Mystic Waters

I just bought her unscented version. I heard this soap is finicky. Please share your secrets on lathering this soap. I heard start with a semi-damp brush and then add water to get that lathery goodness.

I haven't tried the unscented version so I can't comment on whether it is or is not finicky.  But what works well for me on MW soaps is to use a variation of the Merkur Man method for lathering.  I'll bloom the soap for a minute or two with just a bit of water on the top.  (quick tip:  if you dump the water the bloom water into the water in your sink, the sink water will have a pleasant smell )  Use a synthetic brush and load for about 10 seconds.  Swirl the brush on your neck and each cheek a few times and then go into face-painting mode.  Paint for a minute or two and then dip about 20% of your brush in the sink water, swirl a few times, then go back to face-painting.  This dip/swirl/paint will usually go on for about five minutes.  I know many don't like to lather that long (maybe that's why they call it finicky)...but I enjoy have the softness of the brush on my face and the scent for the shave. 

Last thoughts:  Many note that MW can be difficult to lather with hard water.  If you have hard water, you might try buying a gallon of distilled water for your shaves.  Also, Matsilainen noted at the time that some will have issues when trying to lather MW with badger/boar brushes.  I did try using the above method with a badger and the lather just didn't turn out as well for me...but I'm synthetic guy so maybe it's just that I'm not familiar enough with badgers

Hope this helps and good luck!  BTW, even if you find it be finicky, the end result is well worth any "trouble" you have to put up with...the post-shave of MW is unmatched imo 

Thanks a lot for the info. I will try them both out.

I have several Mystic Waters soaps and found that for me I use the technique described in the video posted below where Will Carius of Barrister and Mann demonstrates lathering his Reserve soap.  That technique works well for many other soaps including Mystic Waters.  I find that firm badger brushes with a lot of backbone work best for me as well. You could also seek the advice of our resident Mystic Waters Guru, celestino  he's been rocking Mystic Waters soap exclusively for years.  Good luck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqfUvqLxOy8

My “two cents” on the subject would be:
• Squeeze as much water as you can out of the brush before loading.
• Take your time really loading this soap. When you think you might have enough soap in the brush, go ahead and load some more.
• While loading, add some water to the brush, but only a few drops at a time. Too much water at once will wreck the lather.

I used to think synthetics worked better with Mystic Water Soap, but I now believe the true key is loading enough soap and being very careful with the amount of water. You can always add more when you have the lather on your skin, but too much water too soon is not good for this soap, in my experience. (If anyone has ever had success using the “Marco Method” with Mystic Water, I’d be interested in hearing about it.)

My “two cents” on the subject would be:
• Squeeze as much water as you can out of the brush before loading.
• Take your time really loading this soap. When you think you might have enough soap in the brush, go ahead and load some more.
• While loading, add some water to the brush, but only a few drops at a time. Too much water at once will wreck the lather.

I used to think synthetics worked better with Mystic Water Soap, but I now believe the true key is loading enough soap and being very careful with the amount of water. You can always add more when you have the lather on your skin, but too much water too soon is not good for this soap, in my experience. (If anyone has ever had success using the “Marco Method” with Mystic Water, I’d be interested in hearing about it.)

I can't take credit for that!  Its the "Will Way"   
The points you make are absolutely correct, I shake out my brush pretty well and load a lot before starting to add a very little water at a time.  My favourite brush for lathering MW is a Rooney Victorian, its pretty firm with not much loft and nice gel tips.  It loads lots of soap - MW is a firm soap and I find I need a brush with backbone to load adequately.

This brush

Or this Shavemac D01 2 band

Thank you, Gents! I will be sure to keep you updated.

Thank you, Gents! I will be sure to keep you updated.

I tried a new method today that work very well for me. It results in denser yogurt like lather rather than a whipped yogurt with volume. I was particular to not add too much water in this go around and it worked very well. The lather did not break down using this method as it may (for me) when using more water.

*Wet the brush and ring out
*Water water on top of soap and dump out right away
*Begin loading, add a few water drops when it becomes pasty/stringy
*Repeat the step above a few times until brush looks loaded.
*For me and my water the brush was full of dense later rather than a pile of suds, which i like.
*Paint the face, add drops of water to the brush and paint until the lather hydrated enough to where you want it.