Expensive Brushes?

I have all sorts of brushes that are all packed away now.

These brushes range from stock handled Semogue Boars to reknotted vintage handles with TGN knots and $10.00 horse hair from Bestshave.net that were later believed to be boar.

There is also a Simpsons Badger, and a Vulfix Badger/Boar, and many other brushes.

After I bought my Disco handle from Rudy Vey, with a Shavemac Flat Top knot for about $195.00, almost two years ago, everything was packed away.

There is something to be had with a high dollar brush, or at least my face tells me so.

http://imgur.com/PjC5InE

http://imgur.com/PjC5InE

 

That is a handsome brush.

 

This is one I’ve wondered about too.

I don’t own a high end brush but I’ve held a couple in my hand and it seemed that the knot density was higher than what it is in my less expensive brushes.

 

Thank You for the compliment, and for fixing the link to the picture!

 

In the eight or so years I have been doing this, I haven’t found a difference between the shave I get from the $10 Schick Injector I got on E-Bay, to the $200 Wolfman I waited in line for, to the $200+ straights I have ordered.

You buy what catches your eye. It all shaves the same.

 

+1.

 

I have two Vulfix badger brushes. Floppy and it seems to be a combination of less dense and too high loft. My other two badgers are knots sold separately & installed in custom handles. Both the Whipped Dog High Mountain and Virginia Sheng Black Pure are much denser packed and set deeper in the handles. Not near as floppy and much more serviceable brushes. While I enjoy them they mostly only get used with creams. Finding I prefer hard soaps Synthetic and boar brushes get used more often. My favorite brush feel is breaking in an Omega boar knot.
So I might enjoy the right high dollar badger if it was set to my preference and packed densely. I know I get along well with a -$20 boar or synth - the rest is coolness of the handle factor.

 

I enjoy using a fine brush but prefer to spend my shaving monies on razors vs brushes.

 

Omit the Shea Butter, and replace the Arko with Cella and you're on to something.

 

Now I'm not so sure I want a Shavemac brush. I'd like to try a silvertip, but I don't know if it's really worth it.

 

Since the amount that I paid for my current collection of brushes is under $10 each, I would not attempt to convince anyone that a high dollar luxury brush is no better than a mid-priced, or even budget brush. I just don't have the relevant experience.

I would, however, have a hard time convincing myself that a shave brush upwards of say $50 is worth it... to me.

It could happen, but I suspect not.

 

Probably yes. But it's the Law of Diminishing Returns.

OTOH, even a €4 Omega brush worked better than the Semogues I tried ... talking about wasting money

 

Thanks for all the replies! Great conversation, for sure. Almost makes me want to sell most of my razors and get recoup my spending...

Just kidding. I can't do that !

 

By comparison, does a $200 Executive shave any better than a $15 Weishi? Answer: Of course not. Some shavers like to spend their $$ on razors, some on brushes, some on both....

 

Well said!

 

This is really the only rationale behind spending big bucks on a brush in my opinion.

If you want to know if there is a difference between a hand tied 28mm high mountain white knot in a custom handle and a tweezerman, yes there is, but even as drastically different as those knots are, it still may not be worth the 200 dollar delta to a lot of folks. If you have the cheddar and don't mind finding out, then I encourage it, if you don't, having done so myself, I say you aren't missing tooooo awful much.

 

Dimes change.

I remember thinking and wanting a really expensive brush once, would even stop just to look at it in the counter. But $10.00 was enough for a full tank of gas and a really great dinner and a movie date with the prettiest little girl with long black hair fixed with a bow so the brush simply had to wait. But she moved and the brush didn't and I still have the brush and it has given me pleasure for over a half century.















But I wish it had been otherwise.

 

I would rather have a high end brush, than a low end brush.

The razor or the blade means not that much to me, but I prefer my 2011 R41 and Bic blades.

I am fine with Arko, Palmolive, or Stirling, TSD, or any other soap.

Aqua Velva, Brut, Skin Bracer Blue, Florida Water, Pe Re Ja, and other aftershaves, work just fine for me as well.

At the end of the shave, no matter what I use, you can bet your last dollar that I will have a DFS.

 

The razor is only as good as the operator makes it.

 

I've been avoiding this post but couldn't take it anymore.

I think this comes as close to the truth as you can get. High dollar brushes do not necessarily indicate luxury performance and you can get luxury performance out of relatively inexpensive knots. I do like a nice handle but you can put a nice handle on an inexpensive knot. To me that's the key, getting maximum performance out of the knot your using. When the whole thing comes together the luxury can almost be decadent. That said, I probably use a boar brush over 50% of the time and I'd never use decadent describing a boar but I just enjoy using them.