Thread: Newb Does The 'Pepsi Challenge' With Brushes!

The purpose of this Review is, primarily, to write information that I wish I could have gone back and delivered to myself over a year ago in order to save time, money and a bit of frustration. Secondarily, my goal was to separate the chaff as much as possible and avoid what I like to call the ‘Ford/Chevy Phenomenon’ (F/CP) where you have two relatively equal objects that, for whatever reason, have a strong subjective following in onedirection or another. And, I wanted to have a little fun.

So, what I did was to purchase a variety of brushes from different Manufacturers and in different hair types and qualities… I used each for two weeks shaving 3 times each week with Cella & L’Occitane Cade Soaps and Taylor Of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Cream to give me as much diversity as I had available. I have a goatee but I also shave my head so I have plenty ofreal estate to use these brushes on despite the facial hair.

I started this process off over a year ago when I purchased a Van Der Hagen Brush, Cup and Soap set for about $15. However, the quality was not much and combining that with my poor technique soon led to a catastrophic failure and large chunks of bristles coming out. This brush was always a big shedder losing half a dozen or more hairs each shave so definitely not my best decision but it gave me the motivation I needed to get into other brushes and do this Review.

Note, this Review is written from a Newb’s perspective so may not be as comprehensive as people may be used to… But, I believe I came upwith good information and a good sample group and had enough fun to share.

