Virtual Village Silvertip

[fidjit]

Hokay guys, I'm no brush expert. If I came home with a $100+ brush SWMBO would

When I started shaving bought a Men-u pure bristle. This has done me fine, especially since I've primarily using soaps. Never intended to purchase another brush for a while.

In an alcohol enhanced state , decided to buy one of them there Virtual Village Silvertip brushes off Ebay after reading the reviews. It arrived today. I was concerned I wouldn't be able to lather up my MWF, espcially given the "negative" feedback on MWF ( that being said I've never had an issue with my pure bristle and MWF ) .

So got home today, and in such a frenzy, I forgot to even get a pre-bloom shot of it but here's the standard Ebay pic:

So I get home, soak the brush, put some water on my MWF........ Did a quick hand lather ( I normally face lather ) Zounds !!!!!! Heaps of lather. Here's a shot taken when I wasn't even really concentrating, just wanted a picture. I'm suprised how much more water the badger holds compared with the boar and how much softer it is.

Here's a pic of my Men-u boar against the Silvertip. Boar is 3 months old, the Silvertip has only been "used" once !!!!!

There must be some difference between a $100+ brush and this one, and only time will tell.

More updates as they come to hand.

 

[Luc]

Interesting, I saw that one also. I bought the brush/razor stand from that same seller. I must admit it's quite good. Everything fits perfectly. I was affraid it would rush, nope, all nice, I've been having it for 3 months now.

 

[rm71]

I've only heard good things about this brush. From your pics, my only concern in the density...the bristles don't seem that tightly packed?

 

[galopede]

I have two of them and they get far more use than my fancy "name" brushes, They are excellent and would cost a lot more if they had a name on them, if you know what I mean.

I have that exact brush plus an older one and they may not be packed solid but they are as well packed as most standard name brushes. The hairs stay in there too!

If you're not snobbish, they are the best value out there.

Gareth

 

[Ignatius]

I have the exact one.

Unlike the posters above, I don't think its the bargain of the century.

Its a good, functional brush, and it does appear to be silvertip; its certainly much softer at the tips, for example, than a 'grey' Kent brush I have. I do suspect the tips are dyed, though can't prove it.

However, its also probably the least dense badger brush there is. It will not, imo, work well with hard soaps. Creams? Great.

The handle is also very light, and cheap looking and feeling. Mine sheds. Not with every use, but if I use it with a soap, it will shed one or two hairs per use.

Overall, is it worth buying? If you don't have a silvertip and would like to try out the softness of this hair grade, this is a good brush. Are you getting a Rooney or a Simpson for a fifth of the price? No.

You are about getting what you pay for. Thats good enough for me.

 

[galopede]

I use about hard soaps about 90% of the time and I use the Virtual Village brushes most of the time. Must be my water then as they work just fine with hard soaps.

For the price, I think you get quite a bit more than you pay for!

 

[rbaloha]

Also possess the black Virtual Village brush. Excellent performer on creams -- holds lather well and dries quickly. Feels wonderful on the face.

Live in a soft water environment. This brush is not great for soaps. Tried on cella with lackluster results. Maybe its due to a lack of backbone. The brush is probably more floppy and less dense than higher priced brushes. The feel is still magnificent though.

Still its worth the price. IMO the $100 brushes are not 5 times better.

 

[fidjit]

So quick update.

First proper lather this morning. MWF....not a problem.

The brush is quite spikey on the face, never found that with the Boar. Might take a while to break in ? Not sure if that's usual for silvertip or whether it is in fact a cheaper grade made to look like it.....

It is definitely softer ( springier ) than the boar though.


Still amazed how much water it sucks up.

For the price I ain't complaining.

Perhaps one day I'll purchase an expensive brush...( or maybe not )

( oh and not one hair shed this morning )

 

[chfair]

bought the wooden handle version of that brush (fans out more at the top), love it for creams and most soaps. not the best results in the world on MWF but soaking the puck longer generally takes care of that. knot fell out of mine after a month or 2, no problem there took all of 45 minutes to properly sand the base and use epoxy on it. no other problems since.

the brush does shed about 1 hair every other use almost always on soap rather than cream.

 

[galopede]

I'm wondering if the people who slag them off don't like the lightbulb shape? My Shavemac is a lightbulb shape too and that's my other favourite brush.

I've read somewhere on B&B that the flatter head style is better for soaps. Don't know about that as I get a good lather with both types on hard soaps. Even with MWF!

Gareth

 

[ivanjatson]

I got the VV brush as a gift recently. I have only been able to try it with Williams and VDH Delux. For Williams, of course, no go. But it just sucked up the VDH soap like magic! I face lathered for the first time (as all my other brushes $5 boars) and was very impressed at how comfortable badger hair is. I believe that with the softness of this brush, the determining factor is not so much using cream or soap, but lathering technique. A persistent, gentle rub on a soap puck seems to work just fine.

In sum, I would say you are getting slightly more than you pay for (no name brand on the brush), and it made a great boar to badger transition brush.

 

[Zarba]

I can't find them on the 'Bay. Links, anyone?

 

[Greybeard]

I can't find them on the 'Bay. Links, anyone?

The original thread is almost two years old. At that time the shaving brush market was much less competitive. Virtual Village was selling DeLong (one of the first and largest Chinese brush manufacturers/wholesalers) badger brushes. The only price competitive entry level badger brush alternative then was a Tweezerman. Times have changed, the market is much more competitive and the bar has been raised. The brushes Virtual Village now sells are no better and not much different from the other many Chinese brushes available from Li-Jun, Frank Shaving, Ace Shaving, etc.
I ordered one then and it was an entry level coarse silvertip badger brush that was good value for $20. delivered, but not worth more than that. Their delivery was quick and professional.

http://www.virtualvillage.com/health-and-beauty/hairdressing/shaving-and-hair-removal.html

 

[ItBurns]

Just ordered one from Ebay because of this post. Thanks for the review! I can't wait to try it out myself. Will be a big upgrade from my cheap boar brush no matter how it compares to the more expensive selections on the market.