Echo'd
Synthetic versus Badger
- Thread starter RRGGMM
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Get a Mühle Silvertip Fiber and I am sure you will love it. For me, it does all things well. Mühle, Rudy Vey, and now APShaveCo are sources for this knot.
I suspect that my Rudy Vey STF will be my most used synthetic. The brush handle is made of fossilized Irish Oak which @Rudy Vey estimates is anywhere between 3000-6000 years old which I find really cool! Besides that it feels great in my hand and the brush itself gets better every time I use it.
Unfortunately I’m looking obsessively into the Muhle STF also.
You won't be sorry. There is a good reason it is so highly thought of.
I face lather. I use an Omega boar, a Yaqi Sagrada Familia badger, and a Yaqi Atlantis synth. I like all of these. The only noticable difference for me is that synths seem to spill lather much easier than natural hair (boar/badger) if you get a little to excited while lathering...
I use synthetic at home on rare occasions and prefer my Razorock Monster (plissoft knot). Traveling I use a synthetic all the time because they are inexpensive and dry quickly. At home my main go to is a badger, usually a denser knot than not (ha ha ha).
I am back to Badgers after a long journey that started with Boars, went to Badgers, then Synthetics, and now home. All are capable of making a fine lather, I just prefer the way the Badger feels on my face.
We’re in Bali for 6?weeks. I brought along my twin ESC Ultimate G4 brushes. I’m on my phone at the moment so no photos. Last trip here, I bought my twin SOC Misturas. I missed the larger 26mm knots.
Only two shaves with them, but they are performing well. Early on in my journey, I tried several synthetic brushes that didn’t work for me like the Ultimate. I finally found a Rudy Vey STF and a FB group buy from Alpha Shaving that measured up……..my wife chose those two brushes for her own use.
Only two shaves with them, but they are performing well. Early on in my journey, I tried several synthetic brushes that didn’t work for me like the Ultimate. I finally found a Rudy Vey STF and a FB group buy from Alpha Shaving that measured up……..my wife chose those two brushes for her own use.
I started out with a ceramic handled boar brush that I ruined by stabbing it into the puck. Didn't know what I was doing. Just fixed it with a badger knot of unknown category. Works okay I suppose. I'm not a face latherer so i'm not sure it matters if it's natural or synth. I just smear the lather on and spread it with my hand. I may try a new and better synth soon. Due to poor technique, I just need a brush to scrape me up a good head of foam in the mug and go from there, but there are other ways to get a good lather, according to reports here. 
I've gotten used to a $3.69 nylon, wooden handled ebay brush that hasn't shed in the five years I've abused it. I don't push the tip of the brush into my skin; it's way too spikey. I probably won't go back to it until I get bored with the badger/ceramic one.
I had a Van Der Hagen green handled brush that replaced the ceramic one, that I ruined and just tried to fix, but it cracked in the double boiler, bummer lol. Perhaps I'll get another one for the nostalgia.
I've got an Omega 10065 coming because IIRC my ceramic one had boar bristles and was real soft. Plus it has a yellow handle which I think is shwanky.
But like I said I don't face lather because I got used to a cheap, utilitarian brush. Perhaps I'm missing out on something. Maybe a silvertip is in my future, but in my readings on B&B they can also be variable in quality.
If I try to face lather, the brush holds more foam than what goes on my face. I can only get a thin coating that doesn't satisfy. So I squeeze the foam out and spread it with my fingers anyway, so face lathering isn't a technique I'm into yet, but I have shaver's disease, some days pretty bad, too, so a silvertip may be on my event horizon.
I've gotten used to a $3.69 nylon, wooden handled ebay brush that hasn't shed in the five years I've abused it. I don't push the tip of the brush into my skin; it's way too spikey. I probably won't go back to it until I get bored with the badger/ceramic one.
I had a Van Der Hagen green handled brush that replaced the ceramic one, that I ruined and just tried to fix, but it cracked in the double boiler, bummer lol. Perhaps I'll get another one for the nostalgia.
I've got an Omega 10065 coming because IIRC my ceramic one had boar bristles and was real soft. Plus it has a yellow handle which I think is shwanky.
But like I said I don't face lather because I got used to a cheap, utilitarian brush. Perhaps I'm missing out on something. Maybe a silvertip is in my future, but in my readings on B&B they can also be variable in quality.
If I try to face lather, the brush holds more foam than what goes on my face. I can only get a thin coating that doesn't satisfy. So I squeeze the foam out and spread it with my fingers anyway, so face lathering isn't a technique I'm into yet, but I have shaver's disease, some days pretty bad, too, so a silvertip may be on my event horizon.
Get a Mühle Silvertip Fiber knot from Rudy Vey, APShaveCo, or Mühle if you want a great experience. However, Yaqi tuxedo knots are very nice for a cheap price. I hear great things about Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements brushes, too, though I have never owned one. I KNOW for sure that the Mühle STF knot is awesome and the Yaqi brushes are not bad. Both are handmade.I started out with a ceramic handled boar brush that I ruined by stabbing it into the puck. Didn't know what I was doing. Just fixed it with a badger knot of unknown category. Works okay I suppose. I'm not a face latherer so i'm not sure it matters if it's natural or synth. I just smear the lather on and spread it with my hand. I may try a new and better synth soon. Due to poor technique, I just need a brush to scrape me up a good head of foam in the mug and go from there, but there are other ways to get a good lather, according to reports here.
I've gotten used to a $3.69 nylon, wooden handled ebay brush that hasn't shed in the five years I've abused it. I don't push the tip of the brush into my skin; it's way too spikey. I probably won't go back to it until I get bored with the badger/ceramic one.
I had a Van Der Hagen green handled brush that replaced the ceramic one, that I ruined and just tried to fix, but it cracked in the double boiler, bummer lol. Perhaps I'll get another one for the nostalgia.
I've got an Omega 10065 coming because IIRC my ceramic one had boar bristles and was real soft. Plus it has a yellow handle which I think is shwanky.
But like I said I don't face lather because I got used to a cheap, utilitarian brush. Perhaps I'm missing out on something. Maybe a silvertip is in my future, but in my readings on B&B they can also be variable in quality.
If I try to face lather, the brush holds more foam than what goes on my face. I can only get a thin coating that doesn't satisfy. So I squeeze the foam out and spread it with my fingers anyway, so face lathering isn't a technique I'm into yet, but I have shaver's disease, some days pretty bad, too, so a silvertip may be on my event horizon.
