My research on what to get for my son (shaving stuff) got waylaid for the past week. My son's almost 14 yr.old friend passed away. So, the wake & the funeral were really difficult for all of us. It was my son's first experience with knowing a child who has died. Even though he knew Niall was sick, I don't think he ever truly thought he would die. So now, life must go on & I still have to buy all that I need for my son to shave with. I really want it to be a good experience right from the beginning. So, I would prefer to limit our experimentation & get what will be the least problematic right from the beginning. I never thought much about how soft a shaving brush is. I assumed they all would be soft. Yesterday I realized I was wrong. I was at the mall with my mom & happened to see shaving brushes. They all were boar hair brushes. I picked a few up & lightly brushed them against the inner part of my forearm. True, they were dry, but they hurt!! I was shocked. If it hurt my arm & made it red, I can't imagine putting it to a face. I don't know if it hurt & was so rough because it was dry or because I have very sensitive fair skin. But, my son has just as fair sensitive skin. So, I want to buy a badger brush... one that is really soft & doesn't hurt. When I watched the shaving videos, the guys shaving used their brushes with the bristles splayed out, so I imagine some force is needed in using the brush. But, with the boar brushes I felt yesterday, any kind of force or pressure of the bristles against the face would make the face raw. So, I am in need of suggestions for a very soft badger brush. The barber shaved my son when we went to get his haircut for the wake & funeral. So, I now have a few weeks to get the supplies for at home before he'll need to shave again. ColetteMarie PS: I did order the green Marvy rubber shave mug from Amazon. I expect it to arrive any day now. Colette
I'm very sorry to hear about your son's friend. I wish you and your family and the families of all who are involved the very best. While I know there are far more knowledgeable people here regarding brushes, I will say that a new dry brush will feel a bit rough on your skin no matter what kind it is. When you use a shaving brush you start by soaking it in warm water for 5 or 10 minutes so the bristles can soften up a bit and get saturated so that you are able to make lather. Boar brushes are great and just as good as some badger brushes and each has their loyal following - and many, like myself, have both badger and boar brushes. Boar brushes can take a couple weeks or so to really break in and once they do they can be very luxurious. I wouldn't discount a boar brush, or a badger for that mater, on how it felt dry. As far as a really soft badger brush goes, you will want to stay away from brushes labeled "pure badger" as these tend to be the most "scritchy" (yes that is a technical term. ) meaning they are a bit rough on your skin. I'm going to leave the specific brush recommendations to the brush gurus, but at least you have a bit more knowledge than before. At least I hope.
I'm sorry for your son's loss. On the brush front, if you want the first shave to be a good experience I think badger is the right way to go. Boar brushes take time to break in, getting softer and working better with every shave but starting out a bit rough. My recommendation would be a Penworks brush in best or finest. The current sales show a couple brushes around $35 that would be very good. The best and finest grades are much softer than the pure badger without the high price of silvertip.
Sorry about your son's friend. I'd go with Erik's recommendation in a heartbeat. There are tons of options but many of us on here know Penworks' knots pretty well. Ithink you'd be in good shape with one of those.
Sorry to hear about your bad start to the new year, A good boar ie an Omega is cheap but very good, needs a week or so to break in, As you mentioned the brushes where splayed out that happens with usage you dont need to use any force with a brush I only really use the tips to load it up (mixing a lather) if you give a bot more infomation ie what price bracket your looking at, and there will quite a few suggestions from the members,
The softest brush I own is a Vulfix 2234 in super badger. This is my luxury shave brush Just behind the Vulfix in softness in general (while still very soft at the tips) is my Simpson's Commodore X2 in best badger. This brush is very soft at the tips but has good backbone so the brush doesn't flop. Either of these will run about $60-70.
