]

Is the consistency similar to Proraso soap?

Thanks,
Mike

Yes, it is. But Cella and Proraso are two completely different products. Each one has its own formulation, scent and performance.

 

[Catalin]

Just to clarify, when people say to 'use it like a soap', do you mean putting water on it whilst the brush is soaking, pouring that off, then swirling on the cream?

I don't pour water on it. I just load the wrung-out brush on the dry soap and move to the scuttle to work it into awesome lather....