A Tale of 3 Boars and 3 Months…..

[V12Stu]

Being relatively new to brushes and soaps, and having read so much on this forum, I decided early in March to try a boar brush. As I had no idea how I would get on with a boar, I thought I’d not spend too much, and Zenith brushes looked to be well regarded and fairly inexpensive.

From my research, folks seemed to prefer the unbleached over the bleached hair. But then came the dilemma – what shape handle did I want? My one and only cheap [badger] brush from Amazon to get me started 6 months prior (and before I’d found B&B) wasn’t the best shaped handle for me – I’d worked that out – so I knew what I didn’t want.

In the end, I thought that the only way I’d know was by trying the different handles myself and also experiencing the bleached vs unbleached hair myself. So, these 3 brushes arrived on my doorstep a little over 3 months ago:

From left to right:

Zenith 507U XSE – an unbleached boar in the 507 shape olive wood handle
Zenith 502GIADA SE – a bleached boar in the 502 shape “jade resin” handle
Zenith 506U XSE – an unbleached boar in the 506 shape olive wood handle

The two wooden handled brushes were about £15 each and 502 jade resin handled brush was about £30. Each brush is very well made and the knots shed little to no hair.

All three were advertised with the same knot diameter – 27mm – and came with 56 mm, 57 mm and 51 mm knot heights respectively.

I had a degree of expectation bias from the research I’d done online as to which I would prefer most – I have big hands, I mostly bowl-lather and folks seemed to favour the unbleached over the bleached – so I expected to like the brush on the left the most.

For info, I mostly bowl lather but then continue to lather on my face with brisk back and forth strokes – I don’t just paint the lather on but equally, I don’t face lather completely.

A quick summary of how I found each brush follows.

 

[V12Stu]

Firstly, the brush I expected to like the most:

In the end, I liked this brush the least!

Compared to the other unbleached boar, it had more backbone, despite being a taller loft and I didn’t notice any scritch as such – it was pleasant enough to use. But to my surprise, I just didn’t gel with the 507 handle.

Absolutely nothing wrong with the brush – but I found myself reaching for the other two in preference, mainly because I didn’t “connect” with the handle as much as the other two. This brush has now been put back in its box and will be passed down to one of my two boys as a first brush when they start DE razor shaving.

 

[V12Stu]

Of the remaining 2 brushes, this was the favourite as I was breaking the brushes in:

I love the handle shape and the knot was soft but with a good amount of backbone – at least for me. Again, no scritch in the way that I was using it.

Compared to the little unbleached 506 handled brush, it had more backbone and lathered better from the start. The bleached knot seemed more suited to hard milled soap while the 506 handled brush seemed better for slightly softer soaps.

As I started to use MdC more, I kept reaching for this brush out of preference.

 

[V12Stu]

And lastly, the little unbleached boar:

In the end, I love this handle shape as well – as much as the 502 handle – they’re just different. I didn’t expect that, given my big hands.

Now that it’s broken in, I find that this knot has less backbone than either of the other two brushes and it’s now extremely soft and comfortable to use. It now lathers as well as the bleached boar.

I might even try face lathering again with this brush it’s so soft – I had a bad experience with my cheap Amazon brush, ending in awful brush burn when I tried a couple of face lathers – but sooner or later I’ll try it again with this brush, I think.

The conclusion? This little unbleached boar is my favourite (just), and both this and the 502 handled brush have become my two-brush rotation and used alternately to allow each brush to dry fully in-between shaves. But I look forward to using this little unbleached boar just slightly more…..

So, my expectation bias derived from prolific reading on t’internet was completely wrong – my order of preference of the 3 brushes is the complete opposite of what I expected. And that’s what makes it fun!

So, what’s next? Nothing for a while – I’m more than happy with my two boar brushes in rotation – but I guess I ought to have a decent badger brush in my life sooner or later.

A Zenith Silver Tip looks interesting……

 

[ivan_101]

Instead of buying 3 Zeniths to try a boar for the first time, maybe it would have been a better idea to buy 1 Zenith, 1 Omega and 1 Semogue.
Just a suggestion.

 

[V12Stu]

Instead of buying 3 Zeniths to try a boar for the first time, maybe it would have been a better idea to buy 1 Zenith, 1 Omega and 1 Semogue.
Just a suggestion.

You're right - I could have done. But this seemed like a fun experiment - and it has been. I particularly wanted to try the unbleached boar in a 507 handle - that was my starting point for the reasons I outlined above. But then I wondered about the other handle shapes and bleached vs unbleached so ended up with the Zenith trio. I'm sure that I'll end up trying Omega and SOC in the future too!

