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My First Boar - Proraso Pro

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
My Proraso Pro boar brush after 20 three-pass shaves.

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This brush is developing nicely. As I face lather, I find this brush best to use with just the tips doing the work.

Next update will be in a few months time when I get to 50 shaves with this brush.
 
Thx for your compliments to the table and CD player.

Rega CD player, correct ? And is that a Rega turntable as well (P3 ?) And, ..... my compliments on your Vandersteens.

Absolutely beautiful speakers. I had a pair of Vandersteen 1C's for a very long time, until I switched to Revel F 12's.
 
Let's face it: real Italian barbers know a thing or two about shaving and they always have a big ol' boar brush to face lather a client (per yt vids I can find). Usually an Omega 49 just like that Proraso.

A broken in quality boar is a true bargain in the wet shaving world. As good as anything costing hundreds more! I can attest to this. My lowly Semogue 620 is as fine as a Simson Chubby 2 in Super, Shave Mac D01, and a Brad Sears. All fantastic, just different flavors of excellence.
 
Nothing wrong with a boar brush. I really enjoy my Semogue Owners Club. The only break in I did was a test lather. After that I just used it normally. Great brush.


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I'm also considering getting myself a Semogue. Especially the wooden SOC like yours or the 1305. I like the colour scheme of the latter. Question about your SOC: is the lettering printed or engraved (like the resin)? I cannot make that up from any picture I saw so far.
 
I always think it is funny how boar brushes are described as scratchy. They are when they're dry. Once lathered up they're as soft as the softest synth around. And even then, why couldn't they be 'scratchy' if the next process in the routine is shoving a piece a sharp metal over your face????

The Proraso was my starter brush, 2 years ago. Never failed on me. I only retired it in favour of an Omega Jade because of the resin handle compared to the Proraso's ABS/plastic handle that started feeling a little cheap for a 'professional' wet shaver ;-)
I believe the Jade's knot –which I believe is a Connaught Shaving (UK) exclusive– undergoes a 'treatment' as from the start the smell was much less and more bristles had already split. From day 1 it worked perfectly for me.

I never pre-soak the brush before a shave. I fill my basin with warm/hot water, submerge the knot for a few seconds and give it one shake before starting to load up soap from the soap jar. After the shave I rinse it under cold water shake it off a few times and put it upward on my window sill.

I believe a boar is easier to control the amount of water in the brush, compared to a synth. I prefer my lather quite dense and I always succeed to do that with a boar. Too dry, just dip the tips in the water and problem solved. With a synth I end up with too watery lather on most occasions. Alse what I noticed, when shaking off a rinsed brush, I have to put my other hand over a synth to avoid splattering my mirror with drops. I do not need to do so with a boar...
 
I'm also considering getting myself a Semogue. Especially the wooden SOC like yours or the 1305. I like the colour scheme of the latter. Question about your SOC: is the lettering printed or engraved (like the resin)? I cannot make that up from any picture I saw so far.
It’s engraved. Possibly embossed.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
My Proraso Pro boar brush as received:

Knot diameter = 28mm
Loft = 57mm
Height overall = 120.5mm
Handle diameter near base = 42mm
Handle diameter at waist = 36.5mm
Mass = 76g

After 7 three-pass shaves with this brush plus my breaking-in routine previously mentioned, the brush now looks like this:

So far, this brush has lost four hairs.
Looks like your plan is coming together my friend!

I don't recommend the way I treated the unbleached boar that I was given by the incredibly handsome and incomparable @dmshaver ! I had misplaced it, and found it in my lovely bride's minivan, which is basically a rolling solar kollector!

That thing smelled like a live boar in need of a good hosing down and a trip to the slaughter house.

But I just continued to use it for face lathering and it is now smelling more like a small piglet that had an Arko bubble bath and the tips are splitting nicely.
 
Great brush. Gets to a point after a few weeks were it is just perfect and just stays perfect. Absolutely, your best bang for the buck for any brush. There may be better brushes out there. I doubt it, but if there are, I'm there guessing they are least ten times the cost. I highly recommend this brush and this brush alone. If mine ever needs replaced and it hasn't in over 5 years. I'll buy a new one.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Fourty-three shaves in now and this brush has shed 7 hairs in total (that I noticed). Not looking good to pass down this brush over a few generations.

Next week I will post some pictures after its 50th use.
 
Fourty-three shaves in now and this brush has shed 7 hairs in total (that I noticed). Not looking good to pass down this brush over a few generations.

Next week I will post some pictures after its 50th use.
Teething pains. Shedding should slow way down. Make sure you are soaking the bristles fully to saturate with water each use. Still, a replacement every few years is not very expensive.
 
Wait, 43 shaves and 7 hairs lost? That's not a problem though it is also not a generational shaving brush for about $15 either!
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Fiftieth safe with this brush this morning. Here is a photo history of this Proraso Pro boar brush during break-in:

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I have been using this brush daily for the whole month (ARKO-Boarko-Loko August) and have really got to enjoy lathering with it. I must say though, that I am looking forward to my synthetics and badgers for a change come the start of spring (September).
 
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