I own a 21mm/50mm custom Shavemac brush with D01 hair (Nacre handle aka white faux marble). The 20% discount deal on short-loft D01 brushes a while back (organized by huntmol), and the associated comments about those brushes got me wondering how a short-loft brush with Finest hair would compare. I recently received a 19mm/45mm Shavemac in Finest (Blue faux marble handle), so I would like to share my impressions of these two brushes.
Please note that when I say 45mm and 50mm loft, that is what I ordered, but there will always be a couple mm of variability in a handmade brush. With that said, my Finest brush's loft is approximately 2mm shorter than my D01's loft. I feel this is close enough to reasonably compare these brushes as short-lofts. Both brushes are bulb shaped.
I would like to qualify all that follows by saying that I know that I know YMMV applies, I admit this is all just my opinion, and I'm only presenting what I feel are the major differences between these hair grades used in short-loft brushes. I face lather 75% of the time, bowl lather the rest of the time, and I like small-diameter, short-loft, firm brushes. I use soaps 90+% of the time. Both of these brushes are wonderful for soaps and creams, as well as for face and bowl lathering, so that's all I'll say there.
Density: Both brushes are very dense. The D01 is, as expected, more densely packed. In fact, the main reason I wanted to try a short-loft in Finest was because of comments I've read about D01 being a lather hog. I always just use a lot of soap, and my D01 doesn't hog the lather. Operator error may be part of the issue some folks have with D01. The density of Finest hair does result in it releasing lather more easily... better flowthrough, so more density doesn't always equal better performance. Those new to dense, high-end brushes may find Finest's ease of use appealing. I think it's great. Finest also seems to require less soap. Probably a good thing.
Softness of tips: No surprise here. D01 tips are softer... barely. Shavemac Finest is in no way a scritchy hair grade. I think I may prefer the way Finest feels over D01, but that's a tough personal call. Finest sort of feels like broken-in Rooney Super at the tips. Soft but not too soft, if there is such a thing.
Backbone/stiffness: Again, D01 is stiffer, but it's density is likely responsible for that. Short-loft Finest is not at all floppy. The only brushes I've used that are stiffer are my Rooney 1/1 and D01. Finest chews up soaps, like Mitchell's Wool Fat, with the best of them.
Cost: Here's a major point. My 21mm/50mm D01 was $160 shipped to the US. My 19mm/50mm Finest was $80 shipped to the US. For a direct comparison, add about $15 to the cost of the Finest brush, to make it a 21mm knot, so you're looking at $95 shipped for a 21mm in Finest. For a difference of $65, I don't think D01 is worth it for a lot of people (heresy, I know). So you'll have to shell out about 68% more cash to go from Finest to D01 for marginally better performance.
I would say that those looking for a great all-around bowl and/or face lathering, soap and/or cream brush, should definitely consider a 19mm/45 to 50mm Shavemac in Finest. I don't feel anything is lost with the smaller knot Shavemacs. They perform like much larger brushes. Ask Slaglerock. I've seen him make similar comments. One would have to own these two brushes to feel the subtle differences, which are, for the money, pretty minor. Again, Finest seems to release lather more readily, so I'll say it may have the edge over D01 there.
I hope this helps assuage any concerns about Shavemac's Finest hair grade quality and performance as compared to D01 (and likely silvertip... I'm not buying another brush to find out). Finest is an all too often overlooked hair grade, in my opinion. If you can't justify spending over $100, and you want an amazing brush with whatever handle color and shape that strikes your fancy, this may be the brush for you.
Cheers!
-Andy
p.s. - the handle shape on my Finest brush is the most comfortable I've ever used.
Please note that when I say 45mm and 50mm loft, that is what I ordered, but there will always be a couple mm of variability in a handmade brush. With that said, my Finest brush's loft is approximately 2mm shorter than my D01's loft. I feel this is close enough to reasonably compare these brushes as short-lofts. Both brushes are bulb shaped.
I would like to qualify all that follows by saying that I know that I know YMMV applies, I admit this is all just my opinion, and I'm only presenting what I feel are the major differences between these hair grades used in short-loft brushes. I face lather 75% of the time, bowl lather the rest of the time, and I like small-diameter, short-loft, firm brushes. I use soaps 90+% of the time. Both of these brushes are wonderful for soaps and creams, as well as for face and bowl lathering, so that's all I'll say there.
Density: Both brushes are very dense. The D01 is, as expected, more densely packed. In fact, the main reason I wanted to try a short-loft in Finest was because of comments I've read about D01 being a lather hog. I always just use a lot of soap, and my D01 doesn't hog the lather. Operator error may be part of the issue some folks have with D01. The density of Finest hair does result in it releasing lather more easily... better flowthrough, so more density doesn't always equal better performance. Those new to dense, high-end brushes may find Finest's ease of use appealing. I think it's great. Finest also seems to require less soap. Probably a good thing.
Softness of tips: No surprise here. D01 tips are softer... barely. Shavemac Finest is in no way a scritchy hair grade. I think I may prefer the way Finest feels over D01, but that's a tough personal call. Finest sort of feels like broken-in Rooney Super at the tips. Soft but not too soft, if there is such a thing.
Backbone/stiffness: Again, D01 is stiffer, but it's density is likely responsible for that. Short-loft Finest is not at all floppy. The only brushes I've used that are stiffer are my Rooney 1/1 and D01. Finest chews up soaps, like Mitchell's Wool Fat, with the best of them.
Cost: Here's a major point. My 21mm/50mm D01 was $160 shipped to the US. My 19mm/50mm Finest was $80 shipped to the US. For a direct comparison, add about $15 to the cost of the Finest brush, to make it a 21mm knot, so you're looking at $95 shipped for a 21mm in Finest. For a difference of $65, I don't think D01 is worth it for a lot of people (heresy, I know). So you'll have to shell out about 68% more cash to go from Finest to D01 for marginally better performance.
I would say that those looking for a great all-around bowl and/or face lathering, soap and/or cream brush, should definitely consider a 19mm/45 to 50mm Shavemac in Finest. I don't feel anything is lost with the smaller knot Shavemacs. They perform like much larger brushes. Ask Slaglerock. I've seen him make similar comments. One would have to own these two brushes to feel the subtle differences, which are, for the money, pretty minor. Again, Finest seems to release lather more readily, so I'll say it may have the edge over D01 there.
I hope this helps assuage any concerns about Shavemac's Finest hair grade quality and performance as compared to D01 (and likely silvertip... I'm not buying another brush to find out). Finest is an all too often overlooked hair grade, in my opinion. If you can't justify spending over $100, and you want an amazing brush with whatever handle color and shape that strikes your fancy, this may be the brush for you.
Cheers!
-Andy
p.s. - the handle shape on my Finest brush is the most comfortable I've ever used.
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