Foyle
01-24-2011, 06:01 AM
Not long after posting my modest shave den I went out and purchased a bowl of C&E Nomad soap. I've always wanted to give hard soaps a really good try and since we had a coupon to the local soap shop this seemed like as good a time as any.
See, the problem is now I not only have two nice creams to use I have a soap. That's three products to choose from each morning. :scared:
I made a couple of practice lathers with the soap and I used it Sunday morning for my shave. I lathered it with my pure badger brush ala Jim's instructions for lathering soap in the wiki and I got a lot of lather but it was a but thin. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21136
The lather had lots of glide but not much cushion. The overall shave was not as close and it left me with some small bumps at the end of the beard line on my neck. I maybe should have spent more time loading the brush. Possibly badger just doesn't work as well with soaps?
Today I gave it another shot with a badly shedding Kent boar that I had sitting in the back of the drawer. I hadn't used it since getting my badger for my birthday. The lather was much better. I was careful to spend a good amount of time loading the brush. Following the same instructions I got a creamier lather, not quite as rich as my creams but close, that offered more protection and I got the same level of closeness I usually get with my creams.
I think I still like my creams better but I really want to learn to use soaps. I keep hearing they are a better value for the money you spend. Oh, and as an unexpected benefit, this soap at least is not leaving a heavy residue on my gear like the creams usually do. I really thought the soap would leave more residue. Go figure.
I'll probably set this aside until I've used up at least one of my two creams and then give this stuff a really fair try. I know there's a learning curve for soap. I hope I can figure it out.
See, the problem is now I not only have two nice creams to use I have a soap. That's three products to choose from each morning. :scared:
I made a couple of practice lathers with the soap and I used it Sunday morning for my shave. I lathered it with my pure badger brush ala Jim's instructions for lathering soap in the wiki and I got a lot of lather but it was a but thin. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21136
The lather had lots of glide but not much cushion. The overall shave was not as close and it left me with some small bumps at the end of the beard line on my neck. I maybe should have spent more time loading the brush. Possibly badger just doesn't work as well with soaps?
Today I gave it another shot with a badly shedding Kent boar that I had sitting in the back of the drawer. I hadn't used it since getting my badger for my birthday. The lather was much better. I was careful to spend a good amount of time loading the brush. Following the same instructions I got a creamier lather, not quite as rich as my creams but close, that offered more protection and I got the same level of closeness I usually get with my creams.
I think I still like my creams better but I really want to learn to use soaps. I keep hearing they are a better value for the money you spend. Oh, and as an unexpected benefit, this soap at least is not leaving a heavy residue on my gear like the creams usually do. I really thought the soap would leave more residue. Go figure.
I'll probably set this aside until I've used up at least one of my two creams and then give this stuff a really fair try. I know there's a learning curve for soap. I hope I can figure it out.