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I was led to believe

S

Steven84

Forgive my ignorance on this matter (I'm a newbie) When I was searching for a brush (long before joining B&B) I was led to believe that the best brush was the badger silvertip brush. I own the Parker silvertip.
I'm reading through the brush forum tonight, not only do I discover that it's not but also that people don't consistently use the same brush and use different ones for different days?weeks :confused1

My questions to you cultured people (clearly more cultured than myself :ouch1:)
Why do you use different brushes- any advantages or purely preference what you feel like on the day?
If silvertip isn't the best what is?

Many thanks
Steven
 
Hms123

Hms123

Steven,
There are a blue million “best brushes”. If it is the best for you and your budget, then count yourself lucky.
People rotate brushes for a whole host of reasons: letting the brushes dry out completely between uses, using different brushes for different kinds of soaps, using all the brushes they bought because they liked the looks, using some brushes for travel (synthetic, or smaller perhaps), having ethical issues with badger hair, and on and on.

Don’t lose sleep over it.
Hms

Btw, welcome. I hope you love it here.
 
Multum in parvo

Multum in parvo

Having at least 2 to let them dry is a necessity in my opinion but there is also the fun part…

Get a few different ones (Boar, Synthetic, 2-3 Badger grades) and develop your personal taste.

BE0ACF5D-78A4-4ABE-8B56-DF0C300323F0.jpeg
 
Mr. Shavington

Mr. Shavington

I’m afraid the worst brush in the world for you will be the best for someone else. You can detest scratchy hair, for example, yet it will be precisely what someone else is looking for in a brush. All shaving brushes will work well for making lather - the rest is really about personal preference and what characteristics best suit the way you like to use your brush.

Personally, I enjoy badger, boar, horse, synthetic, and mixtures of those. So I like all types. They all have their pros and cons, they are different, and I like them for what they are. I tend to prefer soft-feeling brushes that don’t have a stiff backbone, but I also sometimes enjoy brushes that are the opposite, or somewhere in-between.

I’d say just try a few brushes and spend some time with them, perfecting your lathering technique along the way. By then you will probably have an idea which brush characteristics you like and don’t like, and you can get more recommendations.

The one shaving brush brand that I find produces consistently wonderful brushes of all types is Zenith in Italy, and they are very fairly priced. I think you can’t go wrong with any Zenith. There are of course many other nice brushes but it’s a good place to start and you know the brush will be high quality and at least comparable to anything else you might choose later.
 
NorthernSoul

NorthernSoul

Silvertip badger is usually very soft and more costly. Expensive and luxurious does not necessarily make something "the best" (though some people do think that).

If you like to use hard soaps, you may prefer a stiffer brush with more scrub, such as two-band badger or boar hair.

Reasons for having several brushes are many. Brushes can be specialized for face lathering, bowl lathering, using shaving creams or soaps, something compact for travel, plus just having a variety for fun.
 
Chef455

Chef455

Head Cheese Head Chef
A late welcome to B&B. I believe you don't need to look beyond @Hms123 's post for an explanation. If your Parker Silvertip is serving you well you're in great shape. No need to fall down any bunny holes. All you're going to read from here on out is justification to spend more money. Happy shaves!
 
N

Nik

Enjoy the feeling of boar better and stiffer backbone helps with getting lather into thick hair in my opinion. I only have 4 brushes, 1 badger, 1 mixed boar and badger, and 2 boar, haven’t found an urge to buy another once I found semogue boar with acrylic handle. Think you can see the progression as I figured out my taste. All personal preference. I think for some, the price of badger makes it ’better’, like gold wash on a blade. It’s personal preference really, but some will always see the pricier as better.
 
Rudy Vey

Rudy Vey

Shaving baby skin and turkey necks
Brushes are a very subjective topic. What one finds to be the perfect brush for him, is necessarily not perfect or good for another guy. I personally prefer two-band badger brushes (that is a brush that shows only black hair at the exit from the handle and white tips) over a three band brush (light at exit - dark in the middle -light tips).
Don't let you confuse by "grades" of the hair, there is not an agreed on grading system.
A lot of continental European brushes are marked with Pure, Pur Blaireau or Reindachs - meaning they are made from badger hair and only badger hair. Pure from the UK can mean the same, but mainly refers to the lowest hair grade.
Two-band can be named Finest, Silvertip two-band aso. Three band hair is what most refer to Silvertip. Best is a grade above the pure, often a mix of pure and three band silvertip and can sometimes be excellent and sometimes not. Some call the three bands Super, but in the past there was also a two-band Super. So you see it is quite confusing.
Two-band hair is normally thicker in the hair stem and two-bands often have a good back bone, but also often also soft tips; as I said these are my preference. Three band hair is much thinner, and if the brush maker uses a good quality hair, can be very soft (or, as I have found a few times quite scritchy). They tend to have less backbone compared to the same size and loft two-band.
A true comparison is only possible if one compares the same size knot, loft and shape.
The latest trend in badger brushes is chemically and heat treated hair, these brushes have very soft tips (pillow-like, marshmallow etc they are called), often they are over treated and can have a slimy feeling. Not everyone likes them, but some prefer them.

