Item Description
I bought a Semogue 2009 Limited Edition boar brush. After using 30+ badger brushes and only 2 boars (cheap non-names, one new, one that I got well-used) I decided that this would be a good brush to try out the potential of boar bristle.
Brush #84 arrived in early Jan. 2010, inside a plastic sleeve wrapped in a cardboard tube. Not fancy but cost-effective and functional. A good looking brush with a turned and lightly varnished heavily grained wood handle and a large “2-band” fan-shaped knot approximately 26 x 55 mm. The overall construction quality is very high with the knot held firmly in a aluminum ferrule. The “Excelsior” sticker was applied slightly skewed and could have been better aligned with the wood grain but these details don’t affect performance.
I started out with a ½ hour soak in warm borax solution followed by a work out with conditioner and a long running warm water rinse out – my normal new brush regimen. The initial soak turned the water grey from the dye in the bristle. A test lather on a puck of Floris elite soap – again rather grey and dirty looking. Then I lathered up with C&E sweet almond for the first shave. As expected based on other reports: a weak lather, didn’t seem to wet the bristles and nothing left for a second pass. The next couple of days were basically the same but the bristles were starting to get a lot more flexible and hold water better and develop some split ends.
After about 10 days (which included 5 or 6 test lathers and rinses as well as every day use for shaving) the brush started to consistently produce good quality lather. The number of split ends increased considerably and the amount of grey washout decreased to almost nil. The dark band at the bottom of the bristle was noticeably lighter - lacking the deep uniform black that the new brush had but taking on a dark brown/black color similar to a badger knot.
Two weeks in and the brush had stabilized a lot. During the early stages, the brush lost about 12 bristles but has not lost any in the last 15 uses. 2-passes were standard using about 20% more cream that for a similar sized badger brush. I don’t soak badger brushes, just run them under hot water and then load them with water in the wash basin and shake out excess just before use. This method does not work with boar bristle. Whereas badger only holds water by capillary action on the surface of the bristles, boar also holds much of its water absorbed into the bristles themselves. This means allowing a soak time for water to diffuse into the bristles. I placed the brush knot-down in hot water for at least 20 minutes before using it to make lather. Missing this step resulted in a poor lather quality and much of the lather “disappeared” into the knot. Even after soaking, the brush tended to draw a lot of lather into the core of the knot. This was easily be released by squeezing the knot. The same effect occurs in dense badger brushes like Chubbies and Rooney heritage.
Weeks 2-4 the brush (and my ability to use it) leveled off and the results were consistent and quite impressive. So here is the comparative review of the brush with a 3 roughly similar sized badger brushes. I have no boar brushes to compare with, so I have no idea how an Omega, production Semogue, or Vulfix boar measures up. However, I doubt that the differences between boar knots are as dramatic or controversial as they are between badger ones. Comparison brushes: Simpson PJ3 best (24 x 50), Rooney Victorian (24 x 50), Omega Pure (26 x 57). These comparisons are relative to this set of brushes.
Semogue Excelsior LE 2009: Softness of tips 9, Firmness of knot 9, Lather capacity 8, Lather quality 8, Density 8, Quality 8, Ergonomics 9, Price 10.
Omega Pure: Softness of tips 6, Firmness of knot 7, Lather capacity 8, Lather quality 7, Density 8, Quality 8, Ergonomics 9, Price 10.
Simpson PJ3 Best: Softness of tips 9, Firmness of knot 8, Lather capacity 8, Lather quality 9, Density 9, Quality 8, Ergonomics 9, Price 8.
Rooney Victorian: Softness of tips 10, Firmness of knot 9, Lather capacity 9, Lather quality 9, Density 10, Quality 9, Ergonomics 9, Price 8.
In summary, the SE LE2009 has many performance qualities similar to a dense, high quality silvertip badger brush. While there are both obvious and subtle differences between the Victorian and the LE2009, they have similar traits: dense, solid feeling knots, soft tips, and a good capacity to make and hold a dense lather. I ranked the Rooney higher overall, it is definitely a more luxurious brush. I paid $47 for the LE brush delivered to my door. This is a lot for a boar brush but only about entry level for a badger and only 1/3 the price of a heritage. I think that it is better than any entry level badger brush that I have tried, certainly beats the Omega pure by any reasonable measure IMO. I have no plans to reduce my badger brush usage or replace them with boars. Nevertheless, this boar brush shows that a well made one can be a very fine shaving tool that doesn’t cost nearly as much as a similar performance badger. I am very glad to add it to my rotation - definitely a keeper.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=87317&stc=1&d=1265461195
Semogue3.jpg
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=87316&stc=1&d=1265461195
Semogue2.jpg
Brush #84 arrived in early Jan. 2010, inside a plastic sleeve wrapped in a cardboard tube. Not fancy but cost-effective and functional. A good looking brush with a turned and lightly varnished heavily grained wood handle and a large “2-band” fan-shaped knot approximately 26 x 55 mm. The overall construction quality is very high with the knot held firmly in a aluminum ferrule. The “Excelsior” sticker was applied slightly skewed and could have been better aligned with the wood grain but these details don’t affect performance.
