Thread: In the Market for New Horse Hair Brush -- Anyone with Experience?

Seems that Anthrax thing did them in for a long time. Even as it was over.

The shape seems similar, like boar?. Just looking at old adverts. Could be some modern advantages?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I've always wondered if the horsehair brushes used back in the 19th century are the same as the ones they are selling these days. Being so popular back then and kind of rediscovered more recently you wonder if they had it down to a science then and have they had to re-engineer them these days.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

The shape seems similar, like boar?. Just looking at old adverts. Could be some modern advantages?

I think this is really interesting to think about. I don't recall having ever seen a vintage horsehair brush, despite their historical popularity. I've wondered too how closely the modern horsehair brush is in behaviour to those from the 19th century. Though they aren't as common as the people who are really into boar or badger (or even synthetics), every once in a while I come across someone who is really passionate about horse hair brushes.

Something else I've picked up is that there doesn't seem to be the care with horse hair to keep the original tips to the end of the face, so unlike a badger hair brush with a horsehair one can trim down the bristles even once the knot has been set. I don't know how true this is, but when I find some time and motivation I think I might try to collect some hair myself and do a bit of testing with it.

Originally Posted by ppetresen

Well, I'm a fairly active and adamant vegetarian, the reasons for which are complicated and probably not so relevant just here and now; still, it remains that I try to avoid or minimize my use of animals as much as possible. For this reason I've always used synthetic brushes, with the exception of the the one horse hair brush I already have, and avoided boar and badger. Basically, I'm looking to add some variance to my shaving routine and think that horse hair can give me something far different than I could get with a synthetic. Not to mention, as sharptonn so eloquently put

Good to know the reasons. To expand the palette, I would refer you to some of the last remaining Taylor of Old Bond Street "imitation badger" brushes on the shoeboxshaveshop website. A bit of a mystery as to what the hair type is, but my sense in having looked at the tips with an 11x achromatic loupe is that they appear to be mostly made of horse hair. But I could be wrong in this. Softer than the Vie-Long horse hair knots in any case. Another option might be the Vie-Long horse hair/synthetic knot blends. I have not tried the latter, but I imagine they would be softer than straight V-L horse for face-lathering. Best synth knots I've tried have come from the H.I.S. brush line. Almost a dead-ringer for banded boar out of the box and the backbone/feel is terrific.

Update to my earlier post:

The two horse hair brush “survivors” that I still own are incidentally a 13071B and 13061B.
As far as the hair is concerned, I can tell no difference and they both behaved so far rather well (compared to other horse hair brushes).

I think there is no difference except for the two-tone handle on one model that may explain the price difference, but I always liked the (cheaper BTW) 13071B wood imitation.

You don’t seem to care for the 26 mm size of the Epsilon, but there are in fact several Epsilon white horse hair brushes with the dimensions you mentioned.

https://www.giftsandcare.com/en/88-h.../brand-epsilon

Some of them have a fan shape and if you like fan shapes that might be a reason to choose the Epsilon, but otherwise you might as well choose Vie-Long, who also make the horse hair brushes for Epsilon, the brand name for Gifts & Care products.

Regarding the Epsilon price and assuming that you found the brush on the Gifts & Care website (I am unsure whether they are sold elsewhere), keep in mind that for these brushes shipping may be free and for shipping outside the EU you would be paying the price excluding tax shown (in smaller print). So the whole bill, Canada Customs excluded, could come down to just over C$50.

Hope this helps,


B.

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

To expand the palette, I would refer you to some of the last remaining Taylor of Old Bond Street "imitation badger" brushes on the shoeboxshaveshop website. [. . .] Best synth knots I've tried have come from the H.I.S. brush line. Almost a dead-ringer for banded boar out of the box and the backbone/feel is terrific.

Thank you for this! I'll look into both the Taylor of Old Band Street imitation badger and the H.I.S. synthetics. Another I was considering was actually an Omega S-Brush for a synthetic boar feel. What little I've heard about them is that people like that and often compare them to natural boar that hasn't yet been broken in. They are very affordable so no doubt I'll find myself with one at some point.

Originally Posted by beluga

Update to my earlier post

This does help, actually. It isn't so much that I don't care for a 26mm knot, I've just never used anything larger than 22mm so there are a lot of variables that are new to me and that definitely sets my control issues on edge, ha! For all I know I might actually really love the larger brush. I find it pretty reassuring that the two horse hair brushes you kept were also the ones I was considering. I'm curious, do you notice much difference between the fan and bulb shapes (if you happen to have both)?

Originally Posted by ppetresen

This does help, actually. It isn't so much that I don't care for a 26mm knot, I've just never used anything larger than 22mm so there are a lot of variables that are new to me and that definitely sets my control issues on edge, ha! For all I know I might actually really love the larger brush. I find it pretty reassuring that the two horse hair brushes you kept were also the ones I was considering. I'm curious, do you notice much difference between the fan and bulb shapes (if you happen to have both)?

No, not much difference.

The majority of my brushes are closer to bulb shapes, but I also have a typical fan shape that arrived just a few months ago.

For face lathering bulbs tend to have more backbone, if you have a large puck of triple-milled hard soap in a flat bowl a fan brush may come handy as it picks up more soap, but to avoid floppiness a fan may need a shorter loft.

So the theory goes, but in reality you will find few pure bulb or fan brushes and most are blends of both styles.

Regarding size, I found 26 mm just about perfect for me and would not particularly care for anything less than 24 mm, or more than 28 mm.



B.

Originally Posted by ppetresen

Thank you for this! I'll look into both the Taylor of Old Band Street imitation badger and the H.I.S. synthetics. Another I was considering was actually an Omega S-Brush for a synthetic boar feel. What little I've heard about them is that people like that and often compare them to natural boar that hasn't yet been broken in. They are very affordable so no doubt I'll find myself with one at some point.

I would take the H.I.S. synth knot over an Omega S-Brush knot any day. The only drawback is that the H.I.S. handles are too large for my taste, apparently for mug lathering. But the knot rules in the end. If I could pair them with the Omega handles I would.

Horse hair brushes lather really well for me but I can't get past the smell. Its very distracting and annoying. Maybe I have an el cheapo brush.

Originally Posted by MisterClean

Horse hair brushes lather really well for me but I can't get past the smell. Its very distracting and annoying. Maybe I have an el cheapo brush.

How long have you had it for? The one I had probably took 4 or 5 uses before the smell wasn't overwhelming. I agree with you in that it (or at least mine) lathers really well.