What's the holy grail of boar brushes?

[DavidN88]

Let's share some thoughts, and spread some love on boar brushes.

What's your favorite boar brush, and what's the best brush?

IMHO, my favorites are the Omega 10048 and the Semogue 1305, and both are great for different reasons.

The Omega can lather anything, literally anything. It's a workhorse, that can build great lathers on creams, croaps or hard soaps, and it delivers almost every single bit of lather that creates.
On the other hand, the Semogue 1305 has the softest knot that I've tried so far...It takes a while to break-in, but once it reaches his full potential, its a joy to use. The bristles are amazingly soft, but they have some hungry for lather, like many other Semogue brushes.

Yesterday I bought a Semogue 2000, so I can't give much info about it, but less than 24h of soaking on cold water, and 2 lathers build with it, and it feels really really soft. Can't wait to see what this beauty will be capable of.

Share your thoughts with me

 

[CCS]

Of the boar brushes I've owned/own, the Semogue SOC Taj sits at the top. I'm not sure there is a "holy grail" for boar brushes but anything from Omega is a safe bet, like the 10065, Proraso Pro, Omega Jade (all of which I own) but the SOC Taj is better for my needs.

 

[RayClem]

I have an Omega 10098 Professional that I broke in by dipping the tips in very hot, but not boiling water. This process caused the tips to split resulting in a super soft face feel, but yet strong backbone. I would thing that other Omega brushes would respond similarly. If is one of the few brushes I have, including premium silvertip badgers, that is soft enough for me to face lather. I normally bowl lather due to brush irritation.

I have a couple of Semogue brushes. Because Semogue uses a different processing method, the tips do not respond to the hot water break-in. I occasionally use the Semogue brushes, but much prefer the Omega.

I would never consider any boar brush to be "holy grail".

 

[DoyleClark]

Zenith Unbleached is very good.

 

[KW Driver]

no idea.

I love my SOC in a cherry handle, have a butterscotch acrylic for the sad day it becomes a replacement. ran a break in on it, and much prefer the weight of the wood handles to the acrylic.

I have an Omega 40066 traveler that's damn near perfect, but a 699 has been taken on more trips recently.

my most commonly used brush for the last year or so has been a 10065. soft but still a touch of scrub, good backbone but still splays easily and comfortably when I want it to.

picked up a 10005 thinking it'd be similar. it's less dense, softer and floppier. not bad per se, but not as good either. similar in feel to a lot of Semogues if I think about it. and I'm not happy with the seal and processing of the handle, it's got a... inconsistently tacky, uneven feel to it in my hand. I'm not interested yet in sanding and oiling/sealing it. but that's what it needs for me to be happy with it.

never tried a Zenith, but wouldn't be opposed. I'm not searching then out though.

edit: I face lather exclusively, off of hard soaps, but have done all the things, all the ways at some point. I never had an issue with any technique/combo with any of my brushes.

 

[JohnnyWayne203]

IMO, Zenith is top tier for boar brushes

 

[Ron R]

Another thing to consider with boar bristle brushes is the handle is suited well for your comfort and enjoyment.
I have used the Omega 10005 X2 over the years and that brush will last and had some boar funk with the last one I did not care for. I have abused them not knowing how to look after them with the pre soaking for a few minutes before joining B&B.
I have 4 Yaqi 24mm boar bristle brushes and they are great to use and they are all in my brush rotation and really enjoy them also. Yaqi makes middle of the road to excellent brushes IMO.
Some of Yaqi short lofted brushes with damaged handle sales I would be leery of, they look like excellent scrubbers for some folks who just enjoy the scrub mainly.

 

[NorthernSoul]

I'm not sure there is just one. Are we talking about face lathering or bowl lathering? Soft soaps or hard soaps? How big?

As an all-rounder, I'd probably say the Omega Jade offered by Connaught in the UK would be a very good one. Another one might be a Zenith boar in the 26mm/56mm loft range. Yet another might be the Semogue C5 Torga. I even like really inexpensive Omegas like the 10081 beehive boar or the 10066 boar. Many people really like the Proraso Pro boar from Omega.

It's a good thing boar brushes are pretty inexpensive!

 

[wyze0ne]

Zenith

 

[SharpieB]

Toss up between Zenith and Semogue SOC.

Semogue Mistura (boar and badger) if you want to cheat.

 

[Trollky]

The daddy of all boar brushes is for me the Omega 10048. Lathers anything, breaks in quickly, is inexpensive and looks fantastic

 

[Steve56]

Zenith Pro with an Oscar11 Heritage Brazilian cherry handle.

 

[CANES]

My two most used brushes are the Omega 48 and 98. Both have comfortable handles and a ton of bristles that tear into soap. The 48 is one of the only things I strongly recommend on this forum.

 

[DavidN88]

This is my boar line-up nowadays. From left to right:

Semogue 1438
Semogue 830
Semogue 1305
Semogue 2000
Semogue SOC
Semogue SOC Mistura Butterscotch
Zenith 506U
Omega 10048 Pro

I wanted to know your thoughts about what's your preferences, but it seems obvious that Omega and Zenith have a lot more followers than Semogue. As I said before, the 10048 is a hell of a brush, but I find it a bit scrubby to my taste, as I lean towards the amazing soft tips feel of the 1305 or the 830.
The Zenith has a great knot, but is tas a ton of backbone, so I don't use as much as I would like, because I'm a face lather guy, so I like a bit of backbone, but not that much...

 

[Possum092]

My favorite boar is a $5.00 Van Der Hagen. This brush will not give up the ghost and performs like a $300 brush. Maybe I got the only good one in the lot.

 

[CANES]

My favorite boar is a $5.00 Van Der Hagen. This brush will not give up the ghost and performs like a $300 brush. Maybe I got the only good one in the lot.

I'm still using mine too. It was the first brush I bought about 20 years ago. The handle has some cracks happening now and it shed a good bit for the first year or so, but it's in my top 5 now.

 

[CANES]

View attachment 1550002


This is my boar line-up nowadays. From left to right:

Semogue 1438
Semogue 830
Semogue 1305
Semogue 2000
Semogue SOC
Semogue SOC Mistura Butterscotch
Zenith 506U
Omega 10048 Pro

I wanted to know your thoughts about what's your preferences, but it seems obvious that Omega and Zenith have a lot more followers than Semogue. As I said before, the 10048 is a hell of a brush, but I find it a bit scrubby to my taste, as I lean towards the amazing soft tips feel of the 1305 or the 830.
The Zenith has a great knot, but is tas a ton of backbone, so I don't use as much as I would like, because I'm a face lather guy, so I like a bit of backbone, but not that much...

My Pro 48 took about 2 years to finally become soft. It's probably as soft as my synthetic brushes now. Keep using it.

 

[D4PPZ]

I like the bleached and unbleached Zeniths, as well as the Omega 108 from Connaught.

 

[lasta]

This: Omega 10005

Bought in a Shoppers Drug Mart 10 years ago. After a decade of use (6 of which daily) it has become softer than silvertips. Key to a good boar is to use it like you hate it!

Small enough for face lathering and light enough for fast bowl swirling.

I'm using a well broken-in and plucked Proraso Pro more often nowadays, but the 10005 always surprises me whenever I reach for it.

 

[Marco]

I'm no longer using boars because I've switched to synthetics. That said, at the time my favourite was the Semogue SOC.