This is a good size face lathering brush, IMHO: Yaqi Purple Haze e/mew brown knot. Don't be fooled by the stated size of the knots, the actual size of the various knots is very different.
first shave with a synthetic brush.......somewhat interesting.
- Thread starter andromeda673
- Start date
A trick to adding water to a synthetic brush during face lathering is to turn the brush upside down under barely trickling water from the faucet and then without turning it right side up immediately apply the brush to your face and lather some more. Guaranteed method to work. Just remember that you only need a little bit of water at a time until you reach "yogurt". 
A trick to adding water to a synthetic brush during face lathering is to turn the brush upside down under barely trickling water from the faucet and then without turning it right side up immediately apply the brush to your face and lather some more. Guaranteed method to work. Just remember that you only need a little bit of water at a time until you reach "yogurt".
Thanks for the tip! I’ll give it a try.
When I’m not rushing through a shave to get out the door and to work I’ll have to take some time to experiment. My wife said her Yaqi, the rainbow handle with the 24mm knot was awesome when she got her this past week from the 1st use. I got the 28mm tuxedo Yaqi. I’m sure there’s a good lather maker in there, whether my preference for having boar vs synthetic never changes. I think my main hold up will end up being the soft but springy feeling on the face. I’m really hoping it’ll open up a bit to cure it but it may just be how a soft but dense synthetic feels to me on my face, compared to that tall Omega boar. My brush experience is pretty limited, with just a handful of times using anything else.
Then get a YaQi Cashmere as they splay a bit more and are less "springy". I use this one for 95% of my shaves:
Yaqi Cashmere Synthetic Shaving Brush, Dandelion Green Handle, 24mm
Buy Yaqi Cashmere Synthetic Shaving Brush, Dandelion Green Handle, 24mm from West Coast Shaving with 365-day returns.
Congrats on your maiden synthetic shave! With regard to making lather, synthetics are awesome, do the job, and my favorite thing of all: don’t hog your lather.
I’ve tried 4 pretty popular models and they all worked. But do I use them regularly? Nope. Why? Because they feel kind of weird to me. They splay weird and they’re so soft you’re not even sure it’s really touching your face! In general I find the larger knotted/taller lofted models the best since they splay less weird and you can feel them more.
I don’t use synthetics often, but when I do, it’s a Razorock Big Bruce!
I’ve tried 4 pretty popular models and they all worked. But do I use them regularly? Nope. Why? Because they feel kind of weird to me. They splay weird and they’re so soft you’re not even sure it’s really touching your face! In general I find the larger knotted/taller lofted models the best since they splay less weird and you can feel them more.
I don’t use synthetics often, but when I do, it’s a Razorock Big Bruce!
Right now I have two synthetics (one in my dopp bag for travel) and two boars. The synthetic I use regularly is exclusively for creams and soft soaps. My favorite boar (Semogue 1305) I use for hard soaps like VDH. the synthetic, a tuxedo knot is worthless for loading a hard soap. The boar is too easy to over load with a soft soap. I far prefer the face feel of the boar to the synthetic.
Synthetics have come a long way over the years and seem more similar in feel and performance to low end badger brushes than to boars.
Synthetics have come a long way over the years and seem more similar in feel and performance to low end badger brushes than to boars.
I wondered if the soap difference may have played into my wife and I's different impressions. I use an Arko/MWF mix... and she was using a TOBS Lavender soft soap... so I figured it'd build up quick. I usually make her soap for her... and I use my soap, but mix it w/a decent amount of vegetable glycerin then allow it to dry before I put it in a container she uses over a month or so. It's makes for a decent (and cheap) softer soap.
The other thing that I was kind of kicking myself w/this Yaqi tuxedo... so far as it's feel... is that I'm pretty sure the options were a shorter 28mm (the one I got) or a taller 26mm. I probably should have opted for the 26mm as I assume the extra loft would have helped with the splay.
S'ok. It's still a decent brush that has it's own character, even if it never grows on me and will see some use, even if it eventually just gets gifted to someone else starting out. I've given away 10 brushes/razors and a pack of blades for every one I've gotten over the last 4 or 5 years I've been wet shaving, only keeping what worked best for me. And as I had no basis for comparison for these brushes... a starting point that you don't stick with is in no way a failure if you learn from it and know what to go after next time. I already had tried a few badgers and never cared much for them compared to my Omega 48s... so I was probably doomed to be a little critical to a synthetics feel on the face. My wife though? She *loves* hers... and since my order was really to get her a new brush and a surprise soap now... with another I'm holding back for her birthday next month, the whole thing has been a success in my book.
