Buying advice for Vie-Long brushes

[Simcon]

I recently expanded my horizon by buying to boar brushes and I'm now very fond of the idea to buy two, maybe three (or more depending on the price), horse brushes and experience even more brushes . What does different amounts of mane/tail in a brush mean? Any brush with a combination of horse/badger that are recommended?

Any difference between these two brushes except the price? 12705 and 12750? The specs seems to be the same...

I've been considering a 35/65 tail/mane ratio, another one with 65/35 tail/mane, maybe another 50/50 or horse/badger brush combination, all depending on characteristics of the brush and the price compared to shipping from the retailer .

Seller I'm considering is http://www.giftsandcare.com not sure how the site is, anyone with experience from them? Price seems to be very reasonable with shipping within Europe and discount codes (combined with a few soaps and other products with good value ).

 

[mftoms59]

The Standard Brushes are either 50/50 banded or Natural White, or 35/65 in Natural Brown. The Pro or Barber Series are 25/75 Mane/Tail in Black or Brown; or 60/40 Boar/ (White)Horse or 60/40 Banded Boar/ Horse. There are no 65/35 Mane/Tail knots manufactured by Vie-Long.

All V-L Horse/Badger Brushes are banded, I'm not sure of the Hair Ratio but an e-mail to Juan at Gifts & Care will get you the correct ratio in ~72 hours or less.

Regardless of the Brush type or Mane/Tail ratio and speaking from past experience; I wouldn't buy a Horse or Horse/Badger with a knot smaller than 23-24mm, the larger knots seem a bit denser than the 20-21mm knots.

 

[bosseb]

I have attempted a write up on comparing some of my brushes. See http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/359040-Stick-brushes-shootout .

I personally don't care for any scratch at all so I prefer a 50/50 mane /tail natural white horse brush custom made by Vie-Long.

These are the brushes I compared:

 

[Simcon]

The Standard Brushes are either 50/50 banded or Natural White, or 35/65 in Natural Brown. The Pro or Barber Series are 25/75 Mane/Tail in Black or Brown; or 60/40 Boar/ (White)Horse or 60/40 Banded Boar/ Horse. There are no 65/35 Mane/Tail knots manufactured by Vie-Long.

All V-L Horse/Badger Brushes are banded, I'm not sure of the Hair Ratio but an e-mail to Juan at Gifts & Care will get you the correct ratio in ~72 hours or less.

Regardless of the Brush type or Mane/Tail ratio and speaking from past experience; I wouldn't buy a Horse or Horse/Badger with a knot smaller than 23-24mm, the larger knots seem a bit denser than the 20-21mm knots.

I could have sworn I was some 65/35 brush, but that was probably just either a typo, or me reading the description wrong .

Are there any differences in performance between natural white and natural brown "color", or that more to do with the ratio they've decided to use and a color scheme?


So from your advice the following brushes seems good to me:
A 35/65 Mane/Tail brush, 24mm 12705
A 50/50 Mane/Tail brush, 24mm 13723

There's plenty of more expensive brushes, but I can't tell any major differences from these apart from what handle is used and the loft height, but with prices almost twice as expensive... Am I missing something here?

When it comes to horse badger, I guess I'll have to contact "Juan at Gifts & Care" to get to know more, because there's simply not enough information to really tell the following apart.
15830, 14832, 14833, 14830 & this.

Boar/Horse brush, every brush with a ratio of 70/30 Boar/horse, can't find any which would have 60/40. But this one seems to offer good value to me:
A 70/30 Boar/horse brush, 24mm 12326


Are there any quality differences between the cheaper and the more expensive brushes? Because I can't tell any differences from the descriptions... And if I can get (virtually) the same brush at half the price... then I'm going to go for it and simply buy more brushes .

 

[bosseb]

Are there any differences in performance between natural white and natural brown "color", or that more to do with the ratio they've decided to use and a color scheme?

