I have lots of brushes; everything from very small to really big (I mean REALLY big). I can't figure out what the advantage is to a big brush. Why bother with a big brush?
There's more cons with a large brush than pros, about the only pro I find is it could be billed as more "Luxurious".... The cons, well it takes more product, they cost more and don't perform as well as the smaller brushes. I used to hate larger brushes, but now I just pick one up when I feel like a pampering myself with a shave, as I don't really daily drive larger brushes.
Woh.. that one looks like a brush a Klingon would use. Myself I think I'd like to try a nice ginormous Klingon brush.. see how it is compared to a human sized one lol...
Well what is your overall shaving activity. Headshaving: Too big of a brush can cause an accidental slosh of lather into the ears. From personal experience that is not luxurious. Face Shaving: I don't think it is as much of a pro or con as just what you want to use. The larger brush is to me more of a status issue. Leg Shaving for the ladies: Given the fact that they would have more surface area to shave, a brush that can apply more lather quickly can be an advantage. I like 22-28mm knots and 28 for synthetics that hold their shape well.
I like my Omega Pro boars but, they are as large as I want to go. I feel that they lather better for me than the smaller boar brushes do. For badgers I like the size of my EJ best in medium, just right.
So the consensus is that there is not a lot of real advantage to the big brushes. I tend to agree. Using a big brush doesn’t bring much of an improvement. You get more lather but how much lather past 3 good passes do you really need. The Vulfix 41 with cream gens up enough lather for 5-8 passes. I don’t need it so it goes down the drain. My current fav is a medium Vulfix. Nothing special at all but it doesn’t shed and it’s never let me down. Unlike some Simpsons which seem to come with a certain amount of mange.
Greg, It looks like you have shaving brush musical troop. In order left to right: Soprano, Alto, First Tenor, Second Tenor, Baritone, Bass. Impressive collection.
Unfortunately, these are just “some” of the brushes. The extremely unfortunate part is that ……… I have “some” duplicates.
My Savile Row 3826 amazes me every time I put it work, sorry did I say work?. Using this brush is absolute selfish luxury and I feel a twinge of pity for those unfortunates piddling about with their girly man makeup brushes.
The only advantage that comes to mind would be a bigger brush being more manageable for someone with large hands. To an extent, GDC is right about the use of a larger brush for legs. But again, hand size sets some limits on that, for many women.
I like brushes on the large size of medium or the small size of large(typically 26-28mm). I haven't tried any 30mm+ monsters and really don't intend to either. I do like this size brush much better than a little guy. The little ones work fine, take less product etc, but I like the face feel of the larger brushes. The soaps I use aren't overly expensive and I don't mind rinsing a little down the sink.
I prefer a smaller brush. I've found they make it easier to apply the soap exactly where I want it. A larger brush is just messier.
Ive tried the BK12 and sold recently as I felt it was just too big, I really like my rubberset with the omega boar re-knot (27mm) I also have a omega 26mm 6239 badger, these kinda size's seem to be good for me, also my small omega 10275 21mm is great.
When I first start shaving I had very little brush knowledge. I started of with cheap boars. After awhile I thought the only brush I should own was a badger. I thought also bigger was better. I bought the above Parker Badger brush, as you can see it has blossomed out to be a big brush. After two years of use it has lost some back bone. Last August I bought the Omega 48, which is a large boar brush. I love the Omega 48, even though it is a big brush it is not an overwhelming big brush. The Parker on the other hand has become almost overwhelming to use. Recently I purchased a Semogue 1460, Vulfix 28 boar brushes both are smaller knots, smaller handles. They both have had several uses both have been a pleasure to use. Nearing my two year anniversary, I am gaining a deeper knowledge base about brushes. I see no advantage of using a larger brush. Personally for myself there will no further badgers added to my den. I believe a quality boar brush is a better choice of brush. when shopping for a boar brush I am looking for a knot size of no less then 22 and no greater then 25, with loft minimum of 50, and a handle size of 48 or greater.
I used to think that bigger brushes were better. Mind you, I haven't really owend too many brushes, as I am fairly new to the game still and my wife put a clamp down on when it comes to anything more than blades and the odd soap. The biggest brush I own now is a 24mm Penworks, and I thought I needed a 30mm. I honestly don't know why...maybe the bigger size make me more macho? To be honest the penworks is my designated travel brush (until I get a Simpson Case), as all I use are my two Colonels. Their knots/loft are smaller, but there s something about them that I love more than a big brush. ***** On a side note, my brother only uses big brushes (he's a smaller in stature than me too). I think his smallest is a Chubby 3. Usually he uses his Kent BK12? I'll have to ask him why such large brushes when I see him this summer...
