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Favorite brushes and why - detailed

I used to put thought into all of that, and I still do to a degree, but I just know what I want to use now without putting too much thought into it. It all comes down to preference. Any brush that isn't missing half its knot will do just fine in creating lather. May take a bit longer, but it's marginal to me. Might not be someone else's experience though.
 
Im relatively new (September 2022) to wet shaving. One of the biggest pieces of advice people give to new wet shavers is to try a variety of products of each type (razors, blades, brushes, etc.). This makes sense. I have (what I think) is a brush in each fiber type:
Boar, badger, synthetic, horse

My questions are:
What type of brush is your favorite and why for:
Hard soaps (tallow based)
Glycerin soaps
Creams
Sticks
Face lathering
Bowl lathering
Overall

Specific brush

Here are my choices in the limited time I've been wet shaving:

Hard soaps (tallow based) - badger:
Good backbone and whips lather pretty well.

Glycerin soaps - synthetic:
I don't know why but it just seems that way.

Creams - badger:
Whips up nice lather

Sticks - boar
Strong backbone for face lathering

Face lathering - boar
Strong backbone to build lather

Bowl lathering - badger
Whips up nice lather overall

Overall - badger
Most versatile

Specific brush:
Vintage Ever - Ready R40 badger - it's the most versatile for me and has a good balance of a strong enough backbone, softness, exfoliating/massaging, builds best overall lather.

The horse hair is ok but feels more like actual hair.

I could just be talking out of my butt but these are my observations and opinions so far.
NOT all TALLOW based soaps are hard. I use PRORASO (White) - Cella - Arko and Tabac soaps. All of which
can be mashed and pressed into a shaving bowl ( I bowl lather). The ARKO has to be sliced -up first. Of the above mentioned soaps only TABAC has to be grated first before forming onto a soap bowl.
 
NOT all TALLOW based soaps are hard. I use PRORASO (White) - Cella - Arko and Tabac soaps. All of which
can be mashed and pressed into a shaving bowl ( I bowl lather). The ARKO has to be sliced -up first. Of the above mentioned soaps only TABAC has to be grated first before forming onto a soap bowl.
Proraso is non-tallow based and of course the new formula of Tabac isn't either, but maybe you're talking about the old version.
 
I like synthetic brushes that have thicker fibres because I like the face feel as compared to very thin fibres that make the knot feel like a wet cotton ball.

The thicker fibres are Muhle STF, Apshave G5x, Lansky HD and Frank Shaving G7.
Unfortunately, there's not much more choice than these as the majority of synthetic fibres are thin.

For badger, I only have one that I wanted to keep: Simpson Commodore X2 Best. It's from 2013 and I feel it's the pinnacle of the Best grade...I guess I won the Best badger lottery!
Feels like a soft silvertip but with face feel.
I also love the Commodore handle, my favorite from Simpson.
 
I've tried horse, badger, synths and boar, and for my money horse beats all. Badgers felt so mushy to me I felt like I was throwing a mop on my face. Synths were the opposite - too boingy. I do like boar and have a TurnNShave shoat knot that I really like - it's actually softened up quite nicely. Given that it's a fairly large brush, I use it on wide-tin soaps and is very good with tallow types - a Barrister & Mann type soap is right up this one's alley.

But my favorite brush is a Shave Forge 24mm horse knot that I put onto a Whipped Dog resin handle. I usually lather in the bowl then use the brush to paint. By far the most comfortable type I've used, with no tangles, floppiness, anthrax or any of the other foolishness horse-haters like to whine about. I'm actually thinking of doing another horse knot into an AP400 handle. For readymades, Zenith is supposedly the one to go with.

Jump off the badger train. Give the horse a ride.
 
I've tried horse, badger, synths and boar, and for my money horse beats all. Badgers felt so mushy to me I felt like I was throwing a mop on my face. Synths were the opposite - too boingy. I do like boar and have a TurnNShave shoat knot that I really like - it's actually softened up quite nicely. Given that it's a fairly large brush, I use it on wide-tin soaps and is very good with tallow types - a Barrister & Mann type soap is right up this one's alley.

But my favorite brush is a Shave Forge 24mm horse knot that I put onto a Whipped Dog resin handle. I usually lather in the bowl then use the brush to paint. By far the most comfortable type I've used, with no tangles, floppiness, anthrax or any of the other foolishness horse-haters like to whine about. I'm actually thinking of doing another horse knot into an AP400 handle. For readymades, Zenith is supposedly the one to go with.