In my experience there is a lot of difference between these. The white one is very much more soft on the skin. Of the four horse brushes I have owned the natural white one was the softest. The natural brown one was prickly on the skin as it had some coarser bristles in the mix.

I got the 24 mm natural white with the loft set at 50 mm from Juan at Gifts & Care. In hindsight I might have changed that to 48 mm to get some more scrubbiness. On the other hand that might have jeopardized the lather making and flow thru of the brush...

 

[Simcon]

I have attempted a write up on comparing some of my brushes. See http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/359040-Stick-brushes-shootout .

I personally don't care for any scratch at all so I prefer a 50/50 mane /tail natural white horse brush custom made by Vie-Long.

These are the brushes I compared:

Hmm, so given from I read you'd recommend setting the loft to somewhere around 50, and a 50/50 ratio mane/tail brush. And that I must "relearn" not to push too hard with the brush, which I think I might be doing at this moment... Because it's... enjoyable .

I also noticed that you seem to like the Lea shaving stick, so I'll probably have to give that a try, but have you tried any of the other products from Lea? The price of their products sure is compelling at the very least .

 

[bosseb]

I also noticed that you seem to like the Lea shaving stick, so I'll probably have to give that a try, but have you tried any of the other products from Lea? The price of their products sure is compelling at the very least .

The LEA product line is not familiar to me and I am very picky because of severe skin problems which led me to DE shaving eight years ago. The only product I have used is the LEA Shave stick which I find extremely attractive in its present formulation with the lanolin and glycerine. The older formulation was not even adequate.

If you order a 24 mm white horse with custom loft from Gifts and care ( http://www.giftsandcare.com/en/hors...rocha-de-afeitar-caballo-vie-long-13061b.html ) please also check out their sticks at http://www.giftsandcare.com/en/72-shaving-soaps?orderby=price&orderway=asc especially the La Toja and the Speick. Those are two of my favorites!

 

[Simcon]

The LEA product line is not familiar to me and I am very picky because of severe skin problems which led me to DE shaving eight years ago. The only product I have used is the LEA Shave stick which I find extremely attractive in its present formulation with the lanolin and glycerine. The older formulation was not even adequate.

If you order a 24 mm white horse with custom loft from Gifts and care ( http://www.giftsandcare.com/en/hors...rocha-de-afeitar-caballo-vie-long-13061b.html ) please also check out their sticks at http://www.giftsandcare.com/en/72-shaving-soaps?orderby=price&orderway=asc especially the La Toja and the Speick. Those are two of my favorites!

Had already decided to get a La Toja stick (and cream) since they aren't readily available from other retailers, but I'll probably give Speick a try as well, the price is slightly better than that from a store in the UK which I often order from. Any other product that are hard to come by that are good and hard to come by for us Swedes? I noticed that some of the Proraso products have better prices (compared to UK retailers), so I'll probably order some of that... Haven't found a good Italian site for ordering them, so this is probably the best I'll find some of them.

 

[bosseb]

I'm afraid my skin problems in the past have driven me up the alley of above average priced products. Well, with the exception of ARKO sticks and Shark SS blades (unfortunately Bestshave ( http://shop.bestshave.net/ ) seems to be temporarely closed for maintenance.

When it comes to soaps I use Pré de Provence (Bullgoose has it!), Martin de Candre, Mystic Waters, Klar Kabinett and DR Harris. Of these the Klar Kabinett is discontinued but still available at http://www.dieperfekterasur.com/epages/63754726.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/63754726/Products/RS0004 . I highly recommend it, not because of the prize point but because of the quality of it in use.

In AS I only use balms; DR Harris, Castle Forbes and TOBS Jermyn Street. These are not cheap anywhere.

 

[Simcon]

I'm afraid my skin problems in the past have driven me up the alley of above average priced products. Well, with the exception of ARKO sticks and Shark SS blades (unfortunately Bestshave ( http://shop.bestshave.net/ ) seems to be temporarely closed for maintenance.

