For years, I've used the Vie-Long horse hair shaving brush options. They vary as to tail-to-mane ratios, but in viewing the tips with a 10x loupe, they all seem to taper to a very fine point. Indeed, the finest tip of other natural hair options like badger and boar. I have found them not so agreeable to use for face-lathering, and I have been under the impression that it may have to do with the fineness of the tips.
Recently, I have tried the Semogue and Zenith horse hair brushes. Both of these manufacturers offer a choice between a "normal" and a "softer" knot, the "softer" being more expensive. And in viewing the two brands' offerings side by side, the knots seem very similar, leading me to think that they may be coming from the same source. Feel in face-lathering with all of these, be they "normal" or "soft," is better than with the Vie-Long brushes in my opinion. In looking at the tips with a 10x loupe, it appears that most of the hairs have been clipped, with a minority of hairs not clipped and tapering to a fine point like the Vie-Longs. My sense is that the clipping of the tips may be contributing to the less "pointy" or "pokey" effect when face-lathering. Also, the hairs have been loaded in the base of the knot so as to introduce a little bit of "bloom" like badger knots.
Out of curiosity, I ordered a recently-made Vie-Long horse knot to see how it compared. Once again, the tips tapered to a fine point as before. But this time, the hairs had been loaded in the base of the knot so as to introduce a more significant "bloom" than in the Semogue and Zenith knots.
What's up with all this? I understand that things must evolve, but the clipping of the hairs seems to be a lowering of the bar, and in introducing bloom, it seems that the knots are moving away from the quality of horse hair in and of itself, in order to mimic badger which thus becomes the only standard. Much the same seems to be the case for the newer-generation synthetic knots.
Recently, I have tried the Semogue and Zenith horse hair brushes. Both of these manufacturers offer a choice between a "normal" and a "softer" knot, the "softer" being more expensive. And in viewing the two brands' offerings side by side, the knots seem very similar, leading me to think that they may be coming from the same source. Feel in face-lathering with all of these, be they "normal" or "soft," is better than with the Vie-Long brushes in my opinion. In looking at the tips with a 10x loupe, it appears that most of the hairs have been clipped, with a minority of hairs not clipped and tapering to a fine point like the Vie-Longs. My sense is that the clipping of the tips may be contributing to the less "pointy" or "pokey" effect when face-lathering. Also, the hairs have been loaded in the base of the knot so as to introduce a little bit of "bloom" like badger knots.
Out of curiosity, I ordered a recently-made Vie-Long horse knot to see how it compared. Once again, the tips tapered to a fine point as before. But this time, the hairs had been loaded in the base of the knot so as to introduce a more significant "bloom" than in the Semogue and Zenith knots.
What's up with all this? I understand that things must evolve, but the clipping of the hairs seems to be a lowering of the bar, and in introducing bloom, it seems that the knots are moving away from the quality of horse hair in and of itself, in order to mimic badger which thus becomes the only standard. Much the same seems to be the case for the newer-generation synthetic knots.