What's new

Christmas Brushes

Santa was very generous this year:
Semogue 1250 22mm boar in wooden handle
Muhle STF V2 21mm faux silvertip in faux horn handle

and hopefully either tomorrow or Thursday: Vintage Blades 20mm two-band badger in faux ivory

The 1250 is my first Semogue and even out of the box it wasn't terribly scratchy nor was there the expected funk. The bristles are thinner than than the boar in my Omega brushes, or at least they seem more flexible. I really like the look of the brush with white bristles and plain wooden handle. It will take several weeks in rotation to break in, but I am interested to compare with my Omega Pro49. The 1250 dimensions seem a little more in tune with face lathering.

Lots has been written about the Muhle synthetic. I have a WD synthetic which I like pretty well, and it taught me about how synthetics load and lather. The Muhle is beautiful and the knot is a new generation that responds much more naturally in terms of backbone and face feel. It doesn't have the elastic feel of the WD knot that stays pretty tightly closed and then springs open (splays) rather suddenly. The handle and knot size seem just about perfect to me for face lathering, and once I do my "synthetic loading two step" it feels and behaves more like my favorite badger (Berkeley in Best) than the WD synthetic. I need to do more comparison, but this brush is very promising and has real potential to be king of the hill around here.
 
Santa was very generous this year:
Semogue 1250 22mm boar in wooden handle
Muhle STF V2 21mm faux silvertip in faux horn handle

and hopefully either tomorrow or Thursday: Vintage Blades 20mm two-band badger in faux ivory

The 1250 is my first Semogue and even out of the box it wasn't terribly scratchy nor was there the expected funk. The bristles are thinner than than the boar in my Omega brushes, or at least they seem more flexible. I really like the look of the brush with white bristles and plain wooden handle. It will take several weeks in rotation to break in, but I am interested to compare with my Omega Pro49. The 1250 dimensions seem a little more in tune with face lathering.

Lots has been written about the Muhle synthetic. I have a WD synthetic which I like pretty well, and it taught me about how synthetics load and lather. The Muhle is beautiful and the knot is a new generation that responds much more naturally in terms of backbone and face feel. It doesn't have the elastic feel of the WD knot that stays pretty tightly closed and then springs open (splays) rather suddenly. The handle and knot size seem just about perfect to me for face lathering, and once I do my "synthetic loading two step" it feels and behaves more like my favorite badger (Berkeley in Best) than the WD synthetic. I need to do more comparison, but this brush is very promising and has real potential to be king of the hill around here.

nice impressions. do you like the muhle better than WD synthetic ?
 
nice impressions. do you like the muhle better than WD synthetic ?

While I have not yet done a careful side by side test, I prefer the Muhle in several respects. The Muhle knot is a little smaller (21mm vs. 22mm) and has shorter loft (50mm vs. 52) and the handle is smaller than the WD as well. However, I think the Muhle holds more lather and also has better release of lather (flow through?). I like the size and shape of the Muhle handle better, but that is strictly personal--I like smaller handles.

The main difference is how the knot feels on the face while lathering. I guess this is about synthetic backbone. The WD feels kind of like all the fibers are stuck together with the lather; it is almost like you are massaging with a flexible rod that has a very soft end. Then as you apply pressure you reach a point where you break the bonds holding the knot together and suddenly it splays and you are kind of in the middle of the knot painting instead of massaging or scrubbing (this is obviously an exaggeration of what it actually feels like) . The Muhle brush changes its feel much more gradually as you apply pressure, and for me it is a much more natural feel for lathering whether I am painting or using a circular motion. By natural, I do not mean perfectly matching either a badger or boar, but natural in the sense that I get more continuous feedback and and can easily predict the behavior of the knot as I change the pressure. Because of this I feel I have more control with the Muhle and can get the amount of scrub I want as well as the amount of splay.

Last but not least, the workmanship of the Muhle is nicer. OTH, the Muhle is more expensive ($46 shipped vs. $26 shipped), the WD has a larger knot, and WD will do custom loft setting. Also, both brushes are lathering champions in terms of making very fine creamy slick lather quickly from either hard soap or cream.

