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the SOC vs. the HIS brush

I would like to do a bit of comparison between these two.
First of all, I know many of you might have a view against synthetics as being the brush for vegetarians.
I am no vegetarian as I eat a lot of meat and dairy products myself.

Products I use: Tabac soap, proraso cream
Razors I use: Gillette slim, Edwin Jagger Barley Chrome
Razor Blades I use: Astro SP
Brushes I have: HIS, SOC, omega 10066, bodyshop brush

First of all the SOC boar:
The SOC is an excellent brush. It might seem stiff when it is dry but once its wet, it is pretty soft on your face.
The SOC lathers very well after breaken in, but still does a good job when it isn't broken in.
Works well with both cream and soap, lathers a good amount instantly which you would not believe how well it gets the job done...
The SOC works so well that even on Tabac soap, it creates a lot of lather directly from the soap.
It is packed quite dense and have lost probably a few hairs on it at first but no hair is lost now.
Overall the SOC is definately a recommended brush. There is a huge difference between the time spent soaking the brush so it is recommended that you soak
the brush a few minutes before used in warm water.

The HIS brush:
The HIS brush is a HUGE brush. I tried putting it on my brush stands but it is quite big that it fits right on it. It fits tight on the brush stand so I decided
to not hang dry the brush as it is a synthetic anyways. Living in Canada, I bought this brush for almost $50 from amazon which 23 dollars was the shipping cost.
I bought this brush to put in my daily rotation but also for travel since I travel atleast once a year to Asia. The brush has good backbone I would say
and extremely soft. I mean EXTREMELY soft. when I put lather on my face with this brush, I didn't really notice the brush much. Kind of felt like a makeup
brush rather than a shave brush. The brush is packed very dense. On the first shave, my brush did not lose any hair which was also a good sign and a sign
of how dense it was packed. The brush was maybe a bit too soft for the Tabac soap and needed some effort to make it work. The HIS brush is probably
the best for cream users rather than soap users although I think it would work well on a Proraso soap unlike the Tabac. The brush holds water and lather
very well maybe even better than the SOC at times.Overall, the brush is excellent and I would definately recommend this brush to others. Was the $23 shipping worth it? I would say yes.


Some brief comparisons with these two and the omega 10066 and bodyshop brush:
First of all, the body shop brush. The bodyshop brush is overall, crap... It is soft and cheap but floppy and doesn't hold water as well..
You need to put a lot of effort when lathering with this brush and might not be a good brush for face latherers as it loses water very fast.
The lather turns out to be a bit more watery than creamy using soaps as well.

The Omega 10066. This brush was overall satisfying in its performance. While comparing to the SOC and HIS, it isn't as good but it creates a decent
lather both cream and soap. The backbone isn't as good as the SOC or HIS as it isn't as densely packed but it isn't as floppy as the bodyshop brush either.
Overall for $15 Canadian, this brush was well worth it.


Pros and Cons of SOC and HIS:

Pros of SOC:
-it lathers very well
-packed dense
-soft on face when wet
-holds water and lather well
-for $30-$40 it is a great buy
-good backbone and not floppy

Cons of SOC:
-you need to warm it up with warm water before use
-takes a while to dry
-not suited for travel because of its boar characteristics of drying

Pros of HIS:
-very soft wet/dry
-holds water and lather well
-packed dense
-for US buyers, it is a good price
-no need to warm it up with water
-excellent for travel since its synthetic
-good backbone and not floppy

Cons of HIS:
-hard to make lather with soap
-expensive for Canadian buyers
-can get messy with soap lathering.
 
Great review. I recently got a HIS brush and it is quickly becoming my favorite. I don't have a problem lathering soaps with this brush so far, but from what I've heard, Tabac can get pretty hard.
 
I love my HIS brush, I dont have too much trouble with soaps as long as i wet the soap (to soften it) and support it with my fingers when loading.
 
yea Tabac is quite hard to lather up. Thats why i said that I think the HIS brush would do a great job with other soaps!
The HIS brush is definately a great brush though as mentioned above. Happy to pay the extra shipping costs and no regrets!
 
The HIS brush is a synthetic brush which I believe is made by a makeup brush company. It has been reviewed many times for its qualities compared with the muhle synthetics as to being one of the best synthetics out there right now.
 
The HIS brush is a synthetic brush which I believe is made by a makeup brush company. It has been reviewed many times for its qualities compared with the muhle synthetics as to being one of the best synthetics out there right now.

You are correct on the manufacturer producing cosmetic brushes, however, they also make artist brushes (in more volume than their cosmetic or shaving lines) that also lends to the design characteristics.

It is a sad situation about Canadian shipping, but many companies that do not distribute within Canada have this issue of cost burdens. I have the same issues when buying or selling items into Canada, it is expensive. It is a clear disadvantage for Canadians on many fronts. I have passed up potential purchases because of that situation.

As to lathering with soap, I have had no problems lathering with soap and creams in the bowl. For face lathering you need to have less water on the brush and while generating lather for the first pass, gently dip the brush into just enough water to allow the lather to fully develop. Then there is plenty of lather for three pass shave plus a head shave with less mess.

You can find additional information on the first review of the H.I.S. on this forum posted on 04-14-2012 below:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/287195-H-I-S-Synthetic-Brush?highlight=

and more on this thread.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...andled-H-I-S-Up-Close-And-Personal?highlight=

I hope this helps to provide additional information especially on the matter of face lathering with the H.I.S.
 
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