I started off with badger brushes but only had a few over the years. When I joined B&B I bought my first boar brushes and liked them. Then I tried some synthetics. My first was a Parker which was pure garbage. My next was the huge H.I.S. brush which was OK but my wife hated it because as she said "incapable of lathering my face without getting so much on the mirror." Since then I have added a number of synthetics but none, IMHO, can match my quality badger brushes. The only synthetics I own that come close to good badger brushes are those with the Muhle Silvertip Fibre knots and Shavemac synthetic knots. My Paladin, Shavmac, and Simpson brushes or knots put all of my synthetics to shame.