Jump off the badger train. Give the horse a ride.
@Bjlefebvre my Vielong black horsehair did very nicely with Arko on this past shave. Do you have any experience with Vielong or that brush in particular? Thanks for chiming in
 
@Bjlefebvre my Vielong black horsehair did very nicely with Arko on this past shave. Do you have any experience with Vielong or that brush in particular? Thanks for chiming in

My first horsehair was a Vie Long Cachurro. I very much liked the brush and the handle, but that particular brush just shed waaaaay too much. I was getting like 2-3 hairs on my face or on the puck per shave. I'm right now enjoying a Shave Forge 24mm knot. I may try transferring that to a PAA Rubberset 400 handle.
 
Omega 621 Silvertip is the best bang for buck. Very well balanced backbone close to luxurious side, good splay, good flow, very soft tips.
If I can pick only one of my brushes I will Omega 621


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I've had badger and boar. They were good, compared to the old timey synthetics I had. However, once I tried some of the newer synthetics I got rid of all badger and boar brushes. I like good synthetics for all soap and cream types. For me, there is no comparison.

I kept one synthetic in 22mm because it was a good brush (Yaqi Cola). However, I have come to like knots of 25mm to 28mm.

My favorite is a Rudy Vey with 25mm Muhle STF knot. Spectacular brush. My next favorite is a Shavemac 28mm Fiber. My third favorite is a APShaveCo G5A, and my forth favorite is the previously mentioned Yaqi Cola (discontinued). I have other brushes that I like, one being a no-name shop brand, but these four are my favorite, especially the Muhle knot RV.
 
Im relatively new (September 2022) to wet shaving. One of the biggest pieces of advice people give to new wet shavers is to try a variety of products of each type (razors, blades, brushes, etc.). This makes sense. I have (what I think) is a brush in each fiber type:
Boar, badger, synthetic, horse

My questions are:
What type of brush is your favorite and why for:
Hard soaps (tallow based)
Glycerin soaps
Creams
Sticks
Face lathering
Bowl lathering
Overall

Specific brush

Here are my choices in the limited time I've been wet shaving:

Hard soaps (tallow based) - badger:
Good backbone and whips lather pretty well.

Glycerin soaps - synthetic:
I don't know why but it just seems that way.

Creams - badger:
Whips up nice lather

Sticks - boar
Strong backbone for face lathering

Face lathering - boar
Strong backbone to build lather

Bowl lathering - badger
Whips up nice lather overall

Overall - badger
Most versatile

Specific brush:
Vintage Ever - Ready R40 badger - it's the most versatile for me and has a good balance of a strong enough backbone, softness, exfoliating/massaging, builds best overall lather.

The horse hair is ok but feels more like actual hair.

I could just be talking out of my butt but these are my observations and opinions so far.
I have a Yaqi 26 mm Rainbow brush. I have used it for 3 different soaps; 1 vegan and 2 tallow. I bowl lather only and it works very well. All the soaps I have used are soft. The Yaqi brush has soft bristles yet has a good backbone.
 
For my shave yesterday I used my new Omege 10065, $9 on Amazon. Soaked it in dishwashing soap for 2 hrs, then put some hard soap on it and left it overnight two nights in a row. Whipped up a thrilling heavy foam that sent me over the moon. Best out of my 3 brushes. My other two are a cheap nylon, good for stabbing into hard soaps, and a mixed badger that is also "okay," but my Omega boar is a hoot. Very, very nice shave.
 
The Omega 10065 was my first brush, as recommended by someone here. I really enjoyed it, and still use it from time-to-time, but the Omega Jade boar brush has replaced it. Fabulous!
 
My Simpson Duke 3 in best badger is my favorite, due to its versatility. It can be used with both soaps and creams, face lathering and bowl lathering and has a perfect amount of scrub for all occasions (though if I want more scrub, I just reach for my chubbies), its the Jack of all trades.
 
My favirits brushes is

One line of defence))- is Razorock Barrell end Razorock Barber Handle (Badgers)

Second line is Zenith 506 A end 505 (Manchurian badgers)

Thrid line is Simpsons Capitan end Chubby (Super Badgers)

This is a badgers brushes.



In synthetic is:

Simsons Duke end Chubby.

Sometimes is a Razorock Hive or PAA Greeen Ray.



everything suits me



Simpsons I liked, because they bouth have best classic handle

Razorock liked to me because of the they have interesting handle

Razorick end PAA is my favorite synthetic brushes.
 
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