A question for you gents who have tried lathering your creams and just slathering it on. Which do you prefer, the slick glide of a brushless cream, or a thick, foamy cushion of lather?
I'm not sure, myself, but I'm leaning towards slickness. I'm experimenting with brushless creams, and I think the slickness is serving me better than whipped up lather.
For some reason, my lather, which is well hydrated and of good consistency, doesn't give me the slick glide that I expected from a cream. It's cushiony, alright, but doesn't make a very slippery surface for the razor. By contrast, slathering on the cream is giving me a much better glide, and consequently less irritation and burn.
Isn't the purpose of whipped cream is to form a cushioning layer for the single DE blade edge? When the razor is pulled across the face, the cushion of foam keeps the blade from taking too deep a layer off the surface of the skin. I guess it's fine as long as there's always a layer of foam there. But during buffing and touchup, one has to go over an area several times, however lightly, without fully re-lathering. YMMV, of course, but I find that this reduces the effect of the lather and leads to irritation. (Isn't this also the rationale behind preshave oils? That the oil provides a base of slickness and glide while the top cream layer provides cushioning?)
On the other hand, a light touch with the razor on a thin layer of super slick brushless cream seems to work better for me. I simply get less irritation. I do have to rehydrate with some water to reactivate the slickness, but as long as I have some cream on my face, I seem to get good results.
The products I'm using aren't super deluxe. They're good performing standards, though, like Proraso and KMF. Going brushless, I've used KMF, but prefer Headslick. Used brushless, it's my current go to. FWIW, I find that products that can be used both brushless and whipped are nowhere as slick when they're whipped.
What do you think about slickness vs. cushioning?
K.T.
I'm not sure, myself, but I'm leaning towards slickness. I'm experimenting with brushless creams, and I think the slickness is serving me better than whipped up lather.
For some reason, my lather, which is well hydrated and of good consistency, doesn't give me the slick glide that I expected from a cream. It's cushiony, alright, but doesn't make a very slippery surface for the razor. By contrast, slathering on the cream is giving me a much better glide, and consequently less irritation and burn.
Isn't the purpose of whipped cream is to form a cushioning layer for the single DE blade edge? When the razor is pulled across the face, the cushion of foam keeps the blade from taking too deep a layer off the surface of the skin. I guess it's fine as long as there's always a layer of foam there. But during buffing and touchup, one has to go over an area several times, however lightly, without fully re-lathering. YMMV, of course, but I find that this reduces the effect of the lather and leads to irritation. (Isn't this also the rationale behind preshave oils? That the oil provides a base of slickness and glide while the top cream layer provides cushioning?)
On the other hand, a light touch with the razor on a thin layer of super slick brushless cream seems to work better for me. I simply get less irritation. I do have to rehydrate with some water to reactivate the slickness, but as long as I have some cream on my face, I seem to get good results.
The products I'm using aren't super deluxe. They're good performing standards, though, like Proraso and KMF. Going brushless, I've used KMF, but prefer Headslick. Used brushless, it's my current go to. FWIW, I find that products that can be used both brushless and whipped are nowhere as slick when they're whipped.
What do you think about slickness vs. cushioning?
K.T.
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