This might be boaring...

[bmiller3230]

So, I've been a bowl latherer for most of my traditional wet-shaving life. Always seeking the perfect bowl, the perfect brush, etc... The perfect brush has been a RazoRock Chubby Extra Silvertip Badger. And the bowl a 4" footed blue Italian bowl by Spode. The combination just works and produces copious, awesome lather. But it has become tedious, bothersome, and time consuming. So I recently decided to try face lathering.

The badger (a 28 mm knot) loaded copious amounts of soap, and I looked like Santa Claus first pass, or at least like the guy on the red plastic container of Cella that I was using as my test face-lather shave. First pass was excellent. But, the brush was being stingy with the lather on the 2nd and 3rd pass. This was apparent when both painting and splaying the brush and scrubbing against my face didn't yield much. But, squeezing the brush gave up plenty of good lather for the last pass.

So, tonight, I pulled out my rusty, dusty, Semogue Owners Club Premium Boar. It was more comfortable on the face than I remembered. Quite pleasant, actually. It released lather on my face better when painting, and splayed and scrubbed really well. The main thing is, that I was able to get adequate lather out of it on every pass till the last pass, and it was very comfortable.

So, I think I'll keep this experiment going for a bit with my Stirling, SV, and Shannon's soaps and see ...

But, I might be a badger to boar convert for face-lathering at least...

 

[silverlifter]

Welcome (back) to the Brotherhood!

 

[musicman1951]

You should, of course, us whatever makes you happy. I would strongly suggest you not judge all badgers by one RR brush. I have a Kent BK8 that is pure luxury in a bowl, but I have a couple of different badgers for facelathering. You can use any brush for any method, but some are clearly better designed for one of the possibilities.

 

[Trollky]

Welcome to the club

Face lathering with a good boar is a fine thing. Of late I have come to the conclusion that my skin certainly prefers a lofty boar over a plush badger. I just wish I figured that out 20 brushes ago....

 

[dmshaver]

As you've learned, boaring is not boring! Enjoy!!!

 

[ChriWilson]

So, I've been a bowl latherer for most of my traditional wet-shaving life. Always seeking the perfect bowl, the perfect brush, etc... The perfect brush has been a RazoRock Chubby Extra Silvertip Badger. And the bowl a 4" footed blue Italian bowl by Spode. The combination just works and produces copious, awesome lather. But it has become tedious, bothersome, and time consuming. So I recently decided to try face lathering.

The badger (a 28 mm knot) loaded copious amounts of soap, and I looked like Santa Claus first pass, or at least like the guy on the red plastic container of Cella that I was using as my test face-lather shave. First pass was excellent. But, the brush was being stingy with the lather on the 2nd and 3rd pass. This was apparent when both painting and splaying the brush and scrubbing against my face didn't yield much. But, squeezing the brush gave up plenty of good lather for the last pass.

So, tonight, I pulled out my rusty, dusty, Semogue Owners Club Premium Boar. It was more comfortable on the face than I remembered. Quite pleasant, actually. It released lather on my face better when painting, and splayed and scrubbed really well. The main thing is, that I was able to get adequate lather out of it on every pass till the last pass, and it was very comfortable.

So, I think I'll keep this experiment going for a bit with my Stirling, SV, and Shannon's soaps and see ...

But, I might be a badger to boar convert for face-lathering at least...

I would say there's no need to limit your experiences by explicitly converting one over the other unless you are intending on thinning the herd. I find the key is in understanding the differences within the brush varieties and what separates them from each other.

For example, my denser badgers will exhibit behaviors essentially what you experienced given we're talking 27mm and above; similar to your Razorock/Zenith. With that in mind, I go into the shave knowing that with my Chubby2 or M&W for example, I'm going to be chewing some soap - which can make for a luxe experience with the reloads and all. I learned for myself that by only soaking the tips on my beastier brushes, helps to limit the soap eating.

With an SOC or comparable boar bristle, I tend to long-soak my brushes higher to allow for a much wetter lather as I like using my boars for Straight-Shaving. I've also been in the habit of pinching the loftier bristle to allow for better soap movement while I'm building on my face.

You should, of course, us whatever makes you happy. I would strongly suggest you not judge all badgers by one RR brush. I have a Kent BK8 that is pure luxury in a bowl, but I have a couple of different badgers for facelathering. You can use any brush for any method, but some are clearly better designed for one of the possibilities.

My BLK8 is truly a gem
Kicking myself a bit for not picking up a BLK12 when I had the chance