Face lather vs bowl lather

[Crest]

Hi all,
I’ve teetered between bowl and face lathering as long as I’ve been wet shaving.
Recently, I’ve gone back to bowl lathering.
Is it just me, or does bowl lathering just produce a better lather?
I know it’s an extra step, but I get more productive lathers from the bowl.
That’s how feel for now, anyway
Oh, and I also seem to get better bowl lathers from my synthetics, vs my boars.
Not true with a face lathering for me.

Thoughts?

 

[Luecke3262]

@Crest I've been a face latherer for years and only just recently started bowl lathering here and there. I personally, feel like i can control the lather moisture and overall quality better on my face than in a bowl. ALSO, when using a bowl if lathering the soap from a small bit of soap smeared onto the bottom of the bowl I always seem to float around in the lather(of course that doesn't happen if I lather on the soap puck).

Do you have a fancy bowl? I'm using a Timeless lather bowl.

 

[Crest]

@Crest I've been a face latherer for years and only just recently started bowl lathering here and there. I personally, feel like i can control the lather moisture and overall quality better on my face than in a bowl. ALSO, when using a bowl if lathering the soap from a small bit of soap smeared onto the bottom of the bowl I always seem to float around in the lather(of course that doesn't happen if I lather on the soap puck).

Do you have a fancy bowl? I'm using a Timeless lather bowl.

I use the same

 

[NurseDave]

I bowl lather mostly so I don’t need to worry about drying out the soap before putting it away and I can give away soaps without people worrying about my brush being all up in its business.

 

[heysi]

without people worrying about my brush being all up in its business.

Its not your brush we're worried about.

 

[High Rock Lather]

You know what, I used to hate bowl lathering. Recently I was given a bunch of samples from a friend and ive been bowl lathering a lot. I am finding that i have been getting really good lathers, creamy and slick. But, with that being said I prefer face lathering, I Personally feel that slickness is better that way. Could just be in my head though.

 

[BarberDave]

I bowl lather creams, and certain hard soaps, but mostly face lather as the consistency of the lather is better for me and I can control the hydration a bit more, not to mention I feel father lathering is better facial prep

 

[Majorrich]

I started out bowl lathering, but do work in some face lathering now and then for variety sake. Since I’ve been using synthetic brushes more it seems my face lathering game has gotten more satisfying.

 

[CBLindsay]

I have several bowls but rarely lather in them anymore. I don't know if it is efficiency or performance/results that drives me to face lather but unless I am dealing with a sample or cream I don't bowl lather. I will add a caviat however, I do find myself doing more "lathering" on the surface of the soap. I don't do a full on bowl lather but I will play with addign water etc while loading fromt he soap surface...but always finish the job on my face. I will also add a bunch of water to the surface after I have loaded and use that water to dip my brush in to add hyrration to the lather, this keeps me from dipping in the sink that I rinse my razor in. This practice is highly inefficient from a consumption standpoint but I have SO much soap on hand I don't worry about that.

 

[Spider]

Back when I started, I tried bowl lathering because that's what it seemed everybody did. I kept seeing everyone's "lather porn" pictures and tried getting my lather to look the same. I found that every time I got lather that looked good, it wasn't a great shave. then about 6 months into my journey, I saw a post about face lathering and that was the game changer. By building the lather on my face, I could feel when it was optimal for the shave. No more guesswork about the amount of water in the lather. Every now and then I still bowl lather because I have a few bowls that I like, but the lather is still always a bit sub par.

But whatever works for you, that's what you should do!

I feel father lathering is better facial prep

I concur with this.

 

[8th Night]

I mostly scoop and bowl lather. I find the process of building my lather in the bowl first very satisfying. When I put the lather on my face, I first paint it on and the work it into my beard as a face lather. I typically get thick, rich and creamy lathers in the bowl. This works for crops and creams for me. Although, in order to be faster the other night, I loaded Nivea Men Sensitive cream right from the tube into my brush and face lathered. It was a great shave. Sometimes with Mitchell's Wool Fat, I use the puck like a shave stick right to the face.

 

[GearNoir]

I started out bowl lathering for nearly my first year or so but once I tried face lathering in earnest, I quickly found it superior for me in getting excellent consistency in slick lather. I only really bowl lathering for now for small samples and some creams.