I can't help you in determining whether the brush is badger, but I can tell why I face lather ....... I used to face lather, than went to the bowl lathering for quite some time. That was when I routinely did more than one pass. Since I more often than not do a one pass shave, with maybe a touch up under he jaw line, I don't need more lather than I'm going to get face lathering. No point in rinsing good lather down the sink out of a bowl. Try it both ways and see what works best for you. I've been using soap exclusively for quite some time. Not that I don't like cream, just have too many soaps to justify buying creams. When I used cream I used a bowl, and used it up a lot quicker than soaps. Probably why I don't have any. :)