If you are new then there is a lot to discover.
There is boar, badger, horse, synthetic and more...
To start I love the less than $15 Omega 10098 Professional Boar Shaving Brush.
To finish I love the expensive Heinrich L. Thater 4125/3 I 28mm Two Band finest Silver Tip Fan.
or
the HEINRICH L. THATER 4292/6 I 28MM TWO BAND FINEST SILVER TIP BULB
or
the HEINRICH L. THATER SERIES 4125/2 B 26MM FINEST BADGER SILVER TIP Knot Size 26mm
Loft 54mm Overall Height 102mm
or.....
my 21mm Dovo brush with a badger knot, or my Art of Shaving badger fan
or my other omega and Vie-Long brushes horse and boar.
There are some important dimensions on a brush:
Handle, knot size, loft, backbone and shape. Do not forget
the size and shape of your lathering bowl or your lathering style.
A fan brush makes a crazy thick lather from a cream a dense bulb works better
for me on a hard puck of soap. Both work... but I have biases.
The boar brush above can be coaxed to work with anything and
will teach "lathering" better than any more expensive brush.
Face lathering.... I love a broken in boar brush for face lathering.
I like to scrub and face lather in the summer.
If you read the fine print of a Thater they do not recommend face
lathering and do not recommend boiling or scalding hot water.
Bowl lathering I like a bulb for hard soap and a fan brush for cream.
Good brushes last a long time.
Do hang them bristles down to dry.
I have found 20-25 mm is a nice knot size for shaving.
The big knots -- you will want one but may not need one.