The WD is a good brush and good value, but I find the Muhle to be well worth the price increase. I need the novelty factor to wear off a bit, and do some side by side, but the Muhle has the potential to go head to head with my favorite boar and badger brushes. I never felt that way about the WD though it worked quite well and had the synthetic advantages for travel etc.

Happy New Year,
Alan
 
My Christmas brush is a CH2-2 band with a 48mm loft. Good configuration of specs. Lather explodes very quickly, not a lather hog at all. Firm backbone with soft tips. Dream brush for most men, but I like more backbone (I am a strong backbone nut). Would like to trade it for a CH2 Manchurian.
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I had an early visit from Santa and received Amici #46 when they were released. I also have a late present being made right now. Joe May (B&B member shaverjoe) is crafting me a butterscotch beehive with a 24mm TGN finest fan set at 46.5mm. Both of these brushes are face lathering machines (at least I assume the beehive will be based in the specs). Pics will follow when I receive the beehive.
 
My Vintage Blades house brand 20mm two-band badger arrived and I've been using it the past couple days. I've wanted to try two-band badger for some time and this brush is relatively inexpensive and has been well reviewed. I like the knot size, and handle size and shape though the loft is a little higher that I might choose. Though two-band hair has a reputation for having strong backbone, this particular knot probably could have been set lower without ill effect. I assume it was a decision to have the brush be more general purpose rather than designing it specifically for face lathering.

This has been much written about, but the brush when wet has very soft tips with zero scritch even though the dry brush feels like it would be quite scritchy. As you can see below in the pictures, the tips are very light though the hairs are very dark at the base of the knot (compare with the Simpson Berkeley in Best badger). I don't think it can be seen in the pictures, but many of the tips of the hairs are hooked. The brush has good backbone, loads hard soap easily, lathers well, and has pretty good flow through for a brand new badger brush. It does not feel as dense as my Simpson Berkeley, which is probably partly the thicker two-band hairs and partly the higher loft (Berkeley is 20mm knot with 45mm loft). However it seems to hold a good amount of water/lather/heat comparable to the Berkeley. The handle is very plain, but quite functional and I find it very comfortable. The brush lathers like a champ and provides a somewhat firm but very gentle massage on the face. Once it breaks in a bit more I will try some side by side comparisons with my other brushes.

Alan

$Five Brushes.jpg
The middle three are the Christmas brushes.
From left to right: Simpson Berkeley in Best, Muhle 21mm STF V2, Vintage Blades Two Band, Semogue 1250 boar, Omega Pro49 boar. The Berkeley is my reference badger brush, and the Pro 49 is my reference boar brush.

$Five Brushes Top.jpg
Top view of the knots on these five brushes
 
I had an early visit from Santa and received Amici #46 when they were released. I also have a late present being made right now. Joe May (B&B member shaverjoe) is crafting me a butterscotch beehive with a 24mm TGN finest fan set at 46.5mm. Both of these brushes are face lathering machines (at least I assume the beehive will be based in the specs). Pics will follow when I receive the beehive.

So, here's the butterscotch beehive. I lathered it up yesterday and shaved with it this morning and so far, so good. I really think this is going to be one of my favorite brushes.
 

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So, here's the butterscotch beehive. I lathered it up yesterday and shaved with it this morning and so far, so good. I really think this is going to be one of my favorite brushes.

Wow, it looks like a soap destroyer! I love the shape of that brush. How does it feel on the face at that loft?
 
Wow, it looks like a soap destroyer! I love the shape of that brush. How does it feel on the face at that loft?

It has a ton of backbone but the tips are nice and soft. I expect the knot to open up a little bit after 10-12 shaves or so but it won't open much. This is exactly what I was looking for when I contacted Joe about it. I've always wanted a butterscotch beehive and most of my brushes are bulbs set at 50ish mm (with the exception of my Rooney Stubby 1XL), so I figured I'd go rogue with this one.
 
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