Thread: Synthetic Brush

So I had ordered a shaving bowl, alum block and horsehair shaving brush from www.bestshave.net. TWO weeks later I get a message through paypal saying that my order has been cancelled with no reason... WELL F THEM!
Anyhow, I caved and spent the $20 on a Frank Shaving 24mm synthetic.

Any opinions on this brush? Anyone love it or hate it??

Everyone's opinion is welcome and appreciated.

Fantastic brushes! i ordered four customs with a 24mm knot and 48mm loft! Best brush for the money, in my opinion!
i do have some very nice badger ones that i really like, but for the money, lathering ability and softness of bristles, i have not found its equal. Enjoy the brush.

Been thinking about going synthetic, myself. Let us know how you like the Frank!

I just checked the status of shipping, it's been cleared through Vancouver and is on it's way. It's been a long time coming but I'm excited

Got my FS synthetic brush in the mail the other day and decided to give it a whirl. I started by cleaning the brush, just a simple shampooing, if it's good enough for my hair, why not right?

I let the brush soak for about 5 minutes with the hottest tap water I could get. There seemed to be failry decent water retention. I loaded the brush with proraso white, my go to soap. The brush eats soap alive. The stiff bristles don't take long to fill up with latering material.

I put the brush in the bowl and started to turn. Right away I noticed just how stiff the brush was. Talk about back bone. As I started to swirl, I expected big fluffy peaks of cream to start forming. Needless to say, I was dissapointed with the speed at which the lather was being created. I swirled and swirled and added more water, more water, more water, and nothing!!! The brush just seemed to eat everything it was creating.

I put the brush on my face and while it is exceptionally soft its ability to transfer lather to skin left me wanting more. I'm used to thick peaks of foam covering every inch of my face. The lather this time was thin and didn't want to leave the brush. I squeeged the brush into my hand and applied the later to my face so I could shave. I used more than enough soap for a 3 pass shave when using my badger but didn't have enough for two passes this time.

The handle of the brush is nice, plastic, but fits in my hand well and feels like it's quality. On the first use the brush shed about 6 hairs.

I'm hoping with more use the brustles will settle down a bit and provide a better experience; I might not give it enough time seeing as I was left frustrated and disappointed.

Any comments/questions are appreciated.

Do these synthetic brushes require a break in period??

I gave my The Body Shop's synthetic brush to my wife to use as a duster. It feels soft enough till you put pressure on your face to build lather and then it felt like I was using a porcupine not a shaving brush. Lathered it up 8-10 times before I gave up on it. I don't think there is a break in period for synthetics if they are all like the TBS brush, what you get is what you get. I'll take my Semogue boar brush any day over that synthetic brush. Put me right off spending more money to try and find a synthetic that worked as it should.

Bob

Bob

I don't have the Frank Shave synthetic, but I bought the Omega synthetic some months ago. It is a lather monster. Use very little soap and makes rich lather in very short time. I gave it to my daughter for her legs. I didn't like the "springiness" it had. Kind of an unnatural feel to it. It was either stiff or splayed no in betweens. I played with it for about a month before giving it to my daughter. Thought it was best used for scuttle or mixing bowl, didn't like it for face lathering.

I don't know how the FS is, but if other people are getting good results, something is wrong with yours. I don't think is technic, because the brush I had was very easy to get good results. Try bowl lathering before you give it up. I'm thinking that maybe your hottest tab water could have adversely affected the synthetic hair (just thinking on a possible explanation as why it's not working), or the shampoo needs to be rinse some more. Double O

I really want a FS Synthetic brush. It's on my list after maybe a Muhle Black Fibre.

I currently own an older Edwin Jagger Synthetic and it works very well. I would say it gets colder a little faster though. I have on order a New Edwin Jagger Synthetic which I think is just the same as a Muhle Silvertip Fibre. Hoping to get that next week.

Originally Posted by Double0757

Try bowl lathering before you give it up. I'm thinking that maybe your hottest tab water could have adversely affected the synthetic hair (just thinking on a possible explanation as why it's not working), or the shampoo needs to be rinse some more. Double O

I don't face lather ever, always in a bowl. Perhaps the shampoo is the culprit and i'll give it a really good soak/rinse and attempt again. I used the wife's shampoo and it DOES have Argan oil in it. If it acts like olive oil does for lather then you might have this one pinned for me Double O.

Thanks for your tip and I'll let you know how that goes tonight when I shave!

Originally Posted by sixsixty

I really want a FS Synthetic brush. It's on my list after maybe a Muhle Black Fibre.

I scored mine for a whopping $9 on fleabay. I figured for the price I couldn't NOT try it!