I was on a temporary hiatus from my AD and the site, but it seems as if boars are becoming a lot more popular, from the "what brush did you use today thread", compared to badgers from what I remember. I imagine this is due to affordability of a quality boar brushes and the boar brushes redeeming qualities (face lathering etc.). Anyone else noticed this or were boars always this popular?
Boars seem to be making a comeback in popularity.
- Thread starter Dozer
- Start date
To be honest, I pay less attention to brushes than any other aspect of shaving (or this forum). But I am a minimalist from a brush standpoint. I only have one boar and one badger right now. But my boar has always gotten more use.
I don't consider myself a brush hound either, but once I had my first badger brush, my original boar omega has not once touched my face since.
I won't say never, but the likelihood of me moving to boar again is quite slim. It was a shave-changing landmark moment for me that switcheroo.
I won't say never, but the likelihood of me moving to boar again is quite slim. It was a shave-changing landmark moment for me that switcheroo.
I started out with a badger, then discovered boar brushes. Used the boars for some time, then gave a badger another shot and quickly rid of it, went back to my boars, and several months later thought I was missing something by not having a badger in the line up, and got rid of that one as well. The badgers just were not worth it to me, and ranged from a Cheap Tweezerman badger to Simpson Berkeley and a Simpson Duke 3. Although the Simpson brushes were great and performed just fine, my boar brushes (All three of them are Semogues) perform as good or better than the badgers at a fraction of the cost!
It's been awhile now. People have discovered that once broken un, boars are wonderful brushes with softness and backbone. It kinda makes me remember Joel's "comparison" of Boar vs. Badger from years ago, where a badger went up against a non-broken in Burma Shave boar and the difference (in pictures) was so stark, who in their right mind would pick a boar? 
Then Semogue came along, more people started using boars exclusively for longer periods, and they started to discover that boars had good qualities.
Then Semogue came along, more people started using boars exclusively for longer periods, and they started to discover that boars had good qualities.
If you soak the top of a really hard soap, that won't be an issue.
I'm not a brush addict also, but in times of leisure I'm looking at two very particular badgers.
I'll not disclose which ones, but I bet that their hair smells like a crisp bill + honey + fresh bred + morning dew.
I'll not disclose which ones, but I bet that their hair smells like a crisp bill + honey + fresh bred + morning dew.
I am in the process of breaking in a SOC, and even at this point there is promises of greatness. Posts on the forums say that it can take over a month to fully break in a SOC, and just a few days in i'm already impressed with the performance of the brush. I'm excited to see what it does when actually broken in.
I like trying all of the possibilities available before I can make an informed decision. Use them and learn what badgers/boars strong points are first hand. it doesn't hurt either that by having it shipped accross the pond i spend less than 30 dollars. That is even in the range of what i can afford.
Also the instigator of my desire to buy a boar is that this summer i acquired an old Eveready 100 that had an old knot of fragile boar in it. After rehydrating the bristles I lathered up a bowl of lather just to see how it performed and it appeared to do a fantastic job. I guess Curiosity is the driving force to trying Boar. Affordability just made it so i could do it before payday.
I like trying all of the possibilities available before I can make an informed decision. Use them and learn what badgers/boars strong points are first hand. it doesn't hurt either that by having it shipped accross the pond i spend less than 30 dollars. That is even in the range of what i can afford.
Also the instigator of my desire to buy a boar is that this summer i acquired an old Eveready 100 that had an old knot of fragile boar in it. After rehydrating the bristles I lathered up a bowl of lather just to see how it performed and it appeared to do a fantastic job. I guess Curiosity is the driving force to trying Boar. Affordability just made it so i could do it before payday.
Every once in a while I reach behind my boars and grab a badger...only to be reminded why they are behind be boars. For me it's a preference based on face feel vs quality of lather, as both do a great job on that front.
I badger shaved exclusively for over a year when i started, and during that time i tried a few boars with little enthusiasm. once i tried and broke in my Semogue, the badgers saw less and less use, and now i literally never pick up my badgers. i have an soc on the way that i can't wait to break in, which will probably put my badgers to bed forever...the softness and backbone are incomparable
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