Up to this point have only used an Art of Shaving Pure Badger brush and then upgraded to a Whipped Dog Silvertip. Made the decision to try out a synthetic in hopes of a good experience as I look forward to expanding a brush collection with the relatively inexpensive cost related to many of these synthetic brushes. Purchased the brush below for $16 after shipping. Using Stirling Gentlemen I experienced my first shave with a synthetic over the weekend.......I was actually VERY surprised at how soft the brush felt on my face. I really didnt expect to notice such a difference between the brushes I had previously used. I'd say I struggled a little at first with the lather, maybe used too much water?!? But ultimately got a good slick lather going and really enjoyed the shave with this brush. I believe I'll look at more synthetics for the fun of it and hope to perfect the lather process with this vs the badger brushes.
i have 4 synthetic brushes so far and love them. i shake them out before lathering as they seem to be "water in water out" where boar and badger absorb some water. i bowl lather and add water as needed.great lather every time so far. enjoy.
Nice brush! What brand is it? Synthetic brushes can be found at very reasonable prices, sizes and styles. I have a Stirling 22mm synthetic that I love. It has the right amount of backbone to whip up a great lather. However, my experience with larger synthetic brushes has been that they were too soft to quickly build a lather like my boar brushes. It’ll get me the lather I want, but just not as fast.
So sorry... Synthetics... From the endangered Synthetic species. Soon they will be extinct... So sad.
Great looking brush! I am almost exclusively a synthetic brush user and just love them. They produce mountains of lather for me. My approach is to use just a slightly damp brush (I give a wet brush 3 good shakes) then load. The soap goes on quite dry as you can imagine. Then I dip the tips and agitate the dryish soap on my face and begin to produce a lather. I dip and agitate multiple times until I get the lather just the way I like it. Works like a charm for me.
Got a Stirling synthetic PIFed to me and it lathers like no natural-bristle brush I've used. Soaks up water and holds it, so I find myself trying to adjust my normal water amount downward to keep from getting too much watery lather.
After my experience with my first synthetic....the Yaqi tuxedo sagrada I'm feeling like I'm on a bit of a synthetic kick now.....I just never thought I'd like them like this but it lathers great, feels fantastic and was only $15. So, I've ordered this Yaqi white synthetic as well, should arrive in a few days.
Yaqi does make some top notch brushes, and for the price they are just awesome. I pretty much use synthetic brushes exclusively, they feel soft on the skin, and are easier to lather IMO.
Synthetics must be broken in, too. Even though most people say the opposite. So you can expect better lathers soon. Synthetic tooth brushes feel stiff in the beginning too. The same goes for synthie shaving brushes.
Both Yaqi Synthetics have been awesome, the cashmere knot may in fact be even softer than the tuxedo..........that being said I went ahead and bought this monster for no reason really other than I wanted to have a monster knot in the collection. Should be arriving today and will use it tonight!