Synthetic Brush

Has anyone tried or uses a synthetic shaving brush and what are your opinions? :confused:

Markholladay,

I moved this thread from pre-shave to brushes to help garnish more responses.

I have used the body shop brush which is synthetic and found it useless, to me it did not hold any water or lather and when applied to my face just swirled around doing nothing apart from flinging water and soap about the bathroom, the problem being is the water will not cling to the hairs so when you later the same happens, no moisture holding capabilities, though some folks get on with this brush it was not for me and i pifed it.

I tried a Men-U synthetic brush. Not horrible, but I had to work at the lather a lot more than boar or badger. I didn't even get the same amount afterwards as a natural brush. The face feel was about the same as low end badger, slightly prickly but still usable.

Since I have no allergy related issues or ethical issues with natural brushes I will personally stick to those. YMMV

I have Body Shop synthetic brush. Surely not even close to my other natural brushes, but still usable. I had to use it several times until it started working and lathering well. I use it only when shaving at work or as my travel brush.
I think it was worth the low price.

I found a synthetic brush on eBay.ca that I've been using for about 3 months now. It was described as being made by Vulfix for someone who was interested in marketing a "vegan" brush. I'm no vegan but I do like the brush. I've used a boar before and this is far superior. If soaked in hot water for 10 minutes I can't even feel the bristles on my face as I lather. Whips up and holds a large amount of lather, quickly. Rinces out clean and with a few shakes is almost dry. I'll probably get a badger in the future but for now, this synthetic is great.

My dad used to have a nylon brush I used to play with but that was like a million years ago and as I recall as a kid it wasn't even fun to play with.

They have improved them tremendously as of late and some love them however for the majority of people synthetic is looked upon as either a vegan thing or curiosity or just a cheap brush though they can cost as much as a boar and even a cheaper pure badger.

I picked up a Jack Black synthetic only because the store was closing out all their shaving items and the brush was half price. I've been using a rather inexpensive boar brush for years now and was happy with it, but I thought, hey for half price I'll give it a chance. I'm quite happy with it. It is definitely a better brush than I have been using, and I am glad I took the chance!

Hi,

I have found, for me, that the Vulfix Nylon brush is the best synthetic I have used.

I find it much better than my vastly more expensive TOBS synthetic.

I have been using the Vuflix esclusively for the last six (6) months as a long term test. It has lathered all my hard soaps, creams etc with equal aplomb :)

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Personally I don`t know. That`s because I will never buy a synthetic brush. What I know is that I love the pure luxury of a silver tip badger brush, the long history behind it, the natural material and the thought about the man or woman that made it toatally by hand.

Using a synthetic material would ruine the whole experience for me, just my opinion!

I have a Body Shop Synthetic. It's my first and only brush so I don't know if a badger or boar really is that much better.

I think it gets the job done. I wish it was a little softer and made lather quicker, but it's not worthless and I'm in no hurry to buy something else.

I have the Body Shop's synthetic brush and actually quite like it. Apparently I'm in a minority with that. I love it's soft soft tips (far softer than either of my silvertip brushes) and its stiffness. It works equally well with soaps (both tallow and non-tallow based), creams, and uberlathers. I found mine especially good with TGQ soaps which I'd always struggled to load and lather properly with my silvertip brush. I've also found it easier to face lather with, as it's smaller and stiffer and doesn't feel like slapping a hot wet soggy mop across my face when I use it in that fashion, unlike my two silvertips.

The trick with synthetic brushes is to not treat them like a natural brush - they behave completely differently so should be treated differently. They hold less water or lather, so your lather-making regimen is different - you shake them out less, and press less hard when using them - just use the tips. I suggest you buy the body shop brush, give it a go, and if you don't like it throw it away or sell it on - it's cheap enough you can afford to do that.

Mark , I also have the body shop synthetic and agree with Mosley , its a good brush and well worth a try , true it dont hold a lotta water but just like Mosley said you adjust your regime to suit it , mine cost me $20 AU and if I ever wear it out I will get another , just like the parker plenty frown on it but we know better