I'm looking into possibly getting a horse hair brush, and I seem to find public opinion to hold that Vie Long is one of the better brands. To those of you have have a Vie Long: what model do you have and why do you love/hate it? Background: I'm a fan of a larger knot with a medium loft.... Discuss!
I have a 12750, all these numbers for brushes is starting to annoy me. I love that brush. It has a knot size of 24mm and a loft size of 55 mm . At first I was not fond of the size of the knot but it has grown on me. I have used this as well as the 04312 that I gave to my brother and the 13052 which I liked alot , besides the very small handle. I do however have large hands so It might be a good brush for your average sized individual. Careful you do not drop the acrylic handled brushes, that is how my 13052 met its demise. That being said you might be better with one of the Resin , at least I think it is or Wooden handled brushes.
I have the 16031M - which is a brown hair. I like it. It took about a month for it to get soft, but I use it for face and bowl lathering. I like the weight of the brush, the size of the handle and the feel of the hair. The 13061 has been replaced, however, by a Vie-Long Lord Randal mixed horse and badger hair brush. This this is just fantastic for both face and mug lathering, likes creams and soaps and seems like a really high quality brush. It seemed to be soft right out of the box. It is a little heavier handled brush and the knot seems a bit denser than the 13061.
I have the lord Randal Brown horse hair. Works well, pretty soft out of the box, I think it'll still soften a bit with use.
I've got the 12705 and I've really grown to like it. I had the loft set to 55mm which seems like a nice compromise for bowl and face lathering. It's a scrubby brush for sure, which I really like. I find it scrubbier than my black badger...maybe just a coarser brand of scrubby. Very exfoliating. It took some breaking in. At first it provided me with terrible shaves but it's as reliable as my other two brushes and a pleasure to use. The one thing I don't completely like about the brush is the handle. It's a cool shape to look at but in my slippery, soap-covered hand, it's tough to hang on to unless I get my fingers around the base of the loft and put the bottom of the handle deep into the palm of my hand. Not a great grip for bowl lathering, but great for working up a lather on your face. I've also noticed the resin/plastic the handle is made out of tends to "almost chip" pretty easily. I've dropped mine a couple times, just a few inches onto my bathroom counter, and there are little discolored spots around the edge of the bottom (2 or 3mm long by 1 mm wide). Looks like they might chip off with another impact. I'm not so concerned with this aspect but thought it was worth mentioning. All in all, it's a great brush for twenty bucks.
Yet another 12705 owner here. Mine tends to shed a fair bit and the handle is cracked but it's still a great brush! This is my second brush, my first being a cheep-0 synthetic, so I don't have much to compare it to. A few weeks ago I got the urge to try either a boar or badger brush, but then I started looking at the Vie-Long's again. I don't know if I would buy the 12705 again, but I would buy another Vie-Long!
I use a 23 mm Spanish horse brush for travel because it dries faster than my badger brushes. The horse hair brush is nice but as nice as the silvertip badger brushes but it's a great travel brush
With more use of my horse hair I have to say it is a bit scritchy still, reach for my badgers and synthetics before it.
I own both a Vie-Long and a Bestshave.net # 6. I've found I enjoy the #6 much more than the Vie-Long. While there is debate about whether or not the Bestshave.net #6 is horse or boar (I personally feel that it's horse). However which ever it is the price certainly makes it worth giving it a try and if like me you wing up loving it, you really have the deal of the day..
I have 4 horse hair knots (Vie Long) and I'm trying real hard to like them. We'll see, they're still fairly new to me and I will say they're o.k. but I have other brush types I enjoy much more.
I've got a Vie Long 12603, it's an inexpensive brush (about $20). I like the knot, but the handle is a bit cheap. If you hold it up to the light you can see bubbles in it. I may get another that's more aesthetically pleasing in the future.
I ordered this travel brush the other day. Anyone who has an opinion about it? http://www.giftsandcare.com/en/hors...rse-hair-shaving-brush-13120-travel-size.html
