Omega 48 Professional Boar Bristle Brush

I just received mine and have tried it like three times, maybe mine still needs to be broken in but I find that out of the box it does not lather that well.

I found the smell easy to get rid of, after initially soaking it in Borax for 14 hours but still wreaked, I added some Tide with fresh Borax and the following day all the water was gone soaked up by the brush I presume.

So far my synthetic is by far my favorite. This may become my favorite with more time. A badger is to wimpy, although I will reserve for creams.

Bang for buck, it's a great brush. It's well put together, and after more than 18 months of use, it still looks new.

I don't know how it compares with a badger brush, but IMHO it does a great job.

A joy to use. This is my only boar bristle brush. I love it. I don't feel the need to use a badger hair, although I've used them in the past. A great low cost brush.

A soap killer

Though I already have a couple of badger brushes, I wanted to get a large boar brush for face lathering and for when using Mitchell's Wool Fat in my rotation. I came across the Proraso branded version of the Omega 48 at a good price when visiting Melbourne and snapped it up. It has since become my daily "go to" brush and my badgers are now sitting in the cabinet looking pretty but largely unused other than for the occasional cream.
I love its large size and huge knot. If a badger brush were this big, gobs of foam would be flying around the bathroom but the natural stiffness of the bristles seems to hold the lather very nicely. However this stiffness is very comfortable and it results in a thoroughly enjoyable face massage which isn’t "scratchy" in any way. The big handle fits my large hands well and it has hardly dropped a bristle in the time I have been using it. Yes it did stink when I first used it but that disappeared after about two weeks of regular use. The only thing I would change would be the handle which is lightweight plastic. A solid lathe-turned handle with greater mass would really lift this brush up several notches, but this would obviously impact on the price and it wouldn't be the bargain that it is now. If you are predominantly a soap user I highly recommend giving this brush a try.

my favourite soap brush, cant beat it for the price

I bought this brush in the Proraso packaging:




Pic. taken after breaking in the brush


Price
This brush is certainly a bargain

Quality
This brush is sturdy and well made. But it is very "standard" in appearance end feel

Density
I guess that term doesn't really apply to boar brushes

Stiffness of Tips
Very stiff

Softness of Tips
In the beginning the tips are quite hard, but after a breaking in period they become nice and soft

Ergonomic
The handle is very ergonomic, maybe a tad big for my taste

Latherability
These brushes are lather machines. They work excellent with creams and soaps alike - even the hardest soaps are no match for this brush. But, when it comes to the quality of the lather produced I prefer the thicker and fomyer lather produced by a badger brush.

I thing everyone should have at least one boar brush in their shave den. At the price point the Omega Profassional/Proraso boar is hard to beat. I use mine form time to time - but I am still mainly a badger guy. A boar brush is excellent for when you are in a hurry and need to lather up that soap fast.


Regards.

Jakob

I bought one of these in Dubai for circa 5 USD and think it's a phenomenal and stylish-looking brush.

I don't, however, use it that much on account of its large size: I prefer small-sized brushes, like the 1077.

Puts me in mind of creosote but having used it now, it's not so pungent. Much larger than the Tweezerman brush which was my first (I don't count the Wilkinson Sword synthetic!) and the bristles are much stiffer although they do soften a bit after soaking for a couple of minutes. Two things which I have noted.

It doesn't make as great a lather with creams, at least not as easily as with a badger brush. However you will still get sufficient lather for multiple passes. Other reviewers have said it works best with soaps.
I have used creams almost exclusively but I'll give this a go with my TOBS Sandalwood.

The height of this brush I found means the lather doesn't creep up over the handle as much with my Tweezerman, but it seems to be a bit too large for easy lathering in the latte mup I usually use. Good excuse to get a scuttle then!

This was a smidgen over £12 which included postage and overall I would say it's well worth it.

I searched out this brush to have a competent boar in the line up for the glycerin soaps I had been having trouble with. This brush is very, very economical as brushes go (but maybe more middle of the price range as boar brushes, strictly, go).

The quality of the brush is well beyond the VDH drug store model, and also doesn't pretend to be something it's not. No fake "badger" bands on this one. Also, notice that the shape is very much unlike your badger brushes. It is very tall--by far the tallest brush I own (out of six) in both handle and loft.