I started out with a ½ hour soak in warm borax solution followed by a work out with conditioner and a long running warm water rinse out – my normal new brush regimen. The initial soak turned the water grey from the dye in the bristle. A test lather on a puck of Floris elite soap – again rather grey and dirty looking. Then I lathered up with C&E sweet almond for the first shave. As expected based on other reports: a weak lather, didn’t seem to wet the bristles and nothing left for a second pass. The next couple of days were basically the same but the bristles were starting to get a lot more flexible and hold water better and develop some split ends.
After about 10 days (which included 5 or 6 test lathers and rinses as well as every day use for shaving) the brush started to consistently produce good quality lather. The number of split ends increased considerably and the amount of grey washout decreased to almost nil. The dark band at the bottom of the bristle was noticeably lighter - lacking the deep uniform black that the new brush had but taking on a dark brown/black color similar to a badger knot.
Two weeks in and the brush had stabilized a lot. During the early stages, the brush lost about 12 bristles but has not lost any in the last 15 uses. 2-passes were standard using about 20% more cream that for a similar sized badger brush. I don’t soak badger brushes, just run them under hot water and then load them with water in the wash basin and shake out excess just before use. This method does not work with boar bristle. Whereas badger only holds water by capillary action on the surface of the bristles, boar also holds much of its water absorbed into the bristles themselves. This means allowing a soak time for water to diffuse into the bristles. I placed the brush knot-down in hot water for at least 20 minutes before using it to make lather. Missing this step resulted in a poor lather quality and much of the lather “disappeared” into the knot. Even after soaking, the brush tended to draw a lot of lather into the core of the knot. This was easily be released by squeezing the knot. The same effect occurs in dense badger brushes like Chubbies and Rooney heritage.
Weeks 2-4 the brush (and my ability to use it) leveled off and the results were consistent and quite impressive. So here is the comparative review of the brush with a 3 roughly similar sized badger brushes. I have no boar brushes to compare with, so I have no idea how an Omega, production Semogue, or Vulfix boar measures up. However, I doubt that the differences between boar knots are as dramatic or controversial as they are between badger ones. Comparison brushes: Simpson PJ3 best (24 x 50), Rooney Victorian (24 x 50), Omega Pure (26 x 57). These comparisons are relative to this set of brushes.
Semogue Excelsior LE 2009: Softness of tips 9, Firmness of knot 9, Lather capacity 8, Lather quality 8, Density 8, Quality 8, Ergonomics 9, Price 10.
Omega Pure: Softness of tips 6, Firmness of knot 7, Lather capacity 8, Lather quality 7, Density 8, Quality 8, Ergonomics 9, Price 10.
Simpson PJ3 Best: Softness of tips 9, Firmness of knot 8, Lather capacity 8, Lather quality 9, Density 9, Quality 8, Ergonomics 9, Price 8.
Rooney Victorian: Softness of tips 10, Firmness of knot 9, Lather capacity 9, Lather quality 9, Density 10, Quality 9, Ergonomics 9, Price 8.
In summary, the SE LE2009 has many performance qualities similar to a dense, high quality silvertip badger brush. While there are both obvious and subtle differences between the Victorian and the LE2009, they have similar traits: dense, solid feeling knots, soft tips, and a good capacity to make and hold a dense lather. I ranked the Rooney higher overall, it is definitely a more luxurious brush. I paid $47 for the LE brush delivered to my door. This is a lot for a boar brush but only about entry level for a badger and only 1/3 the price of a heritage. I think that it is better than any entry level badger brush that I have tried, certainly beats the Omega pure by any reasonable measure IMO. I have no plans to reduce my badger brush usage or replace them with boars. Nevertheless, this boar brush shows that a well made one can be a very fine shaving tool that doesn’t cost nearly as much as a similar performance badger. I am very glad to add it to my rotation - definitely a keeper.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=87317&stc=1&d=1265461195
Semogue3.jpg
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=87316&stc=1&d=1265461195
Semogue2.jpg
