Phoenix & Beau lathering problem

colina

colina

Messages
83
Location
Bangor. Northern Ireland
I recently purchased two Phoenix & Beau shaving soaps - Spitfire and Citra Royale- and have shaved with each on 3 occasions with massively differing outcomes even when loaded in exactly the same way. Firstly, the Spitfire soap lathers up very well and provides enough lather for a very comfortable 3 pass shave. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Citra Royale soap. Each time I've tried to lather it up I've been left with a rather mediocre, thin looking lather which has just about provided enough soap for a first pass. After that the lather has completely collapsed leaving nothing for even a 2nd pass. I've been bowl lathering the P&B soaps after loading my brush for around 30 secs and cannot understand why one works well and the other fails so badly, particularly after reading so many positive reviews. Just for the record, I also use MWF soap in the same way with good results so I don't think it's technique that's causing the problem. If any of you gents can shed some light on this mystery or provide a solution it would be very much appreciated?
 
I haven't had issues with collapsing but I have noticed with some of my P&B soaps when I go to load that the load is very thick and gloopy like a syrup and I don't build lather so much as a paste. I think when I received my soaps it may have spoiled in transit hence the issues but I drown it in water as I build and I get a good film on my face.

For you though I would recommend perhaps loading a bit longer, try it out and try different amounts of water, it's all trial and error until you lock it in.

Is your soap from an old batch or one of the new batches that have been cured for 10 weeks? I know there was issues with some soaps having an ammonia smell and starting with these batches all the soaps now cure for 10 weeks.
 
I have not tried the new batch yet. 75% of the soap on his site is listed as sold out, including Albion my favourite scent. P&B is ok but to be honest I prefer a harder soap I can apply in the puck and build in a bowl or on face. The Albion I have is the consistency of butter and to me is a cream not a soap. I cut out a dollop and press it in the bottom of a scuttle then work at it hard with a wet brush. I don't put hot water on the Albion itself as it just disolves away and a hot scuttle seems to melt it so I would use an empty scuttle or bowl. Do this and the lather should be ok. It's quite uneconomical though ad whereas 1912 can easily last you a year, this will go in a month or two.
 
When I first started using P&B I would only face lather and had the same results ,as soon as I started bowl lathering and taking an almond size amount out of the tub, pressing it into the bottom of the bowl and lathering for a good 30 seconds or so the stuff was a different soap, thick and creamy.
It's now my go to soap along side OSP.
They have a video on how to lather on there website I believe.
Hope this helps
Regards
 
yup i was trying to lather from container and build on face or scuttle. I would just get a brown buttery pap on my brush: not good. I do what you do now. I prefer the flexibility of the harder soaps though but will always keep a P&B around: good for a slow weekend shave.
 
I tend to load with a slightly dampened brush without blooming the soap - it's certainly soft enough for this. I also don't take note of how long I load for. Soaps are cheap in the grand scheme of things so loading heavy isn't an issue in my opinion. Then dial in the water drop-by-drop (well, little-by-little really) as they're thirsty soaps and work it! I've not had anything short of substantial lather via this methods.

As for face lathering, I tend to load heavy, apply as a paste to a dampened face and then start dialling in the water as above. Again, they're thirsty so bear that in mind but it also works fine for me and has done using both a Body Shop synthetic brush as well as a Razorock 24mm synthetic.

Hope this helps!

Edit: I've also given this a go with a brand new Citra Royale and it worked sublimely for me. (Sorry...)
 
Benz3ne said:
I tend to load with a slightly dampened brush without blooming the soap - it's certainly soft enough for this. I also don't take note of how long I load for. Soaps are cheap in the grand scheme of things so loading heavy isn't an issue in my opinion. Then dial in the water drop-by-drop (well, little-by-little really) as they're thirsty soaps and work it! I've not had anything short of substantial lather via this methods.

As for face lathering, I tend to load heavy, apply as a paste to a dampened face and then start dialling in the water as above. Again, they're thirsty so bear that in mind but it also works fine for me and has done using both a Body Shop synthetic brush as well as a Razorock 24mm synthetic.

Hope this helps!

Edit: I've also given this a go with a brand new Citra Royale and it worked sublimely for me. (Sorry...)
Click to expand...
Very good, nice bit of word play. :)
 
invicta said:
Seems you are not loading enough soap on the brush. I usually load for 1 minute on all my soaps to get a good lather but it can vary on different soaps. I have not used Mitchell's Wool Fat so cannot compare it.
Click to expand...
I gather from that you live in a hard water area, if I loaded for 1 minute I would have enough lather to shave my whole body. :)
 
nolisco said:
I haven't had issues with collapsing but I have noticed with some of my P&B soaps when I go to load that the load is very thick and gloopy like a syrup and I don't build lather so much as a paste. I think when I received my soaps it may have spoiled in transit hence the issues but I drown it in water as I build and I get a good film on my face.

For you though I would recommend perhaps loading a bit longer, try it out and try different amounts of water, it's all trial and error until you lock

Is your soap from an old batch or one of the new batches that have been cured for 10 weeks? I know there was issues with some soaps having an ammonia smell and starting with these batches all the soaps now cure for 10 weeks.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for your reply. I just bought the soaps 2 weeks ago so assume they are both new batch. There's definitely no ammonia smell as far as I can tell. I'll give it a few more attempts following the advice you've given. Cheers.
 
Benz3ne said:
I tend to load with a slightly dampened brush without blooming the soap - it's certainly soft enough for this. I also don't take note of how long I load for. Soaps are cheap in the grand scheme of things so loading heavy isn't an issue in my opinion. Then dial in the water drop-by-drop (well, little-by-little really) as they're thirsty soaps and work it! I've not had anything short of substantial lather via this methods.

As for face lathering, I tend to load heavy, apply as a paste to a dampened face and then start dialling in the water as above. Again, they're thirsty so bear that in mind but it also works fine for me and has done using both a Body Shop synthetic brush as well as a Razorock 24mm synthetic.

Hope this helps!

Edit: I've also given this a go with a brand new Citra Royale and it worked sublimely for me. (Sorry...)
Click to expand...
 
Basically it is not one for lathering in the puck, especially Albion. I would definitely call that a cream as you can see here.He puts a lot of grapefruit oil in this one. i have seen others and they are a bit thicker but not by much. Get a shaving bowl or scuttle and you will be fine. This lather out of all my soaps feels wonderful warm. You need to lather it quick before it melts though!
 

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