I have purchased 14 Shavemac brushes (2 of these were Rudy Vey's with D01 3-Band and D01 2-Band knots) and I'm working my way slowly but steadily through the testing phase with a couple of them now :smile: I would like to post a review of the Shavemac 3-Band Silvertip brush I ordered back in November 2012. All my Shavemacs are custom made orders, so you can only buy them if you order them specifically through the Expert Selection on the Shavemac website (hidden page, enter 'expert' in search field and it will pop up) or by emailing Bernd directly. One of my 14 Shavemac brushes is the one I would like to post a small review of today. It has the following specifications: Handle Shape:102 Colorearl Imitation Quality and Size:24 mm Silvertip 3-Band Hair length ( Loft):48 mm Knot Shape:Fan Shape Shavemac logo:Logo on bottom Sorry for the poor pics, they were taken with my iPhone 5 in poor lighting conditions :blush: I have now used the brush 5 times, and it has shed 2-3 hairs. The handle is lightweight, but very solid to hold in your fingers - it does not glide. The knot is soft to touch, but not overly soft. When wet, it bends a little bit - and only because I ordered it in 48 mm loft does it not bend like a mop (i.e. Kent BK8) When you run it under the tap the hairs do bend a little bit, but not to an extent where you can call this brush close to floppy. It only opens up slightly, when you pour water into the center of the knot, but it is so dense, that it does not open up like for instance my 7-8 Thäter 2-Band and 3-Bands tend to do. I'm really glad that I got it in this relatively low loft for that exact reason - the Thäter reason :wink: Shavemac 3-Band Silvertip is their softest knot, and if you like backbone in your brushes, avoid buying this particular knot in too high a loft. The splay on it is quite large, but that is to be expected from a soft 3-Band knot in 24 mm fan shape. No surprise there really. But the bloom is not overly large, and because of the low loft it is quite controllable for face lathering. FYI : I face lather exclusively. My preference is large to XL knots, but when they are larger than 25-26 mm I only buy 2-Band dense knots and not 3-Band soft l knots since I feel I lose too much precision for face lathering if the splay and bloom is out of control. I like to be able to close my mouth and then lather around my mouth and chin area without losing control and getting lather in my nostrils :wink: I have used the brush with Lavanda Old version cream, Xpec unscented crem, TF&H Trafalgar cream and a combo of Penhaligon 1870 cream & Simpson Luxury cream. Here is my opinion: The brush has performed admirably from first shave to last shave. It did tend to collapse a bit like you see in more soft & floppy brushes before you really get the lather creation started, but the dense knot combined with the low loft saved it each time and the flow thorough in the brush is quite excellent leaving only a bit of lather trapped inside the brush. So if you use too little product this may mean that you don't have enough for 3 passes even if you squeeze the knot gently for get the lather out. The lather creation is quite good, in fact great. No complaints there. The softness of the brush is not silky smooth - it actually has quite surprisingly great backbone for a 24 mm fan shaped 3-Band Silvertip brush. On the other there is exactly ZERO scratch, ZERO scritch - I felt ZERO prick from this brush. The tips are soft, but not silky smooth soft. There is definitely backbone in this brush. This brush will be a solid addition to my stable of brushes. It's not in my Top 5, but I have nothing negative to say about this brush. It's a very solid high performer. My ratings: Design: 9/10 - it's custom made and the handle is quite beautiful IMHO Ergonomics: 9/10 - handle could be 15% heavier and I would have rated it 10/10 Flow through: 9/10 - almost perfect Face feel: 9/10 - not too soft, you feel the brush with nice backbone, but this brush has ZERO scricth/scratch. It's not silky soft, but it feels very very smooth on your face Lather creation: 9/10 - performs solid and great. Creates the lather fast and efficiently, when I face lather with it. Overall: 9/10 - I can definitely recommend this brush to all face latherers - it's almost a perfect flawless performer.
Nice review Claus. I have another Shavemac knot somewhere in my future but not sure when. I'm thinking a 23mm (or smaller) 3 band DO1, contemplating a flat top, maybe. It'll be interesting to play around with at a few different lofts.
Nice review Claus. Il looks like we have similar taste in brushes. I to am a face latherer and I appreciate this review as I find it very useful for me. Thanks.
