Omega Professional Boar Brush

This brush is a good value. I have large hands so the longer handle makes it easier to hold. It does smell a bit at first but will disappear after a few uses.

This is one of my favorite shaving brushes.
In spite of very sophisticated look, well it does the job and produces a huge quantity of foam excellent in a short time.
I would definitely recommend.

This is a top performer in my brush collection. An outstanding shaving brush with a large (27mm) knot and a Loft of 65mm. The bristles are stiff initially but soften with use. It holds water well, is easy to load with lots of lather. This brush is comfortable for my large hands.

I like this brush and very good boar brush because of the long handle the odor will fade overtime when you first use it and it lathers well for the boar hair shaving brush and bristles will soften gradully with use its my favorite brush.

Great brush. I love the large handle. Has a great feel to it. I use it for face lathering. Haven't tried bowl lathering with it yet.

Gentlemen, the other day I took delivery of an Omega #10098 Professional Boar Brush from Shoebox Shave Shop. I must say that I am very taken with this brush. I have been wet shaving since 1964 and, as you can well imagine, have used many different brushes in that time. I have tried every type of bristle commonly available including Badger, Boar, Horse Hair and synthetics. I have never had a better performing brush than this. In addition the price is right too. This is a winning combination of price, performance and quality. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.
AB

I gave it 10s across the board because it is well made, very comfortable to use, and it works perfectly with soaps and creams. It's my new favorite brush. I don't get lather all over my knuckles when mug lathering, anymore.

So here's the story, about 13 years ago I bought my first DE a Gillette Fat Boy with a case at a local antique store that I paid $5.00 for. I wanted to start wet shaving, however that was in the early days of internet and there weren't many sites devoted to wet shaving. I took the razor to my Grandpa's house and showed it to him and he looked at it fondly and couldn't believe I was actually going to try and shave with it. So I had my local barber order me one of these brushes from the barber supply. I got my razor, brush, williams soap, and Gillette DE blades from the local drug store. I tried it and thought the Hell with this, no wonder people don't use this crap anymore. I think the main reason was the cheap Gillette DE blades, and how stiff and hard the brush was. Well many years later I rediscovered wet shaving and have since purchased all sorts of stuff. Well a couple of days ago I came across this brush in an old box of stuff that I had put away. I literally had forgot I had it. I got it out, read the reviews here, and decided to try it. The first time I ever used it I hated this brush, it was so stiff I thought how did anyone ever use anything like this to lather with. So after finding it, the first thing I did was soak it overnight in dishwashing liquid. Then the next night I wiped up a big bowl of lather and let it sit overnight in that. Then this morning I used it with some Florena cream and had the most amazing explosion of lather ever. The brush was no longer stiff, or hard. It massaged my face with loads of cream. I got way more lather with the same amount of cream than I ever got with a badger brush. I have since ordered another Omega Boar brush, the 20102 with the wood handle, but with the chrome ring. I love these brushes and they seem to massage my Fred Flintstone beard like no other. I can't believe this thing sat in a box unused since 1997. I can't see me using any other. I use to think Boar brushes were rough, stiff, and for poor saps who couldn't afford Badger but not anymore. Hey is it too late to change the name of this site to Boar and Blade

This is Omega's model 10098. I have compared it to 13 others at <http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1991663#post1991663>

As I am a big fat guy this brush is for me. Eventhough it is not yet broken in, it is performing great. It worked up a good lather with an Arko shave stick. For me the stiffness of a boar (it is not harsh or scratchy in any way, in fact it feels soft) does miracles on my beard. A soft brush (like a Bamboo Blush Brush - or I guess a badger) does not soften my hairs enough. With a boar like this and an Arko shave stick I get BBS with my to go blades. And hardly or even no irritation. For this price a must have / try. The only point is that it doesn't fit in my brush holder. Was afraid of that, but have found some cord and now it is hanging to dry
My new go to brush...

Only been using this for 2 weeks and only now getting used to it but i do find it a big brush though looks and feels solid, definatly not the worse brush i had but i think i will use it for a while and move on.

I love this brush above all others for soaps. It did stink when I first bought it, but that was gone in a week or so. To my face, it is as soft now as almost any badger I own. The only thing I dont like about it is that I cannot hang it upside down to dry, as it is too big for any of my holders. That said, I am thinking of buying another brush to leave in our vacation house. I have no reason to spend more than $14 now.....

I love my "Paint Brush"....now that the initial stench has worn off and it smells more like my favorite soap.

It's stiff enough to work up great lather with a puck of Williams, but still nice and soft when lathered up. Great for big mugs and lots of lather.

It hasn't shed a hair after more than a year of regular use.

All-around great bargain boar brush!!

The smell disappears after about a week of daily shaving. You can speed up this process by simply washing the brush with warm water and shampoo/conditioner and blow dry it. Rinse and repeat a couple of times and the smell will be pretty much gone after a couple times.

GREAT BRUSH by the way!

I picked up one of these while I was in Singapore last week and like it but whew what a stench the boar bristles had on the first shave. I have an iron gut for stuff like this but man it was strong and almost made me gag a couple of times. Any ideas on how to rid the boar of its smell ?

In some ways it is strange that I am reviewing this brush now. After all it was the first brush that I bought. I thought it was expensive at $14 but I was willing to pay that high price for a “professional boar hair brush.” I was pretty happy with the brush too, until I got a badger brush and thought “I’m never going back.” With that said, I now find myself going back on occasion and finding it superior to my premium brushes for certain situations.

Construction: designed for professional barbers, this brush is more about function than form. It has a sturdy, easy to grasp black plastic handle and a very tall knot.

The knot: The longer than usual boar hairs provide better than average water retention. In addition the overall stiffness of the knot is reduced. Like most boar hair brushes, if you press it dry into your face it is prickly. However, when wet and soapy it is not prickly, just a bit stiff. I’m not saying that it is as luxurious as a badger brush, but it works just fine. In addition, I have yet to see a stray hair from this brush in the shaving bowl.

Smell: It did have a bit of an odor on purchase.

Benefits: I love my badger brushes but their higher quality soft hairs are less useful when used on hard or inexpensive soaps. This brush is great in those situations. I tried it this morning on a Williams’s puck and the soap burst into heaps of lather (shocking, I know). Tomorrow I’m going to try it with a puck of Tabac.

Conclusion: I firmly feel that there is a place in the shaving world for the humble boar. This brush can be had for less than $15 and (IMHO) deserves a place in your shaving brush arsenal. Now, I’m not getting rid of my fancy badger brushes any time soon, but I’m also not going to get rid of this little marvel either.