I need more room, and a nice display cabinet. Maybe the wife would appreciate my collection more. She is all about presentation.
I mentioned something similar to my fiancée. She suggested the garage or spare bedroom as a perfect place to display my collection. 'Less than enthusiastic about the idea,' was the impression I got from that response.
you should try a simpsons or vulfix best badger.these are very nice brushes and not floppy at all.best badger are also soft,but half the price or less of a super badger.i have a mhule silver tip that are very floppy an almost useless.think the hand made brushes have a much more denser knob.
Contrary to almost any other response you've got so far, I'd say keep your money and get a new-gen synthetic instead Much much cheaper, same soft tips and good amount of backbone so you can lather hard soaps with ease. I have an expensive ($75+) badger and it's the worst money I've ever spent. Sure it's soft and nice, but it's no match for my $10 Razorock synthetic. I know there are other types of badgers with backbone AND soft tips, but then again - keep the money and get a synthetic instead. But that's just me. I've never liked badger much.
Garage, no. Spare bedroom, yes. I have two spare bedrooms, and I've been thinking about that for a while. The more I use my Zenith boar brush, the less I think about the badgers. But, a custom acrylic handle might look nice with a High Mountain knot. If I don't like it, my wife will love it. She likes the badger brushes.
I realised, somewhat belatedly, that I have a Gillette rubber set travel brush and it could well be badger! It's very small, and I had previously dismissed it as a bit of joke. Anyway, I dug it out and tried it. It is the first time it had ever been used, since 1930. It was very soft and a tiny bit scritchy, at first. I must admit for such a small brush, it was pretty good. I think I will look out for a badger brush to try.
I'd say get the synthetic first, it's cheap and very good. If you decide you want a more luxurious and natural experience, keep it as a great travel brush and go for a good badger to add to your regular rotation. But I tell ya... they hype on the latest gen synthetics are not without reason...
Bet those new synthetics feel just like a highend badger. They all want to feel like a luxurious badger. Im not tryin' to knock the synthetics. I like the fact that it dries fast, that it can be mass produced with exactly the same quality every time. Several other reasons manmade bristles are nice. But the real Mccoy is a badger. The last one i got was a Frank Shaving silvertip. I got it from the bay for like 18 bucks for the silvertip and a synthetic (that may be pur-tech). And that after 10.99 shipping. For four dollars why not try a badger. Initually it'll be different. Its much softer than the boar your accustomed to. Try loading it by holding the ends 1/8inch above the soap(not actually above). But just back off the preasure a bit. It'll make great lather. Then while on your face, you can make circles. Instead of th painting motion, thats almost a nessecity when i use synthetics. Its very luxurious. They have been part of the wetshaving experience for a very long time. Your journey to explore everything available wont be complete if you dont try one. Now if your satisfied, or have some other germaphob or vegan objection (not that theres anything wrong with those points of view) stay with what you have. But if you are looking for a new experience, try one. The whipped dog deep set silvertip is a great shave brush. 35 bucks (prolly redeemable, if you hate it). But I've a feeling, you'll be happy.
I used boar for a long time because I usually like to face-lather and they are cost effective for that. Recently, I acquired a Razorock Plissoft and I would strongly recommend it to everyone. Not only does it have incredible softness, but I find it much easier to keep clean than my boars. We have hard water here and the boars need attention every week. The price on the Plissoft cannot be beat. This got me thinking about badgers. I don't have a lot of extra cash, so I ended up making my own pure badger brushes with glazed porcelain handles: I find I really like the pure badger, even though it is not strictly as soft or luxurious-feeling as the Plissoft. The price is significantly more than the Plissoft, so if money is an issue than you can stop there. But I find that shaving brushes aren't on a linear spectrum from zero to ten; but rather they are multi-dimensional. I am glad to have the variety in my collection. Even though I face-lather, I am enjoying the pure badger more than my boars.
Here is my very little travel brush. Bearing in mind it's age and colour, can anyone tell me what type of badger hair it might be? It's very soft on the face, a tiny bit scritchy but it's hardly noticeable.
Mine is a slightly different brush to the one shown, It has different writing and the letters underneath are not painted. The original comment states there are two different brushes, the one shown and one in the 'shave wiki' , which I couldn't find; they have different 'tops'. Perhaps Gillette did a boar and a badger version? Perhaps mine isn't badger after all. I don't know.
