I am an avowed and dedicated novice, climbing the learning curve of DE (so far) and cream face lathering with the fabulous, generous help of you here. Having read, asked and read some more about brushes, I have released my inner thrifty RAD to assemble a small, low-cost trial stable of boar, synthetic and horsehair brushes. Badger is missing solely because I have been unable to draw any conclusions about badger which might fit my criteria. (Can you make a recommendation?) What criteria? As described in my thread regarding a search for synthetics, "Looking for a stiff, dense, non-floppy, scrubby, grind-the-lather-into-the-beard synthetic brush. Not interested in the spreading, painting or splaying type of brush. Really not concerned with whipping the lather or the amount of lather retention by the brush." Since that thread, I'm no longer limited to synthetics. So here they are (as of this writing): 1. Omega S synthetic 2. Proraso Pure boar 3. Semogue 610 boar 4. Vie-long Peleon horsehair (kindly PIFed to me by BRC) 5. Stirling 24 mm boar 6. Simpson Trafalgar T1 synthetic The buying theme has been stubby/short loft, bulb-type, high density and stiff (when I could find that description). I like travel-sized brushes. No conditioning is planned other than shave, shave and shave. I'll do my best to report back here, knowing that breaking-in periods, numbers of brushes and every-other-day shaving will make for a lengthy, enjoyable experiment. Meantime, have you any comments, suggestions or constructive criticisms (which might help me and other beginners)? Suggested additions (including badger)? What am I missing and why? Thank you for getting me to this point in my new favorite hobby. YOU FOLKS GOT ME HERE AND WILL PROPEL ME FORWARD!
I personally like synthetics better. Easier to load, little to no shedding, generally softer, almost always cheaper.
I mostly used synthetic brushes at first and for the past year have re visited boar brushes and also new to me are badger brushes. I find a synthetic brushes will do all of my needs but to be honest the boar and badger brushes are just as good when you figure them out to start lathering with a squeezed out water soaked natural haired brush and slowly add drops of water . Boar & Badger brushes are on the decline for popularity lately but will be around for a long time yet because they are very good and now I know why IMO . The silver tip badger (3band) and Finest badger(2 band) in 24mm knots are hard to beat for face feel scrub they are great lather painters also and I bought a lot of them at whole sale prices I figure and was surprized how well they performed with the just bowl lathering which I enjoy the most. I find brush lathering by bowl lather generating one of the most enjoyable parts of traditional wet shaving after using hand Gillette foam & gel for over 35 years cartridge shaving. Have some great shaves!
for synthetic i like the tuxedo knots,24mm,cheap and plentiful. for boar i like the big omega 10098 knots,cheap and transferable into any accommodating handle you wish. badger- i like the travel sized best badger in the simpson brush line, less expensive and build great lathers.special and commodore.both under $100..yaqi badgers are nice as well.
For stiffness and scrub, the vintage nylon brushes suggested in your synthetic thread will best match what you are asking for. For boar the most scrub and stiffness can be found in the cheaper boar brushes. These can sometimes be found in barber/beauty supply stores and are also available online. Marvy and Fromm-Diane (horsehair) on amazon (or search amazon for shaving brushes and sort by lowest price first): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0020JD5M4/?tag=thshde-20 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009R2N5CW/?tag=thshde-20 Pure/Black badger will give the most scrub and stiffness for badger brushes. Whipped Dog, "whippeddog.com", is well regarded and will "customize" a brush for you, setting the loft lower to provide more stiffness.
If I had it all to do over again, I now know that the end of my brush acquisition disorder would have been over if I started with the Shavemac Extreme Flat Top, D01 Badger. This is the ONLY brush I have used on a daily basis for the last six years. I have taken a couple of different brushes for travel use, but the Shavemac is the daily driver. I could have saved myself HUNDREDS of dollars buying this brush in the first place. Yes, it cost me $130.00 or so, but that would have been the end of it. Sure, I would not have had the joy of exploration, but still, cash is cash.
I have badger, boar, horse and synthetics. For many years badger was by far my favourite but over the last year or so I have moved over to almost exclusively synthetics. I just like their combination of soft tips but also density and stiffness. I think the Simpson Trafalgar brushes are a great buy.
^^^ Thank you for the fine suggestion. Just now purchased my first badger brush, with plenty of inexpensive non-badgers to compare. Thanks to all who are participating. Please know that I investigate all of your recommendations.
If you subscribe to their newsletter you will be notified of all sales. Well, you are lucky. You found the badger that checks all the boxes. The butterscotch handle is just the icing on the cake. Really like that brush and might get one myself. Now, the Commodore X1, X2 and X3 will follow naturally. No point resisting...
