I am not a cake

So a recent discovery a made about my own technique has to do with what I might call 'zone lathering'.

Classic shaving ads and pictures show a fellow completely lathered up before commencing his shave. I did it that way too because that's what I saw.

Come to find out that if I take any care and time on shaving the areas of my face & neck that there is no way that the quality and condition of the lather at the end of the shave resembles the quality and condition for the first strokes. Lather begins collapsing as soon as it's applied....

So I prep and lather one zone at a time and it lets me focus on areas needing attention.

It is not a requirement to look like a frosted cake in a bakery window to do it right!

Definitely not necessary to get a decent shave, but I do enjoy the look of an rabid beast with lots of fluffy lather. I only have a problem with Williams Mug soap breaking down quickly after lathering. What soap are you using?

I have no problem with lather breaking down, and I shave all the way down to my collarbone. I can't imagine zone lathering with my four-pass shave, that'd take forever.

mike_the_kraken said:

I have no problem with lather breaking down, and I shave all the way down to my collarbone. I can't imagine zone lathering with my four-pass shave, that'd take forever.

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+1.

mike_the_kraken said:

I have no problem with lather breaking down, and I shave all the way down to my collarbone. I can't imagine zone lathering with my four-pass shave, that'd take forever.

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+2

Perhaps you should try a different soap/cream if the lather breaks down.

How many zones do you have? Different brush for each zone?

Do whatever works best for you. That's what DE shaving is all about.

Soaps with a lather that breaks down before a full pass can be completed are called ex-soaps.

mike_the_kraken said:

I have no problem with lather breaking down, and I shave all the way down to my collarbone. I can't imagine zone lathering with my four-pass shave, that'd take forever.

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+3.

As giraffe man said, do whatever works best for your shave, but if your lather is breaking down in the time it takes to finish a pass, or several passes for that matter, maybe you should look at tweaking your product, or trying different product.

You want face-frosting, just get some of the Clubman Shave Cream ...

apply with a paper knife.


AA

Step away from the Williams.

I lather my face complete on the first pass only, as I take less time with that one
for subsequent passes, I lather in 6 sections: neck - left, middle , right / face - left, right, chin. The under-nose/mustache area, while included in the first pass, gets its own time after the rest of the face is complete

shaving certainly takes more time this way, but it allows my to focus on the distinct grain patterns associated with each section.

I lather under & chin area 1st. Then checks above jawline. Then whole neck.

I am currently using Col Conk - forgot the flavor - it's part of a 4-soap sampler...

Colonel Conk hasn't got the best of reputations. Try one of the other three soaps. A good soap gives you a long lasting and cushioning protection that lasts longer than any pass.

When I started DE shaving, I shaved with Conk for years. (Before I found this place and fell off the cliff.). A guy can get decent lather, but my advice is this:

1). Load more soap.
2). When you have loaded more soap, load more soap.
3). Load more soap one last time for good measure.
4). Take a break, get something to drink, and load more soap.
5). Beat the Hell out of it like a rented mule in a mug or bowl, adding water as needed.

When I was using it exclusively, I never face lathered, always just built lather off the puck in a mug. I cannot imagine (and I am sure someone here can speak differently), how this soap could be used properly in a face lather. A guys face would be so sore from working it into a decent shave...

I don't mean to get away from your original post topic, which is great if it works for you. Conk is okay soap, it just takes a lot of work to get it there. Way more than just about everything else I have tried.

Thanks for that! I just may load more soap....

I have been keeping the puck in the bowl. Might it be better to keep the soap separate and use the bowl as a 'workspace'?

noodles hovar said:

Thanks for that! I just may load more soap....

I have been keeping the puck in the bowl. Might it be better to keep the soap separate and use the bowl as a 'workspace'?

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Many gents lather on the puck as you do, but many more load their brushes in one container and then bring it to either their bowl or their face. That's the most logical way if you have a number of soaps in your rotation.

That's also the easiest way to get your water/product ratio right. I'm with those who say that if your lather doesn't last even for one pass, it probably needs more water. Take your time incorporating it, and use as much as the lather will take; you'll get slicker lather as a side benefit.

JaredB said:

When I started DE shaving, I shaved with Conk for years. (Before I found this place and fell off the cliff.). A guy can get decent lather, but my advice is this:

1). Load more soap.
2). When you have loaded more soap, load more soap.
3). Load more soap one last time for good measure.
4). Take a break, get something to drink, and load more soap.
5). Beat the Hell out of it like a rented mule in a mug or bowl, adding water as needed.

Click to expand...

As someone here once said, "load it like you hate it".