When it comes to soaps I use Pré de Provence (Bullgoose has it!), Martin de Candre, Mystic Waters, Klar Kabinett and DR Harris. Of these the Klar Kabinett is discontinued but still available at http://www.dieperfekterasur.com/epages/63754726.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/63754726/Products/RS0004 . I highly recommend it, not because of the prize point but because of the quality of it in use.

In AS I only use balms; DR Harris, Castle Forbes and TOBS Jermyn Street. These are not cheap anywhere.

Ordered from bestshave a month ago so I have blades covered for the foreseeable future (~500 blades lying around at home) and since earlier enough arko sticks to last a long while. Bullgoose also seems to be down for maintenance atm. The best soap I have is probably HTGAM synergy, but I guess I'll get around buying more expensive soaps once I finish my education... I really don't dare getting too expensive habits before that, CSN suffice for some shaving supplies, but not too much . However I'm honestly not sure I would be the biggest fan of Klar Kabinett if there's a rose fragrance (I could be wrong), I own TOBS Rose, and even if it smells like rose, I find that I don't really appreciate that scent when shaving...

My current go-to aftershave balm is Proraso which definately is affordable, I'll have to wait before I'm able to afford the ones you meantioned ;p.

When it comes to the Vie-Long brush, I yet again fail to see any major difference between the different brushes, the 12705B, 12750B, 13066B and 13061B seems to be similar in all but price and handle. The loft information given really shouldn't matter to much if one asks to have it lowered? (Not sure if 12705B can get a lowered loft, nothing about it in the information). Handles... well I really don't care there , I'm all about getting the most brush for my money and unless I fall in love with a handle, I'm going to go with the one that's the cheapest.

 

[Drill Instructor]

Sorry I am unable to give you recommendations from Vie-Long-experience, I am just one click ahead of you as I already ordered Vie-Long brushes.

Hopefully it is o.k. if I quote Juan from G&C:
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]"White horse hair is softer in the tips compare to brown horse hair. Mane is the horse hair that provides softness to the brush. White hair has 50% of mane whilst brown horse hair has 35% of mane and 65% tail.[/FONT]"

 

[mftoms59]

I could have sworn I was some 65/35 brush, but that was probably just either a typo, or me reading the description wrong .

Are there any differences in performance between natural white and natural brown "color", or that more to do with the ratio they've decided to use and a color scheme?


So from your advice the following brushes seems good to me:
A 35/65 Mane/Tail brush, 24mm 12705
A 50/50 Mane/Tail brush, 24mm 13723

There's plenty of more expensive brushes, but I can't tell any major differences from these apart from what handle is used and the loft height, but with prices almost twice as expensive... Am I missing something here?

When it comes to horse badger, I guess I'll have to contact "Juan at Gifts & Care" to get to know more, because there's simply not enough information to really tell the following apart.
15830, 14832, 14833, 14830 & this.

Boar/Horse brush, every brush with a ratio of 70/30 Boar/horse, can't find any which would have 60/40. But this one seems to offer good value to me:
A 70/30 Boar/horse brush, 24mm 12326


Are there any quality differences between the cheaper and the more expensive brushes? Because I can't tell any differences from the descriptions... And if I can get (virtually) the same brush at half the price... then I'm going to go for it and simply buy more brushes .

The 65/35 Mane/Tail was a typo from long ago (2years) that had been corrected, you probably misread the specs. I had asked about such a ratio ~2 years ago, along with a true Fan offering, the Fan was done, no sign of the 65/35 on the horizon.

The Natural White is always a 50/50 Mane/Tail ratio and the Natural Brown is a 35/65 Mane/Tail, the Mane Hair gives you the softer/finer tips and your Tail is for Backbone and will have more prickliness/scratch or as I call it, Scritch and your Natural Whites are much softer out of the box. The Natural White is the most current offering, comparable to the Banded 50/50 knots, the difference is in the appearance.

