Lathering problems

[cavalier]

Hi after a long break i have decided to go back to de shaving,im using a palmolive shave stick and a fairly decent ej shaving brush to make my lather, tried the following methods, 1 stick applied direct to wet face result to dry, 2 lather in mug, too thin, 3 lather applied to palm not bad but full of air bubbles. am i having problems because of soaps tallow? Or hard water? thanks

[Mad Man]

Could be water hardness, could be not hydrated enough (face), could be loading time insufficient (bowl), could be lack of agitation/mixing (hand).

How are you prepping the brush PRIOR to lathering? I have the EJ BBB and found it an effective if utilitarian brush and presoaked it and then either shook it fairly dry to bowl or kept it quite wet (Marco style) to face.

Hope that helps mate.

[Predict]

Face lather. Dip brush in water till its right.

[cavalier]

Thanks mad man I prep the brush by soaking in hot water then flicking most of it out

[sylynce]

I found face prep to be far too dry, really didn't work well for me, but likely was more of an issue of technique. So like others recommended here- I went back to the bowl. It's easier to see, easier to either thicken (more soap), or thin (add water), and I can easily time the amount of agitation of the soap (at least 2 minutes- which is WAY longer than you might think when just standing there).
The results are very good, much more consistent lather (I'm using CO Bigelow with a Tweezerman boar bush). Hell- after 2-3 minutes, it could be meringue- the brush can almost stand straight up on its own.

So, time it. Practice. If it still turns out badly- for less than $1- get a jug of distilled/ spring water and use that to make up your lather. If you keep your technique the same, with the same products and the distilled water makes a difference, you have found the source of your disdain.

Best of luck,

Jeff

[Luc]

I would suggest to visit the tutorials: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Category:Lathering

Also, practice, make a few bowls of lather between shaves. If you don't need it, it's easier to work the lather and figure out what's wrong.

[mistervee123]

Welcome back. My recommendation is to try another product. I tried Cella, which so many people think is great, but I couldn't get a decent shave with it for the life of me. I like Proraso shave cream, TOBS, Truefit & Hill, Tabac, and Trumper. Have some fun and experiment. Get a T&H sample pack from their web site. They give B&B members 10 or 15% off last time I checked. You'll find something that works for you.

[Gatsby]

I agree with Luc: make a few bowls of lather between shaves.
Practice makes perfect.

[Oblique Human]

Great advice above about bowl lathering. Try using more product to overcome any flaws in your technique and don't lose heart. It has been barely a month since I've perfected my lather, it will come to you, just be patient.

[pipskicks]

I had a problem with a well-lathering shave stick (Arko) and got the best advice here. Rub the brush over the stick, load it up, then lather in the bowl. Works very well for me...