Do you know the basic things you like in a brush? I like a boar stubby, medium firm back bone. The closest badger brush to that is a short lofted two band. Which I have. Any silvertip does not possess a med-firm back bone. Which is a good thing if that will fit into your shave. It is a luxurious soft. That does not fit into my shave now. Not the luxurious part, I’m still going for that but the soft doesn’t fit. My pre shave totally destroys the brushes attributes and action. Could I still use it? Yes but it wouldn’t be as efficient as the boar. Efficiency equals comfort. The higher the efficiency the higher the comfort. In all aspects of your shave. I forget why I was trying a Bic Chrome Platinum. Probably in the spirt of the October shaves. The blade was not sharp enough to keep up to the speed I like in my stroke. I immediately had to move to a DFS. It was a nice shave but not what I wanted to do. When I tried the Cosmo it was noticeable slower than the two other SV’s I tried. I got a decent shave but not even close to what I wanted. The point I’m making is you can fine product and equipment to your shave.
When you are not sure where you would like your shave to be. Than you want a middle of the line badger. As your shave morphs into what you like and what suits your style and techniques used in your shave. You than can go to a brush more suited to your shave and style. Dudes are always selling high end brushes on BST they are fabulous brushes, but they don’t fill their shave requirements.
Presently two of my brushes are 28mm, the rest are 26mm. And I’ve ordered a 31mm. I need a big brush Full face & Full head shave each shave.
You do not shave around any facial hair, small brushes would not suit you. Face shaving you should look at 24 - 26 mm brushes. The 26 could be on the large side, especially if it is a HD high density knot. Which means there would be 10% more hair than a standard density. I prefer HD. Every animal hair brush should be fully hydrated before use. Every brush of any kind should always be fully loaded before use. That way you have a base line to work from. The bigger the brush the more lather you will use. A 24mm would be more than adequate to do a three pass shave on a single load.
I would look at two bands. They will all have a firmer backbone than silver tips. They will be more affordable. I would want the loft to be no more than 48mm. More and it will be moving out of nice scrub range going shorter you move into the heartier scrubby zone.
If your looking at Zenith’s I’ve read glowing reviews on their Manchurian’s. Better brush better hair. Presses into the premium zone. It could be your huckleberry. You don’t know unless you live with one. A good thing about popular brushes like a Manchurian is if you do not like it they are easier to sell. I would stay away from gel tips you can not towel them. I prefer to lightly towel my brush after use. Sivertips do not require anything more that a few gentle flicks to begin drying. I would not purchase a silvertip as a first premium brush unless you are close to exclusive cream use. Nothing can beat a silvertip in cream.
There are many dudes here with a lot more brushes and experience than I have. There is also the brush section and wiki as other resources to check out. In the end there are no short cuts. A brush that I find fabulous might be a complete dog for you. You have to live with them and do many shaves to know.
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