I will give it several more tries w/the different water application and see if the thing just pops for me and my face likes the brush's feel during the process.
Yeah... I gotcha and kind of replied to a lot of this in my previous post.
That feel though? I was kind of surprised. When I touch the brush, it feels very soft... but as I bear down on it... it doesn't really splay at all. It either loads up pressure on my face, or sort of springs away altogether. It made it to where I didn't feel like it was effectively face lathering... I was just wiping with the very tip of the brush against my face or the sides against my face... but could never get it to open and effectively deposit then work up the lather on my face. I'll give it a few more tries though. I've only used it when I haven't had much time to play around as I was getting ready in the morning for work. I need to have some slower, experiment-and-enjoy time.
Most of the shorter-lofted synthetics I tried, especially the Razorock Snowman, was a pain to splay and downright uncomfortable to use and are not fun to bear down with, like you said above. The Big Bruce has a tall loft at roughly 63mm and is the easiest to splay and most natural feeling synthetic I've used to date. Boars with a tall loft like this, like the Omega Pro 49, are way too floppy for me. The Big Bruce doesn't puke water like some of the other synthetics do either, it just traps and holds just the right amount required to face-lather, without the mess. For someone new to wet-shaving, I'd definitely point them to a synthetic first. Low cost, no stink, no break in. Now as to which one? Well that depends on the person but for what they cost, no biggie to figure it out!
My first brush was Grandpa's (around 100 years old now) Ever Ready 100T. I spent many years with it and his straight razors and hones. It's small (Normal size for the time), but lathers like a demon, enough for 3 passes plus a little leftover. I wanted something more 21st Century, but didn't want to get too spendy. A Made-Rite Badger works fine, but hogs lather. A couple of small & cheap synthetics appeared on the shelf, and they lather great, but take more effort to paint on enough lather. Sterling & WCS synthetics work fine, but are just too big. A Virginia Shaving Badger also lathers easily, but it just too big.
My latest & smallest badger is another cheap-o, but it's the right size. It has little backbone and is pretty limp when picking up soap from a puck. I dedicated it to using Cremogena & it not only lathers like a champ, the spineless, limp texture is great - it's like a mop, painting on thick and even lather.
I prefer the small synthetics for quickly building lather, but they're just a little too stiff to paint on a heavy coat of suds.
My latest & smallest badger is another cheap-o, but it's the right size. It has little backbone and is pretty limp when picking up soap from a puck. I dedicated it to using Cremogena & it not only lathers like a champ, the spineless, limp texture is great - it's like a mop, painting on thick and even lather.
I prefer the small synthetics for quickly building lather, but they're just a little too stiff to paint on a heavy coat of suds.
It sounds like the higher-lofted brush might have been a better choice. Tuxedos are well-known for having a stiff backbone. A low loft probably enhances that feeling. But, even the 26mm will take moderate pressure to splay. I have a Yaqi Red Marble (26mm Tuxedo with a 60mm loft) and the firmness of the knot initially caught me by surprise. I mention it in my review (about halfway through).
I use a circular motion when face-lathering, despite the warnings about swirling a brush. But, I found that the circular motion helps to get a stiff synthetic brush to splay. For a really stiff brush, starting on the chin helps.
So, you start by swirling the brush and gradually pressing until the hairs start to "break over"; I theorize that the sideways motion imparted by the swirling is what gets a Tuxedo to open up rather than just flop over. At first, it feels like you're digging it into your face. But, with steady pressure, the knot will suddenly splay out and doesn't require any extra pressure to remain splayed. A thick lather will also prevent the hairs from springing back upright.
Once I figured out what to do, that brush quickly became my favourite. I've bought a bunch of brushes since then, but I keep going back to that Yaqi. Hopefully, you'll eventually get great performance out of your brush, too.
Thanks for the advice. I did just some test lathers w/my 5 year old's assistance when I got home from work yesterday. Loading with a bit more water did seem to wake it up and let it load a lot quicker. I still could never get it to open up and, for him, I mainly just used it like a stiff paint brush... though he seemed to think it was fine... as he really just wanted an old-man-beard.
