Any dedicated palm-latherers out there? Provided that one is using a small knot, it would seem an interesting middle-ground between face-lathering and bowl-lathering. Even pure badgers with prickle could excel here.
Palm Lathering?
- Thread starter Alum of Potash
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I’ve done it to give Williams one last shot, and a few demo lathers for new wet shavers. It works well, with any sized brush up to a chubby for me.
I'll do it for a test lather or to lather a new brush, but I don't see the benefits over facelathering. I do see what you're saying about being able to use a prickly brush this way, but why are you using a prickly brush in the first place when there are plenty of affordable soft tipped brushes out there?
I've done it, but it works well for me because I have a short beard and only shave my neck and shape the top portion of the beard. I can also feel where I need a second pass or extra buffing.
Same here. I guess it's a useful technique for those with facial hair who want more control over the distribution of lather along the edges of the beard/mustache. I'll sometimes palm lather when I'm travelling and don't want to bring a bowl.
I can't understand palm lathering (also reminds me of can goo which is applied by hand). Isn't the whole point is to face lather and prep my face better and not my hand?
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- #8
Thanks for your curiosity. I've "wet-shaved" with a brush for around twenty-five years (Williams, Colgate, VdH, and Monsavon in my pre-forum days), and never really been able to decide which I like more, face-lathering or bowl-lathering. I appreciate the relative simplicity of face-lathering, but I am pretty much limited to building lather beneath my jawline the the right side of my face with my dominant right-hand. I don't like super-large knots, so I am often doing this a second time during a two-pass plus touch-ups shave. There, I also appreciate that the second pass can be thinner than the first pass and one can really dial in for the amount of soap to take from the puck. But overall, I find the face-lathering process asymmetric and overly-absorbing. Bowl-lathering, on the other hand, seems more elegant to me in that the lather is all made at once, contained in the bowl, and allows a wide range of brushes to be used and concentrating on the shave rather than continued fidgeting with lather. The downside is that it can seem colder and hands-off as a process. As brush knots tend to get larger and larger, I'm moving in the other direction, towards smaller and smaller. For example, in my limited experience with palm-lathering, I have been using a Simpson Beaufort 1 pure badger to some degree of success, painting the lather on my face as I would not want to build the lather there with such a knot. Also, due to it's diminutive size, I would not want to use the Beaufort 1 otherwise, but now, other small knots become very interesting for their potential in the palm.
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Thanks for the explanation. Not face lathering symmetrical would be weird to do. I do a lazy 8, starting on a cheek, down unto throat, across and up to other cheek, down onto throat and the back to original cheek. I'll then paint in the corners as I develop the lather. A no brainer
(Just contrasting what we each think is absorbing) Worked with and without my circle beard and now with my handlebar. Will work with my upcoming van dyke as well.If I had a full beard, or at least a segmented lower/upper face area to shave, I could see palm lathering almost. I would have a hand full of lather to not be able to pull skin, clear lather to examine edge, move handle (of bar) out of the way, etc. I would probably use a bowl at that point, or more likely, just use clippers, and for special occasions shave gel and a SR.
I would generally hate to have to determine if I have enough lather in a bowl, how many passes I'll be doing, how many touch-ups I'll need to do, etc. at that stage of the shave. Too much planning and guessing involved.
And then have to exfoliate at some other point in my morning or evening process.I agree that I wouldn't want to use a badger for face lathering, I prefer boars.
The only time that I ever palm lather is when I am cleaning a used brush that I have bought. Other wise I face lather soaps or bowl lather creams.
Tried palm lathering but it is not for me!!
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- #12
Well, I've been palm-lathering exclusively for the past couple of weeks and have to say it's been quite enjoyable. Really a blend of face-lathering and bowl-lathering, and it allows me to use smaller, prickly knots that otherwise I might not want to face-lather with. Brushes that have worked for me have been Simpson Beaufort 1, 2, 3 pure badgers and Vie-Long 13120 and 14095 horse-badgers, with the Simpson Beaufort 2 and Vie-Long 14095 being just the right size.
I only hand-lather when breaking in a new brush, I see no reason to waste all that slippery stuff on your hand when your face needs it the most. I hate bowl-lathering, again I consider this wasteful of time and soap and nice bowls are a ripoff for a cheap *** like me. I load my brush from the puck/container and go right to the face and lather it there.
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- #14
Looks like I'm alone in this. In lathering, I have things pretty controlled where most of the lather is in the knot, leaving just a small amount on the palm. That I wipe off on my jawline and blend in with the rest of the lather as applied with the brush.
Nah, I did at the outset before I discovered the merits of face lathering a well broken in boar/Silvertip badger. Hey, if it works, it works though. YMMV Enjoy!
How I see it:
Face lathering - When you are in a hurry and not too fussy about perfect lather. Working man's shave.
Bowl lathering - Luxurious traditional prep with olfactory stimulation, focus on quality lather, taking your time to get it right. Applying lather as a massage on face with relaxed painting strokes. Close to a gentleman's barber salon experience.
Palm lathering - I don't get it. Might as well be armpit lathering.
Face lathering - When you are in a hurry and not too fussy about perfect lather. Working man's shave.
Bowl lathering - Luxurious traditional prep with olfactory stimulation, focus on quality lather, taking your time to get it right. Applying lather as a massage on face with relaxed painting strokes. Close to a gentleman's barber salon experience.
Palm lathering - I don't get it. Might as well be armpit lathering.
How I see it:
Face lathering - When you are in a hurry and not too fussy about perfect lather. Working man's shave.
Bowl lathering - Luxurious traditional prep with olfactory stimulation, focus on quality lather, taking your time to get it right. Applying lather as a massage on face with relaxed painting strokes. Close to a gentleman's barber salon experience.
Palm lathering - I don't get it. Might as well be armpit lathering.
I totally agree. I'm 99% bowl/scuttle lather. Very rarely face lather just because I have the time and enjoy a great lather. I don't have many soaps or brushes so i have most dialed in. Even my shave sticks i travel with or use at home, Arko/La Toja/Tabac I'll rub into the grooves of a bowl vs applying to face. I know, kinda defeats the point of a stick but it's easy to travel with a TSA approved amount and still bowl lather. Plus I love a soft badger to paint not splay. I'm weird!
You're actually being conventional.
One eats a nice dinner with utensils (bowl/scuttle lathering) and a burger with his hands (face/palm lathering). Scrubbing a $350 brush and $80 soap directly on face is eating a nice gourmet meal with your hands. I consider that to be the unorthodox approach, regardless how popular. Even brush manufacturers warn against it.
Great comparison. I'm down to all Simpson badger brushes and one boar. I ruined a decient silvertip and a boar by splaying them. Simpson says paint, so I paint. Not gonna ruin a $150+ brush. Doesn't take more than 5 extra minutes to bowl lather and clean up. Plus my lather and experience is wonderful. I personally can't get as good of a shave face lathering.
How I see it:
Face lathering - When you are in a hurry and not too fussy about perfect lather. Working man's shave.
Bowl lathering - Luxurious traditional prep with olfactory stimulation, focus on quality lather, taking your time to get it right. Applying lather as a massage on face with relaxed painting strokes. Close to a gentleman's barber salon experience.
Palm lathering - I don't get it. Might as well be armpit lathering.
I would strongly argue that palm or face lathering are significantly better for creating a quality lather.
