Suggestions of creams to "fix" my soap?

[Finecat]

Hi,

New wet shaver here. I bought 200gr of Martin de Candre Agrumes just to realized it doesn't work for me: 1st pass is great because I use a pre-shave cream; 2nd pass is noticeably less comfortable; 3rd pass razor bounces on my skin which feel very dry despite my efforts of keeping the lather hydrated.

I thought my technique was faulty but I read different feedbacks on a french forum saying their MDC soap would fail to provide a good glide and leave the skin dry. Don't know what factors comes into play, maybe the scent or the hardness of the water, but some people feel indeed that MDC doesn't work for them and it's likely I'm there.

I also discovered the technique of super lathering and I believe I could save this soap with the right cream. I don't want to use just glycerine but I've no idea what cream to choose.

It's difficult to marry the Agrumes scent. I found Ultimate Comfort" from Truefitt & Hill which has little scent but isn't it too much of a good product to use as a mix?

If you have any idea to help me make this soap usable I'd be very grateful.

Thanks

 

[sarimento1]

Welcome, again, to B&B, Sir Finecat!
For me, MdC soaps, including Agrumes, perform marvelously!
While there isn't enough info to say your technique is right or wrong, just give yourself some time and practice with the MdC.
I'm sure you'll soon find it to be comfortable and enjoyable!

 

[helicopter]

Any time I need additional slickness, I additional a little Cremo to the lather.

 

[SiBurning]

I'm of the opinion you should put it away and try something else for a while. Come back to it later, once your technique is stable and you've experimented with a variety of soaps, creams, techniques, etc. But that's not what you asked, so...

I wonder... if you're rinsing your face between passes, perhaps try not rinsing. I'm thinking it might be like you only lathered up once.

 

[lasta]

Sounds like you are not using enough soap.

Load it like you hate it.

 

[SiBurning]

It also occurs to me that some people like a cold shave. You could try varying the temperature as you proceed. That is, if you rinse between passs, maybe go from hot to warm to cold. Not that I've ever tried it, but it might compensate for any irritiation. ... Assuming you're set on sticking with the soap. It does seem like an odd one. For me, I never did take to creams, so YMMV.

 

[brucered]

Reload your brush between passes.

Use more product. Use less water. Face lather. Those will fix 98.745% of people's lather issues.

I'm in the camp of "if you have to add something to a product to make it work", I don't use it. If pass 1 is the best with a pre shave, you need to work on your technique and lather skills.

MdC should be able to stand on its own. If it doesn't end up working for you, I'd look to trade/sell it and try something else.

 

[Finecat]

Welcome, again, to B&B, Sir Finecat!
For me, MdC soaps, including Agrumes, perform marvelously!
While there isn't enough info to say your technique is right or wrong, just give yourself some time and practice with the MdC.
I'm sure you'll soon find it to be comfortable and enjoyable!

View attachment 2012876

Good to hear it works! Thanks for your comment. I hope it will work at some point and I will provide the efforts needed. A few person commented on the french forum rasage-traditionnel.com that MdC could leave the face dry and lack in post-shave protection, hence my doubts. But most are very happy with their soap of course.

Any time I need additional slickness, I additional a little Cremo to the lather.

TYVM for the idea and Cremo exists in Citrus!

I'm of the opinion you should put it away and try something else for a while. Come back to it later, once your technique is stable and you've experimented with a variety of soaps, creams, techniques, etc. But that's not what you asked, so...

I wonder... if you're rinsing your face between passes, perhaps try not rinsing. I'm thinking it might be like you only lathered up once.

I'd try another soap for sure but it's difficult to put this one away after the investment...

I tried rinsing and not rinsing between passes with no good result. Also tried different type of lather, more or less hydrated, at each step but 3rd pass is always not comfortable in terms of glide compared to 1st one.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

Sounds like you are not using enough soap.

Load it like you hate it.

I'll try to load soap again for 3rd pass, will tell you if that helps. Thanks!

