A Wilkinson Sword Finest Bristle, currently $5.88 CAD at Walmart in Canada. This is my third of the same brush because it was/is the only one sold in stores where I live. I thought this was a great brush until I got my RazoRock Monster. After my second Wilkinson Sword wore out, I started using the Monster for a couple of months before getting the third Wilkinson Sword. Only used it once after purchasing, and now I find that although it gets the job done, it's definitely not in the Monster's class.
My cheapest brush also happens to be my favourite brush.......
It cost me €3,75 at auction on eBay with free shipping from China to Spain
It hardly needed any defunking or breaking in - unusual because all my other "animal" brushes stank like a wet dog and took a lot of shampoo, hot water and elbow grease to get rid of the stink
It exploded with lather with very little effort right from the word "go" - it works equally well in a swirling or painting motion, and is equally at home lathering with cream, soft or hard soap
After 12 months, the bristles feel kitten soft against my face, yet still have plenty of backbone
The wooden handle is still as good as new
It's an Unbranded Chinese Horsehair - and well worth every cent of the €3,75 that I paid for it !!
It's on the small side, like many travel brushes. It came bundled with a block of artisanal shaving soap that I had bought at a Farmers Market.
The soap wasn't that great, in that the lather collapses very quickly, but it smelled (Bay Rum & Lime) pretty good.
The knot appears to be boar (or horsehair? I dunno). Note the bristle that loops back down into the handle. Not visible here is a bristle on the other side that comes up between the metal ferrule and the wood.
It was okay for generating lather, but it is way too stiff. When you try to apply the lather to your face it simply squeegees it off again.
I've seen similar ones on eBay (or maybe Amazon), for something like $2.
I'm going to suggest to the soap vendor that instead of selling the soap in rectangular blocks and including the brush, she should make round pucks and put them in a cheap-but-serviceable lidded container.
About a buck with conversion on the money, at a market in eastern Europe, don't know what it is (the logo wore off after the first lather) it's a scratchy boar that is about 70mm over all and the smallest brush I have ever held at about 70 mm. But it whipped up a lather with some Arko cream that was about $1.10. thought it would make a good small travel brush.
You're going to laugh, but it cost $2.26, shipped from China. (I have a better picture somewhere, but this is the only one I had on this computer). It's a cheap boar, with the boar stink, but after bowl lathering on soap, brush on hand, rinse, (twice), it brushed on a good layer of lather, and stopped smelling bad. It's probably just one step up from John Rose's brush. I wouldn't have a problem using it as a shower (shaving) brush, but it probably won't last as long as the Omega 49 I haven't tried yet.
Oh yeah - if it's the cheapest brush I'm using on a regular basis, then I'd say an Omega 10086 Travel boar brush. It goes for $12.50 Canadian at Fendrihan.