Does anyone use a synthetic brush?? If so, which one?? What are its positives?? And negatives?? Recommend or not?? I ask from curiousity more than anything else Thanks in advance and enjoy your shave
My very first brush was synthetic. It was a present from a beloved Aunt & i used it & loved it for three years. Please dont ask me to name the brand, knot size ......as it was many, many moons ago. What i do remember is it was quite stiff & was great at lathering up soaps. They, or that one did'nt, hold any water. It will not "break" in like a boar for example. However it will remain the same, which could be a good thing. I personally will not go to a synthetic again. If budget is a deciding factor, check out the Semogue range on other posts & i know that vintage scents sell a big range of Semogue brush's, both boar & badger & the prices are very good. Good luck!
One positive for a synthetic is they drying factor. They tend to dry quicker and don't have as many problems if they are put away slightly wet (must get the chance to dry like any brush to avoid mildew). Because of this, I use a synthetic as a traveling brush. Negatives... I can't generalize as I have only tried the one brush (The Body Shop Synthetic).... Crackstar is fond of his Gorey's Chairman
I have tried the Omega 91087 and 643167 models of their synthetic brushes; I tried them each for more than a week. I have read that the Men-U head is made by Omega. Also recently I was lent a Muhle Pinsel gray synthetic brush which I believe has the Jagger head on it. I can spend some time dissecting these experiences but in a nutshell, I would use any other brush before these, including any grade of badger, boar, clipped boar, or even horse hair (which is great). If you are ethically compelled to use a synthetic brush, then do so; it beats using a can. But if you think you can rival the performance of a natural brush, for me at least this was nowhere near the case. I know that synthetic has loyal fans, so there are people out there that like these brushes a lot. For me it was not a good fit with soap, cream, stick, bowl, face ...anything.
Zach,what are the problems with the synthetic brushes then?dont create as much lather as boar or badger?consistency of the lather that they built?...
You can make good lather with a synthetic (once you get used to its characteristics). I found it easiest to make lather with a liquid cream like Em's shaving creams. When I say it was not a good fit with anything, I mean that I was not able to get a satisfying shaving experience, no matter what I tried. Technically, yes, you can make effective lather and get a good shave from synthetic, but I found that shave, while sufficient, uninspiring and completely lacking the feeling of luxury and gratification that I look forward to in the morning; sufficient for me is not good enough. Not in a snobby way; boar costs less than synthetic.
And I bet that perform better than a synthetic too.Thanks for the info Zach,as always, really helpful.
I tried a Body Shop synthetic brush. Didn't work out for me. If you want it, PM me and it's yours (offer open to everyone!).
As a boar brush gives you a different experience than a badger brush (and badger brushes will vary with fur grade, knot size, loft, etc.), the synthetics will give you a different experience from the animal hair brushes. I've tried both the Body Shop and Men-U synthetic brush and would recommend both. Between these two, I find the Body Shop has firmer bristles, so I prefer it for soaps and the Men-U for creams. They whip up a good lather, don't smell and dry quickly. I've had no shedding from either brush and there also doesn't seem to be any break in period. The brushes work well out of the package and don't break down or change characteristics as you continue to use them.
I am a brush addict but I prefer the vintage nylon when i use that style brush but I use my badgers most all of the time. I have a fuller nylon that works great. I also got a badgerlon that has badger cases around nylon it works good too.I got both of them nos from an antique store for about 15.00 each.Omega has a good brush at a reasonable price that works very well as I recieved one in a trade.You will get alot of different answers on here listen to them all and make the choice that is right for you.
