Shave cream dries out before done shaving..

I am having a problem of my shave creams drying out before I am done shaving.
This may be because of the jungle of stubble that I have to deal with every morning. If my stubble were grass you would need a John Deere tractor to cut it.

Are there any creams out there that stay foamy longer & more lubricating then the norm? I have this problem with Musgo Real, Speick, AOS, the new & old Body Shop shave cream. Any suggestions?

How foamy is your lather? Creams should normally have a rich and creamy texture. If yours is excessively foamy you are probably adding too much water and not enough cream. If you haven't already take a look at this lather tutorial. Pay special attention to how thick and dense Joel's lather is.

From the sounds of things, you probably should try adding more water to your shaving cream when you lather it up. This used to happen to me, and adding more water until you find that proper ratio can help a lot.

Rem Freeman said:

From the sounds of things, you probably should try adding more water to your shaving cream when you lather it up. This used to happen to me, and adding more water until you find that proper ratio can help a lot.

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I may be wrong, but doesn't foamy=excess water. Whenever I use more water than needed my lather always turns foamy and dries rather quickly. When I have too little water my lather is usually kind of creamy, but dry.

It always seems to me that anytime my lather dries out it didn't start off wet enough. It doesn't seem to matter if I use a cream or a soap, there is definitely a delicate balance between too much water and too little. Too little = dry

Nothing is stopping you from adding a splash more of hot water for pass #2 or 3, now is there?

Don't limit yourself thinking that you must whip up the perfect batch of cream that will remain that way the entire shave. If it starts to get dry, add some H2O, and have at it. If the lather is drying on your face, same deal---freshen it up!

Other than that, what I have found helps maintain moisture in the lather itself is to add a shot of Kiss My Face unscented shave cream to the bowl before using my soap of choice.

If your lather is drying out and floating off into space before you're done with your shave, it is not hydrated enough. However, if your lather is very bubbly or foamy, you've probably over-hydrated the lather. You're looking for a middle-ground. Keep in mind that you always need enough cream or soap to hold the correct amount of moisture in your lather--this varies from product to product.

Try using a little more cream than you're currently using, and add a LITTLE bit of warm water at a time, while whipping. Whip until the lather thickens, then add a LITTLE more water (repeat). Your looking for a meringue-like consistency--the lather should show some elasticity and have peaks that collapse under their own weight. If you add too much water, it will 'eat' the lather and you'll be left with foamy bubbles (this can also happen if you add too much water too quickly).

If you are face lathering, the principle is still the same, but I think the tendency is to under-hydrate. Load the brush, start working the lather into your beard, and dip the tips of the bristles occasionally into some warm water (just a tiny bit at a time). Repeat this process until you have thick, unctuous lather that fills up your brush and covers your face, without disintegrating over time.

Although I agree with Seraphim that you can always 'refresh' you lather with a little water if it's drying out, in my experience you get a better overall result if you have rich, well-hydrated lather from the beginning of the shave. If you do it correctly, your lather will thicken slightly with each pass, so that your final pass/touch ups will be done with the best lather.

Good luck!

In my experience, after every pass I splash my face again with hot water and the moisture of my freshly-rinsed face provides water for the cream on the brush to again make good lather.
Then again I tend to swirl directly out of the cream container, and don't really have time for a mug in the morning!

I've had cream dry out from being both too wet and too dry.

If the cream is flaking off your face like snow it's too dry. If it's "evaporating" and just disappearing it's too wet.

As others have said, it could be too wet or too dry. To avoid both conditions, I do the following. Soak soap and brush. Load brush. Add 1 tsp of hot water to bowl. Work brush in water to create lather. Once it is almost the correct consistency, start adding small splashes of water. Work the lather and add these small splashes until the lather is dense and shiny. Works for me every time.

I have the same problem. I use soap plus a dab of cream and I can never get it shiny. I follow Jim's tutorial and it looks shiny while swirling in the bowl but as soon as I stop it turns flat/chalky white. It ends up being too dry for the second half of my face during the 2nd pass. Adding more water just makes it worse.

I'm using;
AOS / Trumper's SS
KMF / the Real Shave Co SC
Vulfix 2233S
bowl

Lucius said:

I've had cream dry out from being both too wet and too dry.

If the cream is flaking off your face like snow it's too dry. If it's "evaporating" and just disappearing it's too wet.

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+1
MWF in my experience is quite sensitive to this (good soap, btw, just need to pay some attention, which is not always easy at 6.30am).

+1 for adding small splashes of water...

also while whipping the lather try pressing the bristles into the bowl with a fair amount of pressure. this movement fluffs and consintrates at the same time, and should produce the shiny product.

however, if we are talking glycerine soaps, there is no getting around the small bubbles, they will just get smaller, and the lather becomes dryer ...a frighteningly frustrating issue for me.

Is it drying out in the bowl, or on your face? If it's the latter, try just lathering a portion of your face, shaving, then moving on to another portion. I divide my face into quadrants, using nose and jawline as axis. Rinse your face with hot water between latherings and the water remaining on your face will keep your lather hydrated.

nuovorecord said:

Is it drying out in the bowl, or on your face? If it's the latter, try just lathering a portion of your face, shaving, then moving on to another portion. I divide my face into quadrants, using nose and jawline as axis. Rinse your face with hot water between latherings and the water remaining on your face will keep your lather hydrated.

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That can work, but one of the benefits of lathering your whole face from the start is that it softens the beard of unshaven areas. The lip and chin area are usually the last areas shaved by most men and that's because lather sits there the longest, which makes the hair easier to cut.

Another that has not been mentioned. First off, DO NOT JUST LATHER ONE PART OF YOUR FACE AT A TIME!! That prevents the lather from ever having adaquate time to soften your whiskers.

Start with a nice, hydrated lather. Make sure to really work the lather around your face with the brush, that will do the hair lifted/exfoliating thing. Start shaving your cheeks. This is where the beard is usually the softest. Now, when you are done your cheeks, STOP!!

Take your brush, and refresh the lather that is still on your face. You may even want to drip a few drops of hot water onto the brush first. That is what I usually do. This will really help keep that lather hydrated, which is VERY important. Now, continue shaving.

Follow those steps during the entire shave, stopping to refresh your lather after you shave your cheeks, then your neck, then your chin and mustache. Repeat for every additional pass also. Hell, I even lather back up at the end of my shave and let it sit on my face while I clean my brush and put my razor away. This is fifty years of wet shaving experience talking..........................

Rollsshaver said:

Another that has not been mentioned. First off, DO NOT JUST LATHER ONE PART OF YOUR FACE AT A TIME!! That prevents the lather from ever having adaquate time to soften your whiskers.

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Ahem... look above your post.

Venom8431 said:

Ahem... look above your post.

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Yeah, I just got back today, and I am old and slow too. Give a guy a break.......

I'll have to give that lather-refreshing trick a try. I'd been lathering my whole face, then shaving it all off in one go, with poor results. I picked up the quadrant lathering trick from somewhere - I forget now. But the whole idea of the lather softening the whiskers makes a lot of sense. Now I have something new to try tomorrow! Thanks guys!!!

Rollsshaver said:

Yeah, I just got back today, and I am old and slow too. Give a guy a break.......

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Agreed, and I shave with a str8 now, so I'm even slower. I lather my whole face and when my lather dries out on my face ('cause I'm slow), I simply swipe my lather loaded brush under the faucet (drizzling hot water), and scrub my whole face with new warm moist lather . . . because it feels great. I think it's really that simple.