Does any pair soaps/creams with brushes?
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Does any pair soaps/creams with brushes?
I've read comments that certain brushes work better with certain soaps. for example a stiffer brush/or one with more backbone works better with hard soaps. I've not personally done any experiments with this though as i only use about 2 brushes and just use the one i'm in the mood for.
Nope, I use whatever brush I feel like with whatever soap/cream I feel like using.
Bob
it seems to make sense a soft cream would prefer a soft brush but for me I use whatever.
it reminds me of someone who is afraid to drive a larger vehicle. If you have a license you can drive anything in reason (or should be able to) and likewise if you know how to use a brush you can lather anything with any brush.
Of course if you be a ham handed shaver well....
I have one brush and eight different soaps. That's all folks!
This is what I do, as well. I'll modify my lathering technique if I ever encounter any obstacles, but during these past seven years of shaving 'properly', I have never had any significant issues with using any brush with any soap or cream.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobH
Yes, but it is not a conscious selection.Quote:
Originally Posted by alschepis
I have about a dozen brushes in rotation and find that I instinctively reach for the softer ones more often should I use a cream, and the ones with more backbone more often when I use triple-milled soaps, although all of them are perfectly capable to cover the whole range from cream, to Italian semi-soft soaps, to hard soaps.
It is just rare that I would find myself using the softest brush on the hardest soap, or the stiffest brush with a cream.
B.
Yes, for me, there's one brush that works particularly well with creams - the Plisson size 8 High Mountain White.
The Plisson HMW brushes are in an alternate Universe as far as I'm concerned...good backbone, and tips so utterly soft the brush literally causes shivers and goosebumps occasionally when I use it. One of those, "must have" brushes IMO, and I prefer my brushes extraordinarily scritchy the majority of the time.
It does work fine with hard pucks and croaps, but the Plisson HMW with a soap like Castle Forbes Lavender, nothing like it in the world.....
Attachment 286424
I too have favorite brushes for particular soaps/creams.
Part of the fun! :D
You can make any brush work with any soap but a soft brush for soft soaps and a more firmer brush for harder soaps works best for me.
My favorite soaps are on the softer side and my favorite brushes are as well.
A warm shower is a good prep and lessens the need for substantial firm brush exfoliation.
Also a softer brush will "give up the soap" easier for the third or fourth pass.
My current favorite brush is the Yaqi 24mm synthetic
Yes, my current set up:
- My badgers with Martin de Candre. Dead easy, 100% every time. And anyway Plisson HMWs/ Simpson Manchurians deserve Mdc :)
- Boars with creams. I find boar brushes the trickiest to use (compared to badgers and synthetics) but I love the firmness and barbershop thing. Creams remove the guesswork for me with boar brushes.
- Synthetics with everything else (although they can do Mdc and creams too!). Of the three, I find synthetics are the top 'performers' in terms of lather making and versatility with any soap or cream and they're ideal for travel but I do find they lack soul.
I've tried the hard brush/hard soap and soft brush/soft soap thing in the past but since the arrival of modern synthetics I gave this up (i.e. my soft synthetics will get me the best result with my hard, triple-milled soaps).
My favorite brushes are 28 - 30mm Shavemac or Thäter 2-Bands, which I use with soaps in large mouthed containers, or after applying a light coating of cream to my face and face lathering. I'll use my 24mm brushes with soaps in smaller jars. However, I've been enjoying boar brushes lately, and primarily use them with triple milled and very hard soaps. Any brush will work, however, with any soap or cream. Some of the newer synthetics perform about as well as any of my far more expensive badger brushes, and most boar brushes are even less expensive.
I have a few specific reasons for some parings.
Larger brushes for SR shaving because I need 3 passes of lather vs 2 passes DE.
Romera manchutian with Nuavia Blu, because best brush with best soap.
Muhle synthetic with Mystic Water soap, because it works better than badgers for MW.
I have a number of different brushes and a growing collection of soaps and while I have a tendency to pair them it is based upon emotion as opposed to performance. There is one exception to this, there is a soap that I particularly enjoy but that can cause some skin sensitivity issues. In that one case I will always reach for a synthetic brush. Based on some experimentation I find that a brush without scritch, combined with a cold water shave (pretty much daily standard except in the dead of winter) goes a long way to avoiding sensitivity issues for me.
Yes I do. I pair any one of 15 brushes with 3 different soaps.
1. MDC Lavender
2. MDC Fourgere
3. MDC. Rose
Tc
Gentlemen,
I no longer use badger brushes. Synthetics only. Twelve of them. Soaps or creams make no difference: whatever brush strikes my mood.
Aloha!
I'm a big fan of Synth brushes too. They are just SOOOOO easy to work with and they work great for buffing up lather. That being said, as a mega-fan of wet shaving in general, of course I have Badger, Boar, and Horsehair as well.
To answer the OP's question, I only pair one brush and one cream. I like my Synth brush(es) with Cremo shaving cream. I face lather Cremo and with a Synth brush, I seem to get the best results for building lather. Of course, YMMV, so no debate intended here. Others may argue that they can get better lather with Cremo on the face with a Badger or stiff Boar, but for my money, I pair Cremo with the Synth brushes.
That's it. All other soaps and creams get whatever brush strikes my fancy that day!
Mahalo gents!
-Zip
I have a variety of brushes. When pairing brushes to soaps and creams, I use a couple of criteria. For shaving cream in a tub or tube, I usually pick a floppy badger brush. I only use my boar brushes with hard soaps. I have some synthetic brushes, horse hair brushes, and densely packed badger brushes that will work with most anything, but are especially good with croaps and softer soaps. Another criteria is brush size (knot diameter and loft). Some soaps seem to need more soap loading; so I will pick a larger brush for those.
I do. I like a brush with a little more backbone when lathering hard or less soluble soaps, like a Simpsons Super Badger, Manchurian, or a 2-band. When I'm using creams, I like a softer brush just for a certain luxurious feeling. Lathering up a big gob of AdP with my huge soft Simpsons 59 best or Rooney 3/2 with the atomic bloom is just decadent.
Cheers, Steve
Yes, absolutely.
I use both my 22mm Plisson #12 in Pure Black Badger and "John Bull" (22mm Rooney 1/1 in Super Badger) for soaps and hard[er] creams*, while the matching Rooney 1/1 in Finest Badger is strictly for soaps; "Frank" (a 14mm Sterling-silver in Silvertip Badger) is reserved solely for "regular" creams.
* The best examples of "hard[er] creams" are those from Castle Forbes. I would put those from Cyril R. Salter at a not-too-close second.
I have one brush and seven different creams.
Unlike with soaps, with creams you normally don’t see much variation in consistency.Quote:
Originally Posted by Augustagj
They all tend to be... let’s say “creamy” and seem to have a natural affinity for softer brushes.
The benefit of a stiffer brushes is most pronounced when you make it absorb a hard soap.
B.
