First use of Vie-Long Sardinero 13800 Horse Hair Brush

[Azarius]

I just received the new Vie-Long Sardinero 13800 Horse Hair from Bullgoose (über fast), and wow, am I impressed.

The only friend that I know into Razors is Edgerunner, so I picked his brain about what I was looking for, and told him I was looking at purchasing a New Horse Hair Brush.

I currently use two brushes, a 1950's Stanley Pure Badger, and a Pre-War German Badger Hair. Although I have other vintage brushes, those are too old and in need of repair. The wife has pretty much taken over the VDH Badger Hair as her leg brush, which is fine by me, as I found the loft too large for my preference.

The first thing I noticed about the brush was no smell, I mean none, nada, zilch. That was fine by me, as I really was put off by the stench of the VDH Badger Hair.

I did not feel a need to break in the new brush, I rinsed it off, did 10 swirls in VDH, and then added some water and C.O. Bigelow to build a nice lather.

Very nice. Much more backbone that the VDH, as much as my vintage German brush, but in better shape. In fact, this reminds me so much of that brush, but with no scritch.

This could very well become my daily user, for sure in top three.

This is a great brush for our Muslim and Vegan shaving brothers, as it is not boar, and no animal is killed, only hair that is removed during normal grooming process is used.

Pictured below with others for size comparison.

 

[Songwind]

I used one of those today. It's a great brush, and completely knocked my pure badger out of the rotation when I got it. I've had it for a couple of months now, and the backbone is about the same, the tips are softer but still scrubby.

Welcome to the polo club.

 

[edgerunner]

Congratulations on the new stallion! Horse brushes are underrated but are very competitive with their high potential qualitites, and have their place in the shaving zoo.

 

[Azarius]

Thanks, I really love this brush, and amazed at how good of a brush that this is for the price. I purchased one for Ken as well, will be shipping off to him Monday. Sure that he will love it.

 

[bowlturner]

The big brother to your brush is the 13061 Vie-Long. A bit more backbone, and a bit more odor to start with, but it is a wonderful brush, too. I like both of them.

 

[Krona Kruiser]

I've got a couple of Vie-Longs and really enjoy them. This is the next Vie-Long on my list. How heavy is it?

 

[Touchy]

Glad you are surprised and liking this brush. So are any of these horsehair brushes very soft, say compared to Semogue or Omega Silvertip, or other brand soft silvertip? I'm still looking for soffft and my 3/1 Super is the nicest on my skin of the 3 brushes I already own. But the 3/1 is probably at my limit for scrubbiness. Still pretty new at this but thinking I will prefer less dense, less backbone than many on this site do. Appreciate the feedback as always!

 

[cvac]

Probably not, and I highly doubt it. Silvertip is my staple and first choice in a brush simply because my skin is pretty sensitive and cannot take scritchy brushes day in day out.

I purchased a Vie Long BGS 2012 in Natural Horse...had to sell it off because it was too scritchy for me. Not just scritchy, but oddly prickly in a really weird way...if you ran your hand across the brush it was uber soft, but while using it I would sharp pricks from some of the scritchier bristles out of nowhere. That was even during painting motions. Now, I'm sure some guys love the feel of the horsehair on the face, but my super-sensitive skin just couldn't take it.

Bottom line, I have boar brushes that are more comfortable for me to use than this and they aren't 100% broken in either.

If you want silvertip soft, buy silvertip.

Btw, the Silvertip version of the BGS 2012 is a phenomal brush, my #1 choice right now, and I will be keeping it.

If you need super super super *soft* tips, Thater 3-band Silvertip is what you want. I have one that I love and the BGS only knocks it out because it has a prettier handle and more backbone in the knot.

Glad you are surprised and liking this brush. So are any of these horsehair brushes very soft, say compared to Semogue or Omega Silvertip, or other brand soft silvertip? I'm still looking for soffft and my 3/1 Super is the nicest on my skin of the 3 brushes I already own. But the 3/1 is probably at my limit for scrubbiness. Still pretty new at this but thinking I will prefer less dense, less backbone than many on this site do. Appreciate the feedback as always!

 

[Azarius]

Probably not, and I highly doubt it. Silvertip is my staple and first choice in a brush simply because my skin is pretty sensitive and cannot take scritchy brushes day in day out.

I purchased a Vie Long BGS 2012 in Natural Horse...had to sell it off because it was too scritchy for me. Not just scritchy, but oddly prickly in a really weird way...if you ran your hand across the brush it was uber soft, but while using it I would sharp pricks from some of the scritchier bristles out of nowhere. That was even during painting motions. Now, I'm sure some guys love the feel of the horsehair on the face, but my super-sensitive skin just couldn't take it.