There's nothing wrong with the 12705 or 13723, they were among the first V-L Horses I owned, they were featured in the Ultimate Brush Chronicles here; http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...e-Long-El-Caballo-Español-(The-Spanish-horse)

Besides the expense of the different Handles, some of the pricier Brushes will have more density in the larger knots when compared to the inexpensive brushes. As I've said before, stick with the larger, 23-24mm knots, regardless of price for a better experience, and to dispel a myth, you can use circular motions when face lathering. Use less pressure than you would with Boars or Badgers, and your knot will not tangle, let the tips of your brush do the work.

I've had the Badger/Horse 15830 &14830, they're both good performers, it uses Horse & Grey Badger, I don't recall the Hair ratio but Juan can give you the answer. I've only had the Olivewood in Pure Horse and the Handle holds up well.

The Horse/Boar I referred to was in the Barber Series, they have a loft ~57mm and use a knot in the 19-20mm range, these do require an extremely light touch and plenty of practice for peak performance; http://www.giftsandcare.com/en/barb...l-brush-n2-white-horse-hair-boar-bristle.html Personally I wasn't fond of the 12623 handle on the Boar/Horse, I'd go with the 12330 if you really wanted the Horse/Boar knot and skip the Badger/Horse Brush altogether.

Hmm, so given from I read you'd recommend setting the loft to somewhere around 50, and a 50/50 ratio mane/tail brush. And that I must "relearn" not to push too hard with the brush, which I think I might be doing at this moment... Because it's... enjoyable .

I also noticed that you seem to like the Lea shaving stick, so I'll probably have to give that a try, but have you tried any of the other products from Lea? The price of their products sure is compelling at the very least .

I addressed the pressure aspect above, as for loft, you can have any Hair Type; Horse, Horse/Boar/ Horse/Badger set in any handle and to a loft of your choosing. During checkout, put your requested loft or hair type in the comments box. Be specific on your request,Eg; Natural White Horse 24mm in a 13065 Handle @ 48mm loft.

When I ordered my Natural White's they weren't offered in the handles I liked, I used the Comments box to have my brushes my way, it added ~2-3 days but I didn't mind. My 12750B & 13066B, below.

Though I enjoy soaps, I'd recommend the LEA Professional or La Toja Sensitive Shave Creams, very good lathers and they moisturize well.

 

[rickboone1]

Good brushes but I won't deal with gifts and care ever.
Was gifted a brush. The brush handle lacquer peeled. Bad.
Contacted vie long. Told everyone it was a gift. Vie long said they won't deal with consumer direct. They said to use gifts and care. Gifts and care said they won't do it because i had no recpt. What part of gift did you bit get?
Screw it. Let the handle fall off. The brush is sweet. My 3rd or 4th vl. Most suck. Too floppy or scratchy. Not scritchy since that's not a word!!!!! The one I love is a blonde mane. Awesome brush.

 

[u2u]

I went with a selection from the standard line of Vie-Long. They perform well and are a nice switch from the norm. Good values are to be found with horse and they are under appreciated by most wet shavers.


Vie-Long two color natural light horse (20x55) VL-14080


Vie-Long natural brown horse 35/65 mane/tail (24x58) 14830M


Vie-long natural brown horse (20x60) PB-04312

 

[shevek]

This thread is really testing my GRUC 13 restraint. Must. close. browser.

 

[Icebear]

Good brushes but I won't deal with gifts and care ever.
Was gifted a brush. The brush handle lacquer peeled. Bad. .....What part of gift did you bit get? ...

How about getting either the receipt or let the person who gifted it to you deal with Gifts and Care ?
Anyone without a receipt will most likely have an issue claiming warranty. No surprise here is it ?

I have a custom horse (nat. brown) in fan shape. It's one of my favorite brushes and it was great service from Juan at G&C. I am highly tempted by a white hair version of the same.

 

[mftoms59]

... I have a custom horse (nat. brown) in fan shape. It's one of my favorite brushes and it was great service from Juan at G&C. I am highly tempted by a white hair version of the same.

