Thread: $8 brush, $300 brush -- Can't tell the differfence

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

I would be selling my $300 brushes and buying some more razors if I was you.

Unfortunately, I get attached to things. Since starting this craziness, I've bought more than fifty razors, 30+ soaps, all kinds of hones, etc. What I've sold do far....

Nothing.

I knew someone who drove around in a Yugo and thought it was the best car in the world and the only one he needed. A friend loaned him an Audi A4 one day and after driving it said well, it's got leather and plush carpeting and a nice radio and is a little faster at start but otherwise I don't see any difference.

If you don't see a difference in brushes at those price points then your probably a lucky guy and will save a lot of money on brushes.

Face feel is one important factor in comparing brushes. The other, imho, is their longevity. My experience with cheaper brushes is that they tend to shed more and lose hair from the brush knot earlier on their lives. I have owned many brushes in my wet shaving career, a few of which I still have in my medicine cabinet and the brush knots look like the fur of a mangy dog.

That having been said, I think that the wide variance in the price of shaving brushes as with razors is determined by a lot of variables such as the name/reputation of the manufacturer, hand-made vs. machine made, the denseness of the brush knot and the type of material used to make the handle.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I knew someone who drove around in a Yugo and thought it was the best car in the world and the only one he needed. A friend loaned him an Audi A4 one day and after driving it said well, it's got leather and plush carpeting and a nice radio and is a little faster at start but otherwise I don't see any difference.

If you don't see a difference in brushes at those price points then your probably a lucky guy and will save a lot of money on brushes.

Yeah, if I were lucky AND smart.... Do I sound like a guy who's saved a lot of money on brushes?

I find that certain brushes are more likely to give me better results depending on what I use, but I don't find any one to lather better than the other. I usually like to use a boar or a 2-band with the hard triple milled soaps, but only because they load quicker for me. I've used others to great results as well. User knowledge and technique is what it comes down to, not the cost of the brush thankfully. Now if you'll be able to avoid buying every brush in existence because you enjoy using them all, well that's another story.

Only time, the usage, and the utility (satisfaction) will tell if the brush is worth what you paid for it.

How well does it lather with different soaps and creams?
How well does it hold the lather between passes?
How do you like the feel?
How much value do you hold for the way it looks, the name?
How long does it hold up?

Pabster

Not too long ago I went on a short vaction trip and I forgot to bring a brush with me. Needing a solution, I picked up a VDH boar from a drug store. For $8 or $9 it worked pretty much as expected. It made lather and got it on my face. Compared to my other brushes..... I'm not sure if you're lucky or unlucky if you can't tell the difference. :-)

Uh..I was gonna talk about brushes,but....what's up with the acuuwhatever ad here ??

Originally Posted by JimR

The differences between brushes isn't in the lather, it's in the face-feel. You're assuming the wrong thing.

Lather is just water, soap/cream and air...you can make it with your hands. So why would your brushes make it differently?

I have an AOS badger brush and a custom made brush and with regards to lather making quality, they're equal. But as JimR states, it all in the feel. I love the feel of the custom brush, but due the skill and artistry required to make the custom, it is rarely used. So I humbly use the AOS as my daily go-to. Save your money and buy more razors!

I have a few badger hair brushes, a omega boar brush and a cheap vielong bristle brush, they all do thier job and i enjoy using them all, but the cheap ones work as well, for me, as the expensive ones.