Thread: Which brush type should I go with next?

Originally Posted by Gasman

Whatch out! Bobs a quite enabler. Thats how i got my Shavemac. Oh, and TC too.

But i think a person needs to try/own a few different brushes to learn what he likes. Then you will be able to use different ones every couple days.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Whatch out! Bobs a quite enabler. Thats how i got my Shavemac. Oh, and TC too.

But i think a person needs to try/own a few different brushes to learn what he likes. Then you will be able to use different ones every couple days.

lol Yeah it seems that I will have to try different brushes to find the right one for me. I think a better quality soap would be in order too. Prorazo is a decent soap, but that Taylor Sandalwood stuff was like night and day. I need to find some more of that.

Originally Posted by jpgbrookes

lol Yeah it seems that I will have to try different brushes to find the right one for me. I think a better quality soap would be in order too. Prorazo is a decent soap, but that Taylor Sandalwood stuff was like night and day. I need to find some more of that.

You'd be surprised at how little you have pay for a shave soap that lathers easily and well. The first one that I think is a must try is an Arko shave stick. It is pliable enough to mould into a bowl for use. It has a heavy lemon scent, some say it smells like a urinal puck. To me it smells like the old Sunlight bar soap. It's too inexpensive not to try and beats the crap out of modern Williams soap imo.

There are tons of good soaps out there. Just read this thread https://straightrazorpalace.com/soap...ps-creams.html 170 pages of suggestions. Have fun.

Bob

No can f worms, the smile answer is, "whatever brush you like". The only thing others can do for you iS tell you what they like. So just get your dad out and buy a Shavemac d1 2 band and be done with it. Tc

Not much more to say on this.

Brushes are hard to recommend because you don't know what you prefer at this point and neither do we.

The best recommendation is buy something middle of the road to start and go from there.

If your budget allows get something from one of the well known makers like Shavemac, or Simpson or Thater or some of the others mentioned through out this forum.

If you want to go budget you have been given some to consider.

make sure you read the primer at the head of this forum if you haven't already.

If money is an issue and you want a brush with a softer feel on your face, you should get an inexpensive synthetic as you may find it will help with your lather.
ItalianBarber has a plethora of options.
This one is just $10 : https://www.italianbarber.com/collec...-shaving-brush
Consequently, you can also get a decent Silvertip like this one: https://www.italianbarber.com/collec...ip-badger-knot
Both for under your price range, then you can determine if badger brushes are worth the money.

Personally, I would highly recommend the Maseto Shaving brushes from China, especially, the Finest 2-Band variants as they are exceptional brushes for their prices. You can find them on ebay, but they will take longer to get to you.

You could also order from the Golden Nib (USA) as they have a good selection of knots/handles, both synthetic and badger brushes.
Both places are very good options, but the former might simplify things for you seeing as you are Canadian.

Best of luck.

Originally Posted by BobH

You'd be surprised at how little you have pay for a shave soap that lathers easily and well. The first one that I think is a must try is an Arko shave stick. It is pliable enough to mould into a bowl for use. It has a heavy lemon scent, some say it smells like a urinal puck. To me it smells like the old Sunlight bar soap. It's too inexpensive not to try and beats the crap out of modern Williams soap imo.

There are tons of good soaps out there. Just read this thread https://straightrazorpalace.com/soap...ps-creams.html 170 pages of suggestions. Have fun.

Bob

That Arko has some good reviews on the Fendrihan website. I agree with you on the Williams shave soap. The puck of Williams was the first soap I bought when I started this adventure. I didn't like it at the time. However, I think my technique has gotten better since then.

I found a couple of other places that sell shaving soaps as well: Crabtree & Evelyn, The Copper Hat, and L'Occitane.

Originally Posted by jpgbrookes

That Arko has some good reviews on the Fendrihan website. I agree with you on the Williams shave soap. The puck of Williams was the first soap I bought when I started this adventure. I didn't like it at the time. However, I think my technique has gotten better since then.

I found a couple of other places that sell shaving soaps as well: Crabtree & Evelyn, The Copper Hat, and L'Occitane.

L'Occitane has some decent shave soaps and creams but with Crabtree & Evelyn be wary of the shave soaps as they have gone through a few reformulations fairly recently and not all are good. However the C&E shave creams were not effected by reformulations so should be good. No clue on The Copper Hat stuff.

Bob

https://www.stirlingsoap.com/collections/shave-brushes

Imo, no discussion of brushes would be adequate without mentioning Stirling Soaps Company. Their brushes are outstanding work horses and modestly priced. Three of my seven are Stirling.



Three on the right are Stirling.

I will tell you to choose a synthetic one as second brush. Yaqi, Plisson for l'Occitane, the one from The Body Shop less expensive (bought mine for 14 CAN $ in Calgary) ...
Advantage is also that it dries very fast after use, wich is interresting to put it back in the toilet purse when travelling.

Yes, synthetics are good brushes and as with other types of brushes they can feel very different one to another in use. They are also very different to lather with compared to boar, badger or horse hair knots. Nothing that you can't adjust to though but the way they behave will surprise you. They are excellent brushes that lather anything well.

Bob