Thread: Anyone else disappointed?

Buying a shaving brush is as complicated as buying a straight razor.

Size, shape, handle material and feel, is it for soap or cream, do you like hard or soft, exfoliating or not, badger and what quality, synthetic, boar.

In England and especially in London, we are blessed with being able to see and feel the differences and to understand what you get for your money. For the guys in the USA, the "shave my face" forum members know as much as anybody about brushes and will guide you in the right direction if you ask for help.

I would not buy a shaving brush without seeing, feeling and holding it in my hand first. I have looked at many and to be honest many just don't suit me but for somebody else they are perfection.

I know, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Originally Posted by English

Buying a shaving brush is as complicated as buying a straight razor.

Size, shape, handle material and feel, is it for soap or cream, do you like hard or soft, exfoliating or not, badger and what quality, synthetic, boar.

In England and especially in London, we are blessed with being able to see and feel the differences and to understand what you get for your money. For the guys in the USA, the "shave my face" forum members know as much as anybody about brushes and will guide you in the right direction if you ask for help.

I would not buy a shaving brush without seeing, feeling and holding it in my hand first. I have looked at many and to be honest many just don't suit me but for somebody else they are perfection.

I know, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I can not second this strongly enough. There is not a greater concentration of knowledge and experience in this area around, I believe. Some of these guys are personal friends with the brush manufacturers we all buy from, and there are a couple who I think have, or have used, pretty much every brush on the market, and a few that aren't.

I bought one, and it really is quite a nice brush. Kent is a quality operation, and the quality is evident here. That said, I sold mine Friday after using it for about a week. I kept going back to my old Rooney for some reason. $140 plus shipping is a bit steep considering that you can buy Kent's BK4, a brush of comparable quality and larger knot, for less than half the price. After selling the LE, I sprung for a Kent BK2. We'll see how that works out!

Maybe the allibaba is about the same price however the vendor is making a profit which is not the case here and I'm sure if you order about 170 of them you would get a steep discount.

What I've found as I used the thing more is its fine for creams and soaps that are renowned for lathering like Castle Forbes but otherwise the result just doesn't measure up to a fine medium sized brush. Also as far as the name kent goes when lumped with Plisson, Rooney and the original Simpson Kent is in left field.

Am I going to sell it? no. Usually when I use one of my other brushes with CF no matter how small a quantity of soap I use I have enough lather to shave a platoon. With the kent I have just enough for one shave.

I've used my B&B LE 08 for about a month straight. I agree with TBS in his points of view about this brush; I guess we're dinosaurs when it comes to these group buys. This will be my only Kent.

The brush has performed well, and I can see why it is enjoyed by many aficianados. I performed well with both creams and soaps, had good flow though of lather, and was comfortable in use. However, I've come to the realization that I prefer other characteristics in my preferred shaving brushes -- soft tips, little scritch, and significant backbone (like pre-05 Shavemac Silvertip, Simpson barbed Super, & Rooney Finest).

I myself got in on the B&B LE08 Kent brush. I have used it a lot sence I got it right befor Christmas. I do love it's look and feel very much. It is one of my favorite brushes, although I have not given up on any of my other's (Simpsons D3, CH1, Rooney 2/1, Emilion and several others not listed). But I do very very much use it a whole lot and have no regrets on getting in on the group buy. It was worth the long long wate.

Eddie