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Asylum Brushworks

Has anyone tried the new synthetic offerings by Asylum Brushworks @ Bullgoose? If so, how do they compared to other current synthetic brushes? Thanks.
 
I have one on order, but it will be my first synthetic so I won't have anything but badgers to compare it to.
 
njpaddy- I'd love to hear your thoughts once you have put the brush through a few shaves.

celestino- Thank you for the information.
 
I have a Scanlon on order and will be posting my comments. Over at The Shave Nook there are a number of posts commenting favorably on these brushes.
 
Just wanted to bump this thread. Particularly looking for comparisons to the Muhle 23 STF and the 24mm WD synth. Thanks.
 
I received my Scanlon a few days ago and have had a couple of shaves with it. First impression is that it is a very nicely made brush. The knot diameter looks and feels smaller than 24 mm. It also does not like to splay out and play nice compared to my Stirling Soap brush (with a Plisson like 26 mm knot in it). To be fair, this is my second synthetic brush. My other 26 brushes are mostly high end badger and 3 very nice Semogue boars.
I mostly face lather and i find it that you have to press pretty hard for the brush to open up and not be pointy. However, it still made a nice lather and the flow through is excellent as expected. I prefer the Stirling Brush (Plisson knot) to this Assylum brush, but it might break in and perform better after a few more shaves. The Stirling brush gives my best Simpson and Rooney badger brushes a good run. I paid $20.00 for it which makes it a hell of a bargain compared to the $100-$200+ I have paid for my badger brushes.
My next synthetic will be the Muhle v.2 with a 26 mm knot. I want to see how it compares with the Asylum brush.
 
My next synthetic will be the Muhle v.2 with a 26 mm knot. I want to see how it compares with the Asylum brush.

I got a Muhle v.2 23mm the other day and am very pleased with it. This is my first synthetic so I'd like to try others but for me it's hard to fathom how this can be improved upon.
 
I mostly face lather and i find it that you have to press pretty hard for the brush to open up and not be pointy. However, it still made a nice lather and the flow through is excellent as expected.

This pretty much sums up my experience with the Asylum Cheswick. I only used it a couple of times before it wound up in the back of the brush drawer. It makes great lather and the flow-thru is great but it works best with painting strokes. I just couldn't get it to splay right. If I decide to try another synthetic, it will be one of the Plisson style knots without as much backbone.
 
I had the same experience with a Muhle 25mm knot set to 55mm. Very difficult to splay. Those Muhle knots are really great from a lot of perspectives, but the knots can be really tight. If they would splay easier, maybe even if they were less dense, they might be a lot better. Also, I think they'd be better as fan shapes vs bulb.
 
I mostly face lather and i find it that you have to press pretty hard for the brush to open up and not be pointy. However, it still made a nice lather and the flow through is excellent as expected.

This pretty much sums up my experience with the Asylum Cheswick. I only used it a couple of times before it wound up in the back of the brush drawer. It makes great lather and the flow-thru is great but it works best with painting strokes. I just couldn't get it to splay right. If I decide to try another synthetic, it will be one of the Plisson style knots without as much backbone.

I ordered an Asylum Scanlon earlier this month and used it exclusively while on a 10-day vacation (I do not shave every day, so I gave it probably 5 uses in total). I am hesitant to judge a brush after only a handful of shaves. With that said, my impressions so far are similar to the above. On the positive side, it is an efficient lathering tool -- I was able to whip up excellent lathers very quickly using my trusty La Toja stick. It is a nicely made brush and I like the shape and color of the handle. The tips of the fibers are soft. On the negative side, it's a little too firm and pointy feeling in use for my tastes. If one only used paintbrush strokes to face lather I could see that being a non-issue. It will most likely see continued use as a travel brush, but it will not displace any of my well loved badgers or boars, at least at this point.

I can't help but wonder how the brush would feel on the face if the knot were set about 5 mm higher.
 
I can't help but wonder how the brush would feel on the face if the knot were set about 5 mm higher.

I think it would make it better. A little more loft should make the brush splay out easier and make it better for us face latherers.
 
I won the Scanlon from Phil's giveaway a few weeks ago. I pretty much agree with everything that's been said. It's a little springy, which makes it a little difficult to splay, but it's not terrible. It looks much smaller than the advertised size, and feels smaller in the hand.

On the positive side, it doesn't perform like a small brush. It still builds a ton of lather very quickly. Even with the springiness, the tips are still softer than my Omega S brush, and probably even softer than my 30mm Whipped Dog Synthetic. I don't think it's lost a single fiber in the few weeks I've been using it. It's found a regular place in my rotation with my other two synthetics.
 
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