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Face Lathering & SR's

Blade-meister

Blade-meister

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What is the general opinion on the benefits of face lathering when using a SR? My thinking is that it would provide some great advantages.

1) Dialing in water content. I'm thinking it would allow you to get the feel of the lather's slickness much better than bowl lathering. I can't tell you how many times I've whipped up a great looking bowl of lather only to tell immediately upon putting it on my face that it was too foamy, dry, or wet.

2)????????

3)??????????

I'm interested in hearing some opinions on this as I try to figure out the SR puzzle.
 
I face lather no matter how I’m shaving. It allows me to get the lather to feel right.... instead of just looking right. I see a lot of bowl latherers still adding water after they go to the face, and think they wouldn’t need to do that if they just face lathered in the first place.
 
I've not actually thought about this one. Honestly I don't bowl lather very often in general. I will if it is easier than loading the soap but even then I get the final dialing in do e on my face.

Off the top of my head I would say it probably helps make sure your face is well moisturized and I'd bet it also stimulates those sebaceous glands @HandleBarberDave is always talking about.
 
I just like to lather in my bowl because it is easier for me to dial in the way I like. On my face it almost always gets way too runny and thin
 
Agreed with these dudes. Face lathering in all circumstances! Instant feedback on where your lather is at, extra moisture, etc. Plus you get all that great soap scent on your face and it soaks in and you’re smelling it!
 
uacowboy said:
I've not actually thought about this one. Honestly I don't bowl lather very often in general. I will if it is easier than loading the soap but even then I get the final dialing in do e on my face.

Off the top of my head I would say it probably helps make sure your face is well moisturized and I'd bet it also stimulates those sebaceous glands @HandleBarberDave is always talking about.
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THIS
 
Spider said:
I face lather no matter how I’m shaving. It allows me to get the lather to feel right.... instead of just looking right. I see a lot of bowl latherers still adding water after they go to the face, and think they wouldn’t need to do that if they just face lathered in the first place.
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I'm leaning toward the face lathering because that was my experience this morning trying it. I could tell instantly if it was too dry or too wet and could make adjustments. I did have problems with it either being too dry or too wet.

DocHoliday0831 said:
I just like to lather in my bowl because it is easier for me to dial in the way I like. On my face it almost always gets way too runny and thin
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I used to think the same way until I tried it this morning. It's probably my lack of skills, but I'd get a good bowl lather going that looked great - shiny - nice peaks, and then put it on my face and feel instantly that something was off. I really enjoyed the feel of the face lather this morning and felt like I got more of the goodness of the soap on my face. We'll see, sometimes with these things I get diminishing returns the more I try it.
 
I'm not expert on straight shaving, but am pretty good at bowl lathering, and at least up to now, I also get better results going straight to the face.

But then there's that @Dagwoodz guy, who I think, would beg to differ.
 
Rule #1: Face to control water and get slickness right
Rule #2 Bowl lather if you like as long as you got Rule #1 down

That is all......:p
 
When I first started straight shaving I was still fine tuning my face lathering skills. What I did was start with a face lather, taking it as far as I thought it needed to go THEN I would switch to bowl lathering to ensure I had the lather I needed. Early on I would face lather and end up with too little lather for multiple passes ro lather that was quite thick on the face and lacked the wetness/slickness I needed. The combo face/bowl allowed me to SEE and then fine tune the lather qualities while also gaining the benefit of face lathering. As a possible added benefit, as I would fine tune the lather in the bowl the lather sat on my face doing its hydrating and softening thing. I did learn that the lather on the face was not the same as the refined stuff in the bowl so I would either hot towel the lather and relather with the soap in the bowl or spray some water on my face with a spray bottle and do more face lathering or just dip the tips of the brush into a bit of water and work the lather more. The key was to have a bowl of "good" lather to lean on as a crutch if I just couldn't dial in the face lather. It didn';t take me long to get it down.
 
HMan said:
But then there's that @Dagwoodz guy, who I think, would beg to differ.
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I don't necessarily beg to differ, but I do bowl lather for a few reasons...

1. water control - Since I usually use a spray bottle to add water, I can control the amount of water added much easier, (and less messily), by bowl lathering.
2. Habit - It's how I started. I'm a creature of habit, so it feels normal to me.
3. Over stimulation of my facial skin - My skin does tend to be on the sensitive side and can be easily irritated if I lather too long on it. Lathering in the bowl minimizes this and allows me to enjoy the experience without having to worry about whether my lathering technique is going to cause irritation.

With all of that being said, I DO a strict face lather occasionally. Most of the time it just is soap dependent, as some soaps (Saponificio Varesino) perform better when face lathered.

One last point; it's very rare that I'm not doing some sort of lather building on my face after I've built my lather base up in the bowl, just to fine tune what is already made. I've found that by using the bowl to build the lather up to being about 90-95% hydrated/completed and finishing on my face, I get the benefits of water control from bowl lathering and the exfoliation / sebaceous gland activation of face lathering without the irritation.
 
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