Thread: I'm doing something wrong!

I've been at this about six weeks. Today's shave and the two before it, I had no need for a styptic pencil. No rubbing to check beard grain direction, just shave. Ending with a cold water rinse followed by Dominica bay rum. Pretty dog-gone smooth, too.

On the down side, my lather still dries out pretty fast...

A quick shave takes some time to develop. You can always re-lather as you go. I still do this frequently even after almost 3 years. I don't see it as a problem. I'm always happy to wave a lathered brush around! Other than the lather drying out, what's the problem?

Jordan

Building a proper lather is a three step process. The step I think your missing is the hydration step.

You build lather by:

1) Charging the brush

2) Building the lather

3) Hydrating the lather

After, and I stress after the lather is built up and created you need to add more water to the lather to hydrate it. If you try to do this first it won't hold the water well enough.

So, try adding water after you've created a good lather. Take the hydration to the point of nearly breaking down the lather with too much water.

The usual mistake is thinking that getting the water ratio for the lather right is something done when you are building up the lather.

My trick to lathering involves these steps:

Take your lathering mug or bowl and throw it down the street, since it is useless IMO.

Lather on your face after you cake some soap on the brush. I like cheap boar brushes like the OMEGA ones for this since they face lather better than badgers do (imo).

You can drip a little hot water on the brush and keep lathering on your face when you need it.

Seriously, I think a lot of new guys have lathering issues when they first start because of the whole lathering in a container thing they see on youtube and such. It makes it way too complicated than it is.

What soap are you using?

I respectfully disagree on this one Disburden.. I really like my bowl to keep the lather warm..I sometimes do add some water to the lather if I find it too dry on the first pass. I do sometime lather on my face but found that to be more difficult than building the lather in a bowl.

I think lathering on the face or in a bowl is just a matter of personal preference..

If I rinse between passes I do not dry my face.. that way I add some moisture to the lather as you go.

Maarten

I also agree tht lathering in a bowl has its useful advantages. I find whipping the lather in a bowl makes for a nice fluffy consistency, allowing for more arration and control of water ratio. But I also face lather from time to time as well. You won't find me chucking my lather bowl to the street any time soon.

I'd disagree with that as well. I'm not quite sure how it makes it more complicated? Soaking a brush, stirring it soap (or putting cream in a bowl) and stirring in a bowl is hardly complicated. If you find your lather drying out, and it's thick enough to take more water next time, add more water next time.

It's like everything to do with straight razors - it's all quite abstract. You have to find what works for you, fortunately on here, you have enough people offering their advice that you have a base line.

I'm drifting from my point here - add more water next time.

I concur that your lather does not seem to be wet enough. This is, however, independent of the method that you chose to build your lather. I do not think that one way is necessarily better than the other, they have pros and cons. Use whatever works for you, that is, in my opinion, the bottom line. Perhaps you may find this video useful:

YouTube - How To Build And Apply Traditional Shaving Lather