Congrats on your new Zenith, @gstriftos. Your choice of the word "luxury" is very fitting. I have a Zenith Manchurian and every time I use it I feel like I am staying at the Ritz - or sitting behind home plate! Truth be told, most days I reach for my Zenith boar - I guess I still like sitting in the bleachers.
Want to try a badger (do I need to?)
- Thread starter gstriftos
- Start date
Zenith Website
If you order directly from them, they can custom set the knot in your handle of choice.
I can vouch for the density,I got one off another member, when I first seen it I was a lil bit shocked but if you do get one wash it prior to use. When the brush has been bloomed it’s softer then a synth brush so it’s up to u.
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Looks like you got yourself a nice Zenith now, so not sure if you still need input..?
I have been committed to boar brushes for most of my 4 year wet shaving career (I exclusively face lather, I like backbone), but since around last spring, I let myself delve into a longer stint of "badger studies", simply out of curiosity and in the spirit of "basic research -- how do badgers compare to boar" (synthetics simply do not interest me at all, so I leave those entirely out here).
I spent plenty dough, among the additions I got:
- a Shavemac 25/52 2 band D01 silvertip fan (going for backbone resembling the Shavemac Americana and Germania);
- a Thäter silvertip #0 (I believe 22/46 bulb)
- two Maseto "Memphis" style barber handle, 24/50 mm fan knots, one extra dense silvertip, one extra dense 2 band finest
- And, I already had a Semogue 730 HD silvertip, 22/57 mm (in between fan and bulb I think)
Trying to make a longer story a bit shorter, my findings and recommendations so far are the following:
Disregarding price, and judging only quality in terms of "tool performance" with respect to creating lather, I still think boar brushes are superior to badgers. Yes, I find that Boars simply create superior lather, especially with harder soaps, but also with a softie like Cella ... not by much, but if I must compare along lines of boar/badger. I admit that higher end badgers feel luxurious (especially knowing what you paid for them), and that this in its own right can add to the experience of a shave. BUT, I would say that if you have no experience with boars, and if cost is also a consideration for you, you really owe yourself to try out a few boars. Soak them well, drive them hard, they will be forever faithful ... I'd recommend the Proraso boar, the Omega 10098 if you like barber handles, the Omega 10029 "baby pro", the Omega 10081, and try the Semogue 620 too. (all except the Semogue need to be broken in well before you get top performance)
Now for the badgers:
I'd say that my "winner", if I must choose one, will be the Semogue. It's really a damned nice brush, backbone, size, density, especially for face lathering, and it only cost half of what I paid for the Shavemac and the Thäter.
The Masetos are very nice too, especially if price is an important criterion to you, have a look at these too. I live in the EU as well, and I had no problem with customs (I even made two separate orders).
Judging by you input so far, I am in turn tempted to try a Zenith exactly like the one you got -- looks a lot like my Masetos
I have been committed to boar brushes for most of my 4 year wet shaving career (I exclusively face lather, I like backbone), but since around last spring, I let myself delve into a longer stint of "badger studies", simply out of curiosity and in the spirit of "basic research -- how do badgers compare to boar" (synthetics simply do not interest me at all, so I leave those entirely out here).
I spent plenty dough, among the additions I got:
- a Shavemac 25/52 2 band D01 silvertip fan (going for backbone resembling the Shavemac Americana and Germania);
- a Thäter silvertip #0 (I believe 22/46 bulb)
- two Maseto "Memphis" style barber handle, 24/50 mm fan knots, one extra dense silvertip, one extra dense 2 band finest
- And, I already had a Semogue 730 HD silvertip, 22/57 mm (in between fan and bulb I think)
Trying to make a longer story a bit shorter, my findings and recommendations so far are the following:
Disregarding price, and judging only quality in terms of "tool performance" with respect to creating lather, I still think boar brushes are superior to badgers. Yes, I find that Boars simply create superior lather, especially with harder soaps, but also with a softie like Cella ... not by much, but if I must compare along lines of boar/badger. I admit that higher end badgers feel luxurious (especially knowing what you paid for them), and that this in its own right can add to the experience of a shave. BUT, I would say that if you have no experience with boars, and if cost is also a consideration for you, you really owe yourself to try out a few boars. Soak them well, drive them hard, they will be forever faithful ... I'd recommend the Proraso boar, the Omega 10098 if you like barber handles, the Omega 10029 "baby pro", the Omega 10081, and try the Semogue 620 too. (all except the Semogue need to be broken in well before you get top performance)
Now for the badgers:
I'd say that my "winner", if I must choose one, will be the Semogue. It's really a damned nice brush, backbone, size, density, especially for face lathering, and it only cost half of what I paid for the Shavemac and the Thäter.
