Edwin Jagger Medium Best Badger

I have seven different brushes including Rooney 3/1, Vie Long 13061B, Omega 49, Whipped Dog 24 mm, Shavemac 22714, and EJ synthetic badger. . .

However, my EJ in medium best badger is my FAVORITE. This is the brush that I recommend to others to start with and use as a baseline to judge all future brushes.

I bought this as a replacement for my Tweezerman. I wanted something that was a little softer and denser than the Tweezerman, but still made great lather from hard soaps. I was disappointed. In almost all respects, I didn't think it was a noticeable improvement over the Tweezerman. It made a nice lather, but so did my Tweezerman. It wasn't much softer, if at all, and certainly not as dense. The handle is smaller, and seems light and cheap. Save yourself $35 and buy a Tweezerman.

This brush was supposed to be an upgrade for me from my $20 pure badger brush but it didn't impress me too much. The main problem I have with it was that it takes forever to make a decent lather. It doesn't have much of a spine and is a little too soft for my taste. I recently made the switch to a brush with silvertip from TGN and the improvement was undeniable. For a Best badger brush, this ones was a bit of a disappointment for me.

I have had this brush for about a year. It was fairly soft at first and didn't smell of wet badger when I received it (which was nice), but now I consider it to be like a close friend that only cares about me. He waits for me to greet him each day and tell him about all my problems. He listens patiently while he begins to work his magic and help me "shave off" the worries and anxieties of yesterday. This has become a brush of wonder and a helpful friend.

This brush is EXTREMELY good for a beginner brush, since I started about a year and a half ago. It is a medium between the scratch of a pure badger or boar and the softness of a super or silvertip. Edwin Jagger is a well-respected brand, and it sends a drip stand with this brush just in case you wanted one, so you don't have to pay an extra five dollars, it's included in the $40 to $45 price. I have the ebony handle, and although I would prefer it to be not plastic (I marked the "quality" down for this), I like it more than the ivory handle because of the contrast with my sink, it's easy to see!

I started out with an old boar brush, and it couldn't make lather as quickly or as much, and it felt much scratchier. I received this a year ago on my birthday and loved it, still do. I received a Pure badger brush from Col Conk this birthday about a month ago. I find that this Best badger is most helpful now in whipping up creams or when I want luxury. The pure badger brush is helpful when dealing with hard soaps because it is much scratchier. Just buy this brush, you'll end up getting it someday anyway!

I have the Crabtree & Evelyn version and the Edwin Jagger one. I rotate between the two and I agree with a previous member that the EJ is the better of the two. It holds the lather well for a few passes and cleans really easily.
This is a great brush for the money.

I have used this brush for about three years now and have been looking for a second brush now for a while but this brush is such a great performer that I stopped looking. It's works great with both creams and soap. When it was new it lost a few hairs, but now it shows that it is a quality brush: It just doesnt show any wear.

To be the perfect brush it should have more backbone and a somewhat larger handle. I can recommend this brush to anyone.

Per use? I have had mine for a couple of months now and I no longer lose hairs. At the beginning I lost a couple here and there at first, but I wonder if that is common with all new brushes. I think your experience has too possible explanations: 1. Poor workmanship. 2. Operator error. I hope for you it is the former, but I don't know...

Have no fears or concerns if you'er considering this brush. It is GREAT! It handles soaps very well and makes creams almost expolde.

Price: About $35 if purchased from EJ's store (englishshaving.com) For a Best brush of this quality it is well worth the price IMHO.

Quality: Since coming out of the box, no bristles have come out yet and on it's first use I used a soap, which I worked over pretty rough. Bristles are very soft for a Best. (Best being a higher grade of pure but not quite the manufacturers spec for Super)

Density: I know their are denser brushes out there. Is this one thin, absolutely not and would probably lean more over the median toward dense than less dense. Seemed to be just right for making a good lather and enough for several passes.

Stiffness / Softness of Tips: Brush wasn't floppy at all in my opinion but was very soft. I usually lather in a circular motion starting off and finish with paint strokes and it performed wonderful. Tips were not prickly to me at all. Maybe I haven't experienced as soft a brush as some of the reviewers or maybe I'm just tougher than they are.

