LESS LATHER IS GOOD LATHER!?

[Granite.Glasser]

As I am gaining skill, knowledge, and confidence as a wet shaver, I am experiencing the very best and most satisfying shaves of my life!

Sure, I have been watching numerous YouTube videos pertaining to various aspects of wet shaving techniques and the culture. I have noticed that folks go to great lengths (whether in a bowl or on the face) to work up and apply a very thick and luxurious lather in preparation to the actually shaving. Yes, I realize that this important step is to lubricate the face, lift up the whiskers, etc.... and it is simply quite enjoyable too. HOWEVER, I personally find that so darn much lather actually impedes my ability to obtain the controlled and precise shave that I strive to obtain.

I may be in a minority here, but coming from my disposable cartridge razor days (years), I used water ONLY. Fast forward to DE wet shaving, I now find that I much prefer a wetter and very thinly applied lather to all that gobs of rich foam that (to me) just gets in the way and dries out before I can accomplish a given pass. I suppose I just prefer to see, hear, and feel the blade at work on my face and "excessive" lather just defeats those "feedback" essentials that I require. Besides, the lather just clogs the razor! I am also in the minority who shaves almost exclusively against the grain (with some limited across the grain touch-up passes) and find no appreciable benefit to with-the-grain passes, but this is likely subject matter for another thread.

I am very curious to hear if there are others, like me, who prefer a minimal lather in their shaving routine. I really do believe in a "LESS IS MORE" philosophy in life and in my Jazz trumpet performance approach. I apparently subscribe to this philosophical premise when it comes to lather as well. Please let me know what you think.

Cheers!

 

[BigJ]

Good observation!

Many videos show ‘yogurt’ type lathers that are very photogenic. However, (depending on the soap or cream), these often don’t provide the glide and slickness that I prefer for shaving. Obviously, there is no arguing with taste!

 

[naughtilus]

Hydrated lather is good lather, regardless how thick is your preferred application. You can apply dry lather thinly and get a rough shave.

 

[Graydog]

The important thing is that you find what works best for you, I am sorta in-between .
Not to thick and not to thin .
There are no real experts on YouTube, they are just guys learning how to shave and giving their opinions. Some good and some not so good.

 

[GaryTha]

I am very curious to hear if there are others, like me, who prefer a minimal lather in their shaving routine. I really do believe in a "LESS IS MORE" philosophy in life and in my Jazz trumpet performance approach. I apparently subscribe to this philosophical premise when it comes to lather as well. Please let me know what you think.

Cheers!

You may be happier with a minimalist approach. One razor, one brush, one type of blade, one soap.

 

[ackvil]

For me, a hydrated lather is best for me. I want a slick lather. With some soaps, the lather is thicker and with some soaps, it is thinner. I have been using Haslinger Coconut (tallow formula) soap lately. The soap gives me a thicker lather. When I use AoS old formula soap it is thinner. However, both are slick.

I am not impressed with videos or photos of lather that is so thick a razor has a tough time moving through it.

 

[Jim99]

I go for the less is more concept when lathering. Basically, all I do is whip up and apply enough lather to cover the whiskers. I’m not doing it to be cheap, but I find that I get better shaves being able to see what I’m shaving.

 

[Granite.Glasser]

This is GREAT feedback from a wonderful community!

I do see a common theme regarding hydration as the essential goal of lathering pursuant to achieving the desired slickness, glide, cushion... in the beard reduction process we call shaving. I suppose that, historically, I may have very well accomplished this with water alone when utilizing a disposable multi-blade razor. Furthermore, a "dry" lather, regardless of its consistency and/or thickness of application simply does not achieve that optimal state of hydration. Admittedly, a lather that is too thin or too wet/runny will also fail to supply the desired slickness and glide essential for razor effectiveness, smoothness, and efficiency.

I'll conclude that preferring lather more on the "thin to win" side is OK (for me). I will likely continue to experiment with different soaps and different blades in my razor(s) to find that sweet spot where I can receive the desired amount of physical and audible blade feedback while still maintaining the necessary comfort and effectiveness of a close but injury free shave, without cumbersome mounds of lather getting in my way!