Here’s the line-up… From left to right… Chinese ‘No Name’, ‘Disco’ shave brush from India, Van Der Hagen, Taylor Of Old Bond Street ‘Pure Badger’, Edwin Jagger ‘Best Badger’, Parker ‘Silvertip Badger’ and a Star Shaving ‘Synthetic’.
The Chinese ‘No Name’ brush came with a SS double wall shaving cup I picked up off eBay for $10 and was not initially intended for this Review but it came with the cup so I threw it in. Interestingly, it only took about 12 days to get here from China. The dimensions are- Knot: 22mm/FanWidth: 48mm/Bristle Height: 52mm/Total Height: 107mm. The handle is wood andfit and finish is actually quite good. Wood is smooth and ergonomics are that of a basic brush. The bristles are Boar and quite stiff but did not shed more than a few bristles initially then not again. Overall, the brush does an okay job, gives you plenty of scrubbing action and makes fine lather but the volume of lather held leaves something to be desired.
The 'Disco' shave brush I ordered on eBay because it was $6.75 shipped from India and I’d read another Review of this brush that sounded intriguing. It took a staggering 5 weeks to get here so was the last brush I recently finished with. The dimensions are- Knot: 18mm/Fan Width: 62mm/BristleHeight: 62mm/Total Height: 120mm. The handle is wood and fit and finish is,well, different. The wood is not sanded to what you’d normally expect. BUT,that rough texture under the paint actually gives the ergonomics a nice little tweak as far as grip goes but are otherwise what you’d expect of a basic brush.The bristles are Boar and quite long and soft compared to the other brushes and this one did not shed much at all either. Overall, this brush is a little hard to handle with soaps as the bristles are long enough to be hard to control. It does better with creams but never did develop much volume of lather easily.
The Van Der Hagen shave brush has a bit of a soft spot forme just because it was my first brush but, otherwise, was pretty much a dud even compared to the ones from China and India. The $15 price tag and packaging with a cup and soap makes the sting a little less and it was the ‘only’ type thing I could find nearby in my area at a local Pharmacy. The dimensions are-Knot: 26mm/Fan Width: 55m/Bristle Height: 55mm/Total Height: 108mm. The handle is plastic and has the same shape many modern brushes have had for some time now and ergonomics are good putting the bulk of the handle in your hand rather than holding on to the end. The bristles are Boar and, as mentioned above, shed readily and with poor technique resulted in catastrophic failure. It did develop good volume with all three soaps/cream I used but left so many hairs even in them that it was a hassle.
The Taylor Of Old Bond Street brush I found packaged with atub of their Sandalwood Cream for $30 on Amazon so getting both for that price was a huge score for me. The dimensions are- Knot: 20mm/Fan Width: 46mm/BristleHeight: 50mm/Total Height: 102mm. The handle is plastic and despite the brushes smaller size the ergonomics are quite good having a deeper cavity to promote a more comfortable grip. The bristles are ‘Pure Badger’, largely black and shed maybe a handful of hairs total. This brush is a blast and is somewhat softer than the ‘Best Badger’ below but not quite as soft as the ‘Silvertip’ at the end. This brush soaks up water and develops lather volume readily and, despite its’ smaller size, holds plenty of lather for multiple passes.
The Edwin Jagger brush was $43 off Amazon and was a fake horn color which I really liked as I’d found some a few bucks cheaper but were the same color as the TOBS and I was looking for some variety.Prior to deciding I was going to do this Review, I had initially decided that if I was going to put money just in one brush it was going to be this one. All the other reviews I had read and information pulled from various sites led me to believe ‘Best Badger’ had the best qualities, overall, that I was looking for and I was not disappointed. The dimensions are-Knot: 22mm/Fan Width: 50mm/Bristle Height: 56mm/Total Height: 102mm. The handle is plastic, a bit smaller and the ergonomics are perhaps not quite as good asthe TOBS as the angle where you grip is more abrupt rather than following the contours of a thumb/finger. This brush is soft, not quite lush and has enough stiffness to provide some exfoliation. It shed only a few bristles initially then stopped. This brush also soaks up water readily with all soaps and cream used and holds plenty of volume for multiple passes.
The Parker brush was $60 off Amazon and had a fake wood-grain type color which was important to me for variety as mentioned above.‘Silvertip’ is kind of the cream of the crop and so I was very interested to find out exactly how much difference there was to justify the price increases of 33% and greater vs ‘Best Badger’. What I found was that the uniformity and overall density of the bristles makes an incredible difference. In fact, this was the only brush out of all of them that I was able to get the Warm Latherthing to work with likely due to the volume of water/lather it is able to hold.The dimensions are- Knot: 22mm/Fan Width: 66mm/Bristle Height: 60mm/TotalHeight: 108mm. The handle is plastic and larger than both the EJ and TOBS but witha perfect balance of the best qualities of the other brushes ergonomics. This brush is soft, lush really and has minimal stiffness so exfoliation would bedifficult and you’d likely risk damaging the bristles pushing hard enough toget any of that action though this did not shed more than a few bristles initially either. Where this brush really excels is the volume of water and lather held. It easily provides Warm Lather and holds enough lather for acouple people to share as they are shaving at the same time. Looking at the photo from above you can really get a better idea of the density of bristles.Even though this brush isn’t a Simpson, Plisson or the like it easilydemonstrates why ‘Silvertip’ is so superior.
Finally, I picked up a ‘Synthetic’ from Star Shaving for $13and it was an XL so I was eager to see if the bigger size provided better ergonomics. I had seen some pretty nasty videos of fur harvesting in China somy initial reflex was to just choose ‘Synthetic’ and avoid natural bristles altogether.However, the sheer number of recommendations for the three main types of Badger hair as well as the long historical use of those and Boar bristles led me to believe I needed a more broad experience in order to make an appropriate decision. One thing that was very different with this bristle type was the ‘Flickability’… I soaked this brush the same as the rest but found if I flicked too hard I would essentially dry out the brush enough that it would need re-soaking. I did not experience that at all with the other brushes. The dimensions are- Knot: 26mm/Fan Width:58mm/Bristle Height: 62mm/Total Height: 112mm. The ‘Synthetic’ bristle type is interesting. It is a bit softer than the Boar bristles on the Van Der Hagen but much stiffer than any of the Badger bristles. The bristles hold water but tenuously and it does develop good lather. However, this brush has a large mass above the knot which I was unable to determine what it was but looks to be part of what holds the bristles in place. The brush is BIG but I found that this did not positively affect ergonomics any more than the larger size of the Parker over the other two smaller Badger brushes. So, in this brush comparison at least, the larger size was unnecessary. I wear Xl/XXLgloves so this was quite a surprise as I had initially thought it would make quite a difference. Overall, I don’tbelieve this Synthetic performed as good as any of the Badger and it would be aclose tie with the Van Der Hagen though it did not shed more than a handful of bristles initially. The only other noticeable drawback with this brush is the logo nearly wore off in just the two weeks of shaving and, in fact, with the extra handling during this Review is now completely gone. Not much of a complaint but worth mentioning if you like to collect brushes or considering resale.

My conclusion… I think I would have been happy enough had Ionly purchased the ‘Best Badger’ EJ but I would have really been missingsomething had I not tried a ‘Silvertip’ and the ‘Pure Badger’ had greatqualities of both of the other two Badger types. So, I guess you could say youcan’t go wrong with Badger but you definitely owe it to yourself to try ‘Silvertip’as, depending on your preferences, it could really be a deal maker or breaker.The other brushes were fine and easily get the job done but with largevariances in quality, fit and finish. The Synthetic is really in a class all byitself and it may be worth investigating to see if another Brand or quality ofSynthetic bristles hold different qualities.

I hope some find this informative and helpful. HappyShaving!