Tough time face lathering ADP.

[m139]

Tried ADP this morning for the first time, but I was not aware of the texture. It's firm like a soap where I thought it'd be a soft cream. I am a face latherer so I tried loading the brush (TGN Silvertip) for about 20 seconds or so but didn't get a great lather. Then I took a very small amount out with my finger (about half of an almond) and lathered it up in a bowl for 60 seconds and wow! I had fantastic lather by going that route. However, does this mean I always have to lather ADP in a bowl or can you gents give me some pointers on how to face lather it? Thanks.

*** EDIT *** OK, after posting I read some old threads where it's recommended that ADP be lathered like a soap, whereas you swirl the brush on top of it till it's loaded then go to face lathering. This is what I did but perhaps the brush was not properly hydrated. Any tips?

 

[Foyle]

Load it like a soap, but load longer. 2o seconds is not sufficient for most soaps. I have really soft water, and I load for at least 30 seconds on everything except Proraso and MdC.

 

[Reckoner]

I do a vigorous load for about 15-17 seconds using a well hydrated Duke 3 brush. I have soft water. This is enough to give me four solid passes. Usually I dip my tips in water after the second pass to help rebuild the lather.

OOPS: just realized you are asking about the cream, not the soap. What I wrote is what I do with the soap in the tub, not the cream in the tube.

 

[ShaveYourSoul]

I think you just need to load longer since you have a silvertip. I always use a two-band so it has a little more backbone. You could try loading drier, then adding water along the way.

 

[The Dean]

I think you just need to load longer since you have a silvertip. I always use a two-band so it has a little more backbone. You could try loading drier, then adding water along the way.

I also use a Finest/two-band. I have never had ANY problem face lathering ADP and I don't load it for anywhere near 20 seconds. Maybe it does take a bit longer with a silvertip.

I wouldn't put any water on top of the soap, but rather do as maxzoran suggests.

 

[m139]

I do a vigorous load for about 15-17 seconds using a well hydrated Duke 3 brush. I have soft water. This is enough to give me four solid passes. Usually I dip my tips in water after the second pass to help rebuild the lather.

OOPS: just realized you are asking about the cream, not the soap. What I wrote is what I do with the soap in the tub, not the cream in the tube.

Yes, I'm asking about the "soap" in the tub. It's supposedly a hard cream, or a "croap"! What's a Duke 3 brush?

 

[m139]

Or would it be a better approach to treat this like a true soap and maybe use a boar brush instead? If so, how wet should the brush be?

 

[The Dean]

I decided to use ADP today to see exactly what I do and figure out if I can offer the OP (m139) any further advice. Keep in mind, I shave in the shower and I used a Frank Shaving Finest Badger brush--with a silvertip you may need to make some minor adjustments.

I loaded from the dry (no added water) ADP jar for about 20 or so swirls (10-15 seconds maybe) with a dry-ish brush* and spread it immediately on my face. Then I reloaded for about 10 more swirls. I gently touched the tips of a few of the brush hairs into my mug of hot water and began building the lather. I went back to the water maybe twice more for the first pass.

This led me to my first possible observation which might help: What sort of lather are you trying to build? If you are trying to get a lather porn, fluffy mess of whipped cream, I think you may be defeating the real quality of ADP--slickness and protection. When I use ADP my lather is beautiful, but is a thicker yogurt texture. Sure, I could keep adding water, and working the lather, to get it thinner--but I wouldn't do that to ADP.

On repeated passes, I think I went back to the hot water mug (very very little bit of water) once or twice more (on the 3rd pass, I think). I did a full 4-pass shave and had enough left in the brush for at least one more pass.

* I soaked my brush fully (maybe 5 minutes or so) and shook it a couple of times to get rid of the excess water.

 

[athair]

Boar, Badger, Horse, and Synthetic all work great with both soaps and creams. But your technique and amounts will have to be adjusted for the soap/cream/water/brush combination. Don't look at the clock. From your description you needed to load more. Try to load enough product, don't try to figure out how many seconds you need, focus on how much product is in the tips of the brush instead. This is one reason why test lathers are recommended so often.

 

[Reckoner]

Yes, I'm asking about the "soap" in the tub. It's supposedly a hard cream, or a "croap"! What's a Duke 3 brush?

