I have a review of a brush that is a bit off of the of the radar for most wet shavers. In fact if I'm going to use a radar comparison, this thing is the stealth bomber. The Eco Tools Bamboo Bronzer Brush is... really... well... its an um... its a make up brush. But dont worry I have not gone completely sideways, it happens to also be an amazing shaving brush. The best part of it all is that it that it boasts a massive $7 price tag (Wallmart)!
The unorthodox knot measures 29mm and has a loft of 41mm. The ultra short loft gives this a face feel much closer to a typical 22~24mm brush. I have included some photos next to a 22mm TGN Super Sivertip set at 45mm and a Rooney Heritage XXL for size comparison. The short short squat little thing is impossibly soft. Make up brushes are made as not to offend the delicate skin of the fairer sex, so for us stubbly faced bruits it might as well be made of angle feathers. It's at least as soft as any traditional shaving brush. While the package does not say what kind of hair is used in the brush, it does say its all natural, so I'm guessing its some kind of treated horse hair, that is unless angle feathers still count as natural
Another possiblity is that the hairs are some kind of treated bamboo. That would only be speculation, but I have heard of bamboo brushes before. In this case I think the "bamboo" in the name refers only to the handle. Whatever they are, the hairs themselves are very very fine, and densely packed. I'd say the brush is as dense as most any high end shaving brush out there, but its hard to pin it down exactly as the hairs are finer than any other shaving brush I have used. Also the loft is unusually short, again making it hard to pin down. However in terns of density and luxurious feel this brush keeps up with brushes that literally cost 15 or 20 times as much. Backbone is good, dispite the fine hairs not being that stiff. The short loft and flat knot shape boost the strength of the hair just right.
The brush loads hard soaps very very fast. While it does not have the skritch to bite into soaps like most soap killers, this brush features a short flat knot that keeps most of the hairs in constant contact with the soap as you load. Like any dense brush, this one takes extra product to load. However you dont have to put extra time or struggle into that loading with this brush. It just eats soap off of a puck.
Out of the package the brush did not hold much water, but as it has broken in water retention has increased dramatically. However even after the break in, the short loft does not hold as much water as a typical shaving brushes. This combined with the density, fine hairs, and soap killer loading prowess tends to produce very slick jell like lather. This is thicker than most B&B'ers here tend to like, but I actually really like my lather a bit under hydrated for extra glide. So although its would be a fault for some it happens to work very well for me.
There is some trouble in paradise though. Really something has to give in a $7 not shaving brush, that accidentally happens to be an amazing shaving brush. First of all a knot this big and squat just screams to be a face lather brush. However the short loft really hampers it here in that it cant possibly hold all the lather it will whip up. Granted you can get a good four passes out of it if you lather conservatively. However there is a point where the brush is full and all the lather has no place to go on your face. I'm not scared of washing some lather down the drain after a shave if I dont use it, but it is kind of irksome to have good lather fall into the sink before you have a chance to use it.
Secondly the bamboo handle is a bit long IMO. Its not awful, but in a brush where luxury, lather, face feel, hair quality all earn 10/10's a handle that is a 4/10 feels a bit out of place. Fortunately you can address both of the brushes shortcomings if you bowl lather. The handle works much better for this kind of lathering, and you dont loose lather into the sink before you can use it. Using this way makes the brush feel a little bit conflicted, but again nothing that cant be lived with.
At first I worried this brush might not hold up building lather. It's very low cost and was built to apply powder gently to a woman's face. Loading soap and building lather would seem to be well over this amount of stress. Dispite this the brush has not shed one hair. Zero, nothing. So for now its bulletproof. More time using this brush will be the only way to tell though.
All and all the EcoTools Bamboo Bronzer Brush makes for a fantastic shaving brush, especially for $7. There are a couple quirks to live with, but really for the price nothing comes close to this brush.
The unorthodox knot measures 29mm and has a loft of 41mm. The ultra short loft gives this a face feel much closer to a typical 22~24mm brush. I have included some photos next to a 22mm TGN Super Sivertip set at 45mm and a Rooney Heritage XXL for size comparison. The short short squat little thing is impossibly soft. Make up brushes are made as not to offend the delicate skin of the fairer sex, so for us stubbly faced bruits it might as well be made of angle feathers. It's at least as soft as any traditional shaving brush. While the package does not say what kind of hair is used in the brush, it does say its all natural, so I'm guessing its some kind of treated horse hair, that is unless angle feathers still count as natural
Another possiblity is that the hairs are some kind of treated bamboo. That would only be speculation, but I have heard of bamboo brushes before. In this case I think the "bamboo" in the name refers only to the handle. Whatever they are, the hairs themselves are very very fine, and densely packed. I'd say the brush is as dense as most any high end shaving brush out there, but its hard to pin it down exactly as the hairs are finer than any other shaving brush I have used. Also the loft is unusually short, again making it hard to pin down. However in terns of density and luxurious feel this brush keeps up with brushes that literally cost 15 or 20 times as much. Backbone is good, dispite the fine hairs not being that stiff. The short loft and flat knot shape boost the strength of the hair just right.The brush loads hard soaps very very fast. While it does not have the skritch to bite into soaps like most soap killers, this brush features a short flat knot that keeps most of the hairs in constant contact with the soap as you load. Like any dense brush, this one takes extra product to load. However you dont have to put extra time or struggle into that loading with this brush. It just eats soap off of a puck.
Out of the package the brush did not hold much water, but as it has broken in water retention has increased dramatically. However even after the break in, the short loft does not hold as much water as a typical shaving brushes. This combined with the density, fine hairs, and soap killer loading prowess tends to produce very slick jell like lather. This is thicker than most B&B'ers here tend to like, but I actually really like my lather a bit under hydrated for extra glide. So although its would be a fault for some it happens to work very well for me.
There is some trouble in paradise though. Really something has to give in a $7 not shaving brush, that accidentally happens to be an amazing shaving brush. First of all a knot this big and squat just screams to be a face lather brush. However the short loft really hampers it here in that it cant possibly hold all the lather it will whip up. Granted you can get a good four passes out of it if you lather conservatively. However there is a point where the brush is full and all the lather has no place to go on your face. I'm not scared of washing some lather down the drain after a shave if I dont use it, but it is kind of irksome to have good lather fall into the sink before you have a chance to use it.
Secondly the bamboo handle is a bit long IMO. Its not awful, but in a brush where luxury, lather, face feel, hair quality all earn 10/10's a handle that is a 4/10 feels a bit out of place. Fortunately you can address both of the brushes shortcomings if you bowl lather. The handle works much better for this kind of lathering, and you dont loose lather into the sink before you can use it. Using this way makes the brush feel a little bit conflicted, but again nothing that cant be lived with.
At first I worried this brush might not hold up building lather. It's very low cost and was built to apply powder gently to a woman's face. Loading soap and building lather would seem to be well over this amount of stress. Dispite this the brush has not shed one hair. Zero, nothing. So for now its bulletproof. More time using this brush will be the only way to tell though.
All and all the EcoTools Bamboo Bronzer Brush makes for a fantastic shaving brush, especially for $7. There are a couple quirks to live with, but really for the price nothing comes close to this brush.
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