Lathering Captain's Choice
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That's a lotta beautiful lather. So much you could have tried two passes of the whole body.
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- #23
More soap is not the answer. Dries out quicker and drags more as it does. I will try more water and try more patience. Maybe its just going to be a lighter more frothy lather than I'm used to or maybe it needs to be built up with more gradual addition of water to be more substantial. In any case, as I have said many times, it is very very slick when hydrated. I'm just trying to find the balance where it will stay in place inflated and hydrated for a nice comfortable shave. I like the soap enough to want to like it more. CC just does not behave the same as my other soaps so those expectations are definitely part of the picture. I can't believe that I'm the only person who has had this experience.
That's really strange. We'll see what happens when the package arrives from Scott (da Captain). It could simply be one of those weird mysteries that makes us glad that we have so many choices in today's saving world.
Looking forward to how the full sized tub works for you. Some samples can perform differently based on loading, etc...
Slickness is king for a lather (well at least for me).
Slickness is king for a lather (well at least for me).
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- #26
A gift from @Captain Pre-Capsize. Scott is a gentleman and certainly one of those that makes B&B great. I will see what I can make of this fine tub of one of my favorite scents (for any brand). I will keep you posted.
Wonderful! Let us know how loading and lathering works from a full-sized tub. Land Ho smells great.
lol. I thought I was the only one that did that with CC. Not for the time period you stated though. More like brush your teeth, load the razor, pick out an aftershave, etc. 3 minutes maybe.
I load from the tub and I found it's best to attack it with a dyer synthetic brush and wait a bit for it to deflate a bit in the bowl.
I face lather with the Cappy's stuff, like I do 99% of the time. Almost impossible to screw Scott's soap up this way.
Almost as good as Arko, doggone! And coming from me, there is NO higher praise @Captain Pre-Capsize !
If he didn't want you to bowl lather then why does he sell the world's best lathering bowl? I got ya there!
Man....you have got me there.... I'll be back tomorrow with some witty rep art ay....
I have the Captain's heavier copper bowl but I face lather most of the time. I find his soaps lather as well as all of my other soaps and even better than some. Great products. I use boar brushes exclusively.
You are not alone. I have the same exact problem. Also with Land Ho! sampler.
The lather is so slick I can barely hold onto my razor, and skin stretching is a challenge, but there is no structure and vanishes very quickly.
I have some confidence it's the sampler itself, because I don't have any problem with the 45th Parallel sampler from the same pack.
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- #34
So, I think I have to approach this soap differently from my others. It’s definitely more prone to create an airy froth when treated like my other soaps. I don’t get a “yogurt-like” stage whipping it in the bowl. If I whip it heavy on the soap side it creates a bubbly lather that tends to dissipate quickly with a lot of soap residue behind that is kind of dry and needs extra water to re-slick.
If I keep adding water, the froth gets very light as it increases in volume but holds together longer and, understandably, retains its moisture better. In this form it actually feels kind of luxurious going on, but I have to whip it up before each pass as it dissipates a bit in between. However, as this lather has a lower soap content it doesn’t feel quite as slick. I find CC to be very slick and it is saying something that it is as slick as it is this diluted but it’s also a little disappointing.
I watched some YouTube reviews of CC soaps again to see if any particular secrets might be revealed and mostly noticed that they were pretty generous with their soap and didn’t really go for a big whipped up lather. One of them face lathered so I decided to try that.
I‘ve never face lathered before but I assume I did it right as it gave a good shave. I loaded well from the bowl with a damp but well rung out badger. I lathered on a dampened face, working in circles and then dipping the tip of the brush in some water and doing a few circles before painting on the soap. The brush didn’t get a head of foam from it but stayed loaded enough for three passes and a superfluous lathering. It was nice and slippery and shaved great. It was certainly more soap heavy but not being whipped up it didn’t froth and dissipate and was super slick.
I’m still going to experiment and I will take and post pictures in the future but I won’t be surprised if face lathering wins out for me with CC.
