Face Lathering with Cream?

[Skipmeister]

Well, as embarrassing as it is to admit, today I bought what I thought was a cake of shaving soap, but found out when I got home it was a tub of cream. I generally face lather with soap. I've never used a cream before.

I have a mug, but it's got a puck of soap that's pretty well stuck to the bottom so it's either get a bowl or something, or figure out how to face lather with cream. I really don't want to return it because I have it now. I might as well try it. Any suggestions?

[vsp]

One way to face lather with a cream is to soak your brush, drip or wring it dry and then spread out the brush, place some cream in the center (in the breech) and face lather. Add drops of water to the breech as needed

That's pretty much all there is to it.

[jtoddaz]

Another method I would suggest trying is to wet brush with hot water, then give it a couple good shakes. I find that if I don't, I drip all over the place when I face lather, which makes the wife angry. I then swirl in the cream, and then circular motions about the face. It will NOT be the consistency you like the first time, but you keep the hot water on and occasionally run the brush under real quick, and then continue lathering. It might take a little longer, but I find is a little cleaner in the end.

Good luck in finding a method that works for you. When you do, don't be afraid to post your successful technique. It might help another newb lurking the boards!

Jeremy

[blade08]

Instead of putting cream on the brush itself, I always put the cream on my face with my fingers. No real reason for that, just a habit. After that I just start building the lather with a fully soaked brush (no shaking, no dripping). I keep on lathering for a minute or two after which a nice lather is formed on my face. Contrary to what most guys will tell you, I think it is better to 'overload' your brush with water, then to add more water along the way when making lather. As always, YMMMV.

[Skipmeister]

Well, I took a late shower today, so I got to try out the new shaving cream. I just got done with one of my best shaves ever, at least in terms of comfort. It doesn't look or feel half bad either.

The shaving cream wasn't the only variable I introduced today though, (I just had my old Col. Conk straight honed today because my new Dovo didn't exactly come shave ready, and has been pulling. I'm waiting for the rest of my honing setup to arrive so I can take care of that myself,) so tomorrow I will be trying the same setup with just the soap for comparison and will post the results.

Anyway, back to today. I soaked my brush in hot water in the sink while I showered. After I squeezed it out, I took a dollop of the Truefitt and Hill Sandalwood (I used roughly enough for a 1/4 ball, but that's eyeballed, not exact,) and put it in the center of my brush. I started swirling the brush on my face without adding water to distribute the cream throughout, then added water a couple drops at a time until I got the right consistency. There was a pleasant warming feeling that accompanied it that I never experienced with soap. Of course, I've only ever used Col. Conk soaps so my experience is a bit limited.

I found I hadn't quite loaded the brush up enough for a third pass, so I just lightly dipped the end of the hairs in the tub and gave a quarter twist back and forth, and I was good to go for pass three.

After I shave tomorrow with the Col. Conk Amber, I'll post the back to back comparison in a new thread. Thanks for the help!

[RoyalKooparillo]

My FAVORITE way to face lather with cream is to soak the brush, give it a couple good flicks, and then open the breach. I put a dollop of cream in the base of the bristles, then close up the brush. Then, before going to my face, I take a little more cream and smear it on the tips of the bristles. Then I lather in circular motions on my face until I have decent coverage. I take some warm water in the palm of my hand and gently dip the tips of the brush into it, and then back to my face for more lathering. I repeat this process 4-5 times, and by the end I have thick, moist, cushiony lather, and enough in the brush (after a few pumps on the face) to last 5-6 passes.

With face lathering, it's very important to make sure the lather is hydrated enough--I think the tendency is to quit before you get to this point because the lather looks good enough. But if the lather is drying (either on your face or in the brush) by the second or third pass, you probably need more water, more lathering action, and a little more cream to start with.

Happy shaving!

[Not A Nice Person]

With the Nancy Boy creams, I just dip my (presoaked and shaken out) brush in the tub and then face lather same as I do with soaps. I do find I need to dip just the tips of the brush in the sink occasionally to work up a really good lather, but other than that it's pretty much exactly the same.

Creams in tubes, like Proraso, I do use a bowl for lathering, but that's so I can float it in the sink for a nice weekend hot lather shave.

NANP™

[danstar250]

Having a face lathering technique that works well is especially great for travelling. You can really minimize space needed for the travel shaving kit.

[jtoddaz]

With the Nancy Boy creams, I just dip my (presoaked and shaken out) brush in the tub and then face lather same as I do with soaps. I do find I need to dip just the tips of the brush in the sink occasionally to work up a really good lather, but other than that it's pretty much exactly the same.

Creams in tubes, like Proraso, I do use a bowl for lathering, but that's so I can float it in the sink for a nice weekend hot lather shave.

NANP™

Man, any want to have an additional cream beyond NB is definately out of want and not need. I love this stuff. Of course I Keep trying other creams, and now soaps, but the NB will always have a place on my shelf. Oh, not a threadjack, just um... saying this is easy to face lather

[Dennis]

I run/soak the brush in hot water, shake it out and give it a squeeze. I then swirl the brush gently in the cream to load the tips up and then start to lather on my face. After a proto lather is worked up and the cream is spread around, I start dripping hot water into the breach of the brush and keep lathering, rinse, repeat etc... until I get the right consistency.

Dennis

[Aevum]

same here, soak brush, remove excess water, twist inside the tub of cream or drop some cream from a tube, and start a circular motion against my face, i usualy get a VERY thick lather, then i start dipping the tip of my brush to pick up water as needed untill the right consistancy is reached,

i use to make my lather in a bowl, but now i could´nt imagent not face lathering,