Shaving Brush Beginner - What One to get?

Hey Guys!
I've been thinking about starting to use a shaving brush, I haven't used one before, been using my finger tips all these years lol. I did get one as a gift a few years ago, but I didn't really use it at the time since I was sporting a beard so wasn’t shaving much. My biggest fear is if I’m spending some money on a brush, I don’t want it to be something that is crappy or doesn’t work properly.

I saw some options compared on this site and am leaning towards the Parker Safety Badger Brush.

Shaving Brush Reviews | The Shave Authority

What do you guys think? Trying to get some input.
Thanks for the help in advance.

Van Der Hagen sold in drug stores puts out a starter set with bowl brush and soap.

Some good info here:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/brush...sh-primer.html

Bob

There is a disclaimer at he bottom of the page in the site linked to by the OP saying it is partnered with Amazon advertising.

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Originally Posted by bouschie

Van Der Hagen sold in drug stores puts out a starter set with bowl brush and soap.

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My wife bought this set for me a few weeks ago. The bowl is nice, the puck most adequate, the brush is boar bristles and is only "just ok." I kissed my wife and said thank you.

I'd say to OP, get a top quality badger brush 24mm to 28mm knot. I don't know enough about Parker to comment, but if they have top quality badger knot you should be ok.

yes, as Bob said read the primer at the beginning of this forum.

Brushes are one of those things you don't know what you like until you try them. Best advice is get a middle quality, middle size badger hair brush and then go from there.

Just to add another option, I've become a fan of a quality synthetics. My reasoning is that the prices are reasonable and they tend to develop a good lather relatively easily. For the price you can try a couple of different knots and get an idea of what you actually like before spending a bunch of money on a higher-end badger. Keep in mind, I have nothing against those knots but I learned a lot more about what I liked once I began spending a moderate amount of money on a selection of synthetic knots.

I'm not sure if you've seen it but I put together a review thread where I recorded my journey: http://straightrazorpalace.com/brush...-shootout.html

To be clear, I have absolutely nothing against the badger options that are available, I just thought I'd provide another option.

Another article on brushes for the OP.

Brush Observations - Shave Library

I love using badger hair brushes with creams as they are luxuriously soft. I love using boar brushes with hard soaps as they have sufficient backbone to load it like you hate it. However, if I could only have one brush (oh, what a tragedy), it would either be a Vie Long horsehair or a synthetic brush. These twp types tend to fall somewhere between the badger and boar brushes in softness and backbone, so they work well with creams, croaps, and hard soaps. For travel, when you do not have time to soak a brush, or to dry it afterward, the synthetic brush is idea as the bristles do not absorb water.

For a beginner who might be discouraged by the smell of a natural hair/bristle brush, a synthetic is also a good choice. However, ultimately it is good to have a variety of brushes from which to choose. Although some badger brushes can be rather expensive, you do not have to spend a lot of money to get a decent lather.

Having a variety of brushes and razors makes it interesting and fun to see what comes up in rotation for the next shave.

it is said somewhere here in the beginning a brush is a brush is a brush!

that being said:rofl2:

this is the answer you have been looking for. Van der Hagen, men's luxury shave set!

https://www.amazon.com/Van-Hagen-Men...agen+shave+set

it less than $20 bucks, comes with a nice brush, mug and stand.(toss the soap) if you take to this art, we have some awesome members that can upgrade the knot for you (that's only if you want to) at a very reasonable and comparable to cost to the top dollar brushes. in the end you will have a nice and matching brush and mug set and a stand thank can hold your for razor.

wish I did that!!!

I really like the synthetics most of all. They don't hold water as well as natural bristles, though that isn't a problem with proper technique. The synthetics have advantages over natural fiber as well.

One of my favorites is a little $9 brush. Here's a link:

https://www.maggardrazors.com/produc...rush-4-colors/

It is synthetic boar, which means that is firm. The shaving term for that is that it has a lot of backbone.

Here is one of my favorite synthetic badgers, which comes in at a whopping $11.99.

https://www.maggardrazors.com/produc...marble-handle/

The advice I gave you on another forum is what I would still offer.
Good luck. :)

Like some other posters have already, I would like to steer you towards a high-quality synthetic brush. My recommendation would be a medium to large sized Mühle Silvertip Fibre®, as they call it, which comes surprisingly close in performance to a "real" top of the line silvertip badger brush. If you stick to their "classic" style, you won't have to pay for any of the fancier handle materials.

These brushes come from an innovative, hghly respected company that has been in the business for generations, work extremely well, are robust, and forgive early handling mistakes.

Once you have decided whether shaving brushes are for you, you will find that you have entered the game at a high level already and are able to judge better whether the additional expense of a real silvertip badger brush is for you, or whether you want to experiment with boar, or even horse hair.

Good luck with your choice.



B.

As you can see everyone has an opinion as to what to get. Bargain brushes, expensive brushes, boar, horse, badger, synthetic, good, bad ugly-har har. They are all right for them.

That is why I say buy for your initial brush a middle of the road in a hair that most people use which is badger. After that you can try other types and see what you like the best.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Brushes are one of those things you don't know what you like until you try them. Best advice is get a middle quality, middle size badger hair brush and then go from there.

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That is exactly why it is so difficult to recommend a shave brush to anyone. Everyone has personal likes and dislikes and mine may or may not match yours.

I went through a few different brushes till I found the type of badger brush, boar brush and synthetic brush that I liked.

Bob