If I keep adding water, the froth gets very light as it increases in volume but holds together longer and, understandably, retains its moisture better. In this form it actually feels kind of luxurious going on, but I have to whip it up before each pass as it dissipates a bit in between. However, as this lather has a lower soap content it doesn’t feel quite as slick. I find CC to be very slick and it is saying something that it is as slick as it is this diluted but it’s also a little disappointing.
I watched some YouTube reviews of CC soaps again to see if any particular secrets might be revealed and mostly noticed that they were pretty generous with their soap and didn’t really go for a big whipped up lather. One of them face lathered so I decided to try that.
I‘ve never face lathered before but I assume I did it right as it gave a good shave. I loaded well from the bowl with a damp but well rung out badger. I lathered on a dampened face, working in circles and then dipping the tip of the brush in some water and doing a few circles before painting on the soap. The brush didn’t get a head of foam from it but stayed loaded enough for three passes and a superfluous lathering. It was nice and slippery and shaved great. It was certainly more soap heavy but not being whipped up it didn’t froth and dissipate and was super slick.
I’m still going to experiment and I will take and post pictures in the future but I won’t be surprised if face lathering wins out for me with CC.
For my 3rd attempt at lathering Captain's Choice Land Ho! I was finally able to create some great lather.
I used a ShaveBowl shave bowl, RazoRock 400 brush, soaked the brush in hot water, squeezed it out, scouped exactly 1/4 tsp Land Ho! and started churning for 1 minute (yeah seems like a very long time) before adding any water. Added about 5 drops of hot water, churned for another 30 seconds, repeated this 3 to 5 times (I wasn't keeping track).
I ended up with some rich, dense lather that didn't vanish, enough for probably 5 passes. Very high structure lather, not exactly my preference, I prefer wet paint consistency, but overall I was able to achieve a great shave.
On my first attempt I used different brush (don't remember which one) and added water earlier.
On my second attempt I tried hand loading and face lathering with a T1, total disaster.
I've yet to get a good lather from CC. All I get is slick, thin, disappearing lather. By the time I finish my cheeks, the lather on my neck is almost gone. Kinda reminds me of Williams. None of my other soaps do this....not sure what's wrong. I've tried lots of different ways of getting lather and it's always the same....poor.
On a positive note, I love the CC copper heavy bowl.
On a positive note, I love the CC copper heavy bowl.
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- #37
I’m glad to hear from others with a similar experience. Feels like taking crazy pills when everyone just says it lathers just like everything else. It definitely doesn’t lather anything like Stirling or TOBS, to name a few. I can’t get those to produce anything similar to CC lather. I started this thread to see if I wasn’t alone and if maybe I was missing some particular trick. I’m finding some ways to make it work well for me and it does have some great qualities when I do (primarily scent, slickness, and post-shave) but I’m satisfied that there’s nothing wrong with my lathering technique as this is the only soap I’ve had to adjust to. Nobody needs to keep working with a product when they have things that already work well for them but it’s giving me a bit of a project and I like being able to understand a little better those who praise it as they do. Because I like the Land Ho scent so much, and because @Captain Pre-Capsize is such a good sport and so generous, I’ve ordered myself some additional product, including the cream version to see if it’s any different. I’ll definitely post any breakthroughs I have. I don’t know that CC will become my favorite to lather but I’ll be happy to make it useful as I love a bit of variety.
You're definitely not alone. Like you, I like the Land Ho scent and continue to use it, but wish I could get at least half the lather quality I get from my other soaps. The Captain has great customer service for sure. I like supporting small companies when possible and have several of his products. I use the aftershaves more than the soaps, but really do love the copper bowl.
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
After reading some of the comments here... I wasn't going to say it, but that's what I was thinking.
I used a CC sample I got from a vendor. I did put it into a bowl and used it. Nice scent, but my lather experience was similar to the OP in terms of slickness and froth. It didn't dissipate as quickly for me as it did for some, but I determined it was a soap I would not buy. It shaves perfectly well, but for the money there are so many more I'd rather use.
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I struggled with CC samples; but when loading from a full jar the simple rule of ‘more product’ made a big difference for me. ‘More soap’ just works.
