ABOUT SHAVING STICKS
SHAVE STICKS
Shaving Sticks are usually a hard Shaving Soap in a small cylindrical dispenser which make them extremely easy to apply and use. Just wet your face ( or area to be Shaved ) then wet the end of the Shave Stick and rub the Shave Stick directly on your skin covering the entire area to be Shaved with a thin film of soap then using your favourite Shaving Brush using light swirls and paint strokes, occasionally re-wetting the tips of the Shave Brush until a rich lather is formed and then Shave.
Shaving Sticks are excellent because of their extremely compact size and make a great Shave Soap choice for putting in your Shaving Bag when travelling. Some really excellent choices are TABAC Shave Stick, RazoRock Triple Milled Barber Shop Shave Stick, Palmolive Shave Stick ( Tallow Version - not the Australian Version which does not have Tallow in the ingredients ), Valobra Shave Stick and Wilkinson Sword Shave Stick - all have Tallow in the ingredients which many believe makes for better protection while Shaving and better post Shave skin conditioning.
Shave Sticks are also a great way to sample Shaving Soaps and many Shavers will grate the Shave stick into a small sized ( or Shaving ) Bowl using a grater and use it as they would any type of Shaving Soap from a Bowl.
BLOOMING A SHAVE STICK
The general rule for all hard Shave Soaps ( and triple milled Shave Soaps ) is to soften the Shave Soap prior to loading with a Shave Brush. This is a process called blooming which consists of immersing the top layer of the Shaving Soap in warm or cold water ( not hot water as this can destroy some enzymes and natural nutrients in the Shave Soap ) for a number of minutes prior to applying it to your face or loading the Shaving Brush.
To do this simply fill the bottom of your Shaving Mug or a Coffee cup with warm or cold tap water ( only about 3cm depth ) and insert the end of the Shaving Stick in the water and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes.
It is recommended leaving the soap soaking only for 5-10 minutes, as any longer it would soften too much with the effect of consuming more product than necessary.
You can also use a Shaving brush and load it against the Shave Stick as you would any other type of Shave Soap - after loading your Shaving Brush you can either Face Lather or whip up a creamier Lather in a Shaving Bowl.