A good friend of mine works in Turkey. A few months ago, when it seemed as though he would make a reunion a group of us had planned, I put in a request for some Turkish Shaving supplies. He started his quest in earnest but soon discovered he couldn't make the trip. By then he has only scored one brush and a few sticks of Arko. Instead of punishing him further with my odd little list, I suggested he just put them in the next package he sent to anyone stateside and they could forward them to me.
So low and behold, a package arrived yesterday (forwarded from Simi Valley). A simple padded envelope with three sticks of Arko (loosely wrapped in a plastic wrap, and this Lider brush:
The brush looked to be in perfect shape despite the packaging. It had no smell other than a hint of Arko (yes, I know). Last night I gave it a quick wash and a couple of hand lathers. Not one hair was shed. I was shocked. It did a fine job lathering a couple of hard soaps, too. It isn't very dense, but my initial impression was it would perform better than I would have guessed based solely on appearance.
Today I gave it a shot in some live action. I have to say I am pretty impressed for what is obviously a very inexpensive brush. Don't get me wrong, it isn't nearly as pleasant or plush as my 2-band Finest Badger brushes---but it is far and away better than my first brush, the VDH boar and even my Tweezerman. I can see putting this in the rotation with the badgers and the Kent synthetic.
Keep in mind, this is not the HUGE Lider I have seen in a few posts and I don't believe it is the one sold by Bestshave--but I could be wrong. There are some posts here discussing whether these brushes are boar or horsehair. I would have guessed this is a boar brush, thought I have never seen a 100% tail horsehair brush. My friend said he was told it was horsehair--still I have some doubts. But whatever it is, it is a fine cheap brush that I would recommend to anyone who has a chance to try one.
Edit: I have deleted the uipside down pictures twice already, but it remains. Now when I try to edit it, it isn't in the editor--but it remains in the post. Sorry.
So low and behold, a package arrived yesterday (forwarded from Simi Valley). A simple padded envelope with three sticks of Arko (loosely wrapped in a plastic wrap, and this Lider brush:
The brush looked to be in perfect shape despite the packaging. It had no smell other than a hint of Arko (yes, I know). Last night I gave it a quick wash and a couple of hand lathers. Not one hair was shed. I was shocked. It did a fine job lathering a couple of hard soaps, too. It isn't very dense, but my initial impression was it would perform better than I would have guessed based solely on appearance.
Today I gave it a shot in some live action. I have to say I am pretty impressed for what is obviously a very inexpensive brush. Don't get me wrong, it isn't nearly as pleasant or plush as my 2-band Finest Badger brushes---but it is far and away better than my first brush, the VDH boar and even my Tweezerman. I can see putting this in the rotation with the badgers and the Kent synthetic.
Keep in mind, this is not the HUGE Lider I have seen in a few posts and I don't believe it is the one sold by Bestshave--but I could be wrong. There are some posts here discussing whether these brushes are boar or horsehair. I would have guessed this is a boar brush, thought I have never seen a 100% tail horsehair brush. My friend said he was told it was horsehair--still I have some doubts. But whatever it is, it is a fine cheap brush that I would recommend to anyone who has a chance to try one.
Edit: I have deleted the uipside down pictures twice already, but it remains. Now when I try to edit it, it isn't in the editor--but it remains in the post. Sorry.
