I have one vintage restore. I bought it from Doug Korn. It has a TGN 2 Band, and I love it. As much as brushes I have paid five times as much or more for...
Perfect balance between loft and backbone. What's not to like about a Simpson in Tortoise shell? Ever Ready 100 with 24mm High Mountain White. Nice and tall, and beautiful with a bowl or scuttle. Matthew Marting "Brushguy" brush, with 22mm Virginia Sheng 3 band. Supremely comfortable and beautiful handle, gorgeous knot. Century Set in Rubber. TGN 2 band.
Duke 2 Best Anthony MacKenzie, Jr, Lights synthetic Vintage Rooney restore with 3 band TGN Plisson Maison du Barbier All favorites for various reasons. I would not and could not choose an absolute favorite(or just a couple, as you can see. )
Lol right now mine is the plissoft monster. But I only have that and my 400-4 2 band badger. I just love how soft the plissoft is.
Well, I only have two brushes. (I had three, but my VDH boar hair brush crapped out on me and I threw it out.) I have my Omega badger hair brush and my synthetic brush (I assume the brand is Absolutely Fabulous since it came with my Absolutely Fabulous soap). Initially, I didn't care for the synthetic brush all that much, because I've been having trouble getting it to splay like my badger brush (or my boar brush before it fell apart), but I have to say that brush has really grown on me—it's now my go-to brush. What I really like about my synthetic brush is that it's really soft like my badger brush, but it has some backbone to it like a boar hair brush. And with the backbone/stiffness it has, it makes it super easy to work up a nice rich, thick, and creamy lather in no time at all. Based on my love for a soft brush, but also my love of a brush with some backbone to it, I'd love to know if you have any recommendations for a brush.
bestshave.net #6 horse(?) hair knot set in a burgundy acrylic handle. Even with the handle change it was still dirt cheap and works like a charm. It's the only brush I've used for years.
Perfect loft height for me, not too soft or skritchy, and it was a gift. What's not to like about my Simpson 56 (pictured: another owner's #56).
Here are my favorite brushes. I probably have twice this amount in total, but the other half is boar (or boar/badger mix). The two end brushes are Manchurian badger...they are by far my favorite! Then comes the best badger. I like my Black Fibre Muhle because it is soft yet scritchy; it's the one I go for if I need a bit of scrub.
Apples to oranges. I use it often, especially with my "tougher to lather" soaps. Nothing, but nothing beats the CH2 Synthetic in terms of lather creation (IMO ) I have only used one "Best Badger" brush. It was a CH1. I found it a good latherer, not particularly soft. I sold it. Edit: I forgot about my Wee Scot. The li'l fellow's Best Badger. It's cute, but rarely sees any use these days. I take my synthetic with me when I travel.
I'm not a big 'brush guy' in that I don't tend to collect nor spend much of my shaving budget on them. I do however enjoy certain aspects of the brushes I use. The more I use boars, the more I enjoy the knot stiffness and versatility. The custom boar made by Oscar11 is my current favorite, as well as these other picture below. I also have a couple of WD badgers and Omega 48 & 49 boars I work into the rotation.
