Using Shaving Sticks in a More Conventional Way

[Rik]

Greetings,
I must admit up front that I'm primarily a shaving cream guy - the only soaps I use regularly are in a tub. This allows me to grab the correct amount of soap and use my regular shaving bowl – which sits in another bowl of scalding hot water.

I wasn't real thrilled with the shave stick form factor because I like all of my applications with the brush to be very warm and I was only able to achieve this with the first application. It usually takes me 3-4 passes for a superior shave.

Charles is offering such a wonderful assortment of fragrances that I want to try, but don’t want to have to melt each into it’s own container.

Yesterday I came up with a way to have my soap and use it too – I melt it right in my daily shaving bowl. Because I preheat my brush in the bowl which sits in a hot water bath, it is warm enough to melt just the right amount of soap and provide enough hot lather for the entire shave. When I’m done I rinse everything out and am ready for another day!


http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick01.jpg
Preheating Bowls

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick02.jpg

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick03.jpg
Preheating Brush

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick05.jpg
Melting Soap In Bowl

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick06.jpg
Surface of Soap Still In Liquid State

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick07.jpg

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick08.jpg

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick09.jpg

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick10.jpg

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick11.jpg
After 15 - 20 Swirls.

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick12.jpg

http://www.therickersons.com/images/shaving/stick13.jpg

Take care,
Rik

[joel]

Superb idea my friend! I will surely have to give it a go, and see how it works for me! Love the "outside the box" thinking.

[rtaylor61]

Outstanding job Rik! If a picture paints a thousand words...

Randy

[Rik]

Thanks guys. Charles' products deserve nothing less.

Take care,
Rik

[Scotto]

Rik,

I tried your method this morning with a QED Eucalyptus shave stick, and it worked nicely. I don't use a hot pot, so I didn't get quite as much lather as I would have liked, so I went back to my face with the stick for the second and third pass. I think if my bowl had been hotter it would have worked flawlessly. i will play around a bit and see how it goes. Really clever idea!

My normal method with these sticks is to run them around my wet face, then work it with a sopping wet brush for a bit, and then hit my bowl. This usually generates tons of lather.

[gage0921]

I have tried something similar and wound up with just as much lather but the shave was not as lubricating as I would have liked it to be...... :confused:

[Rik]

Thanks Scott!

Scott and Sean,
The water bath does make a difference. Initially I tried using the hottest water from our tap, including changing the water twice while preheating my shave bowl, with unremarkable results.

Using the water bath, I'm able to apply extremely hot lather (about as hot as I can tolerate) which I find invigorating. Like any other setup it took some experimenting to create the perfect combination of lather and lubrication. I’m now able to acquire both equal to the 3 Ts.

This is the ingenious thing about the shave stick format. They’re portable, affordable, can be used both traditionally and applied directly to your face and come in an overwhelming variety of fragrances – I just placed another order today! For the individual who likes variety, what more could one ask for!