Bluebeard / Dreadnaught Corsair Super Badger Brush Anyone?

[MrSmith]

I have searched around for reviews and experiences for this brush and have come up quite empty. I just received this brush as my first "real" brush and will be doing a review in this thread for those who may be interested. I am pretty new to DE shaving and since this is my "first" brush I am afraid that it will be a very one sided review having nothing to compare it to besides a cheap boar's hair brush from WalMart that shed everytime I used it from day one!

I am hoping others may have had some interaction or opinions to share concerning this brush.

PS. I did watch the You tube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao1P0qXrx_g
and also read the review at http://www.shaving101.com/index.php...bluebeards-revenge-corsair-shaving-brush.html

The review was instrumental in my choice of acquiring this brush along with using ebay.uk to get it at half the asking price of the US carriers. http://www.ebay.com/itm/360784383158?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Opinions and otherwise welcomed. I did find some criticisms concerning their razors in another Thread, but nothing mentioning this specific brush. Thank you for the feedback and I will follow up with pictures and progress.

 

[nightguard]

From what I recal I found it to be very floppy but great at bowl lathering cream. Not so good at lathering soaps but a worthy brush for cream users.

 

[MrSmith]

Thanks Nightguard for the input. I will share my thoughts as I get familiar with this brush, and like I posted above "this is my "first" brush" so the only reference will be against a cheap boar's hair brush.

The product arrived well packaged and timely from the ebay seller linked above. I un-packaged the shipping box to find a smallish (first impression - compared to boars brush I had been using) glossy blue box with the Bluebeard Logo etc. The box was eye catchy and upon opening the box I found a Bluebeards Revenge "membership" card and also the shave brush. The brush was nicely wrapped in two layers of Bluebeard logo paper (thin paper, but not waxy). The inside of the box was well printed with "ads" advocating prostate cancer screening & research and Bluebeards charity partnership with Orchid ala Phil "The Raging Bull" Vickery. (I didn't read thru the inside of the box thoroughly). The brush had a single loose hair on top of the brush but no other strays. The "raw" brush felt good in my hand and the feel as I ran my hand across the bulb was nice and soft. Here are some pics of the brush (Sorry I threw away the packaging before taking pics, so brush only).


The Second pic (one with the tape measure) shows the handle length fairly accurately, but not the overall height due to angle of camera, the Third pic shows the overall length a bit better. Overall I think that the faux ivory handle and look of the brush is very nice.

 

[MrSmith]

Ok.
So I soaked the brush for about 6-7 minutes in hot water, where I caught a bit of the badger smell, but it was not unpleasant nor overpowering, just enough to let you know that this was indeed animal hair. I just got in some Gold Dachs Spezial Soap, so decided to inaugurate the brush and soap together. I did not pre-saok the Gold Dachs. I squeezed most of the water out of the BB and worked the soap in its tin for about 45 seconds and commenced to bowl lathering ~ Adding water as I went. I ended up adding too much water and not liking the lather, so down the drain it went and I set out again following the same method as before. This time the lather was acceptable. Here is a pic of my bowl lather and also the brush.

 

[Chadao]

Nice review Mr. Smith. How was the face feel?

 

[MrSmith]

Round 2. Err... Or is it 3?

I ended up not liking the Gold Dachs on my first pass shave and the brush didn't create enough lather for a 3-pass shave, so I decided to dump the lather and rinse the brush. (Although I will return to the Gold Dachs for another try later). I had previously got in some MWF and LOVED it, so I decided to try the Bluebeard Corsair on The Fat to finish my shave.

Again I started with a slightly damp brush and loaded for ~30-40 seconds on a dry Fat. The brush loaded very well IMO. I couldn't get The Fat to lather well in a bowl with the boar brush, so I didn't try to bowl lather with the Corsair. I did however find that the Corsair face lathered The Fat exceedingly well. The brush has just a touch of scritch, but altogether felt quite soft on my face and actually face lathered The Fat better and quicker than the boar brush YMMV. The brush had plenty of lather for a 3 pass shave and released the lather well.
I'm not sure how else to describe my first experience with a Badger brush except to say that I think that I am definitely a Badger man and I might lean towards softer brushes? As far as shave soaps... I might be looking to join The Order of the Fat.

I hope that I am adding value to B & B with this review and I will continue to update as I break in this brush and expand my shave knowledge. Here's some post shave pics of the Corsair to end my initial review. Happy Shaving!

 

[MrSmith]

Update:
I have been getting into brushes more and more recently and have investigated to find out the "specs" for this brush.
They are as follows:
Super Badger Hair Knot: 22mm ~ Loft: 50mm ~ Handle Dia: 35mm ~ Handle Height: 50mm ~ Total Height: 100mm

 

[MrSmith]

After giving this brush some time to break-in and running it thru several soaps/croaps I have to concede to Nightguard. This brush is a bit floppy and I have been finding that during my lathering I have been left wanting a bit more backbone in my brush. I will however state that I have lathered MWF, Gold Dachs Spezial, PannaCrema, and XPec with this brush to an acceptable level, but again I wish I had more backbone. I do find myself finishing off with face lathering with this brush as it does feel quite soft on the skin. It releases the lather to an acceptable level using painting strokes. Overall I do not regret purchasing this brush at a $55 dollar price point. I do however feel like I would have been grossly disappointed if I had spent the $112 or so that the "identical" US "Dreadnaught Corsair" is retailing for. I think that my next brush will be a Semogue SOC to see how a "luxury" boar brush will compare and am currently in the market for a M&F blonde in Chief; Emillion; or L7 as well. I suppose the BAD is nipping at my heels.

For anyone reading this. Please let me thank you for taking the time to do so. I welcome any feedback or cross-comparison that you may have.