My first foray into soaps; RazoRock Zi' Peppino

[lowcountry_sc]

I've been DE shaving for about a month and a half now. Up until yesterday, all I had tried were creams. I got to try some RR Zi' Peppino soap and was amazed by how well it lathered. I like the smell, but would like to try some of their other scents; is there anywhere you can buy a sample pack?

Also, yesterday I had too much water sitting on top of the soap, the lather was incredibly fluffy but not enough protective slickness on my face. This morning, I had the opposite problem; I didn't use enough water and when I applied it to my face it sort of dissipated. I'm sure I'll get it right after a bit of tweaking, but any advice for this specific soap when bowl lathering? (I know this sounds like I'm contradicting my first statement about how well it lathered; but I can tell it's more a matter of me getting the water ratio and consistency right, rather than the soap's fault. When I had too much water on my brush, it almost foamed out of my bowl in about fifteen seconds!)

God bless,

Fred

 

[mctmatt]

The date and time have been noted: On 12/12/12 at 12:25 another case of Acquisition Disorder was documented in the Badger Forum.



Just kidding, RazoRock has many great soaps and other products that you will soon discover. There are a lot of variables to great lather just keep reading, learning and lathering.

 

[stryker4526]

RR is very easy. What I do is shake my brush out firmly about 4 times, basically so there isn't a lot of water left in it, it's just damp.
I then load on the soap for 30 seconds (no water on top beforehand... don't really find it necessary with a soft soap even though I'm using a Whipped Dog silvertip) and proceed to bowl lather as usual, adding a bit of water if needed. I've never had a bad lather with this soap.

 

[VT_Hokie]

First things first, is that you picked a truly outstanding soap.

I would strongly recommend that you try starting with a dryer brush. Shake it well to the point that water is no longer coming out and you're left with a damp brush. Load heavily for about 20-30 seconds before moving to your face and adding water slowly, being sure to incorporate it well.

If you'd like to see a video on how I do it, I would happily make one for you.

 

[shaverjoe]

I was recently gifted a tub of this soap and it is a fantastic soap.

 

[lowcountry_sc]

"The date and time have been noted: On 12/12/12 at 12:25 another case of Acquisition Disorder was documented in the Badger Forum"

Haaa! Probably true! That's why I'm hoping there's somewhere online I can buy samples. My dad and I got into this about the same time (I followed his lead) and we're both still in that joy of discovery phase. He's in the middle of a bunch of Truefitt and Hill samples which he bought online in some type of sample pack (as an aside, he's NOT as impressed as he thought he would be, but I know it's all YMMV). I haven't found where I can do the same with RazoRock...

"no water on top beforehand... don't really find it necessary with a soft soap even though I'm using a Whipped Dog silvertip" Yeah, I kinda figured that out when I started making a lather just trying to load my brush!

"Load heavily for about 20-30 seconds before moving to your face and adding water slowly"
I actually had the thought this morning that it would probably make a fantastic face lathering soap. FWIW, I'm using an Omega SilverTip #616 Brush (it's the only one I got so I have nothing to compare it to, but I like it a lot). I've thought about my next purchase being a stiffer brush for face lathering (maybe a boar/horse combo), but there's just so many other things I want to buy! Like more RR soap, or maybe some GFT, or maybe a slant, or maybe some cologne... But seriously, do you think that my brush will suffice for adequate face lathering with soaps? I'll give it a go tomorrow, but based on pics I've seen online, RR seems to be almost more like a cream than a soap.

"If you'd like to see a video on how I do it, I would happily make one for you." Sweet! Thanks.

 

[JHP]

Lots of good suggestions so far. Matt's suggestions are similar to what I do. Each soap/brush combination needs a little different amount of water. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend that you read this post. It was so helpful to me.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/21136-How-to-make-great-lather-from-a-soap-Tutorial

Make a few test lathers. That always helps.

I wouldn't worry about your brush for now. When you're getting good lather, you can head over to the brush forum and begin a new adventure! I just received my second brush, and I can make more lather faster, but I wouldn't say the quality of the lather is significantly different.

