Thread: B&B Brush

I don't know how many here ordered the B&B brush, I got mine recently and am just curious with all the hype am I the only one to be underwhelmed with it?

I got the finest badger and to me it ain't no finest badger. I think some of the brushes I got from Matt are a better deal quite honestly with equal quality fur and custom handles. Mind you it performs well but I think the price was what it was worth at retail, no big deal.

I think if I posted this at B&B they would lynch me!

Finally received the finest silvertip brush after 30+ day wait after credit card processed. I convinced myself that it would be comparable to a Rooney's Finest, Plisson HMW, etc.
To me, it's not all that. Has not cured BAD.
I can only compare it to what I've used Dovo Silvertip, Shavemac Silvertip, C&E Best and Acme Boar Bristle.
Plusses: water retention, english shape.
Minusses: scratchy, floppy, stinky
Net, Net: $150 brush for $110
Will likely use for a month, hope for improvement, post review at B&B and wait for flames.
DRazz

Nice brush but way over hyped, not the be all and end all of brushes. I have found that i still use my Shavemac 220 sliver tip most often. I have the B&B in both finest and slivertip, with a few uses I have found that they are softer that they were at first.

Happy to see that I am not the only one who finds them to be a bit "floppy", I would have hated to have seen them with 20% less hair.

Overall they seem to be ok value, but not as great as I thought they would be.

Duke, DRazz

Maybe you have missed my B&B Finest Ebony initial review and comments in threads. I was fairly objective and so was not lynched or anything. Mostly ignored, I think. 400 views of the review and not a single comment. BTW, I got much more reaction when I mentioned that I am thinking to re-handle it with ivory (Matt); this was before I received it - now I am not sure if I'll keep it, and certainly don't plan to re-handle with ivory.

My personal opinion: it's a high quality brush that lathers like a champ. However, it's not what I was expecting from the prototype reviews. Who knows what the value is... but I can't imagine it being sold later by EJ for $400 - $500. One good point made was that this is an offering from friends for friends, the community spirit, etc. I totally agree with this.

I am glad that I didn't buy more than one, for sure.

Curing SBAD - I think I am pretty close with a Plisson HMW. After all, I didn't jump on the Variable Loft Brush and still haven't bought a Rooney Finest so I can't complain. I even sold my vintage Plisson and another high-quality (Plisson-like) vintage unknown brush

Cheers
Ivo

Edit: Trev has also missed my review - I said to me it feels floppy, among other things

I'm still undecided on mine, I feel it's a little too big for me at the moment but I'm giving it time to see if I get used to it. I can't lather on my face with it due to the size and floppiness, which is annoying as I like to lather on my face sometimes. Yesterday I switched to a £3.50 boar hair brush to quickly lather up when I was in a hurry, since the B&B was too much effort.

Great with creams or soaps and a lathering bowl though, and really does seem to hold a huge amount of water and lather.

I have 2 actually, and will 100% be selling one of them on B&B shortly as there's no way I need 2 of these. Depending how things pan out in future I may sell the other one too and get something a little smaller.

Very good value for money though IMO.

Originally Posted by Steelforge

really does seem to hold a huge amount of water and lather.

Compared to what, Iwan?

Because I cannot agree with this statement - comparing to my unknown vintage (already sold) and the Plisson 12 HMW.

Cheers
Ivo

Ivo,
I think there were so many views of your review (and no comments) because so many people had ordered and were waiting, and waiting, and waiting....and wanted to reconvince themselves it was worth the wait.
I finally got mine yesterday, although it was at the post office by Friday.
My opinion so far is that it is a good brush, although I thought it would be larger. I do like the size of the brush, but that's only because it's nearly identical in size to my beat-up old Vulfix that keeps chugging along for me. It is a pretty brush, and it stinks badly (more so than most new badger brushes I've acquired) but that part is going away.
Initial impressions, it's a beautiful brush, I somehow thought it would be larger, and it stinks... that said, it DOES make a mean amount of lather fairly easily, so I'm going to give this one a chance before judging it too harshly. I think it's got a lot of potential, and is the only way I could afford to try a brush with this type of bristle, supposedly, although I'm sure the $500 version with the same type of bristles is probably a good deal larger...
If nothing else, it is the FIRST B&B brush; and people will be curious to try these for some time in the future. I think there are better performing brushes out there for the price, but I will be keeping mine...I've only used it once so far, and my opinion could change considerably after using it a little bit longer.
John P.

John - I am glad you finally got yours!

I didn't see anything from you on B&B and was seriously thinking the workers already signed for it... Reading your opinion - I am sorry that you do not like more than you seem to because you were really waiting for it

I just finished shaving with it again - lathers great, no doubts about it. Looks good too. Did anyone mention how sturdy and tough it is It certainly should / could retail for more that what it sold for to us. Not sure how much, though.

Cheers
Ivo

I do like it...
For some reason I had it in my head that it would be as big as the behemoth SMF III brush; I think the knot is in a similar size perhaps but hasn't bloomed yet.
It is quite heavy. I'm not sure what they made the handle from, but I think one could throw it through a windshield without much damage to the brush handle.
It was hyped quite a bit, so now I have to use it awhile to see what I actually think of the brush based on performance alone.
John P.

Oh - it blooms like there's no tomorrow!

This may be better for lathering in a bowl than on the face, btw

I didn't say you didn't like it - I just said I wish you liked it more that what I could infer from the post...

Cheers
Ivo