Thanks to all on B&B who share their wisdom and experience without passing judgement!

Cheers!

 

[Ted A]

It seems like once the lather gets thicker than, say 1/4 inch, it isn't doing anything to the beard except hiding the whiskers. It isn't touching them so it can't be doing anything to help the shave.

 

[ExtraProtein]

+1 on every single comment above!

Hydrated, slick, .25 inch/in between to cover your whiskers. The VERY BEST lathers and creams leave you with what I like to call “Phantom Lather.” Phantom Lather is the stuff you can’t see on your face after the initial pass but a tiny bit of water activates slickness you can feel and can really make a second pass. I’m generally a 1 pass shaver with a detail/buffing so I’m pretty lucky.

It’s my opinion the robust and beautiful whipped lathers you see here on SOTD and soap/cream/brush reviews are for photo aesthetics only, no one really shaves with 1.5 inch thick lather on their mug (do they?).

For ME; Creams/Soaps are my first line of defensive to aid against irritation. I read somewhere the use of soaps/creams help achieve a few things: lubricates the cutting process, swells keratin, and desensitizes skin.

In addition, the Aftermath: The cool “smell goods” of modern day creams and soaps! I just did a review on a soap called Dragonsbeard; the smell of this stuff is TOP NOTCH! And what about AoS Sandalwood Cream? NO ONE can argue that Scent! Frank Shields, the legend that he is, gave us the can of Barbasol, I don’t think he put any smell good in there!

Cheers!

 

[Granite.Glasser]

You guys are the BEST! This is all good and relevant stuff!

 

[brandaves]

I find that the thinner the lather, the more quickly it drys out on my skin. A thicker, more robust lather seems to hold up better over the course of my shave. As with everything YMMV. I will sometimes apply my lather, add water directly to my face and apply another layer of lather for optimal slickness. I tend to rinse my razor between strokes which prevents any buildup or blockage occurring over the course of my shave.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[ajkel64]

All great points mentioned above. No good having inch thick lather covering your face. I prefer a good slick lather and that is normally a thinner lather in my case.

 

[Occam's Razor]

There are latherless shaving gels (not creams) That give a nice lubrication for your shave but no lather. Such as Salus Shave Gel.

 

[Billy T.]

I start thick and continue adding water until my lather is translucent with a sheen.

 

[Nubo]

Lather does a number of things to help shaving. One of the main ones is helping to get as much water INTO the hair shaft as possible. Soap is a wetting agent and helps get the water past any oils and into the hair shaft. When wet the hair shaft expands, the core gets softer and the hard scales of the outer layer open up making it easier for the blade edge to catch and cut the hair.
As far as drying out, I think this is partly affected by bubble size. Very tiny bubbles make dense lather that dries out more slowly. If you add too much water too quickly, you get larger bubbles and a more foamy lather that gets dry fast.

 

[Nubo]

There are latherless shaving gels (not creams) That give a nice lubrication for your shave but no lather. Such as Salus Shave Gel.

I tried KY jelly for cartridge shaving for a while years ago. It worked very well but without the lather hiding and carrying away the whisker debris, it just sort of hung around on my face, which wasn't very pleasing.

 

[mumB_L_E]

As always, there is some great advice mentioned above. I have all of my soaps and only cream dialed in and have noticed variance in thickness for each soap's optimum lather -- slickness being my priority. A good trick to see if your lather is slick enough when face lathering is to touch your brush and pull it away; if it sticks/pulls lather with it, add more water.

 

[naughtilus]

You want to add as much water as possible to lather, push it to the point just before it collapses. The prime quality I judge soap performance by is how much water they can take.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Some people want density and "cushion" from their lather. That density is exactly what I try to avoid.

Some products (all the creams I've used for a start) won't give any decent slickness without being mixed far too richly for my tastes. I get better shaves from the melt and pour "disappearing lather" olive oil based soaps than I do from creams.

Focus on what works best for you, as you're not shaving anyone else's face, and they're not shaving yours.