Ergonomics: Felt very comfortable and fit my hand well. I have large, not XL hands.

Latherability: Even my wife who was beside me commented on how fast it began to make lather and create loads of quality lather.


In short, whether you're new and looking for that first good badger brush or been around a while and your SBAD is showing it's face, grab this brush. You will not be sorry.

The EJ BBB is my only quality brush (have VDH boar and Men-U boar) so I can't compare it with anything else really. That said, I really like it - use it for triple milled soaps and creams alike. I can't recall the last time it shed a hair, probably a few weeks ago and only one at that. With all the positive feedback, I'd say that losing 6-8 hairs per use is not the norm.

Last night I recieved my new EJ Best Badger medium in the mail from Fendrihan and couldn't wait to shave with it. I have been using the body shop synthetic since I started wet shaving about a month ago. I lathered up with some Proraso and completed my sixth straight razor shave using the new EJ brush. The new brush whipped up a rich lather effortlessly and felt great on my face. While it is slightly prickly when touch to your face dry, I found it to be very comfortable when used for applying the lather. The shave was my best yet, very well lubricated and very little rash. This is important and rare as I have very sensitive skin on my neck. I am very happy with this brush as it works great, but seeems to me to be high quality with very little hair loss on the initial use. While it is not inexpensive, it looks, feels and performs well.

Billy...that just scared me...was in the process of finding one to pick up so I could add some rotation to my brushing...yikes...

I hate to dissent, but my experience with this brush has been much less positive.

It's decent enough to start. But it loses way too much hair. I've had mine about a year and it continues to lose 6-8 hairs per use.

That is unacceptable in my book. This is probably the worst purchase among my dozen or so brushes.

I have recently purchased two of these EJ medium best badger brushes with black handle for my sons as their first badger brushes. I got a good discount on a one-day sale at a local merchant here ($40 each). I'll write another post to rate them after I have seen them in use, but I felt that the combination of ratings and price couldn't be beat.

This brush is definately different compared to a PBB. The hairs are much softer. I have the C&E PBB and I like this brush a lot more. The handle is ergonomic and it absorbs a pretty significant amount of water. This brush lathers cremes amazingly. I would highly recommend this brush. It is the right price and quality. The only thing to be careful about it ordering the right size. I think the EJ medium is=C&E small. So if you want a bigger one order the large.

Have been using a EJ best badger in ebony for a over a month, and very impressed i am too.

Its a great brush, good for soaps and creams, i find the handle nice too.

On question of the pure/best badger i would say its "best" for two reasons. First i find pure scratchy but best just a bit prickly, if you know what i mean. and second i had a good chat over the phone with EJ. The lovely lady on the other side very much clarified for me that its "best badger"

Another thing is best badger is only the finer selection of the pure badger, so they are bound to shore characteristics.

i'm tending to agree with sharpy, my medium EJ BBB arrived yesterday and although i haven't used it yet the tips certainly feel prickly to the touch like any of the pure brushes i have.
the link that is posted to the website shows all the different hair grades but anytime i've clicked to look at the pure brushes it gives you no product match
could be they're using pure?

I use this brush almost daily and I really like it. The bristles are perfect for soaps yet they don't feel 'scratchy' on my face. Highly recommended.

sharpy;326057 said:

I think E/J’s designation of “Best Badger” is really equivalent to “Pure Badger” of other makers. Their retail website list the grades as Best, Super, and Silvertip.

Click to expand...

couldn't be more wrong.
hear is the link to E/J's badger hair grades http://www.theenglishshavingcompany.com/cgi-bin/psDept.cgi?Shaving Brushes you can clearly see that they have pure,best,super,and silver tip in their line up.this brush is much better than the C&E BBB

I think E/J’s designation of “Best Badger” is really equivalent to “Pure Badger” of other makers. Their retail website list the grades as Best, Super, and Silvertip.

Their retail website still list the tortoise shell for sale, but probably does not reflect the change in inventory noted in the comment above. Also, the faux white marble handle appears to be on sale.

For me a great starter brush that I still use in my rotation. A very good quality brush as all EJ products. If you are looking for a good brush with an ok price EJ BB medium brush is for you.