The handle is very big, and will feel very different in your hand than your badger brushes. A disappointment is the "chromed" plastic handle. It feels a little cheap. But for $15? I'd say, who cares? In all other respects, a very quality boar brush.

This is a lather machine with soaps, although, IMO you still have to work harder than you would with a quality badger and a cream. This totally did the trick in allowing me to get a very quality lather with soaps I was having trouble with while using my silver-tip badger.

Here's the downside: This brush was the funkiest, wet-animal, worse-than-badger-butt, get-that-thing-away-from-my-nose smelling brush to date. I tried Mantic's regimen of Borax, Vinegar, more Borax, more Vinegar. Borax and Vinegar. Nothing would cut through the smell....until I began to lather up the brush with various soaps and creams and let it sit in the lather, soaking up the smell for a very long time.

I finally beat the stink after a combination of long resting periods in each of the following: AOS Sandalwood soap, Proraso cream, Col Conk's Almond soap, and C&E Nomad soap.

Hey, small price to pay for such a nice boar brush!

Well I have to say that the "48" is a far step above my VDH boar that I bought a couple of weeks ago as I needed something quick to travel with. However, I didn't realize how large it would be which can makes it a bit cumbersome to lather on the face. Other than size so far this week it has performed absolutely stellar. The price after shipping was a bit high for me as shipping was ~$7. The stiffness and softness of bristle was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be much more stiff and light on the softness but with little break in the softness is definitely there. Ergonomically it is a little hard to handle for my liking, but it works. Lather-ability is superb! Soaps just fly off this thing but you are left with a huge reserve for multiple passes.I have not lost a bristle yet unlike the el cheapo VDH which I lost 18 on the first shave! I have used the "48" on three passes with lather still leftover! Overall I would say this is a great boar brush and will be in the rotation many years

Brush costs very little but big on value.

Base is thick.

Always snapped up on the shelves of Mustafa leaving the synthetic hair and smaller brushes on display.

As said above. Sheds very little hair. In fact none so far! Used since Sep 2007.

Brush has the stiffness of paintbrush but the smooth lather it creates with Nivea cream more than makes up for it.

Mine is the black resin base.

I have the same omega brush with an Ivory base, the brush is top notch, but I find very stiff, and may need lots of "breaking in" time befor it can lather your face smoothly. Creating a lather with proraso soap or cream, the brush is great. However I do find it stiff, regardless if I leave the brush in warm water for like 6 minutes......Overall way better brush then the wilkinson bore brush thats available at every pharmacy, here in town. Unlike the wilkinsons that shed hair with every shave , this does not shed nohing so far, been using this one since January

I used a boar bristle brush after some years of Best and Silvertip badger brushes.


This is the Omega No 48 Professional. A real big brush: 13,3 cm high.


Package pretty simple.



Shown here compared to the miniscule Muehle Silvertip (19 mm knot).



Onto the bowl, after work.


After three passes. Enough lather for two more passes. Lather is thick and lubricating.
(soap used: Roger et Gallet)



After three passes on face, a pass on my arm.


After three passes, a squeeze out of remaining lather.



... and one more squeeze out!



Omega 48 dripped out, after three passes and two squeezes...

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PROCEDURE
Soaked in hot water for a couple of minutes.
Let it drain, but not drip.
Swirled on Roger et Gallet soap approx. 20 times.
Lathering in inox bowl with a spoonful of hot water. Working well for 1 minute or so.
Painting on face. The brush is warm and soft, loaded with lather!

VERDICT
A genuive surprise. Omega 48 is a joy to use with soaps. I used Proraso "soft" soap, and Roger & Gallet hard (three milled?) soap. With both soaps Omega produced a lot of thick lather easily.

Price
For 8.50 euros it's a steal.

Quality
Simply packaged. Handle is plastic: Chromed ABS handle. It seems well made.

Density
Good. You can't compare the boar to badger. It's of a different genre.

Stiffness of Tips
It gets MUCH more soft after soaked in hot water and lathering.

Ergonomic
Excellent. Long handle, long bristles. Like a painting brush, a real pennello!

Latherability
Excellent with soaps tested.

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