Your Best Face Latherer?

There is so much emphasis on soap/water issues in making a nice face lather....one thing I've always felt that was a bit neglected was....the brush!  To make a face lather, you have soap, water & brush.  So it's 33% of the lathering process, but not often prioritized in the formula to make lather.

Of course the soap/water ratio is important...and the most variable...as the brush is a constant.  But I have discovered that there are brushes that are just easier to lather with.  For example, a Simpson's CH2 in best badger can lather anything I have...and the soap/water ratio becomes much less important.

Do you have a particular brush or brushes that are just wonderful latherers, despite finicky soap/water ratios?

My friend, you need synthetics in your life. Muhle / EJ STF XL v2. Game changer in my opinion!

Happydaze.. good point.
Tried my Semogue boar today with Mystic Waters soap. Failed to achieve a good lather. I was  soaking it before, probably a mistake. Back to Omega S-brush. Boom
"Beehive" type S10081
Synthetics are just easy to use. I like badger brushes  as well, but using and mixing gear all the time I want not to say "this is it". My best bets so far have been the Synthetics, among them the Plisson

For face lathering I prefer short lofted synthetics which leaves out most production synthetics except the offerings from Simpsons or custom lofted brushes.

Bob

I've never found a brush to make the soap or lather better. I do use certain brushes for face or bowl lathering, but none of them make better lather with certain products.

My Semogue Cerda and my TGC synthetic. They both make short work of soaps and face lather like a dream. 

I face and head lather. I've only used two synthetics, so I can't speak to other types, brands, or styles.

My first brush was the Omega S10065. It's soft with plenty of backbone. Almost too much for my liking. I felt I really had to jam it into my face to splay it out a bit.

Then came Bullgoose's sale on the TGC brush - which I read used the same Plisson fibers, but set deeper for a bit of backbone.

Now this is a fantastic brush. The TGC whips up a great lather on my face and head. The handle may be a bit small for some, but seems fine in my dainty mitts. Very soft, not at all floppy, but doesn't require jamming it onto my face like the Omega.

I may try a badger in the future. Anyone face lather with a WD silver tip or high mountain (24 or 30)? The price is right up my alley.

As for the other variables to my face/head lather, I use a lot of the artisan stuff (like Strop Shoppe) and my water is very hard (according to the last water quality report from the local water agency).




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Wow.....guess I really have to give the synth another try.  I tried it once and sold it (EJXL)...but I really did not give it a proper chance.  I'm game again!

For me it's a Semogue boar in a 50mm loft. I can face lather anything with them!

I only lather on my face and find that all my 31 brushes, except my Simpson Classic 1 synthetic, lather well.  My favourites include my shavemac Beehive finest, shavemac 3-band silvertip, Thater 3-band silvertip, Simpson Colonel best and Rooney Heritage Emillion1.   My Muhle medium synthetic works well, but is not in the top tier.

All my brushes are badger hair.  The vast majority two band.  

I have no difficulty face lathering with any of them other than a occasional "challenging" soap.  When I encounter such a soap, I send it away and use one of many other soaps that perform wonderfully.  

Edwin Jagger STF XL

(05-17-2015, 07:30 AM)Steelman Wrote: Wow.....guess I really have to give the synth another try.  I tried it once and sold it (EJXL)...but I really did not give it a proper chance.  I'm game again!

You asked for what a persons best brush for face lathering is and I said I prefer my synthetics. Oth I will face lather with any of my boar or badger brushes too as I only face lather. Never a problem with any of them for face lathering either creams or soaps. Just because a lot of people like synthetics for face lathering does not mean they will work for you a second time around. For me it is just about face feel more than anything as all 3 types will more than adequately produce a lather for me on my face.

Bob

I don't understand the OPs question.

(05-17-2015, 05:17 AM)Steelman Wrote: Do you have a particular brush or brushes that are just wonderful latherers, despite finicky soap/water ratios?

But I agree 100% with Max.

Any soap should lather with any brush if it's a good soap, brushes don't work better with certain products over another brush.

It's all YMMV and what you want to justify to yourself.

I can face lather with just about anything, but I much prefer EJ XL Synthetics.

Badgers seem to build lather the quickest for me but I like the feel of the soft synthetic tips of my Plisson.

Recently using boar and synthetic the most, I find it hardest to build lather with boar but nothing impossible.

(05-17-2015, 08:54 AM)Bruce Wrote: But I agree 100% with Max.  

Any soap should lather with any brush if it's a good soap, brushes don't work better with certain products over another brush.

 as of now I cannot build a gooey, lasting lather with MW and a boar brush. EDIT: More loading did make the difference! Works fine



My opinion as to soaps has been that the more  skincare (and glide) additives you have, the more demanding a soap will be to lather.

(05-17-2015, 06:31 AM)Bruce Wrote: I've never found a brush to make the soap or lather better.  I do use certain brushes for face or bowl lathering, but none of them make better lather with certain products.

I would like to disagree with this 

It's not that I can't create a good lather with any brush in my den now, I feel I have the routine and experience necessary now to do that, even with my hard water.'

It's just that I find that I use my variety in my badger brush den depending on the soap/cream I use to get that extra little bit extra quality of the lather. And yes, I do find I can actually improve on the quality of lather depending on the brush I use.

A couple of examples.

M.W.F. is notorious difficult for many to get to lather, especially for beginners and people with hard water.
I own a good deal of soft tipped 3-bands badgers, and I find that it's NOT the ideal brush to use, when I want to use MWF soap.
So therefore I always pick a dense 2-bander or even better my Semogue 620 boar, when I use MWF soap and I always seem to get better results with brushes with more backbone and less moppy feel to them. Not saying I own any brushes that feel like a mop on my face (They are long gone and sold now), but I just get better results with a less soft brush with mmore backbone, when I use MWF soap.

My softer creams in general benefits from using a softer tipped brush IMHO
Not saying I can't create a great lather with a less soft brush, but my preference is to use a softer tipped 3-band brush for my softer creams. I feel I get a better creamier lather this way.

(05-17-2015, 07:30 AM)Steelman Wrote: Wow.....guess I really have to give the synth another try.  I tried it once and sold it (EJXL)...but I really did not give it a proper chance.  I'm game again!

Bought and sold the EJ XL 4 times, even bought two of them one of the times. Ended up selling them again each time.
Just not made for me after all.

I find it lacks precision, when I face lather and for me to get it to create a fuller lather, I have to press it hard against my face, which I do not like the feel from.
Otherwise I can create a yoghurt like lather, which no longer is my favorite type of lather (it used to be, back when I fell in love with two synthetics in 2013)

(05-17-2015, 07:44 AM)Rufus Wrote: I only lather on my face and find that all my 31 brushes, except my Simpson Classic 1 synthetic, lather well.  My favourites include my shavemac Beehive finest, shavemac 3-band silvertip, Thater 3-band silvertip, Simpson Colonel best and Rooney Heritage Emillion1.   My Muhle medium synthetic works well, but is not in the top tier.

You take the words right out of my mouth 

I can get the synthetics I have owned (12-14 of them) to lather just fine, just not in great feeling way. They lack feel, they feel springy, unless it's the Plisson, which is like a floppy mop on my face and sprinkles lather all over the mirror.

I can create great to amazing lather from all my 36 badgers and my 1 boar in my den, so why use a synthetic, which lacks feel and precision IMHO.