Many thanks to @Dtownvino for introducing me to Ethos Grooming Dragonsbeard soap. And in a recent text exchange with him, I realized I was probably not using enough product, which caused me to think it had a narrower hydration window than it does. If you don't use enough product, you will run through too much water and ruin the lather, and that is what I was doing.
@walpan PMd me a question about it, so, I decided to stop being lazy and do my Foolproof Discovery Process© on it. I should have done it a long time ago. Any inconsistency in my earlier lathers with Dragonsbeard was because I ignored my own advice with a new (to me) soap, and did not get to know it well enough. IMNSHO, my top three soaps in my den for lather quality are Ethos, Saponificio Verisino, and Martin de Candre. I love all my soaps, but these three stand above the others and I thought I should rectify my earlier posts about Ethos.
Walpan said he was scooping about 1/8 tsp and having some issues with it and wondered if that was enough. After my exchange with Dtownvino the other day, I grabbed a measuring spoon and headed to the shave den. I used exactly 1/4 tsp of soap, scraped off level, then smushed into a Captain's Choice ceramic lather bowl with my thumb, being careful to get all of the soap smeared in the bottom of the bowl. Here is the measure and the bowl after scooping spreading it around.
I used a DSCosmetic 22mm Manchurian 2-band badger faux tortoise shell brush.
I started damp dry, pretty shaken out so this would be easy to replicate for others. Here was initial swirling.
Here was after dipping the brush tips in water 3 times. This is perfectly usable lather, but I like softer peaks, personally.
Here it is right where I like my lather, after 6 tip dips. This is really perfect for me.
Ethos is a bit less tolerant of water than other soaps in my den, but I was wrong, it is really not "finicky" in this regard. I think I just was not using enough product. Thank you, Dtownvino! I would say 1/4 tsp is just about right for me. If you want to use a little less, you should be able to, but sneak up on the water very carefully.
Dtownvino calls his about "about and almond" and I'd guess that is pretty close to my 1/4 tsp measuring spoon. Anyway, Ethos is a world-class lather, up there with the best for sure, and it is likely one of the best products for those with sensitive skin. Tremendous stuff! I'm sorry I was posting this is a bit finicky. It really isn't. The lather explodes when you hit it just right. But if you are trying to be abstemious with the product, you should be very careful to start drier than normal, and sneak up on the water carefully. But with this amount of product I found it extremely easy to hit the sweet spot.
@walpan PMd me a question about it, so, I decided to stop being lazy and do my Foolproof Discovery Process© on it. I should have done it a long time ago. Any inconsistency in my earlier lathers with Dragonsbeard was because I ignored my own advice with a new (to me) soap, and did not get to know it well enough. IMNSHO, my top three soaps in my den for lather quality are Ethos, Saponificio Verisino, and Martin de Candre. I love all my soaps, but these three stand above the others and I thought I should rectify my earlier posts about Ethos.
Walpan said he was scooping about 1/8 tsp and having some issues with it and wondered if that was enough. After my exchange with Dtownvino the other day, I grabbed a measuring spoon and headed to the shave den. I used exactly 1/4 tsp of soap, scraped off level, then smushed into a Captain's Choice ceramic lather bowl with my thumb, being careful to get all of the soap smeared in the bottom of the bowl. Here is the measure and the bowl after scooping spreading it around.
I used a DSCosmetic 22mm Manchurian 2-band badger faux tortoise shell brush.
I started damp dry, pretty shaken out so this would be easy to replicate for others. Here was initial swirling.
Here was after dipping the brush tips in water 3 times. This is perfectly usable lather, but I like softer peaks, personally.
Here it is right where I like my lather, after 6 tip dips. This is really perfect for me.
Ethos is a bit less tolerant of water than other soaps in my den, but I was wrong, it is really not "finicky" in this regard. I think I just was not using enough product. Thank you, Dtownvino! I would say 1/4 tsp is just about right for me. If you want to use a little less, you should be able to, but sneak up on the water very carefully.
Dtownvino calls his about "about and almond" and I'd guess that is pretty close to my 1/4 tsp measuring spoon. Anyway, Ethos is a world-class lather, up there with the best for sure, and it is likely one of the best products for those with sensitive skin. Tremendous stuff! I'm sorry I was posting this is a bit finicky. It really isn't. The lather explodes when you hit it just right. But if you are trying to be abstemious with the product, you should be very careful to start drier than normal, and sneak up on the water carefully. But with this amount of product I found it extremely easy to hit the sweet spot.
