+1 on Whipped Dog. I have a silver tip brush from there. It only cost me $28 and came with a soap sample. It was custom made too which makes it that much more cooler. Needless to say, I love my brush.
So I ordered a 24mm silvertip and resin handle drilled extra deep today from Whipped Dog. Can't wait to give it a try and for $31.00, and if I don't like it I'm only out a little. Thanks for all the input guys, I'll let you know what I think once I get it.
My wife bought me one of the L'Occitane travel brushes several years ago. As a good husband, I tried to use it for quite a while. Then the gods of TSA smiled on me and opened my shaving kit to figure out what the brush was: it looked suspicious, I suppose. They let me keep it, but I then explained to my wife that I didn't want to have to deal with more searches. So I went back to carrying a cheap Omega synthetic that I bought about 10 years ago. The L'Occitane was horrible. I've had better luck with five dollar grocery-store brushes.
Brush selection is a personal choice, some prefer badgers, others boars, and even horse hair. Look at SOTD pictures to see what others are using. You need decide knot hair type first,secondly, are you primarily a bowl lather or face lather? Do you want a bigger brush knot or a smaller knot? Personally for myself I use Semogue boar brushes, great value for the money. I have one quality badger a Shavemac. Boars work for me are my brush choice.
If you want a great at least to me 2-band badger brush. The Vintage Blades brush available in 20,22,24mm knots. They are only $29.99-$34.99. And talk about VERY soft when wet, they are almost gel like. I love mine and for that kind of money you really can't go wrong unless you don't like soft/gel like brushes. they can be found here. http://www.vintagebladesllc.com/vshop/xcart/home.php?cat=240
I saw those things in the L'Occitane store. I picked it up and the small part holding the knot fell out of the handle. It was not inside the handle being stored, the brush was assembled as if ready for use. The sales lady said "Oh, that's because people have been taking the brush apart and putting it back together all the time. They normally aren't like that. I'll put another one on display." She did exactly that. The new brush she took out of the box fit together quite well. My impression is that the snap fit into the handle, which apparently used a dimple in the metal, won't last very long. It is a shame, as otherwise it seems to be a nice brush. Jon, you might try looking in local cutlery stores and seeing if they carry shaving brushes. Many do, along with straight and safety razors. Reading reviews is good, but there is nothing like actually handling the brushes yourself.
I'm still going strong with my $10 Shea Moisture brush from Target. This thing whips up a lather lickety-split and feels great. I actually bought a couple extras in case they stop selling them. I really love this brush.
I am surprised no one has noted Whipped Dog for brushes. Great value and great brushes. My WD Mountain Badger is a favorite of mine.
