Last week I got this Omega boar brush. I currently have a Rudy Vey silvertip 47mm loft, 23 mm knot that I realy love, but wanted to try the boar. I really like a short-loft brush and I like a dense knot. After softening it up the past day or so, I used it tonight on MWF. The lather was fine and it was protective and the brush splayed on my face, but the brush didn't hold as much lather as I needed so I kept reloading from the puck. I really like this brush but I'm afraid it might not be dense enough or maybe I'm spoiled on the badger or maybe I did something wrong with the boar. Can anybody recommend a dense knot (23 mm) and short loft (45-47 mm) boar brush? Thanks for your help.
Sorry, Aaron. I mistakenly asked for badger brush recommendations, but I meant boar. I've changed my original post.
Ah, ok Randy then what you're experiencing is not atypical of an unbroken in boar; even broken in they won't hold lather like badger imo.
Hi Randy here is a pic of my Omega 10275 boar, which is about the same size as your brush, I used kent soap (same as MWF) the above pic is the brush after a 3pass shave with touch-up and only loaded once, I have had the brush for about 4 weeks so its fairly well broken in, granted badgers do retain more water and lather but your brush should get better
Yeah Randy, it should improve with time. I have a few boars and they all perform great and I can get enough lather for my two + passes. It may just take a few weeks of steady use. P.S. I love my boars as much as I love my badgers. They grow on you.
With Boar brushes loft is typically taller then the badger counterpart. For a 24mm badger brush, I like the loft about 48mm. The same sized boar brush will have have a loft of the mid 50's. As has been said above, boar brushes take some time to learn and break in. Give it some time. With boar brushes, the first few lathers are normally sub par, but after that you start to learn the brush and it starts breaking in. A well broken boar is a treat. My favorite of the Omega boars has to be the 10005 Beechwood Boar. IIRC, it is a 24mm knot set around 55mm loft. You can normally find it for about $15. Currently, I have two boar brushes that are used for all my shaves. The first is a Semogue 2000. It is a larger brush (25mm x 62mm). It starts off as a mid sized mild mannered brush, but once broken it, it gains a lot of bloom and is on the large side. I have the Owner's Club Cherry handled boar brush also. It has a different grade of hair and is roughly 24mm x 57mm. Both of these brushes have gone up considerably in price since I purchased them. I paid $13 for the 2000 and $21 for the OC on sale from Vintage scent. Shipping took two weeks from Portugal, but was worth it. I don't think I would pay the current asking price for the Owner's Club brush from US vendors, but if you can get it on sale it might be worth it.
I'm more of a visual person, so I took some pictures for you of my Omega Scarlatti .. she is nicely broken in. This picture is pre-shave, I had just removed her from the shelf. Notice how the ends of the hair are split. Here she is all lathered up. Granted I use more cream than most men, IMO. I have two legs and two underarms to shave. Post-shave, rinsed and fluffed. Ready to go back on the shelf. Like everyone else has already said, it does take some time to break in a boar. But they are well worth the wait.
Alpha and Shawna, thanks a bunch for the great pics! That was an added bonus. Great looking lather on that Dale, I have a gotee so I like the smaller brushes so I can control a bit easier where the lather goes since I don't shave my chin and lip. I have a Vulfix 50 mm loft badger and it's a bit too big when I splay it. It goes into my gotee (I know..I'm neurotic). I looked at the larger knot brushes like you mentioned and really like those in the 60 mm x 25 mm range. Thanks to everyone for your advice. I knew it would take many shaves to get there and I'm willing to be patient.
