Pics: Lathering Queen Charlotte Cream

Seems like there have been a few threads recently asking about how to lather QCS cream, so I decided to take a few pictures of how I do it. I won't exactly call it a tutorial, because I'm not sure really how instructional it is. All pictures were taken in real time during an actual shave.

The only "trick" is to think of the product as a soap. I use a wet brush to lather soaps. Not dripping or anything, a few good shakes (I never squeeze water out of brushes, YMMV). QCS maybe doesn't require quite as much water as a hard soap, but definitely more than your average cream. My second piece of advice is to buy a full-sized product. I think a lot of the issues people seem to be having are tied to the little sample containers. Lathering a hard product in a small container just doesn't work well.

So here we have QCS Cedarwood/Lemongrass and a vintage Plisson EW brush. I think it's around size 12, and I estimate that the knot is 22-23mm and loft is 55-58 (yeah, a brush with an actual loft, very unpopular these days). The QCS is technically not the most recent version because it doesn't have palm oil, but I assume it's pretty much the same as you can buy now.


Here is the brush loaded with product. I don't really time myself, but I'd say in the 20-25 second range.



The following steps are just what I do for any product. These aren't specific to QCS.

Next, I palm lather for a bit, just to get everything mixed up well. This step is optional, but I think it makes better lather in general. Here's the brush after the initial palm lathering.


I'll wipe whatever lather is on my hand after palm lathering on my face, and then face lather for maybe a minute or so. Here is the brush after I've face lathered for the first pass.


After the second pass.


After the third pass (frugal latherers avert your eyes ).


As you can see, the lather remains pretty consistent throughout the shave. Of course, how the product reacts with your skin and how well it shaves are different matters.

Comments/suggestions/criticisms welcome.

Great looking lather! Now this is something everyone should aim for when practicing lather making. I'll print out that last photo and tape it to my bathroom mirror.

Good idea, the pictures should help those having trouble with QCS, the important point is to load as if it's a soft soap.

Sweet mercy...

mftoms59 said:

Good idea, the pictures should help those having trouble with QCS, the important point is to load as if it's a soft soap.

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+1. Spot on advice.

Great advice.

Very tasty lather! And some good advice to boot! Well done...

the thread title was cut off in the particular view i had going, so all i saw was "Pics: Lathering Queen" and rushed over here. you can now imagine my disappointment.


v,

Very nice indeed. Appreciate the pics and commentary; thanks!

I have been hand lathering for many months now and the quality of my lather is MUCH better, great tip! (if you haven't hand lathered, you should)

Great looking lather and that brush is beautiful!

I will try hand lathering. I normally do that when I break in a brush on its first lather but never thought about doing it when I shave.

Also, that is a real nice looking Plisson. That isn't a current production brush is it?

nathanb said:

Also, that is a real nice looking Plisson. That isn't a current production brush is it?

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Nope, I believe it is from the 80s. The pics don't really do it justice. The color of the hair is unlike any other I've used. The tips are kind of yellowish and the dark band is a deep chocolate brown. Very different from the "black and white" two bands you see a lot of these days.

would it be fairly accurate to say that you need a brush that's at least 22-23mm to be able to hold enough lather for 3+ passes?

No. Mine is 21 mm and holds enough for three to four.

The knot size and loft will play some role but I think the hair type will have more say. For example with the boar brushes I tried, I could not get them to hold lather for more than 2 passes and even that was a stretch (or a squeeze rather). The density of the hair could also play a role, I'm guessing a very dense brush will not be able to hold a lot of lather "inside" the knot.

sdaniels said:

would it be fairly accurate to say that you need a brush that's at least 22-23mm to be able to hold enough lather for 3+ passes?

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Not really. I have no problem getting 3 passes worth with my 18mm Savile Row (I never do more than 3 passes in general). However, it's my opinion that the best all around brushes are medium sized, say 22-25mm. Also, I think the size of the loft makes a bigger difference than the size of the knot in how big the brush feels.

I'm a big fan of the creams. I have had quite a few and currently have Briar and Green Irish Tweed in my den, along with a Cayman Soap.

Here is a little lather video I shot a few weeks ago, which I guess I did not upload (I didn't have a tripod at the time, so wasn't happy with the entire shot).

Here is as good a place as any to post it:

Lather Video - QCS Green Irish Tweed Cream & Duke 3

It says the video is private.

Aaron622 said:

It says the video is private.

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fixed. sorry about that.

All I own are QCS creams, except for a tub of GFT Coconut. I use a Semogue boar and cold water shave. I usually load my brush while going through the ABC's four times in my head, then bowl lather. The only thing different I do that the video above is I load my brush over my bowl, so instead of getting all the forming lather all over my hand, i direct it into the bowl by loading with the tub on an angle, so it all falls into the bowl. I make my lather a little on the slightly thinker/denser side instead of it more foamy. I find this offers the best protection for my face.