The Body Shop synthetic shaving brush

WHAT IS IT, AND WHAT DOES IT DO?
Body Shop Synthetic Shave Brush - A shave brush, designed to build and apply lather to your boat race. Doesn't get any more complicated than that.





APPLICATION METHOD AND DESCRIPTION:
As with any brush, it's a case of dampen, load with soap cream and whip. I found with this brush, you have to work creams a little more to get a satisfactory lather. With soaps less so.

CONCLUSIVE COMMENTS:
Well, I've used it every day for 7 days now, and my findings changed from beginning to end. Day 1 the brush had ridiculous amounts of backbone, almost too much. The tips have been super soft since day 1. As time went by, the bristles seemed to 'give' a little, resulting in a much more pleasant lather application. I can't say at this point if I prefer bowl or face lathering with the brush, as it seems equally at home with either. What I can 100% say about this brush is that it is efficient. Teutonic efficient. Like BMW/Mercedes/Audi, it does exactly what it should do and does it well with no fuss. It always lays down an even coat of lather regardless of application method (bowl or face). It rinses easily, and dries with no fuss. A good synthetic brush to break into the synthetic brush market.

WOULD YOU BUY IT AGAIN?
Well, it is a budget brush in terms of cost (£7). I have no other synthetic brush to compare it to, but that's by the by. If it lasts a reasonable time (I've read a few reviews on the companies website that are showing short lifespan) then I would buy another for sure. Most complaints seem to be the handle cracking or the knot falling out. As long as the handle stays in one piece, I can reglue a knot no problem.

I bought this brush randomly, along with the Maca Root shave cream, while I was strolling by The Body Shop boutique. Although it looked nice, I was expecting bad results. /// My review: My Omega boar costs as much and is defenitely higher in quality than the body shop brush. Although inexpensive, there's no value in this brush - you get less than what you pay for. By my third shave day, this brush has lost 31 hairs: my Omega boar has lost less than 10 during its 1.5 year service and is still going strong. This brush, compared to my cheap and basic Omega boar, is anorexic in appearance: whether dry or wet, it is very thin and doesn't feel substantial. The bristles are very stiff and I strongly believe that they will remain that way after the break-in period. My Omega, from day one, was user friendly: the body shop brush has to be significantly pushed down on the surface in order to do its work. With it, I can only bowl lather and paint on face - no swirling because the bristles are simply too stiff. The softness of the tips is what lured me into the purchase. Most of the bristles are hair tip thin. The handle is simple and easy to hold. But the bulb style/shape of the bristles are pointless here, in terms of functionality, because the middle bristles are too stiff to bend, therefore only the center of the head will contact the lathering surface efficiently. This brush lathers well in a bowl, but not so on the face. The reason for this, again, is because i can force the brush down in the bowl while swirling but cannot do so on the face because the bristles will poke unpleasantly at the skin. I don't see the point in buying a brush that might work well after 3 months of usage (to soften the bristles). This brush does not fulfill well its intended purpose: not worth the money IMHO. You want inexpensive - get an Omega or Proraso boar. You want a syntec - look for a pricier proper brush. Regards.

I have to say this is an excellent brush for the money, £5.50 in UK Body Shops. I had a WS boar brush for years and years and it was starting to shed, so I thought I'd have a punt on one of these before I decided on a more expensive brush. Well that was 3 months ago. This brush has been used almost every day in the last 3 months, it seems to hold water and lather much better than my old WS Boar brush. It lathers creams and soaps equally well and it goes on my face beautifully. The bristles have a great backbone and are soft enough not to irritate my skin. This is one of those great value for money products that performs well above it's price tag.

Works as good as any of my Boar brushes and it laters great with Williams or Colgate soap.

When I went looking for my first brush I of course did not want to spend a fortune on a brush, and I was having concerns about animal cruelty. I happened to see this in Body Shop for a decent price and bought it.

My brush is about four months old, and except for being a bit difficult to rinse completely of soap, it looks like the day I bought it. I've read the previous reviews about it chipping, melting in hot water, loosing hairs and so on. For me this has not been a problem at all, mainly because I do take care to only let the bristles soak, never getting water or soap into the base of the brush. This means, letting it dry laying on its side or hanging upside down as I would a fancy paint brush, or water will get into the base, loosen the glue and potentially swell the wood. As for the bristles melting in hot water, they are plastic just like your toothbrush and so this is expected behaviour. If you are used to shave with really hot water, this might not be the brush for you, but it takes lukewarm water just fine and I like that it becomes a bit softer when exposed to heat.

