Generally we hear their name when it comes to boar brush. I mean, I know that there are many people that love their boar brushes. I would even risk to say that if someone would ask those people "What is a boar brush, and how can we find the best one?" they would probably reply like "Boar brush? What is that? Oh, did you mean Semogue?" and they have every right to say so 
Is it not almost the same as The French would use the word blaireau (which means badger) to define a shaving brush, as if they would not agree with other kinds of brushes such as boars or horses?
But today I want to focus on Semogue's horse brushes that have been released in their 2020 Series. I really don't know why but there is no topic that would review, analyze, rate those brushes. From the first time of using this brush, the thing that it does not have its own topic in Badger&Blade was eating away at me. So I am the one to take the chance to try and explain, why this brush should be taken into consideration when it comes to buying a brand-new shaving brush.
Before I start I want to say that I have never used any other horsehair shaving brush from different companies such as Vie-Long etc. "If you have not used another horsehair shaving brush, then how are you going to decide if it is a good brush or not?!" you may ask, and you have every right to do so, but my main goal is to break down the prejudices. I know, I know that those people who did not like horsehair had a very serious and legitimate reasons. The fact that many people have died during WWI because of horsehair shaving brush should be the main one IMO.
If you don't know the story about it and you are interested, you can simply check using keywords such as horsehair brush and anthrax etc. But if I have to describe the situation that I am talking about, here is what I can say: At that time badger brushes were at the top (as they are still ) and everyone would desire to get one, but it is war, yeah, there is only cold and blood, so they were very hard to obtain. So people have decided to produce a brush that would look like the badger one. Imitation brushes were made, but... It turned out that those brushes put men at risk of anthrax. But how? Those people (especially soldiers) of course did not come into contact with the horses themselves, but the bristles that manufacturers have imported were not disinfected and the bacteria in them made its way into cuts and nicks. But at the present time you really don't have to be worried about this as there is not such a threat.
Although I think it is never enough with historical side of shaving equipments, I have to move on and complete the review of this beautiful brush. I have to admit that I am having a really hard time to decide where I should start, but cliches can be good sometimes and may even save you, yeah? So, here are the measurements of brush:
First things first, as I said my aim is to break down the prejudices about horsehair brushes, on the other hand I have not used any other horsehair brushes, so how will I do it? From time to time I will be comparing it to a boar, badger or even a synthetic. “But can you compare an apple to an orange?” Of course, not. But, on the other hand, I believe that many people wonder about how a horsehair brush would perform in comparison to a boar, badger or synthetic.
I was really amazed by simpleness and minimalist approach of Semogue. A full black brush that makes you say “Wow, is this a Mérens?” at the first glance. It is made from beech wood. Under the handle we see an engraved ‘signature’ of Semogue.
But on the other hand the ‘Semogue’ that you see right on the handle is a sticker, and it makes you think like “What if it falls down after some time?” but for now I don’t have any problem with this.
Hairs are thick. I mean thick-thick. That reminded me of the ‘one-annoying-black’ bristle in boar brushes. From my conversation with Semogue, I can add those extra informations: Semogue carefully selects each batch of horsehair in order to provide 2 qualities: Pure (Pharos) and Premium (Galahad). Many people think that hairs are taken only from mane of horse, but it is not true. Of course, both hair types may (or may not) contain hair from mane, but in general it is taken from several parts of the horse, not only from mane. So we can say that there is a difference between Galahad and Pharos one. Let’s find out the differences:
We can not say that Pharos will perform worse than Galahad, no. They are just built different. It depends on your preference. There will be shaving-lovers that prefer less backbone, and others — more. But it does not mean that Pharos will be more scratchy, as I said they are just different.
Before I buy this brush I have watched tons of videos about horsehair brushes and read a lot about them, I have even talked to people who have tried horsehair brushes. Based on all of these informations I’ve come to conclusion that horsehair brushes have 3 main problems such as:
The brushes about which people were complaining were not made by Semogue, by the way. A friend of mine says that the reason why those brushes had Floppiness and Tangling, was that the hairs were not bleached, and in order to reduce scratchiness of the brush they wanted to keep the loft long. And that caused such problems. And that sounds logical actually. If I have to talk specifically about Pharos, there is absolutely no tangling, it allows you to face lather as you want to, and it is not scratchier than a boar. I really can’t define this brush as “floppy”, because it has a backbone that is somewhat similar to the one in Yaqi Sagrada Familia 22mm 2band badger brush.
Let's answer some questions in order to understand the performance of Pharos.
“How does it feel on the face?”
“Hodowater?” (Just like ‘Hodor’ it is a nonsense word that derivers from ‘Hold the water’. This is somewhat neologism that is made by me specifically for this thread, haha)
“Does it smell?”
Thank you so much for your concern. I hope this thread will answer the potential questions about Semogue's horsehair brush. Before ending my comments, I invite you all to gaze off into the view:
Is it not almost the same as The French would use the word blaireau (which means badger) to define a shaving brush, as if they would not agree with other kinds of brushes such as boars or horses? But today I want to focus on Semogue's horse brushes that have been released in their 2020 Series. I really don't know why but there is no topic that would review, analyze, rate those brushes. From the first time of using this brush, the thing that it does not have its own topic in Badger&Blade was eating away at me. So I am the one to take the chance to try and explain, why this brush should be taken into consideration when it comes to buying a brand-new shaving brush.
