Sebum+Badger=Good Lather?

just used the sebum lime. along with the aftershave, after one use, i dont have much thought on it yet. the lime smell is pleasant. i guess, IMO the castle forbs hits the mark on the lime a lil better. took me like 2 mins to lather it up good. the residual slickness was good but not better then other soaps i have, some high end ones, and some 7$ tubes of cream like tobac. to be fair, i always use a primo preshave, this time i didnt use it to get the full effect of the soap.  also i made a classic soap testing mistake, and i used a new blade i never tried before. ended up with a rough shave on my neck. im gonna have to test this out with a preshave and a blade im familiar with, and give an update on this.



the after shave ---

scent = for me, nothing to write home about. very light lime smell. can barely smell it. if you like lime i guess you will like this. im more of a lemon guy myself.

feeling = feels great no doubt about it. on par if not better then all my high end after shaves, including but not limited to creed, antica barbieria colla milk, aesop,



one thing that i don't like about this aftershave is the amount of time it takes to fully absorb. takes a long time. its been probably 30 mins since i applied it and its still oilyish on my skin. i stood in front of a fan for a bit but still not fully absorbed. it doesnt shin though it has a matte look.  feels great though, after a rough shave, there is no irritation at all. and if you stroke you hand on your face or neck, some of it gets on your hands, and you rub your hands together to make it nice and soft.

EDIT: once fully absorbed, skin feels like you just came out the womb.


have to use it more to see if there are any skin benefits.



defiantly have to use this a few more times to get a full taste, but so far, i wanna try out the tonka and the blue also. i wish they sold smaller jars too.



the packaging is great, really bespoke. but personally i could care less. as long as its in something that wont let it go bad quick, thats what really matters for me. i guess glass is good for that though. if you like bespoke packaging though, you will love this. popping the cork open is like opening a porsche door.




 
this soap is a 911 porsche. yes you can keep up with a m3 bmw but there is a reason the porsche is double the price.

the aftershave is a ferrari. im sold on that. like a ferrari, there are some knocks ( absorbtion time ) but a its a farrari.

Yes, that's the way I feel about the serum as well-top notch. The lime scent is pleasant enough to my nose, but I don't think the scent is there as much for the scent but for the different 'aromatherapy' attributes, at least according to the Sē'bŭm website.

You might try using less product-the website suggests a 'dime' size amount, I find 5-7 drops is all that's needed, and with that amount, it absorbs within a few minutes.

I've used synthetics, badgers, and boars, with both bowel and face lathering, and always obtain an outstanding lather. As long as the soap is loaded with a nearly dry brush, and the lather is slowly built up by adding small amounts of water, the soaps will produce extremely well.

To go back to the what started this thread, the lathering of Sē'bŭm soaps with a badger brush: I'm getting the hang of it, and many thanks to evnpar, Ols67, Max Sprecher and the others on this thread for the good advice. Agravic's posts on another thread have been very helpful also.

Evnpar sums it up nicely above: it's a bit of a slower process than with most other soaps, the slow addition of water is key. That, and using a bit more product than I was using at first.

I've got one of those tough beard/sensitive skin faces, so if I tried doing all the agitation with the slow addition of water on the face with a dense badger brush-even those with soft tips, I would get brush burn, especially after the first pass.

So, I've been loading in a bowl, adding very small amounts of water by dipping just the tips, and then flicking the brush, agitating in the bowl, getting it to just about where I want it. I paint the lather on the face then add a bit more water as necessary on the face with mainly paintbrush strokes, mixed in with a bit of gentle splaying. This produces plenty of dense, hydrated lather for 3 passes, touch ups, and left over lather for pre post shave goodness.

Using this technique, I've been getting extraordinary lathers, not only with the Sē'bŭm soaps, but with the other soaps I use. 

Here was today's lather, half way through, and then right before going to the face, with the Sē'bŭm Purple and a very dense DG B9A 28 mm knot:

That's some serious lather Michael! I admire your determination also because I know your love for badger brushes.

Michael,

Awesome lather!  Well done!

Vr

Matt

That's some serious lather Michael! I admire your determination also because I know your love for badger brushes.

Michael,

Awesome lather!  Well done!

Vr

Matt

Thanks, Max! Thanks, Matt!

I knew it could be done, having seen Matt's photos, and I knew Max could lather it by just looking at it, and I was determined!

Plus, I could swear the big dense badgers in my cabinet were snickering at me every time I used a synthetic! 

I used a synthetic last night, and while I got a really nice lather and a great shave...it just didn’t have a soul (hence synthetic).  It just doesn’t do it for me.

Vr

Matt