So for several years now I've relegated shave sticks to times when I'm traveling; at home, I always built a "proper" lather in a heated scuttle. But as much as I enjoy the feeling of applying hot lather to my face, I've found that loading the soap on my face and building the lather there actually produces superior shaves.
It all started a few months back when an Arko shave stick got smashed in my Dopp kit. I mashed it into a small bowl and added it to my arsenal of shave pucks. But after a few sessions of loading the brush in the bowl and building the lather in the scuttle, I thought I was seeing more "weepers" than I had on my recent trip.
Time for an experiment! I kept everything else the same, but did three different things with the soap: 1. Rub shave stick on face, build lather on face. 2. Load brush in bowl, build lather on face. 3. Load brush in bowl, build lather in scuttle, apply to face.
I did this for several weeks using different soaps, and even pried the puck of Tabac out of its little glass bowl to participate in the experiment. With every soap, method 1 produced superior results. Smoother shaving, fewer weepers, and closer shaves.
My theory is that putting un-lathered soap right on the skin forms a "film" that adheres more thoroughly than lather. Even after thorough work with the brush, it seems like there's a layer that remains **underneath** the lather and provides a little extra slickness.
The downside is that I can't build as thick a lather on my face as I can in a scuttle. But I found a simple solution to that, too - a dab of Proraso shave cream on the brush and it's the best of both worlds.
It all started a few months back when an Arko shave stick got smashed in my Dopp kit. I mashed it into a small bowl and added it to my arsenal of shave pucks. But after a few sessions of loading the brush in the bowl and building the lather in the scuttle, I thought I was seeing more "weepers" than I had on my recent trip.
Time for an experiment! I kept everything else the same, but did three different things with the soap: 1. Rub shave stick on face, build lather on face. 2. Load brush in bowl, build lather on face. 3. Load brush in bowl, build lather in scuttle, apply to face.
I did this for several weeks using different soaps, and even pried the puck of Tabac out of its little glass bowl to participate in the experiment. With every soap, method 1 produced superior results. Smoother shaving, fewer weepers, and closer shaves.
My theory is that putting un-lathered soap right on the skin forms a "film" that adheres more thoroughly than lather. Even after thorough work with the brush, it seems like there's a layer that remains **underneath** the lather and provides a little extra slickness.
The downside is that I can't build as thick a lather on my face as I can in a scuttle. But I found a simple solution to that, too - a dab of Proraso shave cream on the brush and it's the best of both worlds.
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