I picked up some CO Bigelow cream today.

[Aqua Velva man]

I had been looking for some cream for a while, with it being hotter than two rats in a wool sock I figured something to cool my face would be a good idea. Last time I drove into town (closest town is about 20 min away and its not very big) I went to the mall (maybe a mini mall at best.) I went to Bath and Body Works looking for some, no dice, all I got was a nasty attitude from the sales lady apparently she was offended that an obviously straight man would dare enter her store. She said "WE don't carry THAT in HERE." So I left and put off getting some shave cream.

Well today everything went wrong on the return flight into Birmingham, 2 of the guys who load cargo had quit that evening so they were severely short handed. We left late, but made really good time in the air. We almost landed on time. By the time I got out to my truck it was almost 10am so I decided to go grab a bite to eat before heading home. There are some really bad neighborhoods in Birmingham, and the area around the airport is one of them, so first thing is to get to somewhere decent. I decided to go eat at the mall I know they have a chick-fil-a there and for some reason thats what I wanted for lunch. While sitting there eating I decided to see if they had a bath and body works there, which they did.

I went into this bath and body works expecting about the same as the last one. It was completely different from the last one the lady there was actually friendly and asked if I needed help. I asked for CO Bigelow shave cream and she showed me a whole bunch of it. I got a small tube to try it out, and I told her about the last time I was in bath and body works, she asked where I lived so i told her, she handed me 3 big tubes and told me its buy 2 get one free and if I don't like the small tube just bring back the 3 big tubes for a full refund, that way if I don't like it I don't spend too much money but if I do I have some on hand and don't have to run all the way back to Birmingham to get some.

When I got home I realized I don't know how to use this but figured it must be like the old burmashave brushless stuff in a tube. So I applied some rubbed it in real good and was not impressed with the lather at all, but the cooling effect was very refreshing. So I looked at the shave cream tutorial and then tried to make lather in a bowl. That didn't go well either, it was either too dry or too wet. I spent a good 2 minutes each time trying to whip up lather and still come up short handed. What am I doing wrong? I soaked my brush, shook out the water, put some cream in a bowl. The first time after 2 minutes it was still bubbly and thin, the second time it was thick and dry, I added a couple drops of water and it got thin and bubbly again. I never could get a creamy lather.

 

[The Accountant]

C.O. Bigelow (AKA Proraso Green) gets a lot of love here on the forum. My guess is your brush is either too wet (bubbly and thin lather) or too dry (thick and dry lather). Squeeze about a thumbnail size dollop into the bowl. Start with a soaked and shaken out brush. Add splashes of water until the lather is what you want. Add more product (cream) if necessary. It make take a few stabs at it before you are successful. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[bmwgsa]

I was surprised when I tried CO - now I use it as a mixer with something like Yeti Snot and get a great freeze result.

 

[BSAGuy]

+1 for this. I am sure you can get the hang of it without too much trouble. Once you do, you'll be a fan.

C.O. Bigelow (AKA Proraso Green) gets a lot of love here on the forum. My guess is your brush is either too wet (bubbly and thin lather) or too dry (thick and dry lather). Squeeze about a thumbnail size dollop into the bowl. Start with a soaked and shaken out brush. Add splashes of water until the lather is what you want. Add more product (cream) if necessary. It make take a few stabs at it before you are successful. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[Brasso]

I am in the habit of hand lathering everything. Seems to work well. Almond sized glob of cream, wet brush with a shake, and lather into the palm. Add drops of water as you go. I've found the Proraso to be extremely easy to lather.

 

[Musikmann]

I had mixed results with this. The first time I got a luxurious lather, the second time it was lousy (same brush but different lather bowls). But I'm new to this and I think the problem time was my inexperienced technique and probably got lucky the first time. Like another member said, vary the ratio of cream to water until you hit the nail on the head. This is undoubtedly a great cream, hundreds of members here can't all be wrong.

 

[01HDFXD]

+1 for this. I am sure you can get the hang of it without too much trouble. Once you do, you'll be a fan.

+2 for this. I have both the Bigelow- and Proraso-labeled versions, and they are identical --- and superb. Once you polish your technique for building a lather, it is one of the easiest shave creams to use in the world. Just keep working at it and check out the youtube videos from mantic59. FWIW, I find the usual "almond sized dollop" advice to be way to small. I squeeze out about the same size as two knuckles on my little finger, and then I add maybe a teaspoon of water, then start swirling with a brush that has been soaking and then been shaken fairly dry. Don't forget to use a pumping action as well as a swirling action, and add little bits of water only as needed. Just keep on trying, and you will get there.

 

[Obiwan]

This was the first quality shave cream I ever tried. It's actually the product that peeked my interest in wet shaving to be honest.

 

[Aqua Velva man]

I had been up for over 24 hours, I guess that made a difference. I tried it again after I woke up and was spot on the money. Perfect lather on the first try, too bad I shaved before I went to bed. I put it on my face anyhow, washed it off with cold water and put on some aqua velva. I love the cold, this stuff might just help me survive this damn summer heat.

 

[feltspanky]

Using more product really helps solve many lathering problems.

 

[01HDFXD]

I had been up for over 24 hours, I guess that made a difference. I tried it again after I woke up and was spot on the money. Perfect lather on the first try, too bad I shaved before I went to bed. I put it on my face anyhow, washed it off with cold water and put on some aqua velva. I love the cold, this stuff might just help me survive this damn summer heat.

Glad to hear it worked the way it should.

 

[ok2shave]

I had the same initial problems with bowling lathering too with CO. Solution!! Face lather! It works perfectly. Give that a shot too.

 

[vaplanman]

Sounds like you got it worked out. Congrats!

With creams, I start dry and add water. With soaps, I start wet and lather right on the puck.

 

[mreed]

This was my second soap as a newb alongside aos sandalwood in the wooden bowl. I absoultely love this cream and it whips up a real nice lather with a badger brush and i love the coolness on my face for about an hour after the shave which is nice when it's hot out. I also like to mix it with the sandalwood soaps, load the brush with the sandalwood and then bowl lather the cream together. makes for a real nice shave and a plesent scent. I will allways have the C.O. or Proraso in my den.