"Frank SHaving" or not

Today I received my first new brush. Being on a tight budget I decided to go with a "Frank Shaving" from star shaving supplies, the finest seem to had good review and made it look like a great buy. When I received the brush this morning I was a bit surprise to see no marking at all on the brush, as I remember in all picture of frank shaving brushes it has the FS logo on it. Also the brush box was mark fine badger and not finest. Finally I've seen many comment that those were coming with a cheap but usable brush stand, but I had none. So I just want to be sure that I really got a brush from "Frank Shaving" since the seller claim he is a distributor.

Nonetheless the brush look great compared to my old drugstore synthetic!

Thanks

Brushes don't need stands. Mine has been standing perfectly happily on its foot for years.

Well, unless you have documentation from your vendor saying the brush is guaranteed to be a Frank, if there are no markings on it you can never be sure can you?

Is there anyway to contact directly the guy behind "frank shaving" anyone got an email? Just to be sure. Unless someone can tell me that this is legit and this is in fact a FS product just so anyone else doesn't get hook if it's not.

Fine Badger Hair Shave Brush

Anyway I tried the brush a few minutes ago, and what a difference!! It's wonderful! I used about the same quantity of soap I normally use, but I had lather to shave a few more of you guys after I was finished after 3 pass. I was able to make thick lather in the bowl and was even able to make lather endlessly on my cheek. I now understand the feeling that wants to make you go at this forever...what a feeling!

Hello, Nanook:

That does resemble the Frank brush. I have several Frank brushes, which I bought from Ian who is in, I believe, Hongkong. Mine came with individual drip stands. They did have the Frank marking, though. I find them to be good brushes for the money, and I prefer to hang them in drip stands. I can assume, then, the brush you have is the Frank brush, as the vendor notes. I can't see the advantage in trying to pass a phony brush as a Frank brush, since we're not exactly dealing with a Thater, a Simpson, or a Rooney brush. What you have is probably a good brush, so enjoy it.

Regards,

Obie

I got my "Frank Shaving" brush from Star Shaving about a year ago. It was quite well known to me that it was a "Frank Shaving" brush with no logo. The brush is great and Star Shaving is great to do business with. You could check with Ian but speaking for myself I'm satisfied.

Well it seem that even in low price brushes there is some false advertising going on. I wrote to Ian (frank shaving) and he said that he never heard of "star shaving supplies" and that they might have bought some brush from him before, but the brush without his "fs" marking are of different quality and he suggested that i buy directly from him if i want the highest quality. So buyer beware!
Robert

I, too have a Frank brush from star shaving. It did not come with a stand and doesn't have any maker's mark upon it but I could have sworn the box it came in did. Perhaps not. Either way, it lathers well and is a $20ish brush. I'm not incredibly worried about authenticity as I was pretty much looking at picking up a knot and handle from TGN and this worked out cheaper and allowed me to be lazy.
When I get around to picking up a Simpson or something pricier I'll worry about it being the real deal

I Don't think there much difference between a brush with or without the fs marking, but it's just the honesty behind the whole thing that bugs me. His website clearly says " I am a distributor for the Frank Shaving Company on 100% Badger Hair Shaving Brushes" When you see this I think you are entitled to think that you'll get a frank shaving brush when you buy! If not, don't say so, especially if Frank Shaving owner never heard of your store!

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Originally Posted by Nanook

I Don't think there much difference between a brush with or without the fs marking, but it's just the honesty behind the whole thing that bugs me. His website clearly says " I am a distributor for the Frank Shaving Company on 100% Badger Hair Shaving Brushes" When you see this I think you are entitled to think that you'll get a frank shaving brush when you buy! If not, don't say so, especially if Frank Shaving owner never heard of your store!

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I agree. I was just looking at Starshaving and noticed it lists Starshaving as the mfr of the brushes even though they're listed as Frank shaving brushes. Have you emailed Starshaving yet to see what he has to say?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bharner

I agree. Have you emailed Starshaving yet to see what he has to say?

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Yep, I'll keep you posted when I'll get the answer!

Hi Nanook,

It's good you are following up on this, I know Ian had some problems with the ink he was using coming off the handles. We use Frank Brushes as our own branded as [Sam & Son] and he will do them for you with no logo if requested but starshaving needs to be a little more specific.

Ian is good to buy from directly and he is growing a solid reputation for his quality brushes.
Sam

Gentlemen:

My friend Sam is correct on the quality of product and service Ian offers. I purchased all three of my Frank brushes from Ian and have a high regard for him. A gentleman, indeed.

Regards,

Obie

Well I never really was able to go completely to the bottom of this. But here what I've found. The first thing is that Ian Tang is not the manufacturer of Frank Shaving brush but would only be a reseller. The real man behind Frank Shaving brush the owner and manufacturer is a guy named Li Ming who called himself Frank Lee. Star shaving supplies buy directly from Li and so does Ian Tang. His company makes many brushes and can do brushes for any other reseller that will put their logo on there. Those resellers could ask for particular specifications making the brush slightly different or completely different from a " Frank Shaving" brush. The problem is that it is almost impossible to know on a non branded brush if some modifications were ask by the reseller. The brush with the fs logo is constant. Li ming confirm me that that the brushes from star shaving supplies are made by him at the same factory and that Ron (owner of SSS) ask him to have brushes without the logo. Ron also told me that those brush were the same quality as the fs brushes.

Thanks for doing the detective work. It's good to know this stuff.