I have a Tweezerman brush that I enjoy using. For creams it is a winner, and I actually like the short loft quite a bit. I realize it's not a luxury brush, but it gets the job done. I also have had 2 different VDH boar brushes. Once broken in they were serviceable brushes, and they could whip a puck of Williams to within an inch of it's life. They were my gotos for various soaps. I ended up giving one away to someone interested in using a brush, and my original that had broken in so well recently recently started shedding massively. Anyway ... long story short ... I'm looking for a new, inexpensive brush and initially I was looking at the Omega 49 boars. At the same time I ran across the Omega line of brushes using the Syntex bristles. Reading up on them they seemed to have some interesting qualities. I also noticed they had a Syntec version of the 49. Has anyone had any experience using the Syntex Omega 49 ? Or a similar brush maybe ? I get the impression from reviews that most of the Syntex brushes fall somewhere between boars and badgers in performance.
I can't comment on the Omega, but my TGN Synthetic Re-Knotted Fuller handle is one of my favorite brushes. It is soft, but has a small backbone at the same time. It holds yet releases the lather very nicely. When I shave, I only scrub the brush on my face for the first pass, then paint the lather on for subsequent passes. The TGN Synthetic works very well with both methods.
Based on very positive reviews by LeisureGuy on his blog, I recently bought the Omega 46151 - "Lucretia Borgia" Artificial Badger Shaving Brush from ShoeBoxShaveShop. I have mixed feeling about it right now. It is a very handsome brush and the first impression is that bristles feel soft on my face. It does have more backbone that I expected, however. I always make a lather on my face, not in a bowl. The synthetic brush builds up great lather, but it takes more pressure to spread the hairs out on my face to make the lather. By the time I've got a good lather built up, my face is feeling a little irritated by the friction and pressure. By comparison, my EJ best badger brush spreads out with very light pressure to build up lather on my face, with no irritation. I'm going to keep using the synthetic brush a couple of times a week to see if I get the hang of it. I presume with the synthetic bristles there is no "breaking in" period the way there is with natural bristles. I also bought one of the Body Shop synthetic brushes for $9.99. It seems even stiffer than the Omega brush, and after a couple of tries I decided that it was a bad choice for making lather on the face.
I've had a Omega Artificial Badger for about 2 years, its a pretty good brush. Initially it was very stiff but broke it fine, now its soft . It works equally well with creams and soaps and seems to mimic a badger brush well but without the hassle of shedding . Its plenty tough and has the usual Omega solid build. I paid $55 for it. I have the Omega syntex , white nylon knot,cost about $10. It works with creams but is a bit awkward with soaps as the knot splays over the soap completely. It has no backbone at all. It is soft on the face and a pretty good budget brush. I am very partial to the Omega Professional line of Boar brushes, once you break them in they are excellent brushes for everyday use with soaps and creams, face lathering either especially. YMMV If I was buying a brush I would buy Fido's silvertip badger. I don't own one and can't afford one, but a silver tip for $50 is a good deal. Fido has done his homework and reading about it I think its away to buy a quality brush at a bargain price , might bear looking into quickly as I am pretty sure he is going to sell out his offering.
More good info. I don't face lather unless I am using a shave stick ( though I am very fond of the Speick shave stick, and just ordered an Ogallala stick as well ). I mostly bowl lather most of my products.
This is the Golden Nib synthetic knot in an old Ever Ready handle. The 'hairs' have a kink to them & taper to a point, imitating a badger hair, I suppose - i.e. Soft at the tips, stiffer underneath. I've been using the brush for a couple of weeks now. It seems pretty robust & I can dig in when making a lather in a scuttle. Seems to work fine, for what it is. I've never owned an expensive badger brush, but I imagine it would not really compare to one of those. Again, for what it is, it works fine.
Today I decided to give this brush another chance. I used a Speick stick (first time--and I enjoyed it!) and varied my lathering motions with the synthetic brush. I discovered that I can get the bristles to spread out more easily if I vary the angle to my face. The badger brush is so soft that I just push it straight against my face. This new angled approach was much more comfortable, and I easily got a nice lather. So, I'm feeling better today about my synthetic brush. Hope that I haven't discouraged anyone from trying one.
I know how you feel. I was touting the Body Shop brush awhile back. MikeM bought one and was disappointed and a thread ensued of how poor the brush performed. I felt bad for suggesting it was good when others thought it was bad. Since getting my TGN Synthetic knot though, I have realized that the TBS brush is inferior to the TGN. The TBS brush is good for legs but not so good for the face compared to the TGN so I PIF'd it to someone looking for a stiff brush for leg shaving.
great post... I've been toying with buying the same brush, or a similar one from Omega as my first brush. I have been face lathering creams with my hand, so I assume this will give me a much better lather, and do a much better job. Interesting to hear it takes more pressure than a good badger brush, and that you've found a better way to use it.