Before I start I want to say that I have never used any other horsehair shaving brush from different companies such as Vie-Long etc. "If you have not used another horsehair shaving brush, then how are you going to decide if it is a good brush or not?!" you may ask, and you have every right to do so, but my main goal is to break down the prejudices. I know, I know that those people who did not like horsehair had a very serious and legitimate reasons. The fact that many people have died during WWI because of horsehair shaving brush should be the main one IMO.
If you don't know the story about it and you are interested, you can simply check using keywords such as horsehair brush and anthrax etc. But if I have to describe the situation that I am talking about, here is what I can say: At that time badger brushes were at the top (as they are still ) and everyone would desire to get one, but it is war, yeah, there is only cold and blood, so they were very hard to obtain. So people have decided to produce a brush that would look like the badger one. Imitation brushes were made, but... It turned out that those brushes put men at risk of anthrax. But how? Those people (especially soldiers) of course did not come into contact with the horses themselves, but the bristles that manufacturers have imported were not disinfected and the bacteria in them made its way into cuts and nicks. But at the present time you really don't have to be worried about this as there is not such a threat.
Although I think it is never enough with historical side of shaving equipments, I have to move on and complete the review of this beautiful brush. I have to admit that I am having a really hard time to decide where I should start, but cliches can be good sometimes and may even save you, yeah? So, here are the measurements of brush:
Knot diameter: 21mm
Loft: 50mm
Height of handle: 53mm
Total height: 103mm
First things first, as I said my aim is to break down the prejudices about horsehair brushes, on the other hand I have not used any other horsehair brushes, so how will I do it? From time to time I will be comparing it to a boar, badger or even a synthetic. “But can you compare an apple to an orange?” Of course, not. But, on the other hand, I believe that many people wonder about how a horsehair brush would perform in comparison to a boar, badger or synthetic.
I was really amazed by simpleness and minimalist approach of Semogue. A full black brush that makes you say “Wow, is this a Mérens?” at the first glance. It is made from beech wood. Under the handle we see an engraved ‘signature’ of Semogue.
But on the other hand the ‘Semogue’ that you see right on the handle is a sticker, and it makes you think like “What if it falls down after some time?” but for now I don’t have any problem with this.
Hairs are thick. I mean thick-thick. That reminded me of the ‘one-annoying-black’ bristle in boar brushes. From my conversation with Semogue, I can add those extra informations: Semogue carefully selects each batch of horsehair in order to provide 2 qualities: Pure (Pharos) and Premium (Galahad). Many people think that hairs are taken only from mane of horse, but it is not true. Of course, both hair types may (or may not) contain hair from mane, but in general it is taken from several parts of the horse, not only from mane. So we can say that there is a difference between Galahad and Pharos one. Let’s find out the differences:
Pharos has pure horsehair = More backbone, but less soft tips.
Galahad has premium horsehair = Less backbone, but soft tips
We can not say that Pharos will perform worse than Galahad, no. They are just built different. It depends on your preference. There will be shaving-lovers that prefer less backbone, and others — more. But it does not mean that Pharos will be more scratchy, as I said they are just different.
Before I buy this brush I have watched tons of videos about horsehair brushes and read a lot about them, I have even talked to people who have tried horsehair brushes. Based on all of these informations I’ve come to conclusion that horsehair brushes have 3 main problems such as:
- Floppiness
- Tangling
- Water retention
The brushes about which people were complaining were not made by Semogue, by the way. A friend of mine says that the reason why those brushes had Floppiness and Tangling, was that the hairs were not bleached, and in order to reduce scratchiness of the brush they wanted to keep the loft long. And that caused such problems. And that sounds logical actually. If I have to talk specifically about Pharos, there is absolutely no tangling, it allows you to face lather as you want to, and it is not scratchier than a boar. I really can’t define this brush as “floppy”, because it has a backbone that is somewhat similar to the one in Yaqi Sagrada Familia 22mm 2band badger brush.
Let's answer some questions in order to understand the performance of Pharos.
“How does it feel on the face?”
— I have seen guys who were saying “Oh my god this brush has a feeling that is similar to a silvertip badger brush”, well, they are delusional. If there is anything like that, It should be somewhere between pure and best (maybe even ‘the best’ could be too much!) badger grade maximum.
“Hodowater?” (Just like ‘Hodor’ it is a nonsense word that derivers from ‘Hold the water’. This is somewhat neologism that is made by me specifically for this thread, haha)
— It does a good job when it comes to water retention. It, of course, will not make a lather mound as an Omega boar would, but from the creaminess of the lather you understand that it makes its job as a brush should. And as I generally prefer 2-pass shaves, I didn’t realize any problem with holding the lather.
“Does it smell?”
— Unfortunately, yes. But I have good news for you, it passes after 2-3 shaves. I know, when you get your boar brush first, it smells like hell, well, then this is double hell. I strongly recommend you to lather 3-5 times using a strong-scented soap like Arko before the first use.
Thank you so much for your concern. I hope this thread will answer the potential questions about Semogue's horsehair brush. Before ending my comments, I invite you all to gaze off into the view:
And it is sold on European Amazons too! My problems are over! €15 isn't bad!
