Bowl or Face lather... Soap preference

[Spider]

So I recently acquired tubs of Steel & Tallow, Declaration Grooming, and Sudsy Soapery soaps. These are widely regarded as some of the best artisan soaps made today. So I used my standard technique that I use for just about all of my soaps, and face lathered. I did not get good results. Seeing hat this wasn't coming together the way it should, I put my brush into a bowl t whip up the lather. AMAZING thick lather was made.

Why the difference?

Then I got to thinking, that I have a lot of soaps that work really well for me with face lathering like Mystic Water and Saint Charles Shave. But if I attempt to bowl lather these soaps, I don't get nearly as good of a lather. Why?

So, do some soaps favor one method or another? Is my technique just not favored to certain soaps for a given method? Or is this just another case of YMMV?

Anyone else experience this?

 

[Cvargo]

Well in my personal experience a lot of the NEWER artisan soaps. Tallow and Steel, Dec Grooming, Sudsy Soapery, Grooming Dept, etc these soaps have a lot of extra butters added to them that make for an exceptional post shave feel. I think this also makes the soaps extremely thirsty. So by bowl lathering you are able to incorporate the air and water at a quicker pace. I would assume that if you face lathered longer than you normally do with Mystic Waters for example you would still end up with a great lather it would just be very abundant, and your wrist might be sore.

 

[Dagwoodz]

I do have some soaps that, for me, react better to bowl vice face lathering, and the other way around. But I think it more boils down to patience rather than the method used, as Chad stated.

 

[Gagi]

+1 when face lathering, you keep lathering until you're happy with your lather.

 

[BrickHud]

I'm sometimes surprised how different brushes respond with different soaps or creams, and how different the response is with bowl vs. face lathering. It's both maddening and interesting. The combinations are ridiculously numerous, and each requires a bit of exploration.

My advice on these things is always this: Don't make assumptions based on one or two shaves.

 

[DocHoliday0831]

The the only face lathering I do is with arko sticks in my travel kit

 

[celestino]

I'm sometimes surprised how different brushes respond with different soaps or creams, and how different the response is with bowl vs. face lathering. It's both maddening and interesting. The combinations are ridiculously numerous, and each requires a bit of exploration.

My advice on these things is always this: Don't make assumptions based on one or two shaves.

+1

Different brush, different soaps, different variable can always play a small, but significant issue when attempting to lather soaps.
Personally, I have used the Declaration Grooming and T&S soaps and they are excellent and I have had no issues lathering them on my face or in a bowl.
You may just need to refine your technique with them, more than likely.
Good luck, KJ.

 

[Spider]

I would assume that if you face lathered longer than you normally do with Mystic Waters for example you would still end up with a great lather it would just be very abundant, and your wrist might be sore.

You may just need to refine your technique with them, more than likely.

Yep, I used Declaration again this morning. This soap is really soft, like Sudsy Soapery, and I really don't like loading on soaps that are that soft. There is such a fine line between getting not enough, and getting way too much on your brush. And way too much makes face lathering very hard.

I did as suggested, and just face lathered longer, adding water as I went and eventually it all came together into a great lather. It just took way longer than I'm used to when face lathering. In a bowl, it comes together much faster because I can just add a bunch of water, whip, whip, whip, and I'm done. But on the face, you have to add water much slower or you make a freaking hug mess.

So, yes, while most of the difference is just technique, it is the soap and its makeup that require different techniques to be used.