Help with brushes

hi guys, i bought a shavette a while ago as i wanted to start straight razor shaving, and am a student so couldnt afford to waste money on a expencive cut throat, i loved it and i finally got my kropp a few days back but ran out of shaving cream so had to wait to get some more before i could try it, got me a cheap shaving soap and its lovely, so in my rush to use it i tried with a nail brush, bad idea much, scraped alot :(, so after that i managed to get hold of a blusher brush that hadnt been used, there are 2 problems with it though, its to flimsey and its all notted.

At this point i realised it was time to step into the world of the brush haha, as stated earier i am a student so i cant spend much on a brush i know some cost up to £80, (i did considder making one from an old paint brush), but i would love some advice on what type of one to get, badger, boar, or sythetic and where i could get one cheaply some time in the future.

Thanks in advance guys

Look forward to your replies

Stocky :D

Most drug stores will carry boar hair brushes for about $10. I have a $100 Rooney brush and I still use my Omega boar hair brush most of the time. The boar hair takes a little while to break in and you can facilitate the process by soaking it in a mug of freshly boiled water, like making boar hair tea. :D

so you would advise boar hair then, and woh thats an expesive brush haha, thanks

Stocky

I have and regularly use 2 Omegas. They get the job done. 'Can't complain. I don't have a feel for the cost in British pounds, but you may wish to check.

The difference in cost between the usable, but uninspiring Omega and the higher quality Semogue is very small. I bought an 830, which is mostly the same as the 1305. Both are loved by any and all boar lovers. My 830 is my best brush, though I'd like to try the more stiff/scratchy 620. I have a low-end pure badger (conk). It also gets the job done, but I can't bring myself yet to spring for the money a high end badger goes for.

Semogue 1305 Shaving Brush [Boar Hair] - €13.95 : The Vintage Scent Co., Rare and Antique Products for Men

I have no financial or other interest in Semogue or vintagescent. I can say that Bruno (vintage) is very pleasant to work with. I'll be awful glad when the U.S. has a distributor. BTW, I got my 830 with a WTB ad in the classifieds on this board.

If more funds are available, another VERY well spoken of value oriented Badger is Fido's "New Forest 2211". Oops, this run is now sold out (again). Fido contracts for small runs of high quality components, and the result seems to be reported as about like a very high performing $70-90 badger brush. I think his brushes run about $35.

'Hope you enjoy which ever road you take with the brushes. I think I'd be very pleased w/ either of the above mentioned choices.

So you wouldnt advise synthetic then either?

Thanks

Stocky

The drug stores around me have a starter set that is a boar brush, cup and disk of soap for like $20. I know you said you had soap, but I was not sure what a disk of soap cost if it is more than $10 then, this might be the better way to go since you will get some more soap to use. I don't know much about synthetic brushed, but sometime man made stuff can be expensive when compared to natural. I got my badger brush form AOS in a sample pack which is oil, cream, after shave and a brush for $25 in any sent they have. http://www.theartofshaving.com/shop/product/98034/20

Thanks that soulds great my soap was under a fiver but that sounds good anyway :)

Stocky

I don't know where you're located, but CVS sells a Tweezerman Pure Badger brush for $13.99. There was ome testing in the wiki that showed it to be a decent brush for the price. I'm going to be purchasing that along with some VDH Deluxe this weekend for a total of $17.

I have both badger and boar brushes and love them both with soaps or creams. I don't buy into the badger for creams, boar for soap idea.

With that said, badger brushes can cost an arm and a leg. If you would like to experiment with an inexpensive badger brush that seems to be very good quality, check out the Frank Shaving Brushes available on E-bay. There is a long thread on these brushes here that you can read. They come in three grades. I have the silvertip and for under $20.00, I am very happy with it.

thanks guys im really tempted by badger.
Does anyone have any oppinions on synthetic, as i havnt heard much on them and dont want to count them out.

Thanks guys

Stocky

If cashflow is low, remember that a boar or even a synthetic will be just fine and get the job done no problem. I never tried synthetics, but I hear they are fine. Whatever you choose will be a gigantic leap from a blusher brush or a nail brush :) I started with a simple and cheap boar brush and still prefer it, some days

Check out our brush forum. Many of your questions will be answered there.

ahh ok thanks, i reakon that'll be high up on the christmas list haha

Thanks for all your help

Peace

Stocky

Right i was in tesco today and saw a willkinson sword Brush, synthetic but ony £3.57 i grabbed it and ran (after paying of course) home, had a shave with it earlier it feels loverly, looks good lathers well and hold moisture brilliantly so im happy, untill xmas aanyway.

Thanks for all your help

Stocky

I got an Omega badger brush off Amazon for around $25. I really like it, and it's holding up very well. Even came with a stand.

Synthetic is not as soft as silvertip. Pay more as you get what you pay for when it comes to brushes

Yh i have notced its not amazingly soft, but at the moment its doing its job so im not tooo worried, with any luck someone will get me a nice one for xmas but until then this is doing the job.

Thanks

Stocky

I used a boar hair brush for many years, I didn't know anything else existed, but it worked just fine.