Synthetics have taken off in the last few years, a lot of guys like them, others not. I have no experience with boar, but here on B&B there are quite a number of connoisseurs for boar.
 
BudgetShaverGuy

BudgetShaverGuy

Hi Steven. The “best” brush is very subjective. I have personally found that a well broken in boar brush is softer than anything else out there: synthetic or the softest badger. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on some nice badger brushes but I have to say none are as soft and cozy as a $15 boar brush that’s had some time to splay out and have it’s tips split.

Brushes are so subjective. You really have to spend some time and money finding what you like, and forget the rest, it’s all noise.
 
Barbarian80

Barbarian80

You can have just a single brush if you choose. Most of our fathers used the same brush every day. You might see board members show pictures with dozens of brushes in their den. The reason is they just enjoy them and enjoy collecting them.
One peice of advice I can give- take what you read on the web with a grain of salt as every one has different preferences. Unfortunately the only way to determine what you like is to buy and try different brushes and that can get pretty costly over time.
 
musicman1951

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
It's all personal preference. When I came back to wet shaving after shaving off my beard my first brush was a Parker Silvertip. Mine has a lovely wood handle, is huge and floppy and a lather eater - I hope yours is better. But every brush works.

I like a boar brush in my scuttle, one of the Semogue SOCs.
I like the SOC 2 band badger for face lathering, or the SOC Mistura (although I'm not in love with the bit of scritch from that one).
I travel with a synthetic because they dry quickly. Some members use a synthetic at home daily.
I have a Kent BK8 that is the most luxurious feeling silvertip badger I've experienced.

But other shavers would agree with none of those choices, and some would think that more than one or two brushes is madness.

I have around 20 brushes, but usually use only 5 of them at home. Some were just bad choices for me and decorate my brush shelves. I like soft tips and some backbone, others like some scritch to the tips and can't get enough backbone.

You don't need to start collecting brushes. If you find one day that you want something different in a brush post a description of your experience with your brush and what you're looking for in a different experience, along with a price limit. You'll get great suggestions.
 
Kyle89

Kyle89

Variety is the spice of life. It’s fun to come up with different lies I tell myself to justify buying another one. I happen to be pretty brand loyal, and my brand of choice Simpson happens to have a lot to choose from. It’s fun trying different knot types.
 
gpjoe

gpjoe

Mr. Shavington said:
I’m afraid the worst brush in the world for you will be the best for someone else. You can detest scratchy hair, for example, yet it will be precisely what someone else is looking for in a brush. All shaving brushes will work well for making lather - the rest is really about personal preference and what characteristics best suit the way you like to use your brush.

Personally, I enjoy badger, boar, horse, synthetic, and mixtures of those. So I like all types. They all have their pros and cons, they are different, and I like them for what they are. I tend to prefer soft-feeling brushes that don’t have a stiff backbone, but I also sometimes enjoy brushes that are the opposite, or somewhere in-between.

I’d say just try a few brushes and spend some time with them, perfecting your lathering technique along the way. By then you will probably have an idea which brush characteristics you like and don’t like, and you can get more recommendations.

The one shaving brush brand that I find produces consistently wonderful brushes of all types is Zenith in Italy, and they are very fairly priced. I think you can’t go wrong with any Zenith. There are of course many other nice brushes but it’s a good place to start and you know the brush will be high quality and at least comparable to anything else you might choose later.
Click to expand...

I can't really say it any better than this. ^^^

Most (many?) of the members here view shaving as a hobby, and their equipment as something more than a utilitarian tool to accomplish a task. Along with that often comes a desire for variety and the enjoyment of collecting.

Personally, I own more than a dozen brushes and tend to randomly rotate them, though I do seem to reach for the larger brushes when shaving my head. Other than that I use different brushes on a whim, grabbing which ever happens to strike me that day.
 
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