Enjoy the journey!

Josh

 

[cryhavoc]

The date and time have been noted: On 12/12/12 at 12:25 another case of Acquisition Disorder was documented in the Badger Forum.

 

[lowcountry_sc]

Face lathered two passes today and easily had enough left in the brush to do a third go round if I had so desired...Where's the best place to buy this stuff? Can you buy a sample pack like Truefitt and Hill where you can pick from a couple different scents?

And I'm still waiting on the video

 

[xillion]

I've never seen a sampler for sale. RazoRock La Famiglia is rebranded/repackaged TFS soap.

The tubs are very reasonable here.

The Bergamot Neroli has a great scent.

 

[VT_Hokie]

I'll get a video for you tonight.

 

[lowcountry_sc]

Hey Chris! How u been? What is TFS soap?

nevermind, I did some searching. For the rest of you as clueless as I was: TFS stands for Tcheon Fung Sing. That being said, despite reading thru the forums, I'm still a little confused: is the entire RR line just rebranded TFS? Or is it just the La Famiglia line. If so, does RR make anything of their own? Also, I read somewhere that some were tallow based and others weren't, is that correct?

 

[xillion]

That being said, despite reading thru the forums, I'm still a little confused: is the entire RR line just rebranded TFS? Or is it just the La Famiglia line. If so, does RR make anything of their own. Also,I read somewhere that some were tallow based and others weren't, is that correct?

Only the La Famiglia is TFS the other soaps come from different artisan vendors and are made specifically for Italian Barber/RazoRock.
They have many different lines of soap. Some are tallow and others are veggie based.
All of the RR soaps I've tried have been great performers for me.

 

[VT_Hokie]

Ask and ye shall receive! Two videos here. I apologize for the quality and they are both shot on a basic point and shoot in one take. The first one is for you, Fred. The second is one that I made for another member who was struggling with harder triple milled soaps. Hopefully these will be of use to you!

 

[VT_Hokie]

 

[JHP]

In Matt's first video he talked about the "luster of his lather". I might describe it as glossy. When you get enough water incorporated into the lather it starts to look shiny. Keep adding water until you get the shine.

I don't have as much experience as Matt, and for me, building my lather in a bowl has been easier because I can see what I'm doing a little better. Also, with a bowl you don't have to worry about each pass adding more water to your lather as Matt described in the video. Either way works. Practice makes perfect. Soap is cheap. Literally, a few pennies per bowl. Make a few bowls and keep adding water until the lather completely breaks down. I think you'll be surprised how much water you can add. I've found that I like my lather to by glossy and to be stiff enough to form peaks, but wet enough that the tips of the peaks fold over.

Let us know how you make out!

Josh

 

[lowcountry_sc]

Thanks Matt! No matter how many lather vids I watch, it seems like I always pick something up; in this case it was the amount of times you went back and wet your brush. Thanks for taking the time to shoot and post that. I got really good results when I face lathered it. Unfortunately, I'm about out of my sample; I need to just pull the trigger and buy one, I guess...

Last chance for scent recommendations as I'll be ordering tonight using the link xillion posted...

 

[JHP]

Last chance for scent recommendations as I'll be ordering tonight using the link xillion posted...

Personally, if I were ordering RR right now, I'd be trying the King Louis or 888 because I really want to try out that new(er) formula. If not those, I'm a lillies of the valley lover - 2 choices - with and without tallow - Muguet de France and Mughetto di Bologna. The biggest surprise scent to me? Boston Tea Party. Wonderful clean scent. Loved it.

Can't really go wrong.

Josh

 

[buyandhold2018]

ask and ye shall receive! Two videos here. I apologize for the quality and they are both shot on a basic point and shoot in one take. The first one is for you, fred. The second is one that i made for another member who was struggling with harder triple milled soaps. Hopefully these will be of use to you!

really solid technique! Well done!

 

[VT_Hokie]

really solid technique! Well done!

Thank you very much, Sir!