Every time I see an inexperience user looking for a quality do-it-all brush I recommend a Simpson Colonel; however, having said that, its a shame there are not more of the Brown Horse LE's. I'm sure those that I have recommend the Colonel to will chime in with nothing but positive thoughts on the brush.
I've got a Vulfix 2235, Rooney 2/1, and a Semogue 2015HD and like all three. I also have the BGS2012 Natural Horse hair from BullGoose Shaving which I believe is an amazing brush. Shame they are sold out already. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of the three badger brushes I've listed above and I've never seen any one have a bad thing to say about a Simpson. However you need to understand what you like in a brush. Some people like a stiff brush with a little scritch, while others don't like a scritchy brush and would prefer something softer. You also need to consider what size of brush you like. The Semogue 2015HD started out looking like a nice brush with a tight knot but bloomed out to a rather large brush. You may also want to consider a Vie-Long horse hair brush.
Wlmcad, here are some questions may be helpful for us to gauge where your interest lies. 1. What are you using now and what do you think of it? 2. Do you prefer soft plushy, slight scritch, medium scritch, or hard against your skin? 3. How much stiffness or floppiness are you looking for? 4. Knot Sizing: Do you want a Small 19-21mm, Medium 22-25mm, Large 26mm and greater? I know that loft and bloom or lack of bloom can also make differences, but this is a quick indicator. The answers can help narrow down the choices.
These are definitely good questions that need to be pondered. So here goes: 1. I currently have 2 brushes see the attached pics. The blond one came from my father-in-law. I think the hair is too floppy and soft. I got the black Ever Ready at an antique store. I think it is way to scritchy. It is really stiff. 2 & 3. I would say I want soft tips but medium scritch. 4. I think the blond brush handle is too large, its height is about 60mm & the widest diameter is 40mm. The diameter of the knot is somewhere between 25 to 26mm. I like the size of the black brush better. The handle is about 45mm tall and the widest diameter is 35mm. The diameter of the knot is somewhere between 20mm. I unfortunately have no clue what type of hair is in either brush. Based on this I want a brush with small knot, medium scritch, & a little softness at the tip. Hope this helps!
Not that it really matters, but I picked up that same starter kit for free when they opened a new store in my area and the salesman told me that that brush is synthetic, not badger. I just didn't want you to base your opinion about a badger brush based on that little synthetic brush.
Thanks for the heads-up. I have 2 of the kits, 1 in Sandalwood and 1 unscented and they both say on the kit that it is badger. It doesn't really matter to me, I find the brushes are rather floppy (not preferred IMO) with a little bit of scritch (which I like), and ultimately they work quite well as a travel brush. I have one that I throw in a large pill bottle in my toiletry bag when I travel and it works just fine. My main brush for daily use is a pure badger by Edwin Jager.
Well, I may stand corrected then. To be honest, I haven't even opened the kit let alone really looked at it, but you've made me curious. I'll see if mine says anything on it. Maybe the guy was trying to get me to upgrade to a bigger brush because, like I said, the kit was free, or you could put the cost of it towards other merchandise. I'm thinking that maybe he was just telling me that so I would not get the free kit, but spend some money there.
I've used boars for years, they're o.k., for me it's badger. It's the only AD I don't have. I'm sticking with my homemade 2 band brushes, I'm happy with them. Plus, I have enough handles made to last several life times. upload images
I dunno, everytime I see a brush by Oscar I'm tempted to run straight back to badger - though you can't buy brushes as attractive as his creations.
I know that some of these posts are from April but that White handled brush that WLMCAD has looks like one I have by Surrey and believe is it a boar. I looked it up and I think Surrey is now VDH. As for that little AoS brush, I have that set and the packaging does claim the brush is a badger but agree with Cache1 its a nice travel brush but nothing I would use regularly.
I figured I would update this thread since my wife got me a Boar brush for Christmas this year. As it happened, right after she got me the boar (omega model 48, the big boy: ) the knot pulled right out of the handle on my badger. So, while I waited for a response from the brush manufacturer I used my new boar brush full-time. After a couple of weeks of not hearing back, I decided to just epoxy the knot back into the handle myself and resume using the badger brush. I used it for the first time since my introduction to boar yesterday, and I have to say that I much prefer the boar. It just has so much more backbone than my badger, which is now quite floppy by comparison. On a semi-related note, when re-gluing a knot into a handle is it normal to lose a bunch of hairs right away? Yesterday when using my badger for the first time again it lost a bunch of hairs.
I started with the cheapest of the Omega boars and have now started using a cheap Escali Badger for the last month. Personally I find, that, after breaking in, the boar is no less soft but still has enough backbone to precisely lather up the face without getting into the nostrils as the Escali does due to the soft bristles flaring on being loaded. I found a work around for this. I use a plastic tie (used for tying cables / wires together) to tie the bristles together at the base, near the handle. (A rubber band would do too). This reduces the bristle length and makes the brush less floppy making it good for fast precise lathering. The Omega boar loads up from a round of soap much faster. See pictures. My boar and badger in the sun together. The badger with the tie attached near the handle. Notice the limited flaring when loaded. Personally I prefer the Omega boar to the Escali badger. Softer and less scritchy. YMMV.
I prefer Horse Hair brushes myself. But then again I have only been into wet-shaving for about 3 months. Vie-Long makes some decent brushes. I have 1 with another 1 on the way. The Vie-Long 13052 isn't bad, Soft with Backbone and for $27 it isn't that bad. My only complaint is the small handle size. But then again my name should explain why I have that issue.
BTW, I don't have one of those handles anymore and I'm using alot of boars again. There were 3 excellent brushes in that lot.
My favorite boar is a Semogue 1520. $13.37 on eBay with free ship. It has very soft tips with a firm backbone! I think next I will take a ride on a Horse
