Vie-Long 13723 problem ?

[Iasonas]

Hello guys,

Some months back I got my first and only horse hair brush, a Vie Long 13723. I have been using it for some time now and I have noticed a problem, when I use circular motions and the same time force the brush on my face the center hair of the brush get tangled together ending up with a big hole in the center of my brush. I managed to restore the hair to their first condition by brushing them with a pin. So are horse hair brushes ment to be using only with painting motions or mine has a problem?

 

[mblakele]

There was some previous discussion at http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ng-horse-brush-not-suitable-for-facelathering. These comments made sense to me:

Horse hair is used for making painting brushes. By nature, the hair is brittle, not very resilient and doesn't tolerate circular motion and mashing. Actually, when mashed, they feel prickly. I call it threshold of prickliness. If you start feeling your horse brush too scritchy, it's a sign you push it too much. Usually, the knots are made with higher lofts to prevent bristles from breaking and to bend better. They release lather very easily by slapping, painting, and wiping motion. That's what these brushes are made for. The biggest fault of the manufacturer is they don't provide a warning note or something about this 'property' of the brush.

I have the BullGoose Beehive Natural Horse, Vie-Long knot @ 55mm, my first Horse with a loft higher than 47mm, and face lather with circular motions with no knotting problems. You don't need to use too much pressure when lathering with your Horse Hair Brush, let the tips do the work of building your lather. I've had over a dozen V-L Horse Brushes and only one exhibited the knotting problem the posted by the OP, I gently combed it out and the problem never reappeared, probably too much pressure when lathering with it.

My own experience is that it seems to be more of a problem with the sketched hair than with the undyed knots.