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bulb vs. fan shape for face lathering?

So which is better for face lathering (especially soaps). I've heard people go both ways on this. Personally fan shaped brushes seem to do a better job whipping up lathers in bowls and mugs. So is the bulb shape of Shavemacs and the Simpson Emperor 1 better suited for face lathering given its more 'compact' bristle design?

thoughts?
 
I recently sold my Rooney 1/2 because I've fallen in love with bulbs (from Golden Nib, specifically). I face lather 95% of the time. That said, I think this is going to be yet another subjective matter best left to personal experimentation.
 
Have the TGN Finest in both Bulb and Fan, both same size knot, both set at same loft and truth is, they both face lather well .

Some will say the bulb is more "targeted"

YMMV
 
I have a few Rooney's with a fan shape and also a few vulfix brushes that are bulb shaped. I find the difference to be subjective in terms of feel with no real difference in efficacy. The bulb feels a little stiffer to me for some reason. Either way, as long as the loft is short, the shape shouldn't matter.
 
This is definitely a case of YMMV. Everything being equal I have a slight preference for Fan shape and a small/medium knot size. I feel it puts more of the bristles in touch with the face at most points in time during the lather build-up. I say that without having two brushes exactly alike except for the bulb shape to make a comparison. I feel bulbs create a bigger breach in the center which can be good to hold soap and water as the lather builds. Even though both are different, I don't believe there is that much difference in performance.

There are a lot factors that go into a shave brush: the shape of the bulb, the density of hair, type of hair material, grade of hair (meaning more soft or more rough), knot size, loft, shape of handle, overall weight, which soap or cream you are building a lather with, and your mood. :001_smile Just too many variables for any one of them to be the overriding factor. Though for a given type of hair, I find the grade of hair to cause the biggest difference in feel.
 
I have both shapes in various sizes and grades, and prefer the Fan Shape.

I mostly face lather.

-- John Gehman
 
How do you face lather?
Are you making constant rotating movements and ends with evening the lather out or are you 'painting'?
In the first case you probably want a fan type and for the second a bulb type.
I start with rotating movements very briefly to get a dry cream on my face and then I start to include water with painting movements. So I like a bulb better because it is more suitable for my lathering process.
 
If comparing the exact same size knot with the same loft, the fan shape should splay out more. Now whether than makes one style better than the other is just personal preference. I use both to face lather, can't really say one works better than the other.
 

Rudy Vey

Shaving baby skin and turkey necks
I think that the fan shape is better when using short loft and face lathering. Setting a bulb shape at a short loft results in a very pointed brush, the fan is more even when compressed to s short loft. If I find the time over the weekend, I will take some photos that shows the differences.
 
Bernd from Shavemac said that he feels the bulb shape is stiffer because of the shorter (stiffer) hairs around the perimeter holding up the longer center hairs.
 
After owning a number of brushes of each design (fan vs. bulb), I find that more of a fan shaped loft is my preference.
 
I face lather 100% of the time. I owned both fan and bulb brushes. I prefer small knot, bulb shape brushes. The Savile Row 3118 fits this description perfectly, and for me it is the perfect brush.
 
I face lather 100% of the time. I prefer fan shaped brushes. Now that I think of it, I only have one bulb shaped brush left (after selling the rest) and I use it at most once a week.
 
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