Semogue 820

[DEGuy]

Semogue 820 Boar Brush

Gents, have any of you used a Semogue 820 brush? If so, I'd really appreciate your critique of it. I have an 830 and quite like it. The specs on the 820 are the same save the dyed bristles except for bristle quality: the 830 has 90% premium tops and the 820 has 90% best bristles. The difference? Not a clue. I prefer the black/clear acrylic handle and the uncolored boar bristle. Hence, the 820 has my interest. It's part of this wet-shaving guy's obsession. Thanks for the assist.

 

[dushea]

Did you end up picking one up?

I have an 830 that I've got about 25 dry cycles on. Unfortunately it still doesn't seem very well broken in - it's still pretty scritchy and isn't holding much lather. Anyone have experience with how long these things take to break in?

 

[jpakstis]

The premium tops are better than the best, so you might be downgrading some, especially where I think they both have the same dimensions for knot width and height. FYI, here is a good primer on boar bristle grades, especially as they relate to Semogue:

http://shavenook.com/thread-semogue-boar-grades

I found the 830 to be a little too dense and the loft to be too high for my tastes. Personally, I love the 1438. Its less dense and has really gotten nice and soft.

 

[Jarick]

It's a very interesting brush, nobody seems to use it though.

 

[Westaway]

I love my 610 which has the same "look". It isn't pretending to be anything but a boar, so I'd give it a try for sheer honesty and good looks.

 

[Jarick]

A year later, I picked up this brush.

First impressions, more backbone than the 830 and a great size, between the 610 which was too small and the SOC which is too big. Handle is just a hair fat for my small hands but not bad. Lathers easily. Tips obviously aren't split yet so not as soft as a well worn boar.

In more detail, I noticed the brush lathers more like the SOC rather than the 1800, where it almost seems like the tips stick together more. It's like a mini SOC. Hopefully the splay keeps a bit tighter and it doesn't go too crazy.

 

[KVSKP]

Bought the Semogue 820 a few weeks back as a replacement to Simpson Commodore X2 that went berserk in shedding bristles (Use to lose 15 to 20 bristles per shave after an year of usage, what a shame). At first, I was really concerned if I bought the right brush because the loft was not dense as the Simpson and started to doubt if it would be any good.

The first few uses were nothing to write about. The amount of lather would be barely enough to cover my face up with a very thin coating of lather in the second pass. However, after about 5 or 6 shaves, the tips started to split and the loft head was visibly appearing denser than before thanks largely to the split tips. The brush has softened up and the amount of lather that it would whip up increased.

Having now broken in the brush, I can tell you that the last few shaves have been just amazing. This brush now creates so much dense, thick and creamy lather of the same quantity of approx three quarters of an almond sized TOBS Grapefruit cream, that a lot of left unused even after the second pass.

The feel of the brush itself has changed substantially. Not that it was scratchy by any means to begin with, but it has soften up significantly and feels very very good, especially since I am lather it directly on face. I have to say, that it is a totally different product to what I assumed it to be when I first opened the box.

Status on today's shave was that the same amount of the shaving cream was whipped and magically converted into a near centimeter of think coating of dense, thick and creamy lather with enough on the brush for two more passes.

I know money can buy brushes that are even better but then at the price point at which I got this, this is an amazing product. And I also know there may be another brush selling at the same pricepoint which may work similar. But then, I found this and I am extremely happy with it.

 

[EzraCobb]

Bought the Semogue 820 a few weeks back as a replacement to Simpson Commodore X2 that went berserk in shedding bristles (Use to lose 15 to 20 bristles per shave after an year of usage, what a shame). At first, I was really concerned if I bought the right brush because the loft was not dense as the Simpson and started to doubt if it would be any good.

The first few uses were nothing to write about. The amount of lather would be barely enough to cover my face up with a very thin coating of lather in the second pass. However, after about 5 or 6 shaves, the tips started to split and the loft head was visibly appearing denser than before thanks largely to the split tips. The brush has softened up and the amount of lather that it would whip up increased.

Having now broken in the brush, I can tell you that the last few shaves have been just amazing. This brush now creates so much dense, thick and creamy lather of the same quantity of approx three quarters of an almond sized TOBS Grapefruit cream, that a lot of left unused even after the second pass.

