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Vie-long Horsehair brush

If anyone has experience with the vie-long horsehair brush,I would like to know how it compares to boar and badger.I have a shavemac 177 and rooney 3/1 that I have used since I started de shaving in 2007.I just got a boar omega 48 and like it so I was wondering how the horsehair was.
 
horse hair is great,but different than boar or badger.It is closer to black badger,but still not an exact match.Horsehair makes a fine lather,and horse hair lasts a long time.Works with cream or soap.If you want quality ,vie-long is the only solution.The vie-long 23mm horse brushes are the worlds finest..
 
...It is closer to black badger,but still not an exact match.Horsehair makes a fine lather,and horse hair lasts a long time.Works with cream or soap.If you want quality ,vie-long is the only solution.The vie-long 23mm horse brushes are the worlds finest..

Vie-Long is Top Quality, you can customize your loft, select a Mane(stiffness)/Tail(softness) Ratio & choose Banded or Natural Brown Hair. IME, I find the 35/65 Ratio is softer than the Black Badger and with a Custom Loft < 50mm can easily load & lather Hard Soaps like Tabac. I'd go as far as to say the tips can be compared to my Finest Brush, very close to that softness, When Face Lathering I prefer the 20mm Knot, YMMV.
 
Vie-Long is Top Quality, you can customize your loft, select a Mane(stiffness)/Tail(softness) Ratio & choose Banded or Natural Brown Hair. IME, I find the 35/65 Ratio is softer than the Black Badger and with a Custom Loft < 50mm can easily load & lather Hard Soaps like Tabac. I'd go as far as to say the tips can be compared to my Finest Brush, very close to that softness, When Face Lathering I prefer the 20mm Knot, YMMV.

For those thinking about a high quality horse hair brush,keep in mind the quality of the tinted hair brushes is as good as the natural,the deep black tints will really bleed heavily the first rinse,and then will stop leaching the tint permanently.Both natural and tinted brushes will have a very slight aroma when new,my 5 brushes all had very faint scents to them,and after a good shampoo,a mar-v-cide bath and a couple of shaves,they smell as good as a $650 plisson !
 
Hate to be the odd man out but I have had the Rooney 3/1 (sold it and loved it but how many brushes does a body need?) and now have the horsehair. The loft is a bit high for my taste but that is just me and I find it borderline floppy but not quite. LOVE the shape of the handle. It holds a lot of lather but I wouldn&#8217;t say it is my favorite. For the price, a good value. What is a thread without a pic?
 
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Hate to be the odd man out but I have had the Rooney 3/1 (sold it and loved it but how many brushes does a body need?) and now have the horsehair. The loft is a bit high for my taste but that is just me and I find it borderline floppy but not quite. LOVE the shape of the handle. It holds a lot of lather but I wouldn&#8217;t say it is my favorite. For the price, a good value. What is a thread without a pic?

Guess you didn't know you could customize your loft at no extra charge?, I find most of the lofts are a bit on the high side for me. I mostly use Hard Soaps & when using Creams I do have other brushes with higher lofts.
 
Now WAIT a minute - so if I send it off to Rudy he can give it a haircut? Or do I get out the scissors?

You definitely don't want to cut the tips of ANY shaving Brush, my reference to the customization was on the initial order if it was from Gifts& Care. I have the same Handle with the Horse/Badger mix & the Factory Loft of 57mm, not good for Face Lathers, but works great in a bowl for those Weekend Shaves & loads soaps like Tabac easy enough. Now if you want to shorten that loft, Rudy could get it out but the Handle would have to be broken & unusable. I good reason for a Custom Rudy Vey with a Horse Hair Knot like I did with my 13713 Horse taking it from a 55mm Loft to a 45mm, now its a Face Lathering Machine.
 

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Wow mf, not much bloom with the new loft though huh (though I suppose mine is pretty well used right now and there is not much bloom to it either and it is a factory brush...)? How much stiffer did that make the brush by setting it that low?
 
Wow mf, not much bloom with the new loft though huh (though I suppose mine is pretty well used right now and there is not much bloom to it either and it is a factory brush...)? How much stiffer did that make the brush by setting it that low?

That Photo was right after receiving the Brush from Rudy, the Brush is way stiffer after reducing the loft 10mm & loves Tabac Soap for Breakfast. I forgot I had taken some photos last Sunday, an unintended consequence of the Short loft was, now it has more of a Fan Shape, which I prefer.
 

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Nice, that looks really comfy. I know my horse brush that I have is (though it is factory loft so maybe a little tall for my taste). When I order more I will be customizing the loft.
 
But wouldn't it be cheaper just to order a new one from Gifts and care with the loft customised?

Like I said previously, it was a good Reason (Excuse) for a Custom Rudy Vey, so why not use my Horse Hair set at a more desirable loft. Besides, I've picked up another Four Vie-Longs; 1 Horse/Badger, 1 Boar and 2 Horse :001_tt1:
 
But wouldn't it be cheaper just to order a new one from Gifts and care with the loft customised?

I think it is probably a toss up, just as easy for Rudy to drill the hole a little deeper than to get a customized loft from Gifts and Care. The only way to get a RV brush with horse hair would be to order if from Gifts and Care and let him pull the knot since no one out there makes just the knots (at least no where I have found).
 
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