I have no other brush to compare this to, but for me, it does what I bought it to do: whips lather in my bowl and paints it to my face. It might not be the best, but for me it is good enough and considering the price difference to other brushes I don't really feel like upgrading,

This brush did not work out for me.

After reading some positive reviews here, I though I'd give this inexpensive synthetic brush a try. It was the newer version of the brush, the one with the darker wood body.

I took it home, washed it out, and used it. Well, the first sample I got must have been a fluke because as I was washing it out after the first shave, bristle after bristle kept coming out of the brush. I pulled literally 15-20 loose bristles out (they kept popping up above the head as I was washing the brush) until I got tired and decided to stop. I could have pulled more out if I continued, they kept coming out, but was alarmed enough that I knew I wasn't keeping this particular one.

I also noticed that the top of the wood handle, around the perimeter where the knot enters it, started soaking up water under the lacquer. After a little while, the wood started swelling and the lacquer around the opening started splitting and lifting (the lacquer split and lifted at about 7 spots around perimeter of the top in a up/down vertical direction, each split about 3 to 5mm in length with area of wet wood underneath).

This was after one use. Needless to say, I returned it.

Actually, I exchanged it because I wanted to see how decent this brush was and was sure I had a bad sample.

I used the new one several days later. It does whip up a very nice lather, thicker than but not as much as what I get with my Omega 49, but does require a different lathering technique because of the stiffness of the bristles. A painting motion is what's described, and I found that this did work best.

Being a face latherer, however, I missed the massage/exfoliation that I usually look forward to when lathering. So I tried a little scrubby motion with this brush. I didn't face lather, but did use just a little bit of a rotary motion on my face with the lather I whipped up in a bowl to get a a bit of massage/exfoliation and to work the lather into my whiskers. I ended up with really unpleasant brush burn on several areas of my face. Not nice.

Please follow the recommendation. NOT for face latherers, or even moderate exfoliation. The bristles are too pokey and stiff.

Also, I noticed that this brush was starting to soak up water and split the same way the first one did. Maybe the whole manufacturing lot at my Body Shop was bad? Anyone else notice this in their brush?

So my final verdict: not the brush for me. It whips up a fine lather, but for the way I shave it doesn't allow me to experience the pleasures I look forward to every morning: massaging, exfoliation, and whisker conditioning from using a rotary motion to apply lather on my face.

YMMV, of course.

K.T.

This is a great entry level brush. Lathers well and the price can't be beat. If you are looking for a bargain brush, this is a much better choice than a VDH or CVS brand brush. Both of those go for around $7 if I'm not mistaken. For the extra couple bucks, do yourself a favor and make a trip to the Body Shop.

I just purchased this brush a couple of weeks ago to use while traveling. So far I've been extremely impressed how well this works.

Today, I used it with an Arko shaving soap stick and IMO it works as well as my AOS Badger. This brush seems like a quality product for a $11 purchase.

For $11, I would recommend this brush. It's a great as a starter or a spare brush.

I use this brush. I lather in a bowl and it does a good job. It pulls soap off my Tabac puck just fine, makes a thick lather and puts it on my face OK. Don't know how long it will last but does not lose bristles.
I don't like the idea of an animal having to die so I can shave. But to each his/her own.
It dries quickly with a couple of shakes and I hang it. Makes a great travel brush, because it dries so quickly. I use the toilet paper tube carry case.
My wife bought it for me on a trip to Portland, so I had no choice in the matter.
Buy and use it without fear, especially for the price.

A wooden shaving brush that enhances the foamy lather of your shaving cream. Made with Community Trade Russian birch wood and animal-free super-soft synthetic hairs. Its short, rounded handle makes it easy to hold in the palm of your hand.

Click to expand...

Price
Considering that this brush is $11 and that I am comparing is with it's more expensixe synthetic brethren, it is easy to highly recommend this brush.