The feel of the brush itself has changed substantially. Not that it was scratchy by any means to begin with, but it has soften up significantly and feels very very good, especially since I am lather it directly on face. I have to say, that it is a totally different product to what I assumed it to be when I first opened the box.

Status on today's shave was that the same amount of the shaving cream was whipped and magically converted into a near centimeter of think coating of dense, thick and creamy lather with enough on the brush for two more passes.

I know money can buy brushes that are even better but then at the price point at which I got this, this is an amazing product. And I also know there may be another brush selling at the same pricepoint which may work similar. But then, I found this and I am extremely happy with it.

AMEN! i have many semogues, and my 820 is my favorite. this soft and luxurious little beast never fails me, it creates amazing lather and also does lather painting like no other. . using it tonight with my arko stick for a face lathering travel shave.

 

[corlay]

Bought an 820 recently.
Really like the weight and profile/design of the handle.
Out of the box, it felt fine on the face.
Lathers pretty well now, and if that's going to improve with use,
I will have no complaints!

 

[Rudy Vey]

 

[Chaucer]

I'm breaking one in. After 5 shaves, it seems OK with my TOBS cream, but lathering my WK soap with it's still a challenge. The contrast with all my badger brushes is striking in favor of the badgers.

 

[Demaratus]

View attachment 1195097

Part of why I like B&B is they threads aren’t locked so we get fun blasts from the past like this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Chaucer]

I'm breaking one in. After 5 shaves, it seems OK with my TOBS cream, but lathering my WK soap with it's still a challenge. The contrast with all my badger brushes is striking in favor of the badgers.

After 7 shaves with this brush and a good quality soap (Wholly Kaw Man from Mayfair), I’m still unimpressed. I get nice face lather for the 1st pass, but almost none for the 2nd so I have to reload. With all of my badger brushes of different grades, I get plenty of lather for 3 passes. With the badger brushes, but not with the boar, the lather seems to work its way into the interior of the brush, so it stays available.

Am I doing something that works for badger but is wrong for boar?
- Wash my face with warm water.
- Soak the brush in warm water and bloom the soap for a few minutes.
- Flick off excess water from the brush.
- Load the soap onto the brush for 20-25 seconds.
- Brush the lather on with mostly circular motion.

I’d appreciate advice.

 

[Sotiris_A]

I think it just needs more uses to break in. For now, let the water drip by gravity, then flick it only once and experiment a bit with the loading time. Perhaps 5-10 more seconds might do the trick. I hope this helps.

 

[SterFry]

Did you end up picking one up?

I have an 830 that I've got about 25 dry cycles on. Unfortunately it still doesn't seem very well broken in - it's still pretty scritchy and isn't holding much lather. Anyone have experience with how long these things take to break in?

My 1470 took some 60 cycles before it finally broke in. All the way up to that point it would just suck lather out of existence. I almost PIFd it a couple times because I was used to Omegas that break in after 15 cycles...thank heavens I didn't. I love that brush now.

 

[Chaucer]

My 1470 took some 60 cycles before it finally broke in. All the way up to that point it would just suck lather out of existence. I almost PIFd it a couple times because I was used to Omegas that break in after 15 cycles...thank heavens I didn't. I love that brush now.

You guys are very, very patient. I'll try the idea of leaving the knot wet and loading for a few more seconds. But 60 mediocre shaves is about 50 too many for me. But thanks for your thoughts.

 

[SterFry]

You guys are very, very patient. I'll try the idea of leaving the knot wet and loading for a few more seconds. But 60 mediocre shaves is about 50 too many for me. But thanks for your thoughts.

You can try the soaking overnight then rubbing the bristles back and forth over a flat towel for 10 minutes, if you like. That speeds things along enormously.

 

[SterFry]

If you're not OCD about wasting a little lather you can just Marco method it until it's broken in. It's impossible to run out of lather via Marco method

 

[Chaucer]

Link to the Marco method please?

 

[Demaratus]

You can try the soaking overnight then rubbing the bristles back and forth over a flat towel for 10 minutes, if you like. That speeds things along enormously.

Yeah, just soak the brush for five minutes and then shake dry and vigorously towel it off. Just do that every 3 days for a couple of months until the ends split to your liking. No reason to use soap in it until that point—it’s the drying action which splits the ends so just keep cycling it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk