Impressions of Synthetics?

[BROWNS]

My girlfriend is an animal lover, as in card carrying PETA member and all around P.I.T.A. This morning during my shave she was in the bathroom with me and caught site of my brush. I couldn't bring myself to lie and instead dumbly told her all about it. Needless to say I got a good talkin' to.

I wouldn't consider her SWMBO quite yet (but that's probably wishful thinking). Nevertheless, I'm thinking a synthetic brush to sit on my counter and use when she stays the night may not be a bad idea. Any input?

 

[Slade xTekno]

This is a round-up of synthetic brushes done recently by an B&B member.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=105486

What's wrong with a badger brush anyhow? They're a protected species and they don't die in the process.

Do they? :|

 

[BROWNS]

From everything I've read most badger hair comes from China where they aren't a protected species, and are in fact eaten.

The common slaughter methods for animals being procured for their hair/ pelts is nothing short of barbaric, but I won't get into that :/

Thank you for the reference also!

 

[Anton von Tripp]

I recommend the Body Shop synthetic - I lathers well, has good backbone and the tips are reasonably soft.
If however you find the tips are not soft enough try bowl lathering.
Oh - and did I mention it - they are dirt cheap - only about £5 over here.

Cordially, AvT.

 

[Siv]

^ These are not shaved

The Taylors synthetic is a great brush as per my review and it the best synthetic brush as far as use is concerned.

What you could do though it get an Edwin Jagger (which is not a bad brush) but comes in a travel version - you get to kill two birds with one stone (without actually killing a bird or being killed by the bird).

 

[luvmysuper]

My girlfriend is an animal lover, as in card carrying PETA member and all around P.I.T.A. This morning during my shave she was in the bathroom with me and caught site of my brush. I couldn't bring myself to lie and instead dumbly told her all about it. Needless to say I got a good talkin' to.

I wouldn't consider her SWMBO quite yet (but that's probably wishful thinking). Nevertheless, I'm thinking a synthetic brush to sit on my counter and use when she stays the night may not be a bad idea. Any input?

If I was in your shoes, I would either make the switch to synthetic in all earnestness right away or stick to your guns, use the badger brush and let the chips fall where they may.

Trying to use the synthetic only when she stays overnight only postpones the inevitable, will finally result in her finding the badger hair, and makes it harder for you to finally make the switch that you would HAVE to do in order to continue your relationship.

Your call, but it's been my experience there are no prisoners taken in this type of battle.

 

[Robxcarlson]

The Body Shop brush is a real bargain and a real nice brush. It's $11 and I think you have to spend a lot more to get something nicer.

 

[aquilla]

the body shop brush is good. id advise she looks into peta aswell though, as a vegetarian who is against non-free-range and any animal cruelty (who isnt) i still wouldnt assosiate myself with peta, they not only condone violence towards humans and acts of "terrorism" towards institutions that dont conform to their beliefs, theyre against pets as its deemed as animal slavery and despite this a large percentage of the dogs in the rescue shelters ran by them are euphanised. this is not how most of the members (who fund peta) feel but it is what the "main" members beieve and as such id feel like i was supporting something i didnt agree with if i did contribute towards them. just a quick rant :/

 

[mretzloff]

Why not just use the badger? If she loves you, I am sure she will be able to respect you.

 

[BROWNS]

You guys are right, I'll have to stick to my guns on this one. We've gone through the same dilemma when it came to her being a vegetarian while I'm not.

aquilla- I agree absolutely. While I said that mostly out of exaggeration, I've told her full well what I think of PETA. Caring about animals is one thing, being crazy is another (which luckily is something she agrees with me on).

 

[Siv]

I'm a vegetarian (and synthetic brush freak) while my wife is not vegetarian. We just celebrated our 4 year anniversary and I certainly do not have a problem with her eating meat. We have never had a problem with our respective diets.

The fact is, the badger that produced your brush has died. Your gf stopping you from using it means that badger died in vain. Better you use it than discard it. I still use the leather shoes that I bought before I went veg.

 

[BROWNS]

The fact is, the badger that produced your brush has died. Your gf stopping you from using it means that badger died in vain. Better you use it than discard it. I still use the leather shoes that I bought before I went veg.

That's a great point, thank you very much! I'll be sure to pass that along to her, haha. Part of me still wants to try a synthetic, I can't seem to find that TOBS brush anywhere?

 

[Koss]

That's a great point, thank you very much! I'll be sure to pass that along to her, haha. Part of me still wants to try a synthetic, I can't seem to find that TOBS brush anywhere?

Why not just try out a good quality one just to see if you like it. And really give it a good chance to grow on you. Get to know how they work very well.

At the least, if you decide that you do not like them, you can say you tried but you have your reasons for liking animal shaving products. And then you can list them.

And if you do end up liking them, you can either add it to your rotation, saying that you have already bought the animal brushes and to get rid of them would be wasteful. The animal died for no reason, at least you connect with it by using what it left behind to help you out. Native Americans use animal products for everything. And I doubt anyone could claim they feel more connected and have more respect for animals then they do.

Am I saying that if there was only one last mating pair of badgers on the planet, that it would be okay to skin them dead or alive because I need a new Rooney or Omega? No.

Striking a balance and being conscious of the problems in the world is much better then just shrugging your shoulders and keep on continuing on the same path.

 

[SilkySmooth]

Men-U Premier Synthetic Brush is awesome, especially with creams!

 

[SRock]

^ These are not shaved

The Taylors synthetic is a great brush as per my review and it the best synthetic brush as far as use is concerned.

What you could do though it get an Edwin Jagger (which is not a bad brush) but comes in a travel version - you get to kill two birds with one stone (without actually killing a bird or being killed by the bird).

I have one of the EJ travel sythetics. It is very soft and has absolutely no backbone. Works well enough with creams but is perfectly useless with soaps. This is the only synthetic I've owned though. I'm sure there are better more durable sythetic knots out there.

 

[BROWNS]

Another great point Koss, thanks. And to think all the time I've been spending on this site lately is resulting in something positive! If/ when I do try a synthetic I'll absolutely go into it with an open mind, I might pop into the Body Shop this weekend and pick up the cheap one for a go.

 

[Koss]

Another great point Koss, thanks. And to think all the time I've been spending on this site lately is resulting in something positive! If/ when I do try a synthetic I'll absolutely go into it with an open mind, I might pop into the Body Shop this weekend and pick up the cheap one for a go.

Hey hey hey, Lets not get ahead of ourselves here! This is still B&B! We are enablers! Mwuahahaah!

Become one of us! Become One of us!

Yes, buy 12 backup replacements for your favorite soap/cream. The Shaveocalypse Is around the corner!

Hey if you have a Body shop locally, by all means pick it up! I hear they are actually really good. For a little over 10 USD (I think I heard 11 dollars) you get a synthetic that you would have to pay multiple times more to get even a little improvement.

 

[Anton von Tripp]

[/IMG]

"Funny - he always reacts that way to clean-shaven men"
or
"The smell of after-shave always does that to him"
or even
"You wanna brush? - then come and geddit!"

Cordially, AvT.

 

[TSWebster]

Keep the badger.

The brush already exists, getting a synthetic won't change that. If anything you are being less caring and more wasteful if you dump the badger for no real reason and go synthetic.

 

[New2DEShaving_Montreal]

Are you sure about that? Please show me where you found this information...

Oh wait, I guess you aren't too sure either. Really had my hopes up though. I too will probably never get another badger brush. When I first started with a badger brush (a gift from my wife) we both thought that badgers were simply sheared, like sheep. But that was furthest from the truth, far more than I could have imagined from what I've seen. No wonder the badger species are known to be so fierce. They obviously see humans as a predator.

Ofcourse I think it would be in mankind's best interest to find a non-violent means of obtaining badger hair so we don't carry the burden on our conscience. I agree to what some have said, throwing away the brush makes it all the more wasteful.

This is a round-up of synthetic brushes done recently by an B&B member.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=105486

What's wrong with a badger brush anyhow? They're a protected species and they don't die in the process.

Do they? :|