Thread: Boar vs Badger brushes

Originally Posted by BobH

One of my favorite bushes is an Omega boar brush that costs less than $10.

+1

I only have a boar, a synth, and a badger (all Omega).. but i reach for that inexpensive boar brush quite a bit more than i thought i would.. considering what the others cost.

It sheds a bit but it doesn't bother me.

I have an expensive Badger Silver tip and a cheapo Boar, I like them both. If I could only keep one it would be the Boar, go figure. I like a stiffer backbone for lathering and application. Just my 2 cents.....Freddie

I like badger better than boar by a longshot. I have two boar, both semogue, and both are good. I just don't find the feel as much to my liking as the badger. OTOH, maybe I need to use them more to break them in as Bob H suggested. Not sure if they are 'there' yet.

Yeah gotta agree with Bob

I got a PIF Boar Semogue and honestly for months if you asked me I would have told you that Boar was Meh

Then it finally broke in and now it is a great "Soap Brush" and especially effective for "Lather on the Face" days..

I am by no means saying better then a Badger but I use it nearly as much now that it is broken in

Just to be clear, I am by no means saying a boar is better than a badger just that once broken in they tend to feel a lot better than when new. Boar and badger are very different in the way they feel on the face in use. It is personal preference sort of thing. Some days I like boars, other days I like badgers and then there are the synthetic days. I gotta do something about these mood swings, life would be simpler.

Bob

I like my boar for bowl lathering and my badger for face lathering.

I currently have a boar, 2 badgers(a 2 band and a 3 band), an omega mixed midget, and a couple synthetics. The boar(a Semogue 830) was my first brush and I've been coming back to it a lot lately.
I've seen a lot of disputes over which is "better" between boar and badger, and have to say that either one will put lather on your face.
Each have their own characteristics, many of which are pretty subjective. What one considers soft another could consider slightly scritchy. Boars do take some time to break in and the wait was worth it for me, but I love my badgers and synthetics as well.
I enjoy using all of my brushes, and each finds their way into my rotation. There might be one brush out there that has the perfect balance of backbone, softness, density etc for me, but yours would likely be completely different.

Hi gents,

Thanks you for all your opinions.
Today I got the boar brush from Proraso. Something cheap to start with.
I tried it and yes I feel it to be a little stiff but when I applied a good amount of soap it was ok. Feels like a massage to the face

On the other hand the new Proraso soap (with mentol) is a challenge, I still feel my face burning from the mentol inside I think, but that is a new topic for another section of the forum.

Have a nice evening.

I have both and like both - but they are different beasts in my opinion.

Like comparing cats and dogs - they have different attributes unique to each, and with how inexpensive boar brushes tend to be, it's easy to have a place in your brush rotation to change things up once in awhile.

Once I stopped comparing the two, opened up a great experience using boar brushes, they are tops in the "scritch" department as far as I'm concerned and are really great to dig into the face if you want a good scrubbing.

Originally Posted by MDM

Hi gents,

Thanks you for all your opinions.
Today I got the boar brush from Proraso. Something cheap to start with.
I tried it and yes I feel it to be a little stiff but when I applied a good amount of soap it was ok. Feels like a massage to the face

On the other hand the new Proraso soap (with mentol) is a challenge, I still feel my face burning from the mentol inside I think, but that is a new topic for another section of the forum.

Have a nice evening.

Dan, I have the poraso menthol cream in a tube. It is strong stuff. What I do is lather up with a neutral (no aroma) soap puck then put a dab of the poraso in a bowl and mix the two. Cuts the strength of the menthol is a nice lather. If you have the cream it is easy, if it is a puck also a bit more to it, but can be done. Mixing it I mean.