SMF

For awhile now I have been going brushless and using either Barbasol or Nancy Boy (mainly Nancy Boy), convinced that using a brush really did not matter all that much.

Then yesterday I was looking under the sink for a new contact lens solution bottle and saw an old TOBS Almond and Avocado under the sink - I had completely forgot about them. At first I dismissed using them because they are probably at least a couple of years old. But then smelled the Almond...and then felt that the cream was a little hard...but the whiff of almond was so nice that I said I had to give it a spin.

My face cannot handle face lathering very well, so I worked my lather up in my palm and then worked that into my face. The resulting shave was better than usual. My typical one-pass today worked well too. I can get a good shave with or without the brush, but the lather worked in with the brush gives me a slightly better shave - not that much better, but enough to make me want to start going back to using a brush daily.

Mike

Yes that TOBS Almond is a delightful scent IMO, as for the brush for me it's a no brainer, using a brush is all part of the experience of shaving for me, glad your going back to it.

All the best

Going brushless is like ordering veal piccata without the sauce.

↑↑↑↑↑

If you read the labels on quite a few creams you'll see that they can be used w/o a brush. Some are even deliberately brushless. The first batch, while they technically can be used with just the firngers, work even better with a brush.

But if your face can't take it, well, you found an option.

I prefer not using a brush. I feel like they are just an added unnecessary step. Fun, but sort of like they get in the way. Less like ordering veal piccata with the sauce than having one of those entertainers that travels from table to table visit you and your date.

KAV wrote:

Using a brush right.....

It helps to avoid cutting off ears

I think my feeling about brushes might be changing a bit.

I still prefer going brushless, but I have a new cream that was improved by use of a brush. It was a tad too dense without the brush, and the brush lightened up the lather a bit and made it less viscous & gave the razor better glide.

I think I'm starting to feel like a brush is a nice tool -- I prefer not using it, all other things being equal, but all other things aren't always equal. A brush can make a good soap or cream great.

I think it depends on the soap or cream. Maybe I should try doing a bit more research ahead of time on what's good brushless, so as to be more efficient in my purchases.

So complicated, this shaving stuff. I guess that's partially what makes it enjoyable.

I'm a minimalist at heart so brush-less creams should appeal to me. They just don't. I find they work well enough but a tallow based stick like tabac or Wilkinson Sword will give a superior lather and experience without much more effort/ time.

LouisIII wrote:I'm a minimalist at heart so brush-less creams should appeal to me. They just don't. I find they work well enough but a tallow based stick like tabac or Wilkinson Sword will give a superior lather and experience without much more effort/ time.

I need to purchase some other tallow based soaps ... to date I've used Proraso (which I like), Williams (which is OK but certainly not the best), and Mystic Water.

I enjoy the Mystic product but I find that its lather to be "dry" in comparison to Proraso. The Williams is "extremely dry" when compared to the Proraso ... so this leads me to wonder if tallow-based soaps tend to have "drier lather" than the cream-based soaps?

(admittedly an early conclusion, certainly my technique may be a contributing factor)