Thread: Where do I shop for the best deals on quality brushes??

Thanks JBHoren! You and I were clearly writing at the same time!!!

Brooksie, While I agree w/ TBS and Ryan, I was most helped by JBHoren - thank you!

I'm not at all comfortable w/ the 'dive in and takes your chances' approach. All it does is encourage each other to blow money. Repeatedly. So how we lather, soaps/creams we use would seem relevant. Bowl, scuttle, face-lather? Hard french soaps or soft creams?

As a generalization, the badgers are ALOT better at holding water and making less mess while face-lathering. That is a nice convenience. Boar lovers will talk about backbone - stiffness of the bristles, but more than one very experienced shaver has mentioned they have badgers with more backbone than the boars they tried. The stiff, scritchy boar will serve well for the guy that uses hard soaps and face-lathers. For new production boar, the Semogue 620 is as good as I've tried. You can read Obie's review on it. My older brushes seem more stout in backbone. How a brush feels dry has little relation to how it feels wet.

In badgers, I'm not qualified to speak, but it would help guys aim their comments better if you talk a little about how you lather and what kinds of soaps/creams you use, and if you love scritchy or floppy feather duster feel on your face. Jimmyhad once mentioned having some badgers that had serious backbone, and if I were to buy - I'd ask him and degeingail (sp) - who makes brushes, what he'd recommend for the kind of lathering you like best.

I'm just a cheapskate on brushes. I can't make peace w/ the badger prices, so I enjoy the better boars and some older boars.

You may find some help on Fido's blog - Brushes - mostly badgers are his thing. This is the link of his pics for best buys.
Fido's Shaving Brush Blog: Best buys

In response to your questions, there is a noticeable difference between a boar and badger. I like them both. A badger feels more luxurious on your face, holds more water, and retains more heat. You will know what I mean the first time you use one. I recommend a fine or silvertip if you really want a brush that is materially different from a boar. Good luck!