And yet Another Brush Reccomendation Thread

[Galengwath]

To begin with, let me state clearly and for the record what I'm not looking for. I'm not looking for a boar brush. I've tried several and wasn't particularly fond of them. I'm also not looking for the budget option, per se. I'm looking to get a very nice brush to celebrate an upcoming special occasion. My current sole brush is a Duke 2 which I quite enjoy, but unfortunately it's become a bit of a shedder and I plan on rotating it with my new brush to allow it to dry fully and hopefully extend its life, as well as the life of my new special brush.

I currently face lather most of the time, and generally use soaps. I am, however, experimenting with creams and bowl lathering so I'd ideally like a brush that can handle either. I don't like scritch, so something with very soft tips would be nice as long as it can still load from a puck of hard soap without too much trouble.

A few particular brushes that have caught my eye are the Rooney Heritage Stubbies, Thater 2-bands, and lately M&F Blonde badger brushes. Do any of those sound particularly ideal for my requirements? Is there anything else I should throw onto the list for consideration?

 

[taco8slo]

Your options sound great, put your options in a hat and pull one out, you'll be a winner!

 

[Galengwath]

I've considered doing just that, but won't be ordering for a while to come and thought I'd do some more searching to see if there are other good options.

 

[Loric]

While I love the XL line if you want something more middle of the road the M&F or Thater would probably be a bit better. You can get both with with a higher loft and a longer handle. The XL's have a short short handle and loft, and are not ideal for bowl lathering. Both M&F and Thater have their fans and a couple detractors, but both would do you well. I like the M&F's myself, especially since Lee will customize them for you.

 

[Acmemfg]

Simpson Colonel is a pretty versatile brush. Stick, soft soap, hard soap, cream...handles them all.

 

[Rivguy]

There are several brushes that will fit your needs in my view. I face lather exclusively and find that a variety of brushes enhances the enjoyment of my shaving experience. The softest hair that I have experienced is in my Kent BK4, BK8 and my Da Vinci 290 and 293. They have a fabulous face feel. The T&H (Rooney) silvertip is another brush with very soft hair. I think that these brushes are worthy of your consideration and are available with B&B discounts from some vendors or very good prices at others. I think that feelunique.com has the best prices on Kent.

Regards,

Doug

 

[oakeshott]

I did a long series on big brushes that were loaned to me by a member whose preferences match yours. No scritch and good with soaps. Three of those were Thaters and two were M&Fs and the other two were a shavemac and a Simpsons PJ3 . I fell head over heels with the Thaters. My kent is softer, but not as dense and while it loads soap fine(just finished using it on a puck of vintage Yardley) it cannot load like the Thaters. In fairness, my kent is a bk4 and the Thaters were much bigger, but I would bet the same is true of the larger Kent's. Not certain of it though and other more knowledgeable members should opine.

Good luck.

 

[celestino]

Rooney Heritage Stubby 1XL. You could also try the Vie-Long BGS 2012 Natural Horse Hair brush in Butterscotch beehive!