How to achieve a good lather with a shaving stick
Having taken up the fine art of DE shaving or traditional wet shaving only recently I wondered what to do when travelling by air where only minimal amounts of liquids are allowed. I opted to try a shaving stick instead of cream. I manage to get a fairly good lather from shaving cream but felt like I was back at square one when it came to sticks.
I read through the guides on badgerandblade.com and they did help. But I’ve only just discovered a method that really works for me.
Having prepared the beard by applying warm water for a few minutes apply the stick to the face but first dipping it in warm water. Use the facial bristles to get plenty of the product onto the face. Then using a pre-soaked badger hair brush build the lather directly on the face. Then take that lather to the bowl and continue to build it.
What I had tried before was to apply the stick to the brush and then build the lather in the bowl. But it didn’t seem to work too well. I also found that I had made the brush a little bit too dry by shaking and squeezing it. This works well with cream but not so with the stick. The other thing that I didn’t do before was to dip the stick in water before applying it to the face.
The resulting lather is actually a lot better than the cream and gives a much closer shave with less burn. The stick in question is La Toja from Spain and the cream is Palmolive. Both fairly inexpensive products but I’m converted to the stick now.