Bottom line, I have boar brushes that are more comfortable for me to use than this and they aren't 100% broken in either.

If you want silvertip soft, buy silvertip.

Btw, the Silvertip version of the BGS 2012 is a phenomal brush, my #1 choice right now, and I will be keeping it.

If you need super super super *soft* tips, Thater 3-band Silvertip is what you want. I have one that I love and the BGS only knocks it out because it has a prettier handle and more backbone in the knot.

I bought the same brush for my brother, sending of to him in the morning. He has a high end $180 Silvertip. I am anxious to get his opinion since we are twins we tend to have the same likes in shaving gear.

While I am sure that high end Silvertips are nice, the über expensive price tag is not

 

[Arsenal4Eva]

The brush looks great! I've been looking into Vie-Long brushes as a potential alternative to higher end badger brushes. I've been specifically looking at the Vie Long ST-13070. I'm glad to hear your review about the benefits of horse hair brush. Definitely helps me in deciding to purchase one myself.

 

[gus1942]

I just received the new Vie-Long Sardinero 13800 Horse Hair from Bullgoose (über fast), and wow, am I impressed.

The only friend that I know into Razors is Edgerunner, so I picked his brain about what I was looking for, and told him I was looking at purchasing a New Horse Hair Brush.

I currently use two brushes, a 1950's Stanley Pure Badger, and a Pre-War German Badger Hair. Although I have other vintage brushes, those are too old and in need of repair. The wife has pretty much taken over the VDH Badger Hair as her leg brush, which is fine by me, as I found the loft too large for my preference.

The first thing I noticed about the brush was no smell, I mean none, nada, zilch. That was fine by me, as I really was put off by the stench of the VDH Badger Hair.

I did not feel a need to break in the new brush, I rinsed it off, did 10 swirls in VDH, and then added some water and C.O. Bigelow to build a nice lather.

Very nice. Much more backbone that the VDH, as much as my vintage German brush, but in better shape. In fact, this reminds me so much of that brush, but with no scritch.

This could very well become my daily user, for sure in top three.

This is a great brush for our Muslim and Vegan shaving brothers, as it is not boar, and no animal is killed, only hair that is removed during normal grooming process is used.

Pictured below with others for size comparison.

I've had my 13800 for several mos. and frequently face lather with it. Excellent brush. Very good value for the price.

 

[cvac]

Yeah, the price sucks, but I have yet to find anything that feels quite the same. This is why I've shelled out $$ for brushes and will likely continue to do so in the future.

The only cheaper alternative I've found is some of the softer boar brushes on the market...but even these will never feel quite the same as a good silvertip and do take a little time to break in. My Semogue 1250 actually felt pretty soft out of the box and is breaking in at a quick pace. I was able to use it after only a couple test lathers.

Now, if your skin isn't very sensitive or if you have a leather face, I'm sure horsehair (or lower grades of badger) will feel fine on your face.

The one thing I haven't tried is the new Muhle Silvertip Fibre brushes...I will give one of those a shot eventually because I'm very interested to see how they are.

I bought the same brush for my brother, sending of to him in the morning. He has a high end $180 Silvertip. I am anxious to get his opinion since we are twins we tend to have the same likes in shaving gear.

While I am sure that high end Silvertips are nice, the über expensive price tag is not

 

[Azarius]

...The one thing I haven't tried is the new Muhle Silvertip Fibre brushes...I will give one of those a shot eventually because I'm very interested to see how they are.

That is high on my lst to try as well, looks incredible.

 

[celestino]

Nice purchase, sir! Enjoy the brush!

 

[brother cavefish]

Vie Longs are sweet brushes

 

[bluesbishop]

Received two cool gifts today from my brother, one of them being the Vie-Long Sardinero 13800 brush. I have 10 brushes, most of them vintage with the exception of my AoS Silvertip Badger.

First impression of the Vie-Long Sardinero 13800: Not as soft as the silvertip, but a great brush. Used it to build a face lather and had just the right amount of "scrubbiness" to not only hold a great lather, but to exfoliate the face as well. I did not fit it prickly or sharp at all, and found it more comfortable than my vintage boar or badger.

It will be in my top three brush rotation, along with my AoS, and my fathers Stanley Badger brush.

 

[LeftyT]

I just got my two Vie-Longs in the mail today. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL brushes! I think I have a new favorite!

 

[Shamejedi]

Was the 13800 a limited run? I just searched for it a couple of places and came up empty. I've been kicking around the idea of trying a horsehair brush for a while now, and this thread made me willing to try that model.