Castle Forbes Lavender: unique

I've been shaving with Castle Forbes Lavender exclusively these days.
For ten days and every day.
Now it's time to write down some considerations and see if there's someone else here who shares them.

1. This is a truly unique, high quality product.
Its original formulation assures that no other cream is produced like this one.
The shaves I get with CF Lavender are among the very best possible.
Even better than most top shelf creams.

2. The way it smells is amazing: no other Lavender cream has the same scent intensity as this one.

3. It is so dense that it seems more a "soft soap" than a shaving cream, compared to all other creams.

4. Building up a good lather with CF Lavender can be a tricky point.
It's not the easiest cream on the market to lather.
I had to keep on trying to get the right water / cream mix.
Only on my third day of attempts I got that super-lather I was looking for.

5. Every time I use it, being so concentrated, I need a very little quantity for multiple passes.
Therefore a 200ml bowl will last a long, long time, making this product not so expensive, as it may seem at first sight.
Or, at least, no more expensive than other top shelf brands.

I truly love it.

Could you expand a little more on how you get it to completely dissolve? I have 2 products which simply refuse to dissolve completely in my scuttle, Casrle-Forbes for 1 and Santa Maria Novella is the second. Both products are terrific, but after basically bashing them around with a boar brush for 3-4 minutes, after I finish 3-4 passes I still have a little undissolved cream in the scuttle.

ALL HANDS WORKING said:

Could you expand a little more on how you get it to completely dissolve? I have 2 products which simply refuse to dissolve completely in my scuttle, Casrle-Forbes for 1 and Santa Maria Novella is the second. Both products are terrific, but after basically bashing them around with a boar brush for 3-4 minutes, after I finish 3-4 passes I still have a little undissolved cream in the scuttle.

Click to expand...

I take a peanut size amount of cream and put it in my bowl.
For other less dense creams I use an almond size amount of product, so more dense = less cream.
I smash it with my finger to reduce its density, this takes just about 30 seconds.
Then I start lathering with my Super badger brush.
To lather I run the brush under really hot water, then put it bristles down untill the excess of water runs out.
I do NOT shake my brush, at all.
It has to be completely full of water.
Then, using a circular motion on the cream and a few swirls, I build up a beautiful lather.
Then I proceed lathering on my face.
It is important to move your brush very carefully, since, as said, it is full of water.
So do NOT press the brush in the bowl, use a very light touch.
I do think that a boar brush is not indicated for a so concentrated cream, being unable to hold all the water requested.
Castle Forbes, being very dense, needs more water and less cream.

This tecnique has worked really well for me.
I hope it can be useful for you too.

Regarding Marco's post, I agree with every point - especially the first four. In an industry where so many creams resemble each other, due to being produced by a handful of manufacturers, Castle Forbes is truly unique.


Per AHW's post: I never could get CF to dissolve fully if I lathered it in a bowl. I would always have little chunks leftover. I finally resorted to lathering it somewhat like a soap - that is to say, I load the brush directly from the tub, using enough swirls to get a good amount in the brush, but I then build the lather on my face. As for SMN, it's actually meant to be lathered like a soap. The directions for Proraso soap (which is the same type of product) specifically used to call for it being lathered directly from the tub, just like a hard soap. (They may still, but I haven't bought a new tub in a while.) I suppose one could scoop out a bit and lather it in a bowl, but I've never seen the need for that. I get great results treating the SMN like a hard soap.

HoratioCaine said:

Regarding Marco's post, I agree with every point - especially the first four. In an industry where so many creams resemble each other, due to being produced by a handful of manufacturers, Castle Forbes is truly unique.


Per AHW's post: I never could get CF to dissolve fully if I lathered it in a bowl. I would always have little chunks leftover. I finally resorted to lathering it somewhat like a soap - that is to say, I load the brush directly from the tub, using enough swirls to get a good amount in the brush, but I then build the lather on my face. As for SMN, it's actually meant to be lathered like a soap. The directions for Proraso soap (which is the same type of product) specifically used to call for it being lathered directly from the tub, just like a hard soap. (They may still, but I haven't bought a new tub in a while.) I suppose one could scoop out a bit and lather it in a bowl, but I've never seen the need for that. I get great results treating the SMN like a hard soap.

Click to expand...

This.
Castle Forbes is best treated as a soap when loading the brush. It took me a lot of tries to get it to lather well enough for three passes. Finally I figured out that when I thought I had enough water, I still needed more water. It is thirsty stuff, but it rewards you so well. The unique lavender scent alone is well worth the learning curve.

The "soap" method didn't work, but the mashing it with my butter knife (the kind that comes with good silverwear, not the "normal" kind) worked great. I used a peanut size portion and had enough shave cream to shave two or three people.

I also find that if I apply it to a wet face it's even better. CF is great stuff.

What a timely thread, I just ordered a tub of CF Lavender from Charles at QED. Thanks for everyone's insight in creating lather with this product.

A fine product for sure, and definitely noticed a bit of finnickyness when it came to the lathering, but worked out great.