I Hope I Didn't Violate Some Sacred Law of the Shaving Universe

[coonskinner]

This afternoon I got ready to shave before church tonight.

The innocent looking little puck of Williams seemed to mock me.

I have tried and tried to make a decent lather out of it, all to no avail.

My well soaked boar brush hovered over it for a moment while memories miserable attempts to shave with the stuff flashed through my mind.

And then I saw the tube of C.O. Bigelow lying there in green splendor.

Without thinking I grasped it and squeezed just a smidgen of it on top of the ghastly Williams and began to lather.

To my surprise, in a couple of minutes a rather serviceable lather started forming in the bowl, and I shaved comfortably enough with it.

Was this heresy?

A common practice?

Beginner's luck?

 

[rand77]

That's the magic of superlather (soap+cream mix)! There is also uber lather which is soap + cream + a few drops of glycerine, but I think that is a bit over the top.

I had trouble with a Penhaligon's English Fern puck, so I grated it together with a stick of La Toja. The resulting soap has the performance of La Toja, but scent of Penhaligons.

 

[mmack66]

Common practice. It is called superlathering.

 

[coonskinner]

Common practice. It is called superlathering.

Sure enough. Do tell.



Nothing new under the sun.



I feel pretty dumb.

 

[one2mny]

No harm, no foul. And if it works... Do it!

 

[Amzimbo]

On the contrary. You figured out something for yourself. Getting there on your own is more valuable than doing something just because others do it.

 

[SteveWY]

+1. "That's the magic of superlather (soap+cream mix)!" A little help from a cream can solve some soap lather difficulties or hust add a nice twist to a soap. Glad you found a technique that works for you!

 

[coolcanuc]

If adding a bit of cream works for you, do it. For me Williams is easy to lather, about a table spoon of what the puck soaks in and work it with the brush. Are you lathering in the mug, a bowl or on your face?

 

[mistercitizen]

Sounds like you found out first hand that C.O. Bigelow is a cream the produces a great lather and Williams is a soap that doesn't produce very good lather. I get great lather with C.O. Bigelow (Proraso) by itself in a bowl. In my case the bottom of the bowl isn't adding anything more to the lather than the Williams Soap was in your case. Maybe just try using the C.O. Bigelow cream by itself and see what happens..... maybe you don't need the Williams Soap at all.

Ben

 

[coonskinner]

If adding a bit of cream works for you, do it. For me Williams is easy to lather, about a table spoon of what the puck soaks in and work it with the brush. Are you lathering in the mug, a bowl or on your face?

I have been lathering in a bowl.

I can get lots of lather bit it seems to dry quickly and isn't very slick or cushiony.

I bought some at the grocery store because it was so cheap, but haven't got much good out of it.

 

[coonskinner]

Sounds like you found out first hand that C.O. Bigelow is a cream the produces a great lather and Williams is a soap that doesn't produce very good lather. I get great lather with C.O. Bigelow (Proraso) by itself in a bowl. In my case the bottom of the bowl isn't adding anything more to the lather than the Williams Soap was in your case. Maybe just try using the C.O. Bigelow cream by itself and see what happens..... maybe you don't need the Williams Soap at all.

Ben

Bigelow by itself is great. Already tried that.

Just experimenting today.

 

[ironfist]

I wouldn't go to sleep tonight. You may want to draw the shades and lock the doors also.

Bwahahahha

 

[coolcanuc]

I can get lots of lather bit it seems to dry quickly and isn't very slick or cushiony.

Try loading a less wet, shake it out after it stops dripping, brush for about 20 to 30 seconds or there about. I found that using approximately 1 tablespoon of the water that the puck was soaking in helps, put that in your empty mixing bowl. My water here in Toronto is relatively hard and it's working for me. Put the loaded brush in the mixing bowl and start stirring. You should see the soap start to mix with the water and grow. Periodically scrape the brush out against the inside edge of the bowl to return the soap in the brush to the water at the bottom. This will also help you see how the lather is coming along. Keep stirring, gently pumping and scraping until you see the lather you are looking for. Also, the lather that you scrape out of the brush will not rush away from the edge of your bowl once you have found that point.

As I said, it works for me and I do find the result to be very consistent. The lather will be very slick and will provide plenty of hydration.

 

[Jeff_H]

Hard water makes lathering Williams hard too. I used some when I lived in Tulsa and it lathered pretty well, but our water there was relatively soft. I found my old coffee cup the other day from when I first started shaving...forgot that I packed it with the 1/2 used puck of Williams still in it. I tried to lather it with my Kent BK8 for a little bit and I got a runny, goopy lather that wouldn't have been very good. I could have tried harder, but it was just an experiment more than anything. The point is, the water here in San Antonio is VERY hard.

So, if you like Williams try using some distilled water to soak your brush and later with. You'll have much better results.

 

[Martel]

Naw, you did good. A tube of erasmic is the only way I got through some horrible Denali soap I received as a gift. That soap had a very distinctive smell, so I had to use it or the girlfriend would have been...offended. Thanks superlather, you saved my bacon. Now go buy some glycerin...

 

[Eeyore]

The only "law" in shaving is: if you like it, just do it.

It's your shave and your face ... whatever works for you is what you should do.

 

[phillylion]

I like to put a dab of my Proraso on my puck of C&E almond and face lather--gives me an incredible, wonderful super lather.

 

[BaritoneJP]

Find, if you can, an old puck of Williams (one with Tallow listed as its first ingredient, or a box without a bar code) and see how the lather explodes. I did this just this week and wow ... the smell if different than I expected however ...