Thread: Cosmetic brushes as shave brushes

Just for _hits and giggles I bought 2 cheap synthetic cosmetic brushes to see if they would lather up a hard soap. The soap I used was MWF so it was not an easy test. If it did not work the boss has a couple of new brushes to use. One had a large white knot and the other a small black knot that would collapse back into the handle for storage. For an idea of size here they are with a Simpsons Cubby2 synthetic for comparison.



The brush with the big white knot was a failure. It would load up with MWF easily enough but would not release the lather. Worst lather hog I have ever seen and it shed like the dickens to boot. It did not feel too bad on the face though.

The collapsible brush with the small black knot was a different story. Not only did it load up with MWF easily it also had good flow through of the lather. You could easily build a good lather face lathering with it and it did not appear to shed. The big draw back is that it is so small the you would have to load and build lather for each pass. It had a nice soft face feel to it very similar to my Plisson synthetic. The photo shows the lather it can make out of MWF. For the photo I built the lather on my hand and sqeezed the knot to get the lather made out and placed it on the brush.



Is there a conclusion? I don't know other than certain synthetic cosmetic brushes can serve as a shave brush in a pinch. The little one that worked was $7.00. I could swear I have seen synthetic cosmetic brushes with the knot the same coloration as the plisson synthetic knots. If I come across another one of those I will have to try it out.

Bob

Bob, I have some Kabuki brush knots much like the black one. I made some for my wife and her friends. I have a few more knots left, I may have to try one out if you had such good success.

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Bob, I have some Kabuki brush knots much like the black one. I made some for my wife and her friends. I have a few more knots left, I may have to try one out if you had such good success.

That would be interesting but use a larger knot than I had. One that is minimum 19-20mm might do the trick.

Bob