The Duke 3 is a three-band best badger brush by Simpsons. I've really dialed it in to 15-17 seconds of loading (yes, I look at my watch) and that gives me four full passes. You don't need much AdP, but you do need the right amount of water, both on your face and in the brush.

 

[m139]

I decided to use ADP today to see exactly what I do and figure out if I can offer the OP (m139) any further advice. Keep in mind, I shave in the shower and I used a Frank Shaving Finest Badger brush--with a silvertip you may need to make some minor adjustments.

I loaded from the dry (no added water) ADP jar for about 20 or so swirls (10-15 seconds maybe) with a dry-ish brush* and spread it immediately on my face. Then I reloaded for about 10 more swirls. I gently touched the tips of a few of the brush hairs into my mug of hot water and began building the lather. I went back to the water maybe twice more for the first pass.

This led me to my first possible observation which might help: What sort of lather are you trying to build? If you are trying to get a lather porn, fluffy mess of whipped cream, I think you may be defeating the real quality of ADP--slickness and protection. When I use ADP my lather is beautiful, but is a thicker yogurt texture. Sure, I could keep adding water, and working the lather, to get it thinner--but I wouldn't do that to ADP.

On repeated passes, I think I went back to the hot water mug (very very little bit of water) once or twice more (on the 3rd pass, I think). I did a full 4-pass shave and had enough left in the brush for at least one more pass.

* I soaked my brush fully (maybe 5 minutes or so) and shook it a couple of times to get rid of the excess water.

Thank you for doing that... it's much appreciated and I hope you enjoyed the shave although you were keeping track. As for the type of lather, my go to creams have been GFT Sandalwood and TOBS Jermyn Street and I face lather both. I do this after a hot shower, I soak my brush in hot water then shake off the excess. I then dip the tips of the brush in the cream jar and go directly to lathering on my wet face. I rarely have to dip the brush in hot water again and if I do, it's only one quick dip and continue lathering on the face. This results in a very thick yogurt like consistency which I happen to love. I do not like the frothy Starbucks cappuccino consistency... I actually think that does not provide much protection (YMMV) because it's too thin. I prefer the thick lather.

It appears that this is the type of lather you're describing. Today, I loaded for maybe 20 seconds with ADP but I think I know what was wrong. As soon as I started to load the brush in the jar, it started making bubbles and lather. This tells me the brush was too wet to begin with. I think tonight after I get home from the office, I'll do a test run and load with a drier brush then lather on a wet face. Maybe that was the issue this morning.

Does this make sense?

Boar, Badger, Horse, and Synthetic all work great with both soaps and creams. But your technique and amounts will have to be adjusted for the soap/cream/water/brush combination. Don't look at the clock. From your description you needed to load more. Try to load enough product, don't try to figure out how many seconds you need, focus on how much product is in the tips of the brush instead. This is one reason why test lathers are recommended so often.

I guess I loaded for only a short period because I had read that you only need a little bit of ADP to get a great lather. This seemed to be the first rebuttal when someone mentions price, so I thought I would not need to load for that much time.

 

[The Dean]

As soon as I started to load the brush in the jar, it started making bubbles and lather. This tells me the brush was too wet to begin with. I think tonight after I get home from the office, I'll do a test run and load with a drier brush then lather on a wet face. Maybe that was the issue this morning.

Does this make sense?

It makes perfect sense. Keep the brush a bit drier, load a bit more (more is usually better) and slowly add water. I think you will be fine.

 

[m139]

Ok, much much better this morning. I used the same brush as I did yesterday to make sure that I keep the variables to a minimum (TGN Silvertip Grade A 22mm).

I just made sure that the brush was just damp but not wet and I loaded for about 20 seconds or so. I could immediately tell this was going to be a better load because all I could see forming on the brush was a nice thick paste and no foam or lather forming.

I went to face lathering and dipped the brush in hot water maybe once or twice during the 60 second face lathering session. I got perfect lather with a nice thick consistency. I loved the scent so much that I ended up doing three passes (WTG, WTG, XTG). My face felt great afterwards and it was a much much better experience than yesterday's shave.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful feedback.