Lather Shots

I think shea is suitable for a lot of skin types or skin conditions and it is a staple of modern soaps that can superfat a bit. Ols67 I am happy to hear it went as well as it did. It doesn't seem to be too shy of an amount in the bowl. It also doesn't look like it's too much but I think your whipped concoction was going to make the texture very consistent. Hopefully TommyCarioca has a chance to try soon. I need to shave tomorrow or this weekend and will probably try to use up Stella Alpina and the Plisson v1 synthetic. The soap choice is perfect in my mind to try this MDC. I love it's ability to lather and shave with but it wasn't enough for my dry post shave. It is a fantastic soap still in it's own ways but not as comfortable. I've been thinking of trying to switch in something American artisan or Euro classic like Tabac or Haslinger. I also have a hard cream sample of Santa Maria Novella. Funny timing how I am wanting to explore for a bit with some shaves.

That is the kokum, shea, and mango butter mix pressed into the bottom of my shave bowl.

Looks like few grams (2-3).
Is it one third each ratio?

I loaded my brush on the MDC soap in the jar, and then bowl lathered as usual.

This is a great lather.
Bravo.

Do you see more water to need?

I am not sure about the ratio, I just scraped a little bit off of the top with the back of a spoon.  

The butters did cause MDC to be much more thirsty than usual.  The resultant lather was just fantastic!

Thanks for the kind words gents!  I recommend Zac’s idea to anyone...the post-shave was also off the charts!

Vr

Matt

Don’t forget the shea butter Tommy!  This is ridiculous...our forefathers and theirs before them would probably just punch us in the face, and walk away shaking their heads!

Vr

Matt

Funny. My wife can't believe how long it takes me to shave now. I just blame it on aging and doddling

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Zach and Matt-
What mango & kokum butter do you use/recommend?
Unrefined shea stinks - i much prefer the refined - that big of a deal?


Thx in advance
Time to do some cooking



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This is all very interesting, but I wonder how much of the improvement in lather is essentially due to making the lather hold more water?

I only ask because I think for most soaps one can achieve almost the same results a lot more simply just by adding a few drops of glycerin to your lather. This, too, both allows lather to hold more water and makes for a better post-shave face feel. Cheap, readily available, shelf-stable; it has several advantages over the butters.

Granted, it's not quite as good for the skin and hair applications, and post-shave properties are probably at least slightly better with the butters, but you'd be surprised how much benefit can be gained from just a little glycerin. It actually works pretty well put directly onto the skin as a moisturizer, too, provided that it is watered down at least 1:1.

Carry on. Enjoy your experiments. I think anything that improves lather is awesome. I'd be interested if one of you could try a few drops of glycerin versus a smear of the butters with a soap like MdC, and see what happens.

King,
My thoughts on this subject as well. I use glycerin and lanolin in my occasional uber lathers.

I plan on using these butters as a post shave balm. I will add witch hazel, aloe vera, coconut oil, Jojoba oil to get a balm consistency

Tommy

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Tommy,

I just bought the Better Shea Butter products off of Amazon...delivered same day, and they seem to be working out well!

The lathers have slightly more slickness, and way better post-shave feel on the face!  I will keep doing it.

This was Stirling Island Man:



Vr

Matt

Sure look luxurious. Did you notice any lathering issues or changes to your routine?
T

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No issues, but I did change the routine in that I loaded on the puck, and then lathered in the bowl on top of the butters I pressed into it.

Vr

Matt