First brush?

[FrenchBlade]

So I bought a Merkur 34C HD yesterday, and a Gillette Rocket today.

Now I need to buy a brush and soap/cream..

Any suggestions on the brush? I don't have tons of money to spend, so I want something cheap and cheerful to start of with, maybe buy something more extravagant at a later date.

FB.

 

[c0ry]

Without a doubt, in my experience, the starter brush to go with is a Frank Shaving Finest badger hair brush. The tips are beautifully soft and the hair is springy enough to work great lather with either soaps or creams. The hair is definitely softer and better performing than the other often-recommended newbie brushes: the Shea Moisture brush from Target, and the Tweezerman brush from Amazon.

It's very cheap, to boot.

I bought mine from this seller on eBay. Here's a link to the exact item. Others from this forum have bought from him as well and haven't had any problems. Make sure you send him a message, if you decide to buy it, saying that you'd like the free drip-stand in the matching faux ivory color.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Finest-Pure-Bad...ry-Handle-/280538903725?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

Congrats on your Merkur and welcome to B&B!

EDIT: I'll add a photo of some lather I whipped up with my FS brush and some Mitchell's Wool Fat when I first got it, and a picture of it "bloomed."

 

[Cheesehead Transplant]

I would suggest a Omega 10065, which is a boar brush. You can get one at ShoeBox ShaveShop for $9.99 plus shipping. If you want a badger, I suggest a Tweezerman. This was actually my first brush but I don't really use it that much because I prefer boar over badger. I ordered the Tweezerman from Amazon for about $15.00 plus shipping.