Do It, sb10= 10% off

 

[Haggises]

Still loving my "Peleon" 12705. 35/65.
Took a while to get past scratch but when it did, wonderful.

 

[Simcon]

The 65/35 Mane/Tail was a typo from long ago (2years) that had been corrected, you probably misread the specs. I had asked about such a ratio ~2 years ago, along with a true Fan offering, the Fan was done, no sign of the 65/35 on the horizon.

The Natural White is always a 50/50 Mane/Tail ratio and the Natural Brown is a 35/65 Mane/Tail, the Mane Hair gives you the softer/finer tips and your Tail is for Backbone and will have more prickliness/scratch or as I call it, Scritch and your Natural Whites are much softer out of the box. The Natural White is the most current offering, comparable to the Banded 50/50 knots, the difference is in the appearance.

There's nothing wrong with the 12705 or 13723, they were among the first V-L Horses I owned, they were featured in the Ultimate Brush Chronicles here; http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...e-Long-El-Caballo-Español-(The-Spanish-horse)

Besides the expense of the different Handles, some of the pricier Brushes will have more density in the larger knots when compared to the inexpensive brushes. As I've said before, stick with the larger, 23-24mm knots, regardless of price for a better experience, and to dispel a myth, you can use circular motions when face lathering. Use less pressure than you would with Boars or Badgers, and your knot will not tangle, let the tips of your brush do the work.

I've had the Badger/Horse 15830 &14830, they're both good performers, it uses Horse & Grey Badger, I don't recall the Hair ratio but Juan can give you the answer. I've only had the Olivewood in Pure Horse and the Handle holds up well.

The Horse/Boar I referred to was in the Barber Series, they have a loft ~57mm and use a knot in the 19-20mm range, these do require an extremely light touch and plenty of practice for peak performance; http://www.giftsandcare.com/en/barb...l-brush-n2-white-horse-hair-boar-bristle.html Personally I wasn't fond of the 12623 handle on the Boar/Horse, I'd go with the 12330 if you really wanted the Horse/Boar knot and skip the Badger/Horse Brush altogether.






I addressed the pressure aspect above, as for loft, you can have any Hair Type; Horse, Horse/Boar/ Horse/Badger set in any handle and to a loft of your choosing. During checkout, put your requested loft or hair type in the comments box. Be specific on your request,Eg; Natural White Horse 24mm in a 13065 Handle @ 48mm loft.

When I ordered my Natural White's they weren't offered in the handles I liked, I used the Comments box to have my brushes my way, it added ~2-3 days but I didn't mind. My 12750B & 13066B, below.

Though I enjoy soaps, I'd recommend the LEA Professional or La Toja Sensitive Shave Creams, very good lathers and they moisturize well.

What myth? Why wouldn't one be able to use circular motions when facelathering? That just seems silly .

About the badger/horse, what's grey badger?

Will have to try those two creams as well, not much I'm risking at that price .

How much of a price addition will there be if I pick another handle an create my own custom brush ?

Sorry I am unable to give you recommendations from Vie-Long-experience, I am just one click ahead of you as I already ordered Vie-Long brushes.

Hopefully it is o.k. if I quote Juan from G&C:
"White horse hair is softer in the tips compare to brown horse hair. Mane is the horse hair that provides softness to the brush. White hair has 50% of mane whilst brown horse hair has 35% of mane and 65% tail."

I would love pictures/update once the brushes arrives , I'm still waiting on response from Juan (?) before I take the leap and order .

I went with a selection from the standard line of Vie-Long. They perform well and are a nice switch from the norm. Good values are to be found with horse and they are under appreciated by most wet shavers.


Vie-Long two color natural light horse (20x55) VL-14080


Vie-Long natural brown horse 35/65 mane/tail (24x58) 14830M


Vie-long natural brown horse (20x60) PB-04312

You don't have a problem that the brushes have smaller knots (the 20mm ones) compared to the larger one?

 

[Icebear]

Do It, sb10= 10% off

Grrr, couldn't resist, shame on you .