Further to what RezDog said about the Body Shop, I actually bought one of their synthetic brushes - it was cheap at A$14.95, if nothing else - and can report that they're not all that good. In fact, they're decidedly inferior to any sort of badger brush and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone, least of all a new convert to wet shaving. If there are good synthetic brushes I'd be pleased to hear about them - it shouldn't be rocket science to imitate the properties of badger hair or hog bristle. Any likely contenders?