I'm still learning basic technique (been at it about three weeks). I spent a couple of days worrying about loft length and hair type suitable for hard soaps. Today, I read again all the tutorials on B&B about lathering, especially with hard soaps. In the wiki on "FAQs and Dos and Dont When Lathering," one good piece of advice was "Practice your lather before your next shave or in between shaves." Someone else recommended that one stick with just one soap for a month, perfecting technique. I've been combining those pieces of advice. Today, I used all seven of my current brushes, working on one puck of TOBS hard soap. Over and over. Finally was able reliably to produce a good lather with all seven brushes (three silvertips, two supers, one two-band, and one pure). I learned today that the water in St. Louis is moderately hard (the water department gave me the lowdown). Today's practice was also a test to see if soft brushes (silvertips and supers) with some lofts above the 50 mm mark would work on hard soaps with hard water. They will. One opinion I heard early on was that a good quality brush can produce a good lather with any soap; some just take more work and attention. I think that's true.
I got good advice yesterday in the brush forum on purchasing a brush particularly good at face lathering--a Duke 2 in best badger. (Thanks again to Wagstaff and u2u for specific information on the Duke 2; and to them and others on Simpson quality in general.) All my other brushes (except one Vulfix) are from Frank Shaving, New Forest, or Liojuny Shaving (still waiting for some of them). Though I am now convinced that any decent brush can produce a good lather from any decent soap, I still wanted to get one brush that was particularly geared toward hard soaps and face lathering. The Duke 2 seemed to fill the bill. I'm looking forward to getting it!
I'd been working mostly with a bowl, but the tutorials made me ambitious to try face-lathering, so I did that some, and also ordered a couple of shaving sticks. There was a good tutorial on face-lathering with a cream, so I also tried that.
When I was first stocking up on supplies, I got a fair amount of creams (TOBS, GFT, Proraso) and some soft soaps (Proraso, Razorock). I gather that there is a common view that hard soaps ultimately produce a better lather, though they are harder to produce lather from. But I know a lot of people do still prefer creams. I suspect that I'll end up using some of my softer brushes more often with the creams.
The B&B tutorials, reviews, discussion threads have been invaluable. If I were to wish for anything more from the site, it would only be a more complex search function. I keep wanting to revisit documents or threads I've read before, and can't find them. But then, if one has been around the site long enough, I imagine, it's sort of like living in London or Boston. You just know your way around, despite the irregularity of the street patterns. (Every time I try driving in Boston, I get lost, and I can understand why London cabbies have to spend years in training to acquire "the Knowledge.")
Thanks for all the help. It's been a whole lot of fun. Like everybody else, I gather, I had come to dread getting through the chore of morning ablutions. No more! Now I can choose a brush, a blade, a soap or cream, and an aftershave; can luxuriate in lather; and can take pride and satisfaction in getting a close shave without getting cut (not very often, anyway).
I don't want to be reckless, but I've done fine with Gillette 7 O'clock Yellow Box and with Personna Med Prep, so tomorrow, my first shot at a Feather-a very careful, cautious shot. (Might be my last shot, too. We'll see. Could hardly not try.)
Joe
I got good advice yesterday in the brush forum on purchasing a brush particularly good at face lathering--a Duke 2 in best badger. (Thanks again to Wagstaff and u2u for specific information on the Duke 2; and to them and others on Simpson quality in general.) All my other brushes (except one Vulfix) are from Frank Shaving, New Forest, or Liojuny Shaving (still waiting for some of them). Though I am now convinced that any decent brush can produce a good lather from any decent soap, I still wanted to get one brush that was particularly geared toward hard soaps and face lathering. The Duke 2 seemed to fill the bill. I'm looking forward to getting it!
I'd been working mostly with a bowl, but the tutorials made me ambitious to try face-lathering, so I did that some, and also ordered a couple of shaving sticks. There was a good tutorial on face-lathering with a cream, so I also tried that.
When I was first stocking up on supplies, I got a fair amount of creams (TOBS, GFT, Proraso) and some soft soaps (Proraso, Razorock). I gather that there is a common view that hard soaps ultimately produce a better lather, though they are harder to produce lather from. But I know a lot of people do still prefer creams. I suspect that I'll end up using some of my softer brushes more often with the creams.
The B&B tutorials, reviews, discussion threads have been invaluable. If I were to wish for anything more from the site, it would only be a more complex search function. I keep wanting to revisit documents or threads I've read before, and can't find them. But then, if one has been around the site long enough, I imagine, it's sort of like living in London or Boston. You just know your way around, despite the irregularity of the street patterns. (Every time I try driving in Boston, I get lost, and I can understand why London cabbies have to spend years in training to acquire "the Knowledge.")
Thanks for all the help. It's been a whole lot of fun. Like everybody else, I gather, I had come to dread getting through the chore of morning ablutions. No more! Now I can choose a brush, a blade, a soap or cream, and an aftershave; can luxuriate in lather; and can take pride and satisfaction in getting a close shave without getting cut (not very often, anyway).
I don't want to be reckless, but I've done fine with Gillette 7 O'clock Yellow Box and with Personna Med Prep, so tomorrow, my first shot at a Feather-a very careful, cautious shot. (Might be my last shot, too. We'll see. Could hardly not try.)
Joe
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