Starting at the point of the chin to get it to open the move to the sides might really work out well. I also go in a circular motion... with my moppy boars just makes them open and hug and scrub my face to great effect. When I tried it again yesterday on the cheek, I was just digging it in and, with moderate pressure, it still wouldn't really open. If the chin to open... move up to swirl method doesn't work because it still wants to be stubbornly tight... well, it'll probably just be the characteristic of this brush. If I get another, I'll be able to look back at the dimensions of this brush (WCS had knot and loft in the description) then pick something with a more lofty ratio and see if it reacts more to my liking. For $10-15 for a brush, I'll happily give it away and try again. I'm going back to a boat for, what will likely be, my last tour... so I might as well start collecting random brushes and razors again this year so I've got goodies to give folks to try when we're out at sea. My first-year experiment brushes and razors all met with the same fate... but it got a lot of folks into wet shaving.
Wow, that brush sounds as stiff as the one that I use to clean the mud off of my work boots.
If the chin method doesn't work, then I guess you'll have to keep using it like a paint brush. Or, I suppose you could go partially down the rabbit hole and buy one more brush to test. I'd suggest the Cashmere synthetic that @Bogeyman mentioned. That knot has a reputation as an easy splayer.
By the way, did you try your wife's brush (the Rainbow) or are you saving it for her birthday? I've read that it also splays very easily.
I love the Big Bruce. It’s been my go to synthetic for years.
I get along really well with the Muhle STF 25mm lofted at about 54mm.
It's about as soft as my Thater 2band silver tip....but synthetic hairs aren't as flexible as badger,
so a little pressure is required....however this does not affect the brush nor the face adversely.
It's about as soft as my Thater 2band silver tip....but synthetic hairs aren't as flexible as badger,
so a little pressure is required....however this does not affect the brush nor the face adversely.
Wow, that brush sounds as stiff as the one that I use to clean the mud off of my work boots.
If the chin method doesn't work, then I guess you'll have to keep using it like a paint brush. Or, I suppose you could go partially down the rabbit hole and buy one more brush to test. I'd suggest the Cashmere synthetic that @Bogeyman mentioned. That knot has a reputation as an easy splayer.
By the way, did you try your wife's brush (the Rainbow) or are you saving it for her birthday? I've read that it also splays very easily.
No... I hadn't tried it myself. I went ahead and gave her the brush and the TOBS soap now and am holding the Salter mint soap she's used before and likes a lot for her birthday. She said the new brush was great and held enough lather after loading to do her whole body, unlike the whipped dog at the end of it's life. I'll have to give it a try. Eyeing them... the loft length looks about the same... but given it's knot is smaller... maybe the whole different ratio thing will make it work out. I'll try and give it a shot this weekend and see if it opens better. I'm pretty sure WCS had it's loft measured on it's website so I can at least have some numbers to compare against these two if I get another in the future.
I've worked with that brush a couple more times and I'm happy to say it's been a bit more agreeable to opening up for me. I tried the 'start on chin and work to cheek' method and it seems to respond much better to splaying and depositing soap and developing a lather than before. Thanks a bunch @Demolition for that tidbit and everyone else for their suggestions.
I'm glad to hear that it's starting to work out. I think that the chin method will become second-nature and you won't even notice after a while.
But, if it does keep bothering you, then you might like a brush with a Cashmere (or Angel Hair) knot. As mentioned, they splay easily. I can also recommend the Timberwolf knot. It has low backbone and splays with no effort.
+1. Works for me, especially starting from the chin. Never have seen any brush damage from doing so.
The next time I'm in the market… I'll reference back to this thread and look for 'em. Thanks!
I usually just a 4:1 Arko/MWF mix. For fun last night... I just did MWF alone for the first time in a couple years with the synthetic. It worked very well. Either my face has gotten used to it, along with the lathering strategies y'all brought up... or the brush was a little tight and opens a bit easier. I heard badgers don't break in and that was I was kind of afraid of... but it seems to open pretty readily now... especially starting at the chin. I wouldn't call it easy/loose... but I don't feel like I'm trying to lather my face with a [very, very soft] beanie baby now.
