I'm having a really difficult time with the boars hair brushes I've bought. They're not holding up. The knot comes out of the handle and I can't get it to stay back in no matter what glue/epoxy I use. I'd like to get a badger brush but we're running extremely tight on funds after buying this old house. I'm looking at the badger brushes on ebay from china for between 15 and 30 dollars. Anyone have experiences with these? Thanks. Glen F
While I do not have any experience with eBay brushes, if you are in the 30 dollar upper range you might want to consider putting aside a few more dollars and go for the Crabtree & Evelyn Best Badger Brush. The quality for the price really can't be beat and it is a very respectable brush that will get you through just about anything. They run about 35 dollars US and can be picked up at their stores or online and their website. I think for the couple of extra bucks the quality and experience most of us have with this brush will provide you with a lot of piece of mind.
No idea about those, but have you looked at a Tweezerman shaving brush? The first brush I used was [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Tweezerman-Deluxe-Shaving-Brush-2801-H/dp/B00081U8AS"]this[/ame] Tweezerman. The knot did eventually pop out, but stuck once it was re-epoxied.
It was the daily brush for probably 6 months. Gave it to a nephew after I upgraded to pricier badger brushes. I'm sure others can add a bit more info on these though.
I'm not up to anything yet. Still trying to figure out what I'll be saving up for and hoping and praying I get enough coming in that I can set aside for whatever goal I set for myself.
I'd say go for the 35 dollar crabtree and evelyn best badger brush. That extra 5 bucks will get you a brush worth keeping for the long haul. I believe that brush is the best you will find dollar for dollar.
Actually, a friend just sent me a coupon code for c&e. I haven't tried it to see if it works, but it's for $10 off a $35 dollar order, making the best badger brush 25 bucks. code: LUXURY
The Tweezerman badger is $10 with free shipping here: http://www.beautyrose.com/twdeshbrform.html Richard
A very big thank you. Thank you all for your responses and consideration. The information is invaluable. Also, I'd like to thank a person who has asked to be "secret". I received a pm that this person is sending me the tweezerman as a gift while I save up for a better brush. This is a real blessing and I want to express my gratitude to you. Thank you.
Tweezerman, 15 bucks and reports say it works fine. Crabtree and Evelyn Best, 35 bucks and I AM TELLING YOU it works fine (great even).
Tweezerman I received a tweezerman badger brush in the mail today. Wanted to say thanks, once again. I'll be taking it for a test spin tonight, with the shave done by a robeson square point "Ellis" with african amazique wood. Glen F
I thought I'd post an update on Mr. Tweezerman. I knew from other posts that most new badger brushes had a "wet dog" smell when first starting with it, much like the boar hair brush did but I thought I'd tough it out just to try it out. It turned out to have a much different smell that I had to treat. After smelling it wet, I chose to treat it with a conditioner soak. I massaged vanilla conditioner into the brush, let it set 5 mins rinsed, repeated, did my first pass using a boars hair brush, rinsed, repeated, did my 2nd pass using the boars hair, rinsed, and let soak in warm water that had vanilla conditioner and glycerin based vanilla in it for 1/2 hr, rinsed, shook it out, and put it on the stand, thinking I'd use it tonight. to be safe I did the vanilla conditioner and let it set during my prep time on the shave, rinsed and gave it a sniff. All that conditioning and soaking hadn't made a dent in the odor so I ran it through the cycle again tonight and used the boars hair brush again. Any suggestions on how to get a strong odor out of badger hair without ruining the hair would be greatly appreciated. Thanks I can't wait to use this brush as it's noticably softer than the boars hair even just from handling.
The only cure is time and more cleaning, Glen. Just make lather with the brush a few times a day, until you can't smell the badger funk anymore.
You know, when I first started down this slippery slope, I kept hearing about the funky dead badger smell. Well, eleven brushes later (Kents, Rooney, Simpson, C&E and EJs), I have yet to smell anything bad. I don't clean them before their first use either; just get 'em wet, apply shave cream or soap and have at it. Am I alone? Or just lucky?
