i find that i am getting more and more away from creating lather in a bowl and slowly preferring face lather. What should i look for in a brush for this purpose?
Nice question, I wanted to ask this, too.
Can someone make a chart that will be a sticky with characteristics for 4 categories: face lathering brushes, bowl lathering brushes, cream brushes and soap brushes?
Cheers
Panos
Every brush will face lather, some just seem to do it better than others.
As for me, I prefer a very dense, short lofted brush. As for knot size I like my brushes a little bigger so the Chubby 2 fits the bill perfectly.
I've read the Rooney Syle 1 or 3 small is a great face lathering brush. Also I've read the BK4 does a great job as well.
As for Simpsons, well all their brushes are pretty dense so it just comes down to personal preference on those.
For me, small to medium knot (20-24 mm) and shorter lofts (50 mm and below). You can use brushes that don't fit into this range and they will still work, but most that work well fit into this range.
I think the trend that's shaping up is that "size matters". Large brushes can work, but you might find yourself cleaning up lather from the far points of the bathroom. I'm not sure there's a real constraint beyond keeping size (loft) reasonable. I use both a Kent BK4 and a Rooney 3/1 for face lathering. Very different brushes (stiff vs. "not stiff"); but, both work fine. I don't have their lofts committed to memory, but neither is an exceptionally large brush. Suzuki's point about scritchiness is worth considering, too.
I have nothing to add other than my interest in the creation of some sort of matrix, as mentioned earlier, to assist in picking a better brush for each purpose.
And, thanks for the info.