So I was visiting with my father today because I had the day off, and I told him about venturing out into the world of wet shaving. We started talking about soaps and brushes and he tells me, "I think I still have an old shaving brush. Only used it once or twice. You can have it if you want it." He dug around in his medicine cabinet and handed it to me. Couldn't tell what the bristles were, but it had a green handle, felt like wood of some sort. "You know anything about it?" I asked him. He said he thought he still had the box, and he went and found it too. Turns out it was a little VDH brush he bought at Wal Mart. Still, I needed to shave today, so between the soap puck I bought and the brush he gave me, I thought "What the heck?" but the only problem was that I still had my cheap little Shick Quattro razor. I decided to break in the brush, threw the puck into a big coffee mug and gave it a whirl. I mixed and mixed and mixed and thought I had a good lather going until I spread it on my face only to find that it was weak and thin. I threw a little more water in the mug and really gave it a good mix, and before long I had a great lather going, and I used a tip I found on the Mantic videos to squeeze the base of the bristles and get a good thick foam onto the back of the hand and then dabbed that on the brush and smeared it on. I wet my Schick razor and gave it a go. I gotta tell you, even with a crappy razor, the combination of the brush and soap not only felt and smelled great, but the shave wasn't too shabby. A little closer than I usually get with that razor and a heck of a lot less irritation. In fact, I only nicked myself once and it was because I was trying to shave in a direction I knew I had no business shaving but I tried it anyway. I did two passes with the grain, then did a third kind of across the grain. The only area that still felt a little scraggly is the area directly in the center of my neck, and I have always had a hard time shaving that area. I am interested to see what happens when I my first DE razor arrives, but I have to say that my shave is already way more enjoyable!
First Shave With Brush, Soap, Crappy Razor
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Personally, I like my VDH brush just fine. I don't think they get the love they should sometimes because some of them are shedders and that tends to give them a bad reputation. I've bought several brushes and I don't think that any in the 10 dollar price range are any better than the VDH.
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I broke mine in the way that I read online with a good hot water soak, a little dish soap, some swirling around and a good rinse, and my first shave didn't see me lose any bristles at all. My first lather started off kind of poor but that could have very well been my technique or the soap and not the brush. In any case, it was a pretty nice shave, and I enjoyed it a lot.
I know several Omega owners that would very much disagree with you.
I own an Omega, it sits in my drawer next to my VDH. I've been using my 620 every day lately. My only point is that there isn't a huge difference between the brushes in that price range and it will probably boil down to a personal preference (just like everything else). I think the VDH gets trashed because it's available to everyone all the time, so it gets labeled as a "starter brush". Personally I prefer my 620, but I think the VDH is a fine brush with no offending qualities.
My first was a VDH Badger and I really had no problems with it .My second was a OMEGA Synthetic....I don't like it.
My third is a KENT BK-8 and I love it. The VDH is now stored for emergency use...Whatever that might be.
My third is a KENT BK-8 and I love it. The VDH is now stored for emergency use...Whatever that might be.
My VDH boar is my first brush, and it loses 4-5 hairs each and every shave. Anxious for my Semogue 1305 to get here, so I can compare it.
If mine was a shedder, I doubt I'd like it as much. I like the fatter knot in the VDH, but the bristles are softer in the Semogue... the handle on the VDH feels better in my hand, but the 620 looks better on the counter... honestly, I like them both. I just wonder what people's preferences would be if it weren't for peer pressure to say one thing or the other. Sometimes I think people give in to a certain point of view because it's a safe thing to say. I've bought several boar brushes and they all have subtle differences, but none are the perfect brush for all boar lovers (though Semogue is a good, quality brush). The VDH is a safe buy for someone who wants a boar brush and doesn't want to spend a bunch of cash, I think it's a good value for the money and apparently they have good customer service in case of a shedder.
I haven't tried any of the VDH products, to be fair, but I have both a Tweezerman badger and an Omega boar, both $9-10. Initially I didn't like the Tweezerman precisely because it was a shedder, which prompted me to order the Omega 10066. Now that the Tweezerman has stopped shedding (1-2 hairs per lather now, max) I enjoy it more, but that cheap Omega has never been a shedder and once I got the pig stink worked out of it, I love the way the lather explodes out of boar brushes!
This is good info, I definitely won't turn any of my buddies off of the VDH stuff now, which I had been tempted to do. But now I've got my eye on a Simpson Wee Scot
This is good info, I definitely won't turn any of my buddies off of the VDH stuff now, which I had been tempted to do. But now I've got my eye on a Simpson Wee Scot
I haven't tried any of the VDH products, to be fair, but I have both a Tweezerman badger and an Omega boar, both $9-10. Initially I didn't like the Tweezerman precisely because it was a shedder, which prompted me to order the Omega 10066. Now that the Tweezerman has stopped shedding (1-2 hairs per lather now, max) I enjoy it more, but that cheap Omega has never been a shedder and once I got the pig stink worked out of it, I love the way the lather explodes out of boar brushes!
This is good info, I definitely won't turn any of my buddies off of the VDH stuff now, which I had been tempted to do. But now I've got my eye on a Simpson Wee Scot
1-2 hairs per every single use is still fairly bad shedding.
And yes, Omega = <3
If that's the case, I'm gonna contact Tweezerman and see if I can't get a replacement. The first few times I used it, it was shedding probably 8-10 hairs per, it drove me nuts.
I have a VDH boar brush and an Omega boar brush. Not a lot of difference other than I like the handle on the Omega a little better. Neither has had a shedding problem.
I'm always chiming in here that newbies should start the classic shaving experience in phases. You have done well to start using new lathering products before you start having to concentrate on learning new DE shaving techniques. For a few people I suspect that learning new lathering and shaving processes at the same time is more than they can handle.
I'm always chiming in here that newbies should start the classic shaving experience in phases. You have done well to start using new lathering products before you start having to concentrate on learning new DE shaving techniques. For a few people I suspect that learning new lathering and shaving processes at the same time is more than they can handle.
