Narrowing the field of choices

As a newbie with three brushes my next purchase will be more focused. Someone with more experience would certainly be a great help.

I have two badger brushes and a boar bristle. I like the firmness of the boar brush but it doesn't hold water or heat anywhere near either
of the badger brushes.Attachment 94190

I don't care for the floppy softness of the badger brushes but they explode with lather given the least encouragement whereas the boar's hair
wants me to work with it.



Is there a boar's hair brush which will hold the heat and the water and blossom into lather? Or maybe a badger brush which is stiffer and not so poofy
in a large handle?

The budget is a hindrance at about $75 max.

If you get a two band badger either the Thater or a Simpson Manchurian they have the combined qualities of softness but plenty of backbone. They are pricey though.

Boar simply performs differently than badger. Some prefer it's qualities.

I guess if you look at the Rooney line some of them have the backbone too.

I'm sure others will chime in with their favorites with the qualities you are looking for.

Not that it "narrows your field", but horse might be of interest to you, as well. It tends to be in-between badger and boar. If you do give horse a try, odds are that you'd prefer one with a high percentage of tail hair (most horsehair brushes mix the softer mane hair with the stiffer tail hair), since ones with a lot of mane hair tend to be a bit floppier than ones with more tail.