 

[NorthernSoul]

There's a group of folks on the forum that really favor the unbleached boars. I think the theory is that the bleached ones will become "floppy". That is not necessarily the case, the construction of the brush has a lot more to do with it. One of my favorite boars is the Zenith B03-A26, which has the backbone balance just right, IMHO. So, I would not be so quick to dismiss bleached boar knots as inferior.

The Omega Jade and the Semogue SOC Mistura are pretty special, too, BTW.

 

[BigJ]

Great thread!

For me, the lesson is that you need to try things for yourself. You cannot settle this sort of question with research alone. As we used to say, ‘Data talks, theory walks!’

 

[Goblin]

One of my favorite boars is the Zenith B03-A26, which has the backbone balance just right, IMHO. So, I would not be so quick to dismiss bleached boar knots as inferior.

I also have this brush and find it has all the backbone I could possibly want. I am a bit of a masher and like plenty of splay, so my next Zenith was another bleached one with a slighly higher loft. Sure enough, I liked that one even more out of the gate, although now they are more broken in the extra few mm isn't making so much difference.

My sample size is small, but so far I don't think you can really go wrong with any Zenith - there are differences that we enjoy splitting hairs over, but I suspect you could lather pretty much anything with any model and it would still perform admirably.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Great choices and I feel exactly the same about these knots and handles - the 507 isn’t comfortable for me either.

One thing I think you would also like is a Semogue 610 or 820 (or the 620 and 830 if you like a badger-esque black band on the hairs). They are super value, small and fun to use, and really nice quality handles. I think they’re the ideal boars for face lathering.

The Zenith silvertips that you have your eye on are excellent badger brushes if you favour a soft, non-prickly knot (as I do). They are seriously good badgers by any standard, and very fairly priced. If you like a bit more backbone and some gentle prickle then their manchurian knot is the one to opt for.

 

[huck1680]

I have three Zenith boars as well. But because I have a 6 brush rotation and shave every other day I find they're breaking in a bit slower. So far the boars tend to be better at hard soap/mug lathering as opposed to the cream soap/bowl method. But they'll break in eventually. I do like them though

 

[V12Stu]

Great choices and I feel exactly the same about these knots and handles - the 507 isn’t comfortable for me either.

One thing I think you would also like is a Semogue 610 or 820 (or the 620 and 830 if you like a badger-esque black band on the hairs). They are super value, small and fun to use, and really nice quality handles. I think they’re the ideal boars for face lathering.

View attachment 1669297

The Zenith silvertips that you have your eye on are excellent badger brushes if you favour a soft, non-prickly knot (as I do). They are seriously good badgers by any standard, and very fairly priced. If you like a bit more backbone and some gentle prickle then their manchurian knot is the one to opt for.

Thanks for your reply @Mr. Shavington - very interesting to hear your views as well.

I was surprised that I didn't connect with the 507 handled brush - if I was to have bought only one brush, that would have been the one - so I'm pleased I got the other two Zeniths to try.

The Semogue brushes you mention above are now on my shopping list for when BAD next kicks in .

And as for the Silvertip - I narrowed it down to that over the Manchurian because I seem to prefer the same soft, non-prickly knot too - so I'm pleased to hear this might make a good badger brush, given my preference.

 

[RayClem]

I have one Omega Pro, and two Semogue boar brushes. One of the Semogues never produced a great lather. The other Semogue is good, but I much prefer the Omega as the tips are fully split and the face feel is as good as a high-end badger brush. One day, I should pick up a Zenith for comparison.

After only three months of use with three brushes, none of the brushes are fully broken in unless you did something to speed up that process. Once the bristle tips are fully split, your preferences might change.

 

[V12Stu]

After only three months of use with three brushes, none of the brushes are fully broken in unless you did something to speed up that process. Once the bristle tips are fully split, your preferences might change.

I guess in reality it's a little over 3 months and I didn't use one of the brushes much - so probably more like 3 months with 2 brushes. But still, you're right - I know there's more to come from both brushes as they continue to break in further and the tips split more. It will be interesting then to see how the bleached knot compares with the unbleached knot in another few months of alternate daily use.

Interesting to hear of the different lathering capabilities of the two Semogues you have - are they the same knot with just a natural variation?

 

[RayClem]

I guess in reality it's a little over 3 months and I didn't use one of the brushes much - so probably more like 3 months with 2 brushes. But still, you're right - I know there's more to come from both brushes as they continue to break in further and the tips split more. It will be interesting then to see how the bleached knot compares with the unbleached knot in another few months of alternate daily use.