The Masetos are very nice too, especially if price is an important criterion to you, have a look at these too. I live in the EU as well, and I had no problem with customs (I even made two separate orders).
Judging by you input so far, I am in turn tempted to try a Zenith exactly like the one you got -- looks a lot like my Masetos
- Thread starter
- #65
Small update.
1) Omega boar is a shedder, looses 2-3 bristles per use so far. I don't know if it it will settle but being dirty cheap I don't mind so much. Around 10 uses so far (test and shave lathers) it has soften a lot but still eats lather for breakfast. Very good brush but the size of the brlistles is a little on the long side for my liking.
2) Zenith silvertip. This thing is becoming a wall of badger, needs a lot of cream/soap to work properly but it feels so good..Around 20 uses so far (test and shave lathers) it seems to get along better with MWF/Hanslinger/Castle Forbes than the rest (LPL, MCD, CRS, Cella Bio). In fact worst combo is with Cella Bio* so far.
The backbone is very ''gradual'', if this is a correct term, compared to Shavemac Synths and the Omega boar.
I mean that equal pressure opens it up gradually, on the contrary Omega needs less force to open up (though I believe it would be the opposite).
3) The Shavemac synths have this weird behaviour of being very stiff with little presure, giving a very pleasant scrub, while with a little more force they suddenly fully bloom and feel very soft! I think this is the main reason a lot of people find them weird to use, especially if they come from natural bristle brushes.
*I don't know other peoples experience but Cella Bio works wonders with my synths.
I am starting to eye balling smaller badgers for more ease of use but damn the 24/48 ones that I seem to want are out of my reach ..
1) Omega boar is a shedder, looses 2-3 bristles per use so far. I don't know if it it will settle but being dirty cheap I don't mind so much. Around 10 uses so far (test and shave lathers) it has soften a lot but still eats lather for breakfast. Very good brush but the size of the brlistles is a little on the long side for my liking.
2) Zenith silvertip. This thing is becoming a wall of badger, needs a lot of cream/soap to work properly but it feels so good..Around 20 uses so far (test and shave lathers) it seems to get along better with MWF/Hanslinger/Castle Forbes than the rest (LPL, MCD, CRS, Cella Bio). In fact worst combo is with Cella Bio* so far.
The backbone is very ''gradual'', if this is a correct term, compared to Shavemac Synths and the Omega boar.
I mean that equal pressure opens it up gradually, on the contrary Omega needs less force to open up (though I believe it would be the opposite).
3) The Shavemac synths have this weird behaviour of being very stiff with little presure, giving a very pleasant scrub, while with a little more force they suddenly fully bloom and feel very soft! I think this is the main reason a lot of people find them weird to use, especially if they come from natural bristle brushes.
*I don't know other peoples experience but Cella Bio works wonders with my synths.
I am starting to eye balling smaller badgers for more ease of use but damn the 24/48 ones that I seem to want are out of my reach ..
You write of "the Omega", I wonder which one..? Omega makes a huge range of brushes, and they behave very differently. An Omega 10048 boar does not offer much in terms of backbone, whereas an 10029 will offer all the backbone you can handle
- Thread starter
- #67
Oh! It is the 10065..
I have a large Vulfix silvertip an it can’t touch my old Omega 10048 boar for lathering or comfort. Badger was a huge waste of money. Also I hate synthetics.
- Thread starter
- #69
My latest addition, the marvellous Wee Scot.
After 3 shaves it has splayed nicely:
It is a very nice little ''beast'', very soft (I was surprised it reminded me my Zenith Silvertip) and with adequate backbone, given the loft ratio. I had a fear it might be too small but from 1st use it prooved me wrong. Very nimble, splays nicely and naturaly plus, of course being a Simpson, it excells in painting motion (though I mainly circle stroke). Loads extremely fast, handles easily even triple milled soaps.
In a nutshell :
After 3 shaves it has splayed nicely:
It is a very nice little ''beast'', very soft (I was surprised it reminded me my Zenith Silvertip) and with adequate backbone, given the loft ratio. I had a fear it might be too small but from 1st use it prooved me wrong. Very nimble, splays nicely and naturaly plus, of course being a Simpson, it excells in painting motion (though I mainly circle stroke). Loads extremely fast, handles easily even triple milled soaps.
In a nutshell :
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