Quality
It's got a simple wooden handle (mine came cut off at a slant) and synthetic badger look-a-like bristles. It's not the highest quality brush you are going to own but for $11 it is definitely better built than I expected.

Density
The bristles are quite dense and the brush can give a good scrub should you desire.

Stiffness/Softness of Tips
I would class the tips as quite stiff and scrubby so not the most luxurious feeling but they will definitely exfoliate!

Ergonomic
It's light, east to hold and fits me well. No complaints, expecially for the price.

Latherability
It works! It's not the best lathering synthetic brush I own neither is is the worst. You are going to have to work it a little but again, for the price, one can't complain.

Summary
I conclusion, for $11, this brush is well worth it. It is the brush that I will take out of the house because I know it gets the job done without any fear of losing it...

Let me say that again, it's $11, and you can't get better for even double the price.

I very much agree with those that have said they were pleasantly surprised, for the price I didn't have enormously high expectations despite the good reviews here.

This is a brush with relatively stiff bristles but soft tips, in my opinion the bristles aren't as stiff as those on a boar brush but I've only used very cheap boar brushes so perhaps I don't have a good perspective on that. Whatever, but I consider this brush to lie between a boar brush and a badger brush on the stiffness scale although the tips are very soft and badger like with none of the prickliness of a boar.

I actually prefer this brush to my badger brush for certain soaps, in particular Mama Bear soaps explode with lather using this brush, it also works well for Trumpers although with that soap it doesn't seem generate as thick a lather as a badger brush although it's quicker and easier. This brush works well with creams too but I still prefer a badger brush for that just on grounds of luxury, same goes for any shaving stick.

I find it perfectly fine for face lathering although I agree with the comments about having to use a more "painting" technique.

You will lose some bristles when you first start using it but don't worry this tails off to almost nil after a few shaves.

In summary: a very good and versatile brush at a very reasonable price, ok so not so good as a badger in some respects but in other respects can outperform any brush I've tried. I particularly recommend this for anybody who likes soaps (especially glycerin type soaps) but not so much if you're into creams.

My wife bought this brush for me as a gift last year because she wanted me to try an animal free brush over a badger. Naturally, I was a bit disappointed at first because I'd asked for the C&E brush. But once I started to use this brush I was very pleasantly surprised. I'd only used it on occasion over the last few months, but more recently it's been my daily brush.
The hairs look natural, and I think they feel natural, too (though of course, they resemble boar not badger hair). The hairs are stiffer than a natural brush. So far this hasn't caused a problem for me to whip or apply lather, but it does feel less soft on the face than a natural brush. This isn't bad, just different.
I like the wood handle, but my lacquer will start to chip off soon (I understand they've changed the handle to non-lacquered now). It would be nicer if the handle were a synthetic impervious material. If I have to replace it, I'll gladly buy another one. For $10, you can't beat it.

I was not expecting this brush to preform so well i love it and it will be a part of my rotation from now on especially because of the whole green movement.

I think this brush is highly underrated. I picked one up at the mall this weekend out of curiosity and it blew my socks off. This probably needs another review since they have completely changed the brush since the this first review was done.

The hair density could be higher, and the brush doesn't "hold" water all that well due to the wavy long stiff non-porous hairs. But if you soak your brush prior to shave (as I do) you will have plenty of water for lather and this thing flat out smoked my Vulfix in the lather production department.

I don't own a $300 dollar brush but I do own a couple of $50 specials and if this were badger and performed exactly the same as it does today they could easily charge that for these brushes.

Don't be afraid to try this little gem at $11, even though it's synthetic, it may surprise you. At the very least it is a great travel brush.

This is a decent brush that I received as part of a PIF. The previous owner got it for a $1 with a coupon. For it's regular price, it's a decent brush. I find that I had to use it more like a paintbrush rather than really swirling it on my face like I'm used to, it's a pretty stiff brush. I usually use either a Burma Shave boar, or a VDH boar brush. I doubt that I'll use it daily, but it will make an excellent travel brush.

This is a very very decent brush. The price is really cheap...and for what you get and performs it does really deserve a chance to be mentioned amongst the other synthetic brushes. I've not had too many issues with it...

I've lost maybe 10 or so bristles at the most...