I was hoping 2012 would be better, but it seems 2011 is blending right into 2012. My dad died in June, 2011 after only being sick for 5 days. He lived a great life & was never sick until a very aggressive leukemia took him in 5 days. The shocking part of that was he had had routine bloodwork 2 weeks prior & all was normal. He died on a Friday & on the Friday before that he had been delivering Meals On Wheels, as he always did on Fridays. Both he & my mom, at 87 yrs. of age, walked 2 miles every day. Now, in the past 2 weeks, I have taken my mom for her routine biannual checkups at the MD. She has had a hypoactive thyroid but now she has a nodule & needs a biopsy. Her routine EKG shows that she now has an abnormal heart rhythm & now may need a pacemaker. Then, suddenly last week, she couldn't raise her right arm from the shoulder. Run to the orthopedic MD for xrays & she has completely torn the rotor cuff muscle & it is inoperable. So, while she can use her arm, she can't move the shoulder. The positive is she has no pain. It's hard to see her as 87 since she looks about 10 to 15 yrs younger & acts much younger than her age. Most people think she is about 72 to 75 & she loves that. But, we are having a few bumps in the road lately. Niall's death is very hard, even though he had been battling cancer, bone cancer, for 2 1/2 yrs. He is the first young person my son knew who has died. Niall & his mom and my son & I went to Lourdes, France together July, 2010. So, the 2 boys knew each other well. The reality of Niall's death hit my son at the wake. He is angry that Niall only had less than 14 yrs to live & suffered for over 2 yrs. He had an easier time accepting my dad's death since we all had the comfort of knowing he lived a long & good life & didn't suffer. About the shaving brush search... I will pay whatever I need to to get a soft brush. Another option is if someone could tell me how I can break in a brush, myself. Part of my son's autistic tendencies is that he tends to perseverate on one thing. If just preparing to shave hurts, especially right from the beginning, he will look to avoid it altogether. That is not an option & I don't want him needing to shave to be something I have to push him to do. I want it to be as smooth as I can make it. So, if a brush is $100, so be it. At least it is not something that needs replacement to often. I get a little overwhelmed in reading the descriptions, fan or cone, 22mm. vs other sizes, tall or short bristles & tall or short or fat or skinny handles. Yikes!! Who knew a brush was not just a brush!! LOL! I think, at least what I think right now, is the brush needs to be soft, soft, soft. ColetteMarie
Once you get to a certain level it is extreme subltelties that you arepaying for. I think you can get a very soft and luxurious brush in the $50 range easily. Look at this one. There are many options. And Penworks is fine too.
If you take good care of the brush it should last many years!! (and you can always replace the knott for less than a new brush)
I agree, but don't over look Frank's Shaving. To me the 28mm Richmond in overstuffed silvertip is Chinese Luxury at it's best. It more Luxury than I could ever need.
Sorry to hear about your son's friend passing away. That is quite hard for anyone, even more so for someone young. Even if you have sensitive skin, a brush should not cause redness and irritation. Yowzers! Those must have been poor quality indeed. There are boar brushes with fairly soft tips, such as the Omegas. If you really want soft, though, the softest are silvertip badger brushes. There are various grades of badger hair (but not of boar). This link gives good descriptions along with some pictures. There can be some variation is softness among brushes of a given badger grade, but all the silvertips I have handled or used were very soft. If you have a local brick-and-mortar store that carries quality shaving brushes, it might be a good idea for you to go and handle them yourself. Often cutlery stores will sell brushes and razors and there might even be a shaving supplies store near you. You will also be able to see the sizes of the various brushes. It is not necessary to push down really hard on a brush when applying lather, but some pressure is required. In addition to The Shave Den, Mantic59's YouTube videos are a great resource, as is Leisureguy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving. Best of luck to you and your son on your shaving odyssey!
I second Newb recommendation for Frank Shaving. All badger hair comes from China so the difference is really in the grade of hair used in the brush. However, all the recommendations are excellent. Good fortune on your search.
Given the nature of your son and the circumstances, albeit cliche that I'm the poster boy for Omega, I would recommend one of the 20-22mm Silvertip models; there isn't anything remotely close to being as soft in their price range. Once he gets older and perhaps enjoys shaving, I would recommend you hand him down a Simpson Chubby, nothing would be more symbolic in his journey to manhood. I'm sorry for your loses, and I hope things work out for you and your family and I do hope your son's journey only brightens.
One of the softest brushes I've ever used is the Truefitt & Hill Pure Badger. It is only about $30 online, and T&F gives free shipping. You may also want to get the sample pack: it includes a brush plus about seven of their creams. Sorry for your boy's friend's passing. God Bless!
I have a 14 year old son and I can't imagine the difficulty of a child that age losing a friend. As far as shaving, mine isn't quite ready yet but he seems to want to start with an electric; the blades put him off. Does your son *want* to shave traditionally?
I'm not sure if a 14 year old boy would think it was very cool to start out with the tools of the "past". An easy to apply foam and a cartridge razor that he's likely to have seen advertised might be the best way of him starting his shaving career. But if it is to be a brush, that's soft, soft, soft, I've yet to come across one to match the Kent BK 4 silvertip for that.