Interesting to hear of the different lathering capabilities of the two Semogues you have - are they the same knot with just a natural variation?

The Semogue I do not like is a smaller diameter than the one I do like, but the bristles feel different as well. Natural bristles can very from boar to boar.

The Semogue brushes go through a different process the Omega. People tend to like one or the other, but few people love both. It looks like the Zenith brushes might be more similar to the Omega, but not having tried one, I cannot be certain.

 

[JoWolf]

Instead of buying 3 Zeniths to try a boar for the first time, maybe it would have been a better idea to buy 1 Zenith, 1 Omega and 1 Semogue.
Just a suggestion.

That’s what I did and ending up with two Zenith boars.

 

[Theodore]

Is the one on the left "The Big One" aka the 31mm knot?

How is it?

 

[Guido75]

Nice write up. I have an unbleached (I thought it only had to do with the colouring of the hairs) Zenith 502. It shed quite a few hairs, but is very soft to the face while still providing backbone. I like the grip of the handle and the size of the brush.

I also have an Omega Proraso. These bristles are lighter so I assume bleached? The Proraso is super soft and floppy compared to the Zenith and even softer than my badger. I hogs lather like crazy though even after a year or more of regular use. When I load heavier the hogging disappears. The Proraso is my biggest brush. Easy to hold and good grip, just huge compared to the others.

I usually bowl lather by the way.

Enjoy!

Guido

 

[JoWolf]

Is the one on the left "The Big One" aka the 31mm knot?

How is it?

@Theodore Yes The Big One B35-31x57mm & B27 Chubby scrubby 28x55mm. I purchased the 35 thinking it would be very similar to the chubby. It is not. The Chubby is an excellent brush, but the smaller handle is uncomfortable for me. I love the big one. Weekly face & head shaves more real estate to cover. It broke in a lot quicker than the Chubby. It is as soft as either of my two band badgers, but not quite as soft as the two silvertips I’ve used. I exclusively face lather. I commented earlier today that I disagree that large brushes waste, or use more soap. Full brush load will do one and a half pass face shave, a reload will then do a head one pass and lather on hand for touch ups. I don’t use any more or less soap than I would with a 28 or 26mm. The brush has the same maneuverability as any of the 26 or 28’s I’ve used. The ergonomics are perfection for me. The large handle very comfortable and in concert with the loft an excellent painter. The backbone is in the medium range the brush delivers an above average medium scrub. The large footprint spreads and paints cloud soft lather as well as any silvertip I’ve used. I use this brush exclusively and it continues to improve.

Both Zenith’s are finer hair than any of the half dozen other boars I’ve used. Both knots high density, compared to the others I’ve used. I prefer these attributes well others may not. The acrylic handles are well made. I have dropped the small one lathering the back of my head. The big handle far more comfortable for my arthritic hands.

I prefer Zenith boar brushes over others and would recommend either of these brushes.

 

[Theodore]

@Theodore Yes The Big One B35-31x57mm & B27 Chubby scrubby 28x55mm. I purchased the 35 thinking it would be very similar to the chubby. It is not. The Chubby is an excellent brush, but the smaller handle is uncomfortable for me. I love the big one. Weekly face & head shaves more real estate to cover. It broke in a lot quicker than the Chubby. It is as soft as either of my two band badgers, but not quite as soft as the two silvertips I’ve used. I exclusively face lather. I commented earlier today that I disagree that large brushes waste, or use more soap. Full brush load will do one and a half pass face shave, a reload will then do a head one pass and lather on hand for touch ups. I don’t use any more or less soap than I would with a 28 or 26mm. The brush has the same maneuverability as any of the 26 or 28’s I’ve used. The ergonomics are perfection for me. The large handle very comfortable and in concert with the loft an excellent painter. The backbone is in the medium range the brush delivers an above average medium scrub. The large footprint spreads and paints cloud soft lather as well as any silvertip I’ve used. I use this brush exclusively and it continues to improve.

Both Zenith’s are finer hair than any of the half dozen other boars I’ve used. Both knots high density, compared to the others I’ve used. I prefer these attributes well others may not. The acrylic handles are well made. I have dropped the small one lathering the back of my head. The big handle far more comfortable for my arthritic hands.

I prefer Zenith boar brushes over others and would recommend either of these brushes.

Thanks for the comprehensive writeup. I think you've got me over the line on it...