Hello all! Anyone who knows me knows that brushes r my weakness. This does have a downside tho. I'm extremely picky about the characteristics of the brushes I use. If the knot doesn't agree with me we have to part ways. No matter the beauty in the handle. Many a great brush have been thru my fingers. Now I'd love to see what everyone loves. Tell us about the why as well and the preferences u have with y'alls faces. We r all diff and like diff things. Maybe this thread can help fellow shavers in the quest to find other brushes. Please don't limit this to one brush. Collections r encouraged. I love all things brushes . Hair type doesn't matter. All r welcome! Pics r highly encouraged!
My modest collection. I haven't been hit with an acquisition disorder when it comes to shave brushes. I love the different textures on my face. Missing from this picture is a particularly scritchy pure badger that was a gift from my son. The only brush type I have yet to try is horse hair.
Im a boar guy. these are my favorites. And my favorite synthetic. Wolf whiskers brush with a plisson type knot.
Brushes are like moods, they change. I'm a big synthetic fan! Ready right out of the box, fast drying, inexpensive, holds plenty of lather. Boar brushes once broken in are as good as a great quality badger. For a fraction of the price. Silvertip..what's not to like.
I am a pillowy soft tip badger brush guy. I like my Kents. I really like my Vulfix 377 in silver tip. All that said I also enjoy Simpson chubby's in super and Simpson polo. 2 bands tend to be prickly but two that I keep in rotation are a Shavemac fan shaped 24mm with 52 loft and a Brad Sears beehive that is not extremely packed. I love a beautifully turned handle but the knot is what counts and any scritch has to go. I have gone through 50ish brushes to get to 12 that see regular use. I have 2 I need to part with.
Thank you. The CH1 Super is the softest. The CH2 SiLVERTiP is my favorite knot size. The CH2 Synthetic produces the best lather. The SOC Boar handle is the most ergonomic. The CH3 is pure decadence. The M6 is too small. The BC Mistura is a tough little brush. The Wee Scot is too cute and hardly gets any use.
Here is a group shot of my favorite 5 brushes. I decided that I would no longer add brushes to my collection that didn't meet my criteria... 1.) Hand-Made 2.) Hand-Restored The only exception would be a brush that was PiF'd, Gifted, or traded with a good friend. I've found that I enjoy the larger synthetic knots (26mm), and that I prefer 24mm with Badger knots. I'm a sucker for the barber shape handles that feel great in the hand. I'm in the process of working on 2 boar hair restores, one will be a smaller 22mm and the other a larger 27mm, so they will help me determine which size of boar knot I prefer. Great thread idea Lance.
My Stirling 26mm is my favorite right now. For the knot, not the handle. I actually prefer smaller handles, and I like the gourd and eagle type shapes rather than the vase-like or chubby style handles. I really wish the two Red handles from Vie Long came with fauxmere style synthetic knots. I've never held one, but based on the pictures, the 12705 and 13061 handles look perfect for me. I'm on sabbatical this year, but I think I'm going to save up for my first custom job next year now that I know what I like. I've already shared a couple of emails with Nathan Clark, so he's the most likely vendor at this point. I'm looking for a 26 or 28mm fauxmere style knot in a handle like the Vie Long 13061. Nathan did a similar handle for Marty Pape that he called the Slimer.
Just getting started here again after putting down the brush some years ago...I have an old badger in an acrylic handle (Made Rite #62?) I have had for years and it seems ok, but have nothing to compare it to. I travel so I ordered a Wee Scot and Plissoft to compare for travel. Watching here to see if I might "need" another full brush (or 3 ) to compare to my old one.
I have an undecided toss up on my synthetics. One is a 24 mm Amack in a Manhandled Woods handle, the other is an Ubersoft II in another Manhandled Woods.
I have a decent badger from China and boar from Turkey, and just received my first synthetic, {it goes into service tomorrow}. But the one I love is a Vie-Long 13710 Horse Hair Shaving Brush - Red Handle 50% mane, 50% tail. I love it so much I ordered a second one as a backup . I think the reason horse hair brushes are not popular is most have no backbone. I have two other horse brushes that I tried and will now sell on Ebay, because of no backbone. If you want try a horse see if you can find the stock number above, or order from someone like Maggards who know the merchandise they are selling, and ask for backbone.
Honestly, every single razor on that rack was den clearance sold. (Except a Shavecraft 102 that I bought used with bunged up threads and wouldn't sell.) I am down to just the three razors that give me perfect shaves, and a couple of Shavecrafts for travel. I am becoming a minimalist. Except for brushes. They are the best part.
I figure I've stayed out of this thread long enough. I have three favorite brushes. The first, is my New Forest High Mountain 2001. For me, it has the perfect level of scritch, perfect size, perfect loft, good backbone, and good flow through. Handle shape is perfect. The only thing I don't like about it, is that I didn't order more. It was £15 shipped, ($23 USD). The next brush is a one-of-a-kind Vintage Rooney. You can read more about it here: http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/the-rarest-rooney-of-them-all.47020/ The third and last brush is a vintage Simpson's Wee Scot, known as a Nano Scot. Current Wee Scot brushes are much bigger than they used to be. Here's a picture of mine next to the 'Kong.' To be honest, it's fairly useless, and I'll sell it one of these days. That being said, if I had never purchased it, I wouldn't have been inspired to learn as much about these 'wee' brushes (and small brushes in general) as I have. Read more about them here: http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/the-many-sizes-of-simpsons-the-wee-scot.46333/ I don't collect brushes like I once did, because, frankly, I've found my perfect brush. The search is ended...but...if anyone has a spare New Forest 2001, I wouldn't mind having another one.
I really love vintage brushes, and have a few with the original knots an I use all of them in no particular order. Erskine Badger 1947 Birth Year Fuller Amber Badger 1920s -1940s Vintage 1940s Badger Vintage Ever-Ready 675 badger They work fine, but I really just like all of the history that goes with them. I have 2 Syntheric brushes and I got them because they were inexpensive and I wanted to try them. Stirling Synthetic 26/63 2015 Maggard Synthetic 24/57 2016 They work well and you don't have to fuss over them too much. But my favorite brushes are my Silvertips. Rubberset 400 #3 WD 24/50 Silvertip (Jedi Lightsaber) Jerusalem Olive Wood/WD Silvertip 24/48 by ObiDon 2015e Whipped Dog 30/45 Silvertip 2014 The WD 30/45 was my first Silvertip and I talked to Larry about how I wanted it. Being set deep make this huge knot both soft with great backbone, and I like soft. I liked this one so much that I used them in the others. I had fun restoring them with help from folks here, and they work great.