How do I know if I have enough water?

[Carlin]

How do I know if I have enough water?

I've looked through all the tutorials and I understand the technique in making lather, but none of them show what is dry and what is wet?

Can y'all post some pictures of dry/wet or describe it for me?

Thanks

*Edit, if it makes a difference, I'm using a TOBS sampler

 

[Jethro1984]

Yes this would be nice. I have gotten to the point where I can get my lather to "explode" but it seems to dry quickly on my skin most of the time. Also the breech of the brush doesn't seem to fill as well as it could. I wonder if I am adding too much water for my needs even though the cream isn't getting runny.

 

[MOVIESTAR]

Just watch Mantic59's videos about lathering and he'll show you.

 

[richmondesi]

There are a lot of pictures out there. Basically if the cream is just being moved around and sticky, it's too dry. If you see a lot of little bubbles, it is too wet.

In this tutorial, you can see exactly what it should look like (creamy with peaks kinda like pie meringue). If you look at the picture that talks about adding water, that is a look at what it looks like when their is too much water.

 

[Jim]

A photo can only provide a guide, let your fingers tell you, when your lather explodes it has been turned into soap suds,that is not a good thing.
A well emulsified lather will be heavy with water, slippery and dense.
Its more like a yogurt than whipped cream. The greatest obstacle to a good lather is insufficient product use.

 

[ChrisS86]

A well emulsified lather will be heavy with water, slippery and dense. Its more like a yogurt than whipped cream. The greatest obstacle to a good lather is insufficient product use.

That's a great way of putting it. You'll be able to notice the yogurt-like state of the lather by feeling it. As you could imagine, whipped cream is light and more aerated, so this would not be good for your lather as you would not provide your face with enough glide and protection for the razor. Tactile feedback is important when making lather, so just wipe some on your fingers. You'll be able to tell if its slippery or not.

To the second part of the statement, the product use, maybe try adding a little more cream to your mix (a little more than an almond size). Its always easier to add more water to your lather mix than to try to deal with too much water.

 

[Jim]

I reject the much talked about advice to use an almond or pea sized snurdle. What if you use a size 18 bush or a sized 32 brush?

You need to use enough product for your brush.The goal is after all to load the brush with lather, not the bowl.

The dip and twist method avoids this trap.

 

[richmondesi]

I reject the much talked about advice to use an almond or pea sized snurdle. What if you use a size 18 bush or a sized 32 brush?

You need to use enough product for your brush.The goal is after all to load the brush with lather, not the bowl.

The dip and twist method avoids this trap.

So, is it your recommendation to load a brush with creams the same way you would with soap? Just wanting to clarify.

 

[Jim]

So, is it your recommendation to load a brush with creams the same way you would with soap? Just wanting to clarify.

The Dip and twist is a technique that is self regulating to brush size, it is a much more effective way to get the correct amount of product on your brush. Some creams are in reality soft soaps, those (like Olivia's fine soap/cream) are treated as a soap and scrubbed to load the brush.

The dip and twist is as the expression implies-
Dip the tips in the cream and twist. Perfect amount of cream for that brush.

If you are using an old style cream like pre-re-formulated Trumpers, you would use much more vigor pushing on the brush than a very soft modern cosmetic type cream.

After a few lathers you can easily adjust your "pick up" to the cream at hand.

Hope this helps!

 

[HoratioCaine]

Lather preferences, like everything else in shaving, are subjective. Personally, I prefer a thick, meringue-like lather, which means it is a fairly dry lather. I can tell if it's too wet because I can't build the meringue-like peaks I like. I can tell if it's too dry if the lather on my face stays stationary under the movement of the brush, or if it starts drying out on my face. (I'm a face latherer, BTW.) A quick dip of the brush into my water mug solves that issue just fine. Of course, you'll need to figure out what kind of a lather you like; others like wetter lathers than the kind I prefer. But no matter what kind you like, you'll learn what works to achieve it mostly through trial and error.

Also the breech of the brush doesn't seem to fill as well as it could.

Hmm...sounds like someone has been reading a little Chas Roberts, no? For what it's worth, he made those terms up himself, and they're not universally recognized by brush enthusiasts.

 

[professorchaos]

I've found that lather has enough water once it turns from dull matte to slightly shiny.

 

[whatrymes]

A photo can only provide a guide, let your fingers tell you, when your lather explodes it has been turned into soap suds,that is not a good thing.
A well emulsified lather will be heavy with water, slippery and dense.
Its more like a yogurt than whipped cream. The greatest obstacle to a good lather is insufficient product use.

Now that's a description that my mind's eye can see, thank you Jim.

 

[whatrymes]

A photo can only provide a guide, let your fingers tell you, when your lather explodes it has been turned into soap suds,that is not a good thing.
A well emulsified lather will be heavy with water, slippery and dense.
Its more like a yogurt than whipped cream. The greatest obstacle to a good lather is insufficient product use.

I think you are on to something Jim. This morning I tried adding more product to see if I could get a good lather. I don't know if it is my water quality or my brush but apparently I need a LOT of product to get that lather, e.g., reading the reviews about KMF cream, the writers describe a great lather from a quarter size dollop (less than a full squirt). I haven't been able to get KMF, like almost all my products, to lather well at all. Today, I did 3 full squirts, watched my water ratio and wham! I had that heavy, slippery, cushiony and shiny lather you all talk about so much.

So two things. I can't wait to try it on my face and I don't know how I can afford this stuff needing so much product.

Is this due to water quality? Brush quality? Technique?

 

[Jim]

Ed if you have hard water it will be more difficult to get a good lather.

 

[whatrymes]

I'm hoping it's not a brush issue, I can't afford to buy another (OK, SWMBO won't let me) at this time. I'm going to try some water from another source and see what happens.

 

[Jim]

Ed,
try some distilled water.

 

[Jethro1984]

Ed if you have hard water it will be more difficult to get a good lather.

I have hard water as I live in an apartment so that's probably part of the issue here. I think I made my best lather last night. It was cushiony as you say and very slick as I used the excess to wash my face and it was extremely slippery while gliding my fingers around my face. Before I was ending up with a huge plume of what looked like lather but was drying really fast and wasn't protecting at all......I think the so called "suds".

Most of my lather seems to accumulate in my bowl as I mix though and doesn't want to go into the brush. I use a Tweezerman, is this part of the problem? I pump the brush to try to load it but I really don't get as much as many of the photos show. Especially Joel's Mixing photos from various cream reviews.

I wonder if my lather would be any better by using bottled water. I suppose it's worth a try.

 

[tsmba]

I tried using the "snurdle" or blob method at first, but got far better results with the "dip and twist" style. As Jim pointed out, you'll never get good results by being tight with the product. I've never tried to measure that amount used by dip 'n twist, but it may well be less than when adding a glob.
This morning, I used one of the little samples of Penhaligon's cream I had gotten from VintageBlades. I found it harder to work up a lather from just the one glob as opposed to having the bristle tips coated across the knot. I look at the consistency and glossiness of the lather as my guide, adding drops of water until I get what I want.

 

[SiBurning]

It seems easier to correct lather when you face lather. I've not been able to correct a bubbly mess in a bowl, but on the face, I can squeeze out the brush, add more product, and work it in just fine. I don't think this is the bowl's fault. Maybe a matter of surface area.