How To Create The Perfect Shave Lather

Unlike using aerosol foams, when it comes to real shaving its up to you to create the perfect lather.  This step by step guide will teach you the proper technique to become a lather master.

Tools of the trade

Badger Hair Shave Brush, Shave soap, Shave Bowl

Prep

You can get a step up on the game by soaking your brush bristles before the shave even begins.  Fill your bowl with hot water and drop in the brush for a minute or two.  Unlike synthetic brushes, badger hair brushes are soft and hold water like a sponge.  For those who shower before shaving which we recommend, this would be a good pre shower step

 

Step 1: Dry the brush

Take your brush out from the soak, and tap out the excess water.  You want the brush to be slightly wet as the water retained in the brush will open up your pores when shaving, but not dripping wet or else you won’t be able to create a good lather. Always remember that you can add water later, but cannot take it away.

 

Step 2: Pick up the soap

With your brush slightly wet, swirl and work it over your soap to pick up the material.  You should see a paste like consistency on the bristles of the brush.   If you notice your brush not picking up any soap, add some water until this happens.  

 

Step 3: Create the lather

With your brush soaped up, now its time for the fun part.  Take out your empty bowl, add a small amount of water (no more than a teaspoon) and begin swirling the brush in a circular motion.  You should start to notice a creamy lather building and you should swirl the brush about 50-60 revolutions or about 30 seconds to get the most lather out of your soap.  You want your lather to look like whipped cream, and it should be billowing over the bowl.  The ideal consistency is where the lather is thick enough where you can hold your brush upside-down without the lather falling off easily.  

When perfect, you should also be able to easily “paint” the lather onto your face without any sliding down.

 

 

Trouble shooting

I’m not creating any lather in the bowl:  Add more water.  This will allow the soap to lather to reach its full potential.  Be careful not to add too much water or else you’ll run into our next problem... 
My lather won’t stay on my brush:  Too much water.  You want the lather to be thick and not soupy.  If this happens add more soap to even out the lather.
I’ve created a lather, but its hard to apply to my face:  Add a small amount of water.  This will loosen up the lather and make it easier to apply.

 

Why Gentleman Jon

We include a badger hair brush, shave bowl our high quality shave soap in our complete wet shave kit so you can build a great lather kick off your wet shaving experience the right way.  We also have you covered on the most essential tool, the razor itself and kick in blades so you can start today.  Our famous alum block also has you covered to finish your shave and prevent razor burn.  

Traditional wet shaving does not have to be expensive, and we have set out to bring classic shaving products back to the people.  Like all of our shaving products, our Complete Wet Shave Kit has been carefully curated to deliver the finest quality at the best value to you.