If you can come to an understanding with the brush it really does the job. I know someone who has one of these but has not fully understood the quirks of getting the best performances from the brush.

In the end this is very cheap brush and it's worth a try...especially for beginners...

Owing to a stroke of misfortune I had to send in my regular silvertip badger for a check-up: it was losing hairs pretty rapidly. Since I didn't own a second brush, and I remembered that Body Shop sold one of their own make, I got one of those. It is a 'newer' model (see pictures above), with an all-wooden FSC-certified handle. I was very sceptical about this brush, after all, it's just €12. Compare that to the €90 of the brush it is currently replacing...

Of course, you should never let price be the ultimate judge. Despite some lower marks on the scale to the left, I think that overall this little thing blows the silvertip clear out of the water. There's only one area where the silvertip is better, but I'll come to that in a minute.

Density: Well, this is a small knot, and the hairs, being synthetic, are not really as thin as those from animal hair. When I dunk this brush in the water, the breach is quite big, meaning that hair density is low.

Stiffness of Tips: Definitely somewhat stiffer than the silvertip, but not as bad as my old boar hair brush(es). This means you should apply a bit more force in getting the bristles to spread out and apply lather to your face. It also means that you can 'dab' better because the brush won't flop sideways. There's more to stiffness by the way, read under 'Latherability'.

Softness of Tips: Harder than the silvertip, meaning that you feel the hairs pricking slightly more. Perhaps people with extremely sensitive skin would object, but I don't find it a problem, really. The idea is to spread lather around, after all.

Ergonomic: I have large hands. Nothing is ergonomic for me. However, the fact that the knot is small and stiffer means that it is a bit more difficult to lather in a bowl---the hairs won't part as easily as is the case with a denser and softer knot.

Latherability: People complain about this brush not holding enough water, which is true. But frankly, do you want water in your brush? Well, perhaps a little in order to dissolve soap. And that amount is easily held in check with this brush. Then, if you're lathering, there's a whole sinkful right next to you, and with practice, the little dribbles you add to the lather will completely replace anything left over in the brush. The idea is that you have lather in the brush, not water!

Where this little brush is truly lacking is the ability to whip air through the lather, and to make the air bubbles as small and as fine as possible. That is what gives lather its cushion. You need stiff hairs for this (to break up the air bubbles instead of gliding around them) and they must be fine and numerous too. The finer the hairs, the smaller the bubbles. In this brush' case, the hairs' stiffness makes up for their larger diameter, but cannot at the same time compensate for their smaller number. Do not confuse this with the density of the knot as a dense knot will just clog up with lather, meaning you'll be whipping with a big lump instead of loose whiskers. (Compare to whisking eggs or cream in the kitchen; this is completely analogous.) I get very good and perfectly fine lathers out of this brush, but the are a notch or two less 'creamy' than those I can get out of a silvertip badger brush, and require a bit more effort to produce.

Interesting to notice is that the smaller knot volume also means less lather is 'eaten' by the brush, leaving more in the bowl. I can actually do with about a third less cream or soap, and still get a perfect 3-and-a-half pass shave out of it. Who would've guessed: switching to a smaller brush improves the longevity of my precious creams...

Price / Quality: At €12, this brush delivers, and puts vastly more expensive brushes to shame. It has one or two slight quirks and may require a bit of practice to get fine lathers, but once you've nailed this down, it's smooth and straight sailing from there on. Excellent value for money---and if you value this sort of thing, you'll have an ethically approved product in your possession as well.

I like the bristles on the brush, and like the original review, I didn't like the laminated wood because it falls apart quickly. It seems that the body shop has addressed that problem. The new brush is not laminated wood. Here are pictures comparing the old brush and the new brush.

This is a very good brush! It really surprised me with how well it works! I bought it as for solely travel purposes (little, synthetic so it dries quickly), but it is very formidable as an everyday brush. It lathers almost as well as my Vulfix best badger and that wasn't something that I expected at all (having had a van der hagen brush before). It's also stiff enough for good exfoliation and still has soft tips. A very good buy, try it out for 10 bucks y'all!

I bought this brush on a whim... and man do I love it. I have started to shave only with this brush over my boar hair and pure badger brush. I love how the bristles are so soft on the face... and for that price? You can't beat it!