Great Shaving Lather

I have spent quite a long time trying to perfect my recipe for great shaving soap, but even great soap can be disappointing if you're not using a good method for building shaving lather with your brush.  The following is an illustrated example of one reliable method, though it's not by any means the only one.  Since I didn't grow up shaving myself, I had to learn from somewhere.  My thanks goes to the guys over at Badger and Blade for their suggestions and shaving "how to" resources.

Loading the Brush with Soap:

Fill sink with hot water and soak brush for 3-5 minutes. This allows the bristles to retain and control the amount of water in the lather.

Place a thin layer of water on your soap and let it soak for at least a couple of minutes.

Remove brush from the hot water and squeeze bristles vigorously, wringing out most of the water. Give it a couple of good shakes as well.

Dump the thin layer of water off of soap and begin swirling your brush in a circular motion with light to medium pressure. Add some plunger motions, using the whole brush and including the sides of the brush. Continue swirling until a paste-like consistency begins to form on the top of the soap and on the brush.

Bubbles mean too much water. A large volume of lather means too much water.

Continue to swirl until a noticeable audible and tactile difference is made when the brush moves over the soap. When the paste is forming the brush is noisier and seems to drag over the soap instead of smoothly going over the top.
Take a look at your brush, do the bristles clump together? If yes, you're done. If no, continue to swirl and load.

Now you can build lather on your face (see following), in your hand, or in a separate bowl.

Face Lathering Method:

Follow all of the preceding directions for loading up your brush with soap.

Give your face a liberal splash of warm water and leave it dripping.

Take the brush to your face and swirl/scrub/paint until the lather reaches a nice, thick consistency (peaks that stand).

If lather is too thick, add water to the brush a few drops at a time by dipping only the tip of the brush into your hot water. If lather is too thin, return to the soap for 5-10 second intervals. If you need more lather at any time during the shave just work the soap with your brush again.

Here's a great video that shows this technique, along with some others, for building lather:

Happy shaving!

Shaving Brushes…TMI?

My dad has always lathered up for a shave using a puck of traditional shaving soap in a mug and a shaving brush. I remember the sound of the tap, tap, tap as the edge of the mug came in contact with the brush handle as it went ‘round and ‘round to build up more foamy lather. My husband has also become a convert to traditional shaving or “wet shaving”, as it’s often called. He likes the morning ritual of it, as well as the fact that it’s natural and much less wasteful than shaving foam from a can.

I have spent the last several years learning as much as I can about how to make a great shaving soap (more to come on that soon). I also wanted to be able to offer my customers great shaving accessories to go along with the soap, so I’ve also been learning lots about shaving brushes. Here’s some of what I’ve found out…

There are basically three types of shaving brushes: synthetic bristle, boar bristle (often just called “bristle brushes”), and those made from badger hair. Synthetic and boar bristle brushes are the less expensive options. Synthetic brushes have the advantage of not being made from an animal, but they lack the flexibility and lather-building capabilities of bristle or natural hair brushes, primarily because they are not capable of holding a sufficient amount of water to build a good lather.

Boar bristle brushes have a much firmer knot than badger hair brushes. This is not necessarily a bad thing. For some types of shaving soaps, a much firmer brush is an advantage in building robust lather, and so might be preferable. The bristles on a boar brush have the disadvantage of breaking somewhat easily, but do offer much better moisture control than synthetic brushes, for a low cost.

A badger hair brush is the softest and therefore most comfortable on the face. With the proper lather-building technique, a fine rich foam can be achieved. Badger hair brushes come in 5 different grades based on the part of the badger’s body where the hair comes from. Badger hair brushes can range in price from $30 to upwards of $600. The price difference is due in part to the availability of each grade. For example, “pure” badger grade hair covers approximately 60% of the animal and its abundance lowers the price. Performance is also a factor. “Silvertip” grade hair comes from the area around the badger’s neck and is the longest, softest and best for holding water and building a moist lather. It’s also insanely expensive.

I have chosen to carry shaving brushes that I think are best in terms of both price and performance. In addition to my lower priced boar bristle brushes, I now carry “mixed” badger hair brushes that I believe are the greatest combination of softness, moist lather-building capability, and price. My badger hair brushes come from China, where wild badgers are a good source of income (and apparently food) for many rural Chinese. The world’s supply of badger hair for art, shaving and cosmetic brushes all comes from 6 different species of Eurasian badgers. Chinese Meles meles badgers are apparently so abundant and such a threat to crops in farming areas that the Chinese government issues hunting licenses to help keep the population under control.

This is all just a bit of background for those of you trying to make a shaving brush decision for yourself or as a gift for a future wet shaving convert. I hope it all helps to inform! Happy shaving!

Wet Shaving

My dad has used a shaving brush and mug filled with a bar of shaving soap as long as I can remember. Until recently (when I got him a new one), he had a white mug with a handle and the red "Old Spice" logo on it. He used a badger hair brush with an ivory colored handle that would stand on end when not in use. He used a Gillette razor, but my grandfather used a "safety razor" with disposable blades. This is called the traditional wet shave.

There is a growing movement to return to this classic style for a number of reasons. It makes shaving more of a ritual and art, instead of being just a means to an end. There was a time when women would hang out at the beauty parlor and chat for hours, while men would go to the barber shop for their male bonding ritual. At "How to Shave Like Your Grandpa: The Art of Manliness" they list several good reasons to go back to (or stick with) the traditional wet shave: it's less expensive, has less environmental impact, you get a closer shave, and you feel like a bad-ass.

I, myself, have gone to using a safety razor to shave my legs because I was tired of paying ridiculous prices for the disposable razor blades. I bought a pack of 100 safety razor blades for $10 (on Ebay). I think they will last me at least another year at the rate I'm going. It did take some time to refine the small-motor skill needed to not cut my shin, but I totally have the hang of it now. Did you know, by the way, that the "Gillette Model" in business is when a company sells part of its product (in this case the razor handle) for virtually nothing, knowing that the customer will have to come back for the refills (disposable razor blades) in order to use it and that's where they will make all the profit. It makes good sense for Gillette, but it ticks me off.

I went to ClassicShaving.com to find brushes for both my dad and my husband. They have a great selection of beautiful badger hair brushes that cost between $8.00 and $380.00. That's a huge range in price, of course, and I'm not sure exactly what more you're getting at the top end. The one I bought for my husband was $49.00 and he likes it very much.

All of this led me to the conclusion that I should come up with my own special shaving soap, so I that's what I did. After doing lots of research on ingredients I decided to use green tea (rather than plain water) because of its powerful anti-oxidants, vitamin E oil because of its skin healing properties, bentonite clay to improve razor glide, and shea butter for moisturizing. I then tried to come up with a fresh, manly scent that would be cat nip to the ladies... and I got Smooth Shave Soap. I just made a new soap (premiering soon) that contains beer, which is great at producing a stable, creamy lather in soap. I think that will be a great shaving soap too. I'll keep you posted!