Martin De Candre soap has made my lather skills fade

[msimon]

I have been using MDC for almost 3 weeks now, decided today I would have a change and do some Arko. Rubbed the stick on my face and used my wee scot to build up the lather but the dam thing wouldnt make the Arko have a nice thick slick lather it was watery and bubbly so i pressed on and finished, shave wasn't to bad but the usual irritation on my neck in the really sensitive bit.

I decided to go for a shower so I brought along my wee scot and Arko to see what went wrong. Lathered up on my face and used the wee scot to lather but same result, so I decided to rub the Arko on my arm with hair to load up more soap so then I start to lather with my wee scot same result, *** is wrong with my Arko stick so I stood there for a sec to think and a light bulb moment came on. Using my wee scot with much more speed and pressure in a painting motion created a nice thick slick lather.

MDC soap is so easy to lather that I have forgotten how to lather other soaps.

I just want to share my experience with MDC, as being one of the easiest soap to lather but also can be bad for a noob thats not quite with the grips with lathering and has led me to believe I need to go back to square one and start all over again.

 

[Luc]

When you switch product, they require different amount of the product and water. You can't expect the same results using a teaspoon of water on every soap. What it says is that Arko requires less water than MDC, that's all.

 

[msimon]

When you switch product, they require different amount of the product and water. You can't expect the same results using a teaspoon of water on every soap. What it says is that Arko requires less water than MDC, that's all.

Thanks, makes sense,.
However I understand that different soaps need different amounts of water, just that going from MDC to Arko after a while has shown that even if you have got the right amount for water for the soap doesn't mean it will be a good lather, When I finally got it lathered on my arm with same right amount of soap and water which lathered after I changed my technique shows how differently some soaps behave.

Just look at MWF for example, i find it behaves much different to other soaps i have tried even with right amount of soap and water.

This is of course my experience of being a noob and getting to grips with soaps.

 

[Luc]

Thanks, makes sense,.
However I understand that different soaps need different amounts of water, just that going from MDC to Arko after a while has shown that even if you have got the right amount for water for the soap doesn't mean it will be a good lather, When I finally got it lathered on my arm with same amount of soap and water on my face which lathered after I changed my technique shows how differently some soaps behave.

Just look at MWF for example, i find it behaves much different to other soaps i have tried even with right amount of soap and water.

This is of course my experience of being a noob and getting to grips with soaps.

I think that Arko is a proven product where you can get good lather. It's a matter of finding the right proportions with it. If you had good lather with it, then it's a matter of recreating the formula that enabled you creating that lather.

If you are, however, trying to get a specific lather with product X and are expecting to have that same exact lather with product Y, you might never accomplish that. In the end, lather is not always lather. Some product produce thicker lather, some are more slick, some are thinner, etc. If a product works well and you're happy with it, that's fine. if you used to like something and don't anymore, that's all right too. Like taste buds with wine, they change over time.

 

[Shaving_CHENG]

Luc has hit it on the head; each product has its own characteristics, and we must build our data base on how to handle each. It's part of the fun.
Enjoy

 

[Acmemfg]

Cella and Klar Kabinett are kind of the same way. Both make an effortless lather; switching to other media can prove to require more work for the same result. So it goes....

 

[msimon]

Cella and Klar Kabinett are kind of the same way. Both make an effortless lather; switching to other media can prove to require more work for the same result. So it goes....

This is what I mean, Its a moment that as a noob and a light bulb moment that there is more to it then getting water and soap ratio right and as MDC is so effortless to lather one soon forgets.

I probably been using MDC all this time just because it is so easy.

 

[u2u]

You just might need to send that MdC to a buddy so you are forced to work on the lathering skills. You started off with about the best there is so you had virtually nowhere to go. Work that Wee Scot hard and enjoy. Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[Rohrbach]

How about just keeping a puck of new Williams around to keep your lathering skill at a high?

 

[msimon]

You just might need to send that MdC to a buddy so you are forced to work on the lathering skills. You started off with about the best there is so you had virtually nowhere to go. Work that Wee Scot hard and enjoy. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Ha, they'll be lucky.

How about just keeping a puck of new Williams around to keep your lathering skill at a high?

New Williams you say, is it that hard?.
I will stick with MDC as my main soap and Arko to fill in the cheap gap as MDC is so expensive.

Its going to be Arko week.

 

[groovyd]

I am not so convinced MdC is really an expensive soap, relatively speaking. I mean I would love to see a soap shoot-out where the goal is to create the same amount of lather with each product and see exactly how many shaves you get from a tub verses the price. A tub MdC last pretty much forever and only takes 3 light swirls for a 5 pass shave. Just saying...

 

[takeshi]

I just want to share my experience with MDC, as being one of the easiest soap to lather but also can be bad for a noob thats not quite with the grips with lathering and has led me to believe I need to go back to square one and start all over again.

Experience definitely helps. MDC's my main soap but I've never had problems lathering any soap and occasionally rotate in other soaps to try out.

If you had good lather with it, then it's a matter of recreating the formula that enabled you creating that lather.

I don't personally find forumlas useful. I can see why they're appealing to many since it seems straightforward and may help with reproducing prior results. I've found that learning to tell when my brush is loaded is much more useful as it allows me to lather any soap. MDC is my one exception since it requires so little to load. If I load my brush with MDC like I do with other soaps the lather is still excellent -- I just end wasting quite a bit.

IA tub MdC last pretty much forever and only takes 3 light swirls for a 5 pass shave. Just saying...

Not with my hard water. Takes a bit more like ~12. Even so, that's very little loading. Just saying...

 

[Ronnie Aloha]

Still tapping my fingers on the table awaiting my two jars of MdC...

 

[msimon]

Still tapping my fingers on the table awaiting my two jars of MdC...

I already want my second jar, Fougere limited edition, not sure bank would approve.

 

[Croulebarbe]

Experience definitely helps. MDC's my main soap but I've never had problems lathering any soap and occasionally rotate in other soaps to try out.


I don't personally find forumlas useful. I can see why they're appealing to many since it seems straightforward and may help with reproducing prior results. I've found that learning to tell when my brush is loaded is much more useful as it allows me to lather any soap. MDC is my one exception since it requires so little to load. If I load my brush with MDC like I do with other soaps the lather is still excellent -- I just end wasting quite a bit.


Not with my hard water. Takes a bit more like ~12. Even so, that's very little loading. Just saying...

It's worth noting that the water here in France is really quite hard (with the exception of the Puy-de-Dôme and Bretagne, the bedrock is mostly limestone IIRC), so one would expect a French soap to work well with hard water.

But the stuff really is worth the money you spend on it. I live in Paris and shave with MdC, and even with our hard water the last jar I bought lasted almost a year and a half, at five to six shaves a week.

And yes, it is very true that it's a soap that will make you lazy with respect to lathering technique

 

[RobW]

Not the first time I've seen this complaint about MdC. Fortunately, it seems this is pretty much the only complaint.

 

[jovan]

IMO Floris can give MdC a run for the money in regards to ease of lathering, but I give the nod to MdC in a photo finish.