I've purchased three, and I have one that I haven't opened. I have one out for use if I want to use it, and one I have marked for travel and one still in the box. Did what I could to support such a product.
I used it for the last two shaves and I enjoyed it. Great little brush. I need to go get a couple of backups since there's only 1 Target within a 60 mile radius that has them.
I tried it, but it didn't work out for me. The pure badger tips irritated me too much, and face lathering with it made a mess--the hair was super springy. Bowl lathering with it was fun, but that's not my thing. I PIFed it to someone who PIFed it to someone who appreciated it, though. For the price, I like my VDH better, and my Omega 49 is way ahead of both of them.
They have a long loft on them, which can make them floppy. I almost always face lather, so I extend my fingertips over the handle and sort of squeeze the bristles to keep 'em from splaying out. It also makes it more precise for spots like the upper lip. I don't use it every day, but once in a while enjoy the scritchiness compared to my Simpsons. Certainly worth the 12 bucks, though ...
Just used it......didn't suck. I like my AOS brush more, but this will get a lot of use. Def. a good idea for anyone looking to get into this without spending a boatload of money in the beginning.
I got mine about 2 months ago when I first started wet shaving. I have since also picked up a $10 Omega boar (10275) for face lathering. I keep looking at nicer brushes, but just can't bring myself to pull the trigger because these two do just fine for me. The Shea Moisture is my bowl-lathering cream brush, and the Omega my face-lathering soap brush.
Ive had mine in rotation for about a year. The other day the knot fell out of the handle. Same thing happened to a friend of mine recently.Reglued the knot and now is good to go. A nice brush for the money.
Today at target picked up a Vander Hagen set with the bowl,badger brush, soap and brush and razor stand for $20. Will be trying it out in the A.M. Seems to be a very nice set for the price point. Brush looks better than the Shay brush.