Howdy all, spent some time reading, browsing, and searching, so I'll throw out my questions in my sophomore post on the forums.
Brand new(ish) to wetshaving (owned a cheap cvs boar brush a few years ago with some williams soap to use with my cartridge razor). Just picked up a starter kit in the B/S/T forums, but it's coming with another low cost boar brush. Since it was such a good deal though I figure I can afford to add a decent starter brush to the mix, and still make out for less than a years worth of mach 3 cartridges.
Looking to get a badger brush to start my education with. Doesn't have to be the be all end all of brushes (and it won't be on the budget I'm looking at) just something to get my feet wet with.
I'm looking to spend less than $50 (I know, I know) but don't want to just default to the el cheepo Tweezerman, though I hear it's not all that bad. So far I've been eying up:
Some of the Penworks brushes
The Simpson Special Silvertip (on penworks site for real cheap)
A handful of the low range Omega Badgers (stripey, etc)
There's always the EJ BBB but I'd have to ship from England
I can get a basic Vulfix for the top of my budget - 39 or so.
It's not that I can't afford to get a better more expensive brush. I just want to get myself a well rounded starter kit for relatively little opening capital, try out the world of wetshaving and DE safety razors, and if it's for me I'll happily splurge come christmas time - but until then I don't want to spend a whole ton of money on something that might not be for me (although I have a feeling I'm going to be hooked).
A few extra details (as per the 'what to include in your brush advice post'):
As I'm starting out fresh, I'll play with both soaps and creams, though I'm leaning towards creams - mostly on a whim. I'm going to start learning by bowl lathering, though I'm sure I'll play a little with face lathering after a month or two. I'm a big guy (over 6 foot) with big hands, but I don't have bear hands or anything, so I can deal with holding a mid to smaller brush without feeling like I'm playing with a toy. And as I said earlier, I tried a cheapo boar brush a few years ago, and didn't really like the way it clumped up with soap, shed like a mange ridden dog, and didn't seem to do much of a better job of lathering my face than my hand did (though it did tickle my nose). As far as looks are concerned, I just don't want anything to garish - no deer antler or old whale bone scrimshaw handles, or neon green plastics. But at this stage handle shape doesn't mean much to me (inexperience prevailing).
Any major pros or cons for any of the starters I've been thinking about?
Thanks for taking the time to read, looking forward to learning from the wealth of knowledge here on the boards, and sorry for subjecting you to yet another newbie brush episode.
Brand new(ish) to wetshaving (owned a cheap cvs boar brush a few years ago with some williams soap to use with my cartridge razor). Just picked up a starter kit in the B/S/T forums, but it's coming with another low cost boar brush. Since it was such a good deal though I figure I can afford to add a decent starter brush to the mix, and still make out for less than a years worth of mach 3 cartridges.
Looking to get a badger brush to start my education with. Doesn't have to be the be all end all of brushes (and it won't be on the budget I'm looking at) just something to get my feet wet with.
I'm looking to spend less than $50 (I know, I know) but don't want to just default to the el cheepo Tweezerman, though I hear it's not all that bad. So far I've been eying up:
Some of the Penworks brushes
The Simpson Special Silvertip (on penworks site for real cheap)
A handful of the low range Omega Badgers (stripey, etc)
There's always the EJ BBB but I'd have to ship from England
I can get a basic Vulfix for the top of my budget - 39 or so.
It's not that I can't afford to get a better more expensive brush. I just want to get myself a well rounded starter kit for relatively little opening capital, try out the world of wetshaving and DE safety razors, and if it's for me I'll happily splurge come christmas time - but until then I don't want to spend a whole ton of money on something that might not be for me (although I have a feeling I'm going to be hooked).
A few extra details (as per the 'what to include in your brush advice post'):
As I'm starting out fresh, I'll play with both soaps and creams, though I'm leaning towards creams - mostly on a whim. I'm going to start learning by bowl lathering, though I'm sure I'll play a little with face lathering after a month or two. I'm a big guy (over 6 foot) with big hands, but I don't have bear hands or anything, so I can deal with holding a mid to smaller brush without feeling like I'm playing with a toy. And as I said earlier, I tried a cheapo boar brush a few years ago, and didn't really like the way it clumped up with soap, shed like a mange ridden dog, and didn't seem to do much of a better job of lathering my face than my hand did (though it did tickle my nose). As far as looks are concerned, I just don't want anything to garish - no deer antler or old whale bone scrimshaw handles, or neon green plastics. But at this stage handle shape doesn't mean much to me (inexperience prevailing).
Any major pros or cons for any of the starters I've been thinking about?
Thanks for taking the time to read, looking forward to learning from the wealth of knowledge here on the boards, and sorry for subjecting you to yet another newbie brush episode.
