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Tutorial: How to face lather with shaving cream

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
There are many tutorials out there to make lather but I couldn't find one showing how to face lather with a shaving cream.

This is not the only way to face lather with cream, you can always apply your product on the brush directly and proceed or load your brush from a tub. This tutorial will show you how I build my lather from a shaving tube.

First, you need to have a good prep. A hot shower or Kyle's Prep is perfect. Do not dry you face afterwards.

1-The chosen equipement today is a Muhle Pinsel Silvertip brush and Proraso shaving cream. Note that you do not require a Silvertip to achieve this. A Boar/bristle/Pure Badger/etc. brush will work perfectly. For the shaving cream, I like Proraso.

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2-Soak the brush for a few minutes (it could be while you're in the shower or while you do your prep)

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3-Apply a small quantity of product on your finger. What you want is a thin layer of product in your beard.

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4-Rub into the beard until you spread all the product

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5-Repeat step 3 and squeeze a small or smaller quantities of product
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6-Repeat step 4 and rub on the other side and throat.
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7-Squeeze the excess water out of the brush. No need to squeeze it as hard as you can, I like to half close my fist so the brush retain water

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8-With your brush, rub/paint/swirl the shaving cream into the beard. This is after 20 seconds

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9-Continue to go in circles with the brush and make sure you are covering the whole surface that needs to be shaved. This is after 90 seconds and it's ready.

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10-The brush should contain enough lather for 2 more pass (3 passes total).

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This is basically how I have always used creams. I also face lather with soaps, and for shave sticks it is basically the same method.

Works great for me!
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
Very Nice, Luc! Good work.

PS- Did I spy a bottle of Mandom there? Extra points for that.

Yes, my bottle of Mandom is always out and ready to be used!

Thanks everyone!
 
I was just thinking earlier today before my shave that I'd like to try face lathering, but had no idea how to go about it with a cream.

This is an impeccably timed and superbly illustrated tutorial, Luc.

Thanks for the shared wisdom!
 

OldSaw

The wife's investment
Nice tutorial. That's pretty similar to what I do when I shave at the truck stops.
 
I've got a stupid question....

Why face lather instead of bowl/scuttle lather? I use creams 90% of the time, and just use a bowl. Is face lathering "better?" BTW, I only shave after a shower so my stubble is plenty soft.
 
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OldSaw

The wife's investment
I've got a stupid question....

Why face lather instead of bowl/scuttle lather? I use creams 90% of the time, and just use a bowl. Is face lathering "better?" BTW, I only shave after a shower so I'm going my stubble is plenty soft.

For me it is a matter of convenience, since I don't have a mug or bowl in my travel kit and don't want to add one.
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
I've got a stupid question....

Why face lather instead of bowl/scuttle lather? I use creams 90% of the time, and just use a bowl. Is face lathering "better?" BTW, I only shave after a shower so I'm going my stubble is plenty soft.

For me it is a matter of convenience, since I don't have a mug or bowl in my travel kit and don't want to add one.

This...

Face lathering isn't better than bowl or hand lathering, it's a matter of preference. At the end of the day, you will get what we are looking for, lather, regardless of the method. I like the idea of having the lather directly built so I don't leave any behind (in the bowl).
 
I've got a stupid question....

Why face lather instead of bowl/scuttle lather? I use creams 90% of the time, and just use a bowl. Is face lathering "better?" BTW, I only shave after a shower so I'm going my stubble is plenty soft.

I enjoy face lathering for the following reasons:

1. No extra bowl needed on the sink
2. No extra bowl to wash up
3. Better feedback on your lather right there on ya face
4. Spend longer lathering on the face which gives the whiskers extra time to soak.
5. Feels nice ( with a good brush)
6. Better "visually" watching the cream turn into lather right there on ya face. :blush:

Perceived "advantages" or not, I face lather 100% of the time and have had since shave 2 ( and almost always after shower ) !!! :001_smile
 
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I face lather but I prefer to dip my brush into the tub or cream or squeeze the cream onto my brush and then face lather.

Nice tutorial Luc.
 
I prefer the bowl because after the 1st pass, I'm afraid a face lather would irritate the freshly shaved skin.
Would anyone care to refute?
 
I face-lather with both badgers and boars. Neither is a problem in practice, because the initial face lathering loads the brush with enough lather for the rest of the shave. Just paint it on before each pass. Of course if you do find that painting the lather on irritates your skin, you could grab a little lather with your fingers and re-lather by hand. That's how I usually do my final touch-up anyway.

Some of my boars would only hold enough lather for two passes when they were new. As they broke in, though, they improved and could hold more lather. I believe this is because the split ends (flags) effectively increase the surface area of the bristles.
 
I prefer the bowl because after the 1st pass, I'm afraid a face lather would irritate the freshly shaved skin.
Would anyone care to refute?
That's personal preference aswell. I did 3 passes with face lathering this morning and no irritation. In the past I've done multiple shaves with a pure badger (the 'lowest' grade of hair) and face lathering. Irritation: none. There may be others who may have a different reaction but IMO if you don't press down too hard it is pleasant and enjoyable.
 

OldSaw

The wife's investment
I prefer the bowl because after the 1st pass, I'm afraid a face lather would irritate the freshly shaved skin.
Would anyone care to refute?

Since the excess lather from the initial lathering is retained in the brush there should be no difference from bowl lathering for your subsequent passes as you simply apply and shave.
 
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