Face lathering - I like it!

[jamesspo]

I'm heading on some travel shortly, so I thought I'd see what I can do to simplify the den for travel. I figured face lathering would be a good thing to try, eliminating the lather bowl. Plus, trying a soap stick (Arko) vs a "puck in a bowl". First shave this morning this way and I really dig it... First pass was a wee bit dry when I first lathered, but just adding a tad of water to the brush and running over it again got it perfect. As long as I kept it appropriately hydrated, I didn't miss the glycerin I usually add in the lather bowl. If you travel and need to keep the gear down, it's certainly worth giving it a shot.

As an aside, the Arko sure does lather like crazy (vs quantity used). A single swipe over the whole face, and I had enough lather for 4 passes, plus several touch up passes on my stubborn jawline, with quite a bit left over. I even like the strong soap smell..call me unrefined :) . Neat! I could see this making it into my daily routine.

[CaptainK]

I tried face lathering while traveling and loved it. Now, I face lather almost exclusively. And, I agree: when it comes to shave sticks, Arko is awesome! :thumbup1:

So is Speick, Palmolive, Irisch Moos, Tabac, ... :laugh:

[Greyfox]

Congrats.

[maxzoran]

Face lathered Arko this morning. I've really only bowl lathered a couple of times, but I just like face lathering too much.

[tchudson]

May have to give it a try. Been bowl lathering exclusively so far.

[mandoman]

i don't even own a bowl face lathering all the way

[maxzoran]

I own two antique mugs. They make for excellent decorations :thumbup:



i don't even own a bowl face lathering all the way

[Obiwan]

I face lather exclusively. I prefer the feel of building the lather on my face.

[bkfist]

Welcome to the wonderful world of superior lather! I face lather almost everything. Once or twice a month I'll still build a lather in a bowl, just for the fun of it, usually when I use a cream, but there is no reason you can't face lather a cream also... Just more habit than anything.

I've also grown very fond of using soap samples as a shave "Stick" (ball) and just rubbing on my face. You know you'll ALWAYS get adequate product when using a soap or a sample as a stick. If the sample is grated into nice big flakes, I just squeeze the flakes into a ball in the baggie the sample comes in until it forms a good, hard, solid ball in the baggie, then I press down on a hard surface and pinch a little with 3 fingers to form a flat side on the bottom and kind of a pyramid on the top part to hold on to... Work great, and you don't have to try to press a half ounce of product into the bottom of a bowl. It also has the advantage of preserving the scent of the soap much better than spreading out a small sample of soap over a wide area. The scent in my DR Harris Arlington disappeared in a week... Only got to try it once before it was scentless. Still performed as normal, just almost no scent left by the time I got around to it. (Wish I'd used the Arlington first, and wish the Marlborough had gone scentless!)

[jtb]

I face lather exclusively. I prefer the feel of building the lather on my face.

:thumbup1: I'll even superlather on my face

[SicTransit]

Face lathering is also my favorite. I love to feel when the lather is buliding.

[jamesspo]

...You know you'll ALWAYS get adequate product when using a soap or a sample as a stick....

Yep, that make sense, and I'm sure the reason it lathered so well. It certainly ensures you have enough product. Another thing I noticed is that I'm actually able to keep the lather a bit warmer than I would in a bowl, since I'm adding a bit of hot water each time to the brush between passes to keep it hydrated.

[jamesspo]

So is Speick, Palmolive, Irisch Moos, Tabac, ... :laugh:

Oh no...now I'm going to get shave stick AD! :lol: Fortunately, my RAD is nearing an end.

[Obiwan]

:thumbup1: I'll even superlather on my face

Same here. Did that this morning actually.

[Angry__Panda]

I tried face lathering while traveling and loved it. Now, I face lather almost exclusively. And, I agree: when it comes to shave sticks, Arko is awesome! :thumbup1:

So is Speick, Palmolive, Irisch Moos, Tabac, ... :laugh:

You know, it is funny, I didn't do it in the course of travelling, but I want to say I saw you mention doing it almost exclusively so I tried it a while back. I almost exclusively face lather myself now. I broke in my new boar brush with a bowl of course, and I might stop using my black badger to face lather, but I try to do it daily simply because it is a little less clean up and it helps to soften the beard I think :) .

Definitely Arko lathers well and I agree with Captain that the Speick and Tabac do as well (only ones I have tried). For travel I hear shave stick is where it is at.