Just picked up a synth brush and have been pleasantly surprised. Its very soft, has no scritchiness at all but definitely some scrub and loads the soap much quicker and much easier than my boar. It's quite springy though and I'd even go as far as to say that it has more backbone than my boar but perhaps im thinking about it the wrong way. It holds quite a lot of water too and lets go of the lather without a fuss. No need for me to splay every time I re-lather anymore. Nice and different overall. It doesn't replace the boar though, it isn't so superior I have no reasonable choice but to use it, moreso it just compliments nicely.
Finally got a synth...I get it now!
- Thread starter SydneyShaver
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@SydneyShaver Well tell us what brush you got at least. Don’t leave us hangin’! And I think you’re right about being different, a compliment, not a replacement. I think some people pick up a synthetic and compare it to a natural brush as if it’s supposed to be the same but better.
I have almost completely moved to synths over the past 4 or 5 years. They really are great and IMO some of them do out-perform natural hairs. After you give yours a few weeks worth of uses, it'll probably get even better. I haven't had one yet that didn't improve with some use.
I have and love my naturals... Especially a well broken in boar... but the inefficiency of naturals was, for me, hard to go back to once I got used to a modern synthetic. Ymmv etc
I'm also curious which model you're using.
I'm also curious which model you're using.
For me, synthetics are just so much easier to use. No pre-soaking. No worrying about drying them after use. They make lather faster and don't hog it. I've never had one that shed. And I love the feel of the ultra-soft tips that you get in many synthetics.
Welcome to the vegan shaving brush Doghouse.
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Sorry @Beefdrippings and @SterFry. I've got the Yaqi Everest 24mm with their G4 knot.
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Yep Its only been a few days now and I can tell that my technique is automatically adjusting and that the brush is splaying easier than when I had first got it. I'm sure in a week or two it'll be well broken in and the fibres will be nice and flexible!
Exactly, I love my boar (been used 365 days a year for almost 3 years now) but the synth literally takes half as much time to load the right amount and doesn't make me strangle the hell out of it to get all the lather on my face
I've never really soaked my boar tbh. I just get it wet under the tap and off I go. For drying all I did was wring out the water and rub it into my towel. But you're right. Mine drys almost instantly without taking a towel to it. Rub it into a towel a little bit and boom, more or less completely dry...don't need to worry about tangling the hairs or shedding either as you mentioned!
I've found that boar brushes work best if they get a period of drying out occasionally. Boars take a long time to dry, about 3 days to dry as the centre of the knot remains damp even after 2 days.
I used to alternate two brushes on a weekly schedule so I used one brush one week , then let the brush dry & used the other brush the next week.
Now I've got a rotation of three boars & one Yaqi Tuxedo. Each boar gets at least 3 days to dry. Several other boars wait in the wings for their turn, but I really should get another synthetic.
Whenever I use a natural hair brush I always use my woman's hair dryer to blow dry the brush. This also seems to accelerate break in... Which makes sense. Same reason blow drying hair makes it frizzy.
Hey ..... Let's see a photo !
Here are my synthetics .... Sublime shaving indeed !
I love synthetic brushes. Budget friendly.
Ever watch someone use high end badger brush and they keep counting how many hairs come out of it.
Ever watch someone use high end badger brush and they keep counting how many hairs come out of it.
This!!! I have not had enough brushes, but based on my limited experience the uber dense Simpson badger loves to toss bristles. The humble Simpson T2 does not have this issue. However, I do not recall my Kent BK4 ever losing a hair. The rate at which my Chubby 1 in best tosses them is truly and deeply annoying. A typical shave leaves a few on the puck and a half dozen or so in the lather on my face that get snagged in the razor. Yuck.
I researched "split ends" and the shampoo which claimed to fight them
to see if there was anything about the causes of the frizzies.
Because, with natural hair shaving brushes, that's what you want.
And hair dryers is what came up.
I've recently gotten into synthetic brushes. I tried one a few years ago and hated it....too floppy and soft with no backbone so that turned me off of them. For some reason (probably reading these threads) I decided to try them again. I started with a Simpson Trafalgar T2 and found it to be pretty good....soft, some backbone, and good size. Well, that led me to search for others.....ended up with both Stirling 24mm knot synthetic offerings (they are fantastic), PAA Amber Aerolite (good but large), RR Hive 24 (very nice...super soft), and Zenith S10 (good brush....very stiff for a synthetic).
Since purchasing these synthetics, my nature hair brushes have been on vacation. I'm really liking the newer synthetics....never thought I'd be saying that.
Since purchasing these synthetics, my nature hair brushes have been on vacation. I'm really liking the newer synthetics....never thought I'd be saying that.
If it’s up to me I invest my money on razors. I know they will last a long time. Brushed I am just not sure about that. Wether you buy cheap generic brush or a wiborg the hair comes from the same place.
At least for me if I am using aggressive razors that lather has to be on point every single time. And I know with my synthetic brushes that never an issue.
At least for me if I am using aggressive razors that lather has to be on point every single time. And I know with my synthetic brushes that never an issue.
You’ll need to get another PAA synthetic to your collection
The Amber Aerolite is a great brush. I got this and the Peregrino at the same time. Don't really care for the Peregrino....not enough backbone for my tastes....but the Amber Aerolite is just about right, but rather large.
So far I’ve only tried two synthetic brushes and haven’t gone back to natural hair knots. My first one was a Stirling factory seconds 24mm synthetic. Honestly I’m not sure why it failed making the cut for the non factory seconds. Love how soft it feels on the face. My second is a Simpson Trafalgar T2. I love the combination of softness and stiffness of the Trafalgar. It’s become my daily driver. The Stirling has been relegated to use when I spend the night at my parents house as part of the shaving kit that I left in the guest bathroom there
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