I have an AOS “pure” badger chrome handle. It’s the only brush I’ve ever tried. I love it but it’s all I know. Am I missing out?
Yes. It’s sort of like your first car. No need to go buy another brush if you’re happy, but don’t hesitate to try something new.
Yes, you are. I will start by saying that brushes can be a rabbit hole. Material, size, handle shape, handle color...there is a lit to choose from. After many, many, many brushes (including a couple from AOS), I have found the best at separate price points: Stirling soaps brushes: they offer every type of hair, the handles are nice and simple, you can't beat the value of 7-15 dollars for most if their brushes. If you are wanting to spend less than t0 bucks, this is what I suggest. Wolf whiskers brushes: these are truly hand-turned custom brushes with a HUGE following. Any size, any type of material, any type of handle and handle color. They usually run between 70-140. You can pay more for some other brushes, but you won't find a better brush IMHO.
Then one day, you say, I wonder if I could make my own shaving brush. Yes, yes, I can... And now 257 brushes later... http://jrshaving.blogspot.com/p/the-jayaruh-brushes.html
You’ve named three that I haven’t tried. Maybe someone else will chime in. I just received my first synthetic as a gift. I’ve used it all of three times so I can’t comment yet. I prefer a dense boar with good backbone. My current favorites are five vintage handles professionally reknotted by a former TSD member. One is preferred for its long handle that keeps my knuckles out of the soap and two others are preferred because of extra weight added to the handles. The other two are prized for their looks and feel. All five are high quality boar knots. I’ve acquired several other vintage handles and will probably one day try my hand at restoring one with a nice new knot.
AOS sells brushes that cover all ranges of the price and quality spectrum. You could conceivably have an AOS that is up on par with Shavemac or Plisson, but probably at an even higher price. You could also have a $20 Pure, that is not a very good example of a quality badger. You say you have a chrome handle, so you are probably moving towards the middle somewhere. Being a Pure in itself does not make it a bad brush, but all Pure has some characteristics that aren’t typically associated with “good badger”. I would recommend getting a synthetic to try it out. Stirling Soap and Maggard Razor, both have very affordable offerings. For under $20, you can pick out whatever brush flips your minnow. It doesn’t really matter which type you get, they all perform quite well. The only one to stay away from in my opinion is the Omega S Brush. There are several newer generations of synthetic fiber that perform much better. Any Omega boar is a sub-15 dollar investment, and provides a completely different shave. If you want to try a different badger, I would 100% recommend one of the offerings from Stirling Soap. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to get a decent badger, but don’t skimp either. For $40, you can get a really good example of what a badger should feel like.
Not discounting anyone else's opinion, but Jared @PickledNorthern has his head on right about brushes. My own experience biased me toward inexpensive. I started with Omega boar brushes. If I was setting up a new shaver I'd steer them to a #10098 because it's my favorite brush. From what gather I wasn't supposed to enjoy the scritchy, scrubby break-in period. But I did, and I'll pick up a 3rd when my 2nd gets too soft. If you like softness and no maintenance - lots of synthetics to try. I haven't personally confirmed, but Yaqi is selling some good looking handles with Tuxedo style (black to white tip) knots. Super soft, good lather makers. I've got a Tuxedo and a Cashmere knot from APShaveCo, and they are similar, maybe a little softer than Maggard Sunrise synths. Badgers are The Rabbit Hole I've mostly avoided.. I've tried a few, found them to be mostly floppy. But I haven't spent the big bucks to get a densely packed premium knot. I was curious about horse hair, but from my reading they tend to floppy while being prickly at the same time. Good luck on your search, and I hope you find satisfaction!
Art of Shaving does not make any of it's brushes but rather re-brands. The one I have is certainly not a bad brush but it is kind of run of the mill character free ones. Pure Badger is also often misunderstood. Most of my badger brushes are pure badger and in fact some of my very favorite brushes are pure badger. I have boar, horse hair, badger, combination and synthetic brushes and all work jess fine.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Epsilon “Poor Man’s Chubby” in unbleached white from Gifts and Care. No flop, some scritch. Face feel somewhere between pure and best badger. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I have a couple of pure brushes that I enjoy very much. Most of them that I have tried were not keepers for me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
For starters check out @Jayaruh ‘s brushes the handles are awesome and he can typically get you the knot you want be it Boar Badger or Synthetic. I have adopted two of his brushes one with a plisson knot and the other with a tuxedo style knot. They look and feel great. Boar is nice and generally inexpensive but takes a little time to break in. Boar knots are also all pretty similar which makes selection easy Badger is the classic go to but the spectrum is huge with quality. Generally speaking sub $50 to $60 probably not that good. My personal favorite is Synthetic because they are pretty high quality for great prices. Stirling makes good Synthetics so does Razorock. Both sell them for $10-$20 high quality. There’s no break in, they’re easy to maintain, they dry quickly, and they don’t stink or shed. Clearly I’m biased to Synthetic Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You need at least one of each: boar, badger, horse and synthetic. My faves are boar and synthetic. Boar, cuz I just like em, plus they hold water, which makes them really nice for making warm lather. Synthetic are nice because they're soft, lather well and dry quickly. Now if they would only absorb water........
