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Voluminous Lather: Am I missing out?

Unpopular opinion warning - Am I really missing out on something by not creating buckets of thick, cool whip lather and slinging it all over the bathroom?

The interweb has more digital ink spilled over what kind of brush and bowl work best to create SOTD photo quality lather than cat videos. Tall, thick, merinque, overflowing brush and bowl. But I just can’t imagine slathering that much goop on my face. That’s why I never used canned goo. I don’t even like whipped cream on top ice cream. Too d**n messy! Plus, it gets all over your razor, you can’t see what you’re doing… I don’t get it.

Now, I have a beard, so I only shave cheeks, neck, and touch-ups areas. So my shaving is pretty precise. Plus, I can’t stand getting things in my beard that I have to wash out (messy food, etc). When shaving, I usually am fresh out of the shower. The last thing I want to do is take a janitor’s mop of thick lather and slop it all over my face. Then I’d have to get back in the shower again after shaving, just to rinse off all the lather!

Seriously, though. My routine is to load a small brush, do a little puck lathering, then apply it using paint brush strokes- no swirls. I get a thin, dense lather that I can control. My favorite lather is 3rd pass, as it’s coming off the brush even thinner.

So sincerely, am I really missing something by not whipping up a bowl full of goopy lather that I will then have to wash down the sink, and wash out of my beard?
 
Unpopular opinion warning - Am I really missing out on something by not creating buckets of thick, cool whip lather and slinging it all over the bathroom?

The interweb has more digital ink spilled over what kind of brush and bowl work best to create SOTD photo quality lather than cat videos. Tall, thick, merinque, overflowing brush and bowl. But I just can’t imagine slathering that much goop on my face. That’s why I never used canned goo. I don’t even like whipped cream on top ice cream. Too d**n messy! Plus, it gets all over your razor, you can’t see what you’re doing… I don’t get it.

Now, I have a beard, so I only shave cheeks, neck, and touch-ups areas. So my shaving is pretty precise. Plus, I can’t stand getting things in my beard that I have to wash out (messy food, etc). When shaving, I usually am fresh out of the shower. The last thing I want to do is take a janitor’s mop of thick lather and slop it all over my face. Then I’d have to get back in the shower again after shaving, just to rinse off all the lather!

Seriously, though. My routine is to load a small brush, do a little puck lathering, then apply it using paint brush strokes- no swirls. I get a thin, dense lather that I can control. My favorite lather is 3rd pass, as it’s coming off the brush even thinner.

So sincerely, am I really missing something by not whipping up a bowl full of goopy lather that I will then have to wash down the sink, and wash out of my beard?
More volume is just air. It does not do anything. It might help with the cushion, which does not mean anything to me:)
 
Now, I have a beard, so I only shave cheeks, neck, and touch-ups areas. So my shaving is pretty precise. Plus, I can’t stand getting things in my beard that I have to wash out (messy food, etc). When shaving, I usually am fresh out of the shower. The last thing I want to do is take a janitor’s mop of thick lather and slop it all over my face. Then I’d have to get back in the shower again after shaving, just to rinse off all the lather!

I think you answered your own question. You do it how you like it. I’ll do it how I like it. That’s what it’s all about.

Me, I don’t have a beard and I’ll continue slinging lather all over the place because I like to use too much product and make lots of lather. I do what I want… 😎
 
When I use soap pucks, the soap is melted to fit the bowl, I just get some soap on the end of the brush and lather it on my face. When I use a tube of cream I just squeeze out about a half a marble size amount of cream on my chin and lather it on my face. I’ve no use for a Santa Clause beard lather on my face, or bowl overflowing with lather and spending minutes to generate it, just to not even use most of it and dump it in the sink. I’d rather just put the stuff straight on my face and prepare the beard rather than lather up 10x what I need in a bowl, only to then have to spend more time brushing it into the beard.
 
I love shaving...even consider it a hobby...but if I had to spend 7-10 minutes everyday just mixing up lather in a bowl to get it the way I want, I would go back to foam. Swirl a wet brush for 20-30 seconds on puck and go to face. Basically all soaps give me the slickness I need to keep the razor from skipping and I'm good to go.

Granted, you may want to take my opinion with a grain of salt. A lot of the time, I use Savon de Marseille olive oil soap to shave with. I use it everyday for a face wash, so may as well hit the beard with a razor at the same time. ;)
 

Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
I wet my brush, shake it lightly, load atop the puck for about five seconds, and face lather. The lather is wet and slick, just barely dry enough not to run down my neck. That provides plenty for three slick and comfortable passes with close results and zero irritation.
 
Seriously, though. My routine is to load a small brush, do a little puck lathering, then apply it using paint brush strokes- no swirls. I get a thin, dense lather that I can control. My favorite lather is 3rd pass, as it’s coming off the brush even thinner.

So sincerely, am I really missing something by not whipping up a bowl full of goopy lather that I will then have to wash down the sink, and wash out of my beard?
I suggest you keep doing it your way.
One thing I have changed recently is to spend more time applying the lather on my skin. The added brushing time (dabbing painting, splaying and patting) seems to give the lather time to prepare my skin for the first pass.
 

Chef455

Head Cheese Head Chef
I face lather 95% of the time. I probably spend 30-45 seconds tops with the brush on my face for each pass. I get great results with no irritation.

Today I did ask the Google assistant for a 2 minute timer after I loaded my brush. It felt like forever. I must confess that it did create quite the lather. Perhaps I'll go for the long haul from time to time, but in general no.
 
Every soap has different ingredients
Every brush is different
Every water is different
Every day when you count the seconds, you count differently
Facial growth is different
Time between shaves is different
Every squirt of cream is different
It all adds up...
But to get a good shave you don't need lather quantity to shave your whole body 6 times
Eventualy you will find your sweet spot
Also if I shave lond time with 1 soap and switch to another, that first shave never gives my best lather
 
I do basically the same as you. I too have a beard and just shave my cheeks and neck. Copious amounts of lather just get in the way and waste soap. The lather that gets in my beard I squeegee out with a finger so I have a clean line to follow with the razor. The only thing I do differently is I shave before showering. If I don't thoroughly wash my face after shaving, I break out in zits. Just rinsing well won't cut it, I don't know what it is about shaving soap/cream but if I don't thoroughly wash my face afterward, I break out and being in my late 50s, with rosacea, adding even more blemishes is not something I care to do. Even before I developed rosacea about 12 years ago, this was my routine because I've always had the breakout issue.
 
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