Item Description
Frank Shaving Synthetic Travel Shave Brush Review (With Pics)
I was looking to up my road game (improve my travel kit), and I settled on a synthetic travel brush. After a search I quickly found a FS synthetic travel brush on amazon for $25. I couldn't find any information on this brush either. No reviews on amazon, no mention on FS's website, and no entry on the review boards here. A google search was equally fruitless.
So i bought it, and here is my review:
For a cheap brush, I was not expecting much, but I was pleased when I opened the package to find a nice looking black cardboard box with silver text on the outside. The lid opened straight up to reveal a thick layer of black foam padding covering every single side of the box. I lifted up a cutout section to reveal an EXTREMELY shiny little cylinder. It looks quite stylish in the retracted position if you ask me (just pretend you asked). The top of the brush's cylinder is open to the elements, and topped with a screw on cap that is also wide open. Despite the large size of the hole, the brush has no problems staying inside. There is some wiggle room, but I tried to dislodge it by throwing it out upside down, but not too hard. It stayed inside and I would trust this thing to float around in my pack by itself.
I tested the softness of the brush on my face while dry, and I have to say that it feels slightly softer, or just as soft as my best badger brush with a very similar stiffness too it. I am very pleased with this. I don't know what generation fiber this brush uses, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out this is a generation 3.5 or 4 brush.
Once Assembled I moved on to the real task at hand, producing some lather. Musgo Real was used for 2 tests with very hard tap water. First I whipped up a lather in my normal shave bowl, and then I tried to do the same thing inside the bottom half of my travel razor case.
The Bowl:
I dipped the brush into a bowl of warm water, and it immediately sucked up a bunch of water and changed shape on me. It now looked a bit clumpy, but held the water in very well. It was also almost the perfect amount of water it turns out. I flicked it out ever so gently and a little bit of water came out. Then I flung it hard at my bathtub and watched a lot of water smash against the side. Now it was lather time, and again I just let the brush fill itself up. I snapped 2 pictures at 1 minute and 3 minutes of stirring. This does not generate lather as quickly as my best badger, but I wouldn’t expect it to due to its smaller size. For its size I think it made lather pretty well. I did have to stir it longer, but it came through for me in the end. I was able to lather up my whole face without having to go back for more from the bowl, but feel free to if that is your thing.
The Razor Case:
This was a bigger challenge and I was forced to change my usual method of creating lather. used a little bit less musgo, and water. There is simply not enough space to work with, and my lather was very runny and sloshing out of the case. After about 1 minute of stirring this watery mess around I brought the brush to my face and did what I never do. I face lathered. I gotta say that I was surprised at how well this wound up working. I had a very nice and slick lather worked up all over my face in just a minute. I fumbled for a bit while slinging soap all over my bathroom until I figured out that a steady circular motion wouldn’t throw stuff around the room, but face lathering is a go with this guy! I washed it all off and tried again with what was left, scooping up more watery musgo mess and applying it to my face. I got a 2nd great lather. I did this a 3rd time just to make sure I could if needed, and I was able to get a good 3rd lather with what was still left. Mission accomplished.
With that out of the way I can now officially recommend this brush to anybody looking for a synthetic travel brush.
I was looking to up my road game (improve my travel kit), and I settled on a synthetic travel brush. After a search I quickly found a FS synthetic travel brush on amazon for $25. I couldn't find any information on this brush either. No reviews on amazon, no mention on FS's website, and no entry on the review boards here. A google search was equally fruitless.
So i bought it, and here is my review:
For a cheap brush, I was not expecting much, but I was pleased when I opened the package to find a nice looking black cardboard box with silver text on the outside. The lid opened straight up to reveal a thick layer of black foam padding covering every single side of the box. I lifted up a cutout section to reveal an EXTREMELY shiny little cylinder. It looks quite stylish in the retracted position if you ask me (just pretend you asked). The top of the brush's cylinder is open to the elements, and topped with a screw on cap that is also wide open. Despite the large size of the hole, the brush has no problems staying inside. There is some wiggle room, but I tried to dislodge it by throwing it out upside down, but not too hard. It stayed inside and I would trust this thing to float around in my pack by itself.
I tested the softness of the brush on my face while dry, and I have to say that it feels slightly softer, or just as soft as my best badger brush with a very similar stiffness too it. I am very pleased with this. I don't know what generation fiber this brush uses, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out this is a generation 3.5 or 4 brush.
Once Assembled I moved on to the real task at hand, producing some lather. Musgo Real was used for 2 tests with very hard tap water. First I whipped up a lather in my normal shave bowl, and then I tried to do the same thing inside the bottom half of my travel razor case.
The Bowl:
I dipped the brush into a bowl of warm water, and it immediately sucked up a bunch of water and changed shape on me. It now looked a bit clumpy, but held the water in very well. It was also almost the perfect amount of water it turns out. I flicked it out ever so gently and a little bit of water came out. Then I flung it hard at my bathtub and watched a lot of water smash against the side. Now it was lather time, and again I just let the brush fill itself up. I snapped 2 pictures at 1 minute and 3 minutes of stirring. This does not generate lather as quickly as my best badger, but I wouldn’t expect it to due to its smaller size. For its size I think it made lather pretty well. I did have to stir it longer, but it came through for me in the end. I was able to lather up my whole face without having to go back for more from the bowl, but feel free to if that is your thing.
The Razor Case:
This was a bigger challenge and I was forced to change my usual method of creating lather. used a little bit less musgo, and water. There is simply not enough space to work with, and my lather was very runny and sloshing out of the case. After about 1 minute of stirring this watery mess around I brought the brush to my face and did what I never do. I face lathered. I gotta say that I was surprised at how well this wound up working. I had a very nice and slick lather worked up all over my face in just a minute. I fumbled for a bit while slinging soap all over my bathroom until I figured out that a steady circular motion wouldn’t throw stuff around the room, but face lathering is a go with this guy! I washed it all off and tried again with what was left, scooping up more watery musgo mess and applying it to my face. I got a 2nd great lather. I did this a 3rd time just to make sure I could if needed, and I was able to get a good 3rd lather with what was still left. Mission accomplished.
With that out of the way I can now officially recommend this brush to anybody looking for a synthetic travel brush.
