I need EJ brush advice.

[FJMay]

I would like to hear thoughts on EJ brushes. I believe the EJ brand to be a great one. I ordered the Chatsworth Barley Chrome razor, and would really like to have this matching brush.
Currently, I have a Simpsons Duke 2 in best badger, a Semogue 620 boar, and two custom ShaverJoe (My Big Bro') brushes with TGN knots. I have never purchased a brush. All 4 brushes were given to me by my brother. I don't plan to collect a bunch of brushes. I'm the type of person that tries to buy a few good things, and keep them forever. I don't have the budget or room for a lot of things.

Enter the EJ Chatsworth Style, Barley Chrome brush. I think of it as a work of art I'd get to use. I don't know whether I should get the best, super, or silvertip. Honey badger wasn't an option. Since super is in the middle of the lineup, I figure it'd be a good combination of backbone with soft tips. I know brushes feel different to everyone, but if everyone raves over Jagger brushes, I imagine I'd like them, too.

If you believe these brushes to be way overpriced, say so. If you believe they're worth the coin, please say so. If you have experience with Jagger brushes, I'd like to hear it, positive and negative. Please include which grade of hair you're referring to. This is a great site, and I look forward to the feedback!

 

[ajc347]

I love my EJ Silvertip - it's a great little brush.

I've got two EJ Super Badgers as well and whilst they are good brushes in themselves, I would opt for the Silvertip knot as the tips are noticeably softer IME.

 

[FJMay]

Thanks for the input. None of mine are Silvertip, and I believe I'd like to have one in the rotation.

 

[Useless shaver]

I have two EJ Silvertip: the medium one (21/50) and the large one (23/50). And a EJ Superbadger (23/50).

Except a Kent T8 that I used for 12 years or so bfeore I saw the light of DE shaving, those EJs were my first "serious" brushes.

Not very experienced here but I'll try to add my two cents.

EJ Silvertip is luxurious beyond any doubt. Super is great and after regular use it's become very close to the silvertip. Perhaps the ratio knot/loft of the large one makes it what some would call floppy, although it's not at all. The medium has more backbone then.

I think your personal preference plays its part, obviously. I'm happy with my EJs Silvertip, they feel extremely soft on my face, they perform very well, make lather like mad and are trustful. But I also like my Duke 3 in best, i.e., which is definitely denser, "solider";and my Tulip T2 in super (soft, even a little bit softer than the EJ). Depends on the day, how your face feels, hard or soft soap....? Of course!

 

[ryder]

My first brush was the bottom of the range Edwin Jagger Pure Badger brush (cost around £20). I thought it was decent enough. It was a little scratchy on the face which is a common complaint with budget badger hair brushes.

My second brush was an omega boar hair and I found a quality boar is far superior to a budget badger.

So my advise is if your buying an Edwin Jagger brush make sure its a decent one like a silvertip.

 

[jsmith]

I have a EJ best badger brush. It just has a faux ivory handle so nothing fancy on the handle but the knot is great. Best badger is more than adequate in my opinion, but I don't feel that the higher grades are a waste of money in any way. If you have never had a silvertip brush and you have the money I would recommend it.

 

[Gerbs]

That's a neat looking brush. I have an EJ Loxley silvertip in imitation tortoise which was the first brush I purchased back in 2008 when I started wet shaving. I'm very happy with it.

To address a couple of your questions...

Is EJ overpriced?:
Not exceptionally in general but I think there are better values out there, especially for what you may pay for this brush. It appears to be $255 in silvertip and $185 in super on Amazon. I think you'd be paying up for the handle. You could grab some of the most revered badger brushes in silvertip not just super in this price range. This price range is mostly high-end silvertip territory. Just to give you an example, Rooney's series 2/1 and 3/1 are $80 in "super" silvertip. Custom Shavemac D-01 silvertips are $150 - $166 in 24/48.

Best, Super, and Silvertip?:
My EJ brush is a silvertip. It is incredibly soft. I'm able to bowl lather and face lather successfully with it, though it's a better bowl lathering brush. But it does splay easily and is rather floppy. So if you want backbone, the EJ silvertip may not be the way to go as you've already surmised. In fact, a 3 band knot may not be your best bet. Instead, you may want to look into 2-band silvertips which are considered by many to offer more backbone. If you really want some backbone with soft tips, I'd say you could look into a Thater 4125 2-band or a Shavemac D-01 2-band. The Shavemac is said to have a bit of scritch to it but I can only speak as to what I've read since I don't own one. You can order a custom brush on the Shavemac website. They don't show a chrome handle as an option on the website, even on the Expert custom, but you can contact them and ask if they can do a chrome handle. The D-01 silvertip is highly regarded. The Thater has a combination of extremely soft tips and solid backbone. The thread below has a good discussion of the differences between the Thater 2-band and Shavemac D-01 2-band. I have a Thater 4125/2 2-band and a Rooney Stubby 2XL. Both are 2-bands, offer both backbone and soft tips. The Stubby is probably more of a face lathering brush but I can bowl lather fine with it.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...nd-vs-Thater-2-band?highlight=custom+shavemac

You may get the EJ brush and be the happiest guy on earth but for the money, I think you can attain better value. I hope this is helpful.