Synthetic Brush Suggestions for Christmas Gift

[TENroaches]

Hi, all. I've been trying to get my friend into wet shaving. He finally told me that if I found him an inexpensive synthetic brush, he'd try it. I'm going to get him one for Christmas, but I don't want the brush to be such low quality that it will put him off. Right now, he uses a Mach3 and probably Edge canned gel. He won't switch to DE after he heard what happened to my chin, even if it is way cheaper (cartridges last him forever anyway). I told him that the bigger difference is in the brush/soap or cream instead of the canned gel, rather than the DE vs. the Mach3, as that's what I've read around here.

Anyway, I read good things about the Men-U Synthetic and the Taylor Synthetic, but both would be over $60, I think. Does anyone know of a great value synthetic, like the C&E's BBB of synthetics? If not, I might have to get him one of the two I mentioned.

I think I'll get him some Col. Conk Bay Rum for a soap, because that seems the easiest for me to get consistently great lathers.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[bjrn]

There's quite a clear split between the more expensive and cheaper synthetics, as far as price goes. The budget brushes available are the Omega Sintex, the Body Shop brush, the Culmak nylon brush (only in the UK, so I won't mention that anymore) and the Delong nylon brush. They're all around $10.

You can get the Omega from quite a few places, the Body Shop brush from the Body Shop, and the Delong from Cotton Blossom Crafts. I haven't tried the Delong brush, but I have tried the other two. I'm not really sure which to recommend, I personally like the softness of the Body Shop's tips, but it's a really stiff brush which isn't to everyone's tastes. So perhaps the Sintex is a safer bet, it's floppy but will create lather just fine. There are reviews of both the Omega Sintex and the Body Shop brush.

Since your friend isn't completely sure about the whole traditional wet shaving thing it might be safer to spend $10 on a brush rather than $60.

 

[TENroaches]

Since your friend isn't completely sure about the whole traditional wet shaving thing it might be safer to spend $10 on a brush rather than $60.

Good point. I read the stories on here about people buying $100 brushes for uninterested people and they sit in the bottom of a drawer. Thanks for the advice!

 

[bjrn]

Good luck. I hope he catches the wet shaving bug (and some ADs).

 

[Suzuki]

In my humble opinion, a quality boar brush is better than a cheap synthetic.

I have the body shop - very odd brush, soft tips incredibly stiff shafts that can make it a bit tricky to build and apply lather. Also, synthetic brushes hold no water at all, so you have to add more from the tap.

I'm not sure what your price range is, but for $35 you can get the C&E best badger, which is a great brush for the price. And I would go this route before spending $60 on a synthetic.

As for Boar brushes, Omega makes some good ones for $15 or under and a cheap Wilkinson or Surrey ($6 - $7 at most drug stores) is certainly acceptable to start with. I used my Omega everyday for two or so years before going to a badger - no complaints whatsoever (although I'm not going back to using a boar brush on a regular basis anytime soon!).

 

[TENroaches]

In my humble opinion, a quality boar brush is better than a cheap synthetic.

I have the body shop - very odd brush, soft tips incredibly stiff shafts that can make it a bit tricky to build and apply lather. Also, synthetic brushes hold no water at all, so you have to add more from the tap.

I'm not sure what your price range is, but for $35 you can get the C&E best badger, which is a great brush for the price. And I would go this route before spending $60 on a synthetic.

As for Boar brushes, Omega makes some good ones for $15 or under and a cheap Wilkinson or Surrey ($6 - $7 at most drug stores) is certainly acceptable to start with. I used my Omega everyday for two or so years before going to a badger - no complaints whatsoever (although I'm not going back to using a boar brush on a regular basis anytime soon!).

I wish he'd take a boar hair, or badger. I have two boar hairs and two identical badger hair brushes that came with shaving stands, and I'm not going to touch any of them, but he doesn't want any animal product. So he'd rather have a cheap synthetic that doesn't do anything than, say, a $100 badger hair. I'm not knockin' him for that, I'm just telling it how it is.