Shavemac 23mm silvertip special grade

The greatest compliment I can make when talking about my silvertip Shavemac would be...

This brush is the benchmark I judge all other brushes by.

Only after using other silvertip brushes did I realise just how good the Shavemac really is. A clear cut above the rest.

It only lost points in my review for two things. Firstly I find the handle to be on the small side. Just feels a little uncomfortable.
Secondly, before I'd even used the brush ink from the inscription I paid to have put on the handle had already come away from the brush. I didn't expect that from a brand new brush.

Having said that, in every other way the brush is perfect. With some of the softest tips that have ever graced my face, a perfect density and lather which is second to none.

When Max first posted on the special bristle and DrP said it might be the wonderful old stock I had heard about I immediately emailed Bernd. I told him I wanted a 50mm loft and a dense and prickly brush. When I read Max's review about the brush being soft at the tips and luxurious I was thinking I might have made a mistake. Those are qualities I look to avoid in a brush.

My brush came this morning. Right off the bat I have to say that Bernd's service was spot on. Good communication, fast construction, and lightning fast shipping. I received the brush this morning and I was very impressed right out of the box. I wasn't crazy about the handle in the photo Bernd had sent but in person it is really nice. I like the color, texture and shape quite a bit.

When it came time for the rubber to meet the road I lathered up with QED Vetiver soap. Kudos to Charles on this one as he has out done himself. The soap is wonderful. The latherability of this brush is fantastic. I do twenty seconds of twirling in the puck and then go directly to the face. From there to the Moss scuttle for the next pass.

So I began to apply the lather in anticipation of soft and luxurious and I got just what I had asked Bernd for. The bristles have great backbone and a scrubiness that I would call prickly. On a scale of one to ten it is a 5 in the prickly department but it is enough for me. I got two passes of lather and could have done more if I had wanted a third pass.

Workmanship, appearance, and overall quality is as good as any Simpson, Rooney, or Plisson that I own. In the two photos the Rooney Finest on the left is a style one small with the Shavemac in the center and a Tulip 2 on the right for comparison. The first photo is out of the box and the second post shave.

I gave the brush tens across the board based on my impressions. I included a 10 for softness of tips because they are exactly what I asked for. I would venture to say that Bernd can give you bristle that will suit your preference if you are buying one of these special bristle brushes. My highest recommendation for this brush.

I have been using this custom made brush from Shavemac for over a week now since I wanted to make sure to give the right review.

I've noticed that when receiving a new brush one is so ecstatic that there's never ever anything wrong to tell about the new brush. After several uses and some more shaves it's easier to analyze a new brush imo.

The silvertip badger hair used for this brush is a special higher grade hair only available through special request.

I did receive news from Bernd about this special grade hair. He is trying really hard to be able to deliver the higher grade badger hair to some of his customers. Apparently it's a very rare quality hair and not easy to get on a regular basis. It's mostly going to be available in limited editions. Bernd is able to get another small batch of the same quality hair from his supplier pretty soon but prices will rise because of the rarity and changing currency values. I paid a 20% premium over his regular sold silvertip brushes so I expect the new brushes to have a premium of 25-30%.

At first I was having difficulties to get the water/cream/soap ratio going. The brush is very dense with very thick hair and a knot size of 23mm. The hair height is about 50mm-52mm. As you can see the brush hasn't bloomed very much. The handle is faux horn and is really beautiful. I wished it was a little taller since I like handles to be above 50mm in height to feel really comfortable. The handle stands 45mm high.

The hair and tips are the softest I've ever encountered in close to 3 decades of shaving. Extremely luxurious. Not scritchy or scratchy at all. Pure decadence. This feels like driving a Rolls Royce. The brush is stiff enough but not as stiff as a Rooney 3/1. It has plenty of backbone, isn't floppy at all partly because the shorter loft and density.

I tried the brush with several creams and brushes and I would say it works equally well with both but it excels at creams. Since I really had a hard time figuring out the perfect water/cream/soap ratio with this brush I spend literally trying out dozens of different ways. First let me say that I have tremendous hard water. I also used distilled water. It could be that you are going to have a different experience with this brush so take it for what it's worth.

The trick for me for using this brush is to soak it in water (It can really hold a LOT of water). When I'm done soaking the brush I squeeze the base of the hair shaft with my thumb and forefinger to remove all water, lightly flick the remainder of the brush and try to keep some water at the very top of the hair tips. I then start lathering but I make sure not to use to much pressure. By using not to much pressure the lather beautifully stays on the brush and slowly works its way into the brush. When using to much pressure the lather actually gets to deep into the brush and you constantly need to squeeze it out. By applying light pressure the brush works wonders.

If you're into real face brushing and like the feel of a scrubbing toothbrush then this is not the brush for you. If you like the feel of a very LUXURIOUS brush, able to gently face lather or paint brush then this is your brush. I don't consider this a pure soap brush like some of the Rooney's or Simpson's which are chosen for their stiffer hair, scritchy and scrubbing characteristics. This brush is designed to enjoy the softest most luxurious shave with the option to face or bowl lather and truly feel the luxury.

It's a wonderful brush and the premium you pay is for the hair quality. No doubt. It takes a while to find the right combination to make this brush work. Some might have it easier and some will maybe struggle a bit.
Once you find the right combination you can truly enjoy the characteristics that this brush gives. A very soft, luxurious feeling and a limited edition brush that makes it somewhat special to own.

The discussion thread for this brush is here



The shavemac next to my SR 3722


The shavemac used with MWF


Shavemac pics.












Shavemac compared to SR3120