It also occurs to me that some people like a cold shave. You could try varying the temperature as you proceed. That is, if you rinse between passs, maybe go from hot to warm to cold. Not that I've ever tried it, but it might compensate for any irritiation. ... Assuming you're set on sticking with the soap. It does seem like an odd one. For me, I never did take to creams, so YMMV.

I never tried cold shave because I fear I will cut my face but I'll try and tell you if that works, thank you.

Reload your brush between passes.

More product. Less water to start. Face lather. Those will fix 98.745% of people's lather issues.

I'm in the camp of "if you have to add something to a product to make it work", I don't use it. If pass 1 is the best with a pre shave, you need to work on your technique and lather skills.

MdC should be able to stand on its own. If it doesn't end up working for you, I'd look to trade/sell it and try something else.

Will reload, thank you for the advice. Will also try something else so I can compare. At this point I'm blind on what's going on...

Thank you for the help!

 

[Ravenonrock]

Despite the money already spent, you don’t feel this soap is working for you. I would be hesitant to mix it with another product if you feel it’s already a miss for you. It’s not for everyone, I’ve read negative reviews of MdC here also. For me it works! Move on and find something you like, you can always try it again later or punt it down the road as others have suggested. Good luck on your shaving journey!

 

[Blade_Runner37C]

Any time I need additional slickness, I additional a little Cremo to the lather.

:::^::: this!!! I do the same but add a few shavings of a PAA Cube 2, ultra slickness, slickness 2.0

 

[Big Jim]

Kiss My Face added to whatever soap you are using will make it lather like a monster, even Williams. That said, I agree with the majority of the others that it is probably a technique issue and will improve with practice. One other suggestion, some soaps don't work well with hard water. Try lathering up with distilled or RO water and see if that helps.

 

[Tomo]

I recently had some trouble with a new tub of Santa Maria Novella. It’s a soap that’s known for its slickness but I hadn’t used it for a while. After several shaves from the new tub I was convinced that I had received a dud. The slickness wasn’t there. The performance was terrible. Well it turns out that I hadn’t received a dud. I was just using too little product and lathering it up too much. I find MdC to be the same. It lathers like crazy but the performance drops off when you stretch it too thin. It works best for me with a more concentrated mix. Try it with more soap and less water. You might change your mind. It’s a well regarded product.

 

[Roy]

Sounds like you are not using enough soap.

Load it like you hate it.

I agree. People read that this soap needs very little to shave. I tho7ght this and first shave was awful. Load as described by you.

 

[Frito Ray]

A lot of people have drier skin during the winter months and have more difficulty using soaps that worked fine for them during the summer.

Perhaps set your soap aside and wait for the summer. A lot of people here have summer and winter soaps.

 

[spacemonkey42]

Load much more. Load a lot from the very beginning, then paint in water to get the right slickness. As @lasta and @brucered said, most problems are solved by adding more soap. It helped me to overshoot, so I knew what that was like, then hit the right amount with later shaves. I had no idea that I was adding much to little.

This video helped me correct my issues, maybe it will for you too:

 

[brucered]

I agree with a few others above. Don't buy into the "it only takes half a swirl and I get enough lather for two days worth of 6 pass shaves". At least until you get it dialed in, then you can scale back appropriately.

When I was using MdC, I would lather for 20-30 seconds.

 

[Frito Ray]

I agree with a few others above. Don't buy into the "it only takes half a swirl and I get enough later for two days worth of 6 pass shaves". At least until you get it dialed in, then you can scare back appropriately.

When I was using MdC, I would lather for 20-30 seconds.

In woodworking there is a saying to use sandpaper as if it were free.

Agreed that it is a lot easier to dial back usage than to creep up to optimality.

 

[Finecat]

Thanks to all of you guys: you had it right giving the advice to load more.

After this post I tried to reload before each pass and it worked great.

Then I tried to load much more than I used to, lather in a bowl and do three passes with what I had. It worked great too!

That said when using a bowl I've difficulty keeping the right consistency for each pass. But even when the lather seems pasty it works great. As you told, it's when the lather is too thin that problems really occur.