Why So Many Brushes?

[BigJ]

I enjoy my brush ‘rotation!!’ Other than that there is no rational reason for my ‘collection.’

 

[ewk]

I started with an Omega 49 and a Yaqi synthetic tuxedo, all for under $20. I thought spending more on brushes would be insane. I maintained my brush sanity while I over-indulged in razors and soaps.

Then I got curious about trying a badger brush. And why not a horse hair. What about this famous maker? That other famous guy. Oh, look! A limited edition B&B brush! Hmmm. Could that synthetic knot everyone is talking about be THAT good? Guess I'll find out . . .

That's how it happened for me. Total insanity

 

[Alex Jr]

I have 6. Two of each (badger, boar and synthetic).

The 2 badgers (Simpson best) I initially liked ended up being a little rejected later on. The hair is simply to rough for me and they exfoliate the living shait out of me if I face lather with them. It hurts, literally.

So now if you asked me I’d be happy with only my boars and a couple of synthetics just for fun.

 

[Markdad2]

I dont get it either. It's not like gold where you need different clubs for different shots! I understand the collection aspect.

I buy a brush, try it and if I don't like it, I sell it.

I can see having a badger, a synthetic, and a Boar. That would be reasonable. No one ever said this was a reasonable hobby, and to each their own. If a guy or gal wants 60 brushes, thats great!!!

I have found my favorite brush, and I have a runner up. The Omega Evo 2 is number one. The runner up is AP Shave Co 26mm G5A.

The joy is in the pursuit of excellence sometimes.

 

[Anomaly1985]

I'm starting to like synthetics. I can't tell any difference between brushes either.

 

[86-foxtrot]

I have only 3 brushes. I shave daily and rotate.

• Duke 3 Best Badger - been using since 2012
• Paladin Pk-47 Select Badger - think I bought it around 2019. Never lost a bristle.
• Thater Boar in Tortoise- bought from Bullgoose in 2018

IMHO, I don't see a need for more brushes.

 

[Antique Hoosier]

There is no really great all encompassing answer except that I appreciate your post and it read very well with a legitimate observation followed by a question/concern. My theory is that it probably is the rush of Dopamine when you select and handle a well crafted item like a shaving brush. Add warm water, suds, and a pleasant scent and the association of all that combined makes you feel great.

PS. Let’s keep this among our little group here because the average person might not understand our “obsession” minus the designer handbag and shoe crowd. Wink Wink.

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

There are people who have 30-brushes, because its more about collecting them, then it is using them. And if collection is the burning fire, that brings your true desire, that is fine.

I however, only have 5-brushes, and its really all I need. My short brush journey was really about finding the brush that best suited me, or a specific use case.

Zenith Manchurian 28mm badger, my shave den General, who leads the company of brush hero's.

Cayune Workshop Dark Nebula 26mm Synthetic, who is the leadership of the synthetic brushes. ​

Omega 636 21mm Silver Tip Badger Brush, The Small Grunt Who Can!​

APSHAVECO 24mm Blue Lagoon Synthetic Brush, who did not pass all its training tests, a literal pon in the army, with very little skill, except looking good.​

Maseto Avatar 30mm Silver Tip Badger, the army's secret weapon nicknamed, The Titen. This brush is the literal king of facial lathering.​

 

[OkieStubble]

I used to have multiple brushes, higher end ones. Then one day I just didnt care anymore. None of them feel discernibly different, they all create white goop to take hair off, i think mine is just an old Omega now. I cant tell the difference between it and the simpsons, muhles, plissons i used to own. Usually I just use a brush to rub over my face with some shaving cream, until it lathers, and then drag sharp metal over face to take off hair, and go do something interesting. But YMMV.

I was a wild man for about the first 5 years, looking, searching, finding and obtaining all manner, types and quality of shaving accoutrements. And then one day, it just jumped up and hit me like a slap in the face.

I simply had too much shave stuff and I didn’t use most of it; and the stuff I was saving to try? I just never got around to trying it, because I was already too busy using the few things I already really liked.

I knew a change needed to be made. While I am not a minimalist, the Minimalist thread in the B&B Clubs & Brotherhoods sub forum, really helped to bring me back to earth and helped me to form a healthier perspective about my shaving purchases and the unintended hoarding that was coming from it.

It took another 5 years, just to sell, PIF or 3017, just the soaps and creams I had acquired. After 14 years of being here, I have gone from 20ish brushes of all types, brands and prices to just three brushes I’m happy with. A Plisson synthetic, an Omega boar and a cheap, scritchy, clipped, black hair badger that the wife likes to scrub and exfoliate her legs when she uses her two different DE’s.

I never got too heavy into the modern razor craze, but I have sold or gifted at least 30 or so DE, SE, Injector, Straight and Shavette razors to finally get down to just one favorite of each type that I like to rotate and shave with in order to maintain my skill in shaving with each. I now have only 5 soaps. One for each season and then an Arko stick for travel.

In saying all of this, By the time I downsized all of that stuff, I had already collected over 200 different vintage and modern aftershaves.

I have a hard time 3017’ing any of those because I enjoy the Bootlegger’s Series of aftershaves much more. And I have recently been hoarding Skin Bracer in case they discontinue it. It never ends.

 

[HazMat Shaver]

You made me have to count. At least I have less than 100 brushes. 99 to be exact. Some I made handles for and set new knots, others I restored. Then some I just wanted to try and still others that I found in estate sales and such. It seems to me I just WANTED more brushes. No real reason. And I have about 20 that I actually use. The rest are dust catchers. Here is a pic of the biggest part of my collection...

 

[OkieStubble]

You made me have to count. At least I have less than 100 brushes. 99 to be exact. Some I made handles for and set new knots, others I restored. Then some I just wanted to try and still others that I found in estate sales and such. It seems to me I just WANTED more brushes. No real reason. And I have about 20 that I actually use. The rest are dust catchers. Here is a pic of the biggest part of my collection...

View attachment 1813013

I think being an actual collector of something is quite a bit different than an unfocused or hoarding of stuff with no plan or purpose.

That’s a great brush collection!

While I have decided that I am an ‘collector’ of fine vintage aftershaves, I don’t know If I really am, but it sure helps me to mentally justify The knowledge and realization that I will never be able to use all the AS juice I have stored.

I would probably do a garage sale, but who would buy a bunch of used aftershaves from my garage other than another B&B member?

I am thankful that I have an understanding wife who lets me hoard firearms with no plan or purpose.

 

[sarimento1]

enjoy my badgers, plus a couple others!

 

[md1234]

There are people who have 30-brushes, because its more about collecting them, then it is using them. And if collection is the burning fire, that brings your true desire, that is fine.

I however, only have 5-brushes, and its really all I need. My short brush journey was really about finding the brush that best suited me, or a specific use case.

Zenith Manchurian 28mm badger, my shave den General, who leads the company of brush hero's.

Cayune Workshop Dark Nebula 26mm Synthetic, who is the leadership of the synthetic brushes. ​

Omega 636 21mm Silver Tip Badger Brush, The Small Grunt Who Can!​

APSHAVECO 24mm Blue Lagoon Synthetic Brush, who did not pass all its training tests, a literal pon in the army, with very little skill, except looking good.​

Maseto Avatar 30mm Silver Tip Badger, the army's secret weapon nicknamed, The Titen. This brush is the literal king of facial lathering.​

You really need a boar or two as well lol. They're highly underrated IMO. The Connaught jade Omega 011842 is an excellent choice. My badgers just sit on the sidelines now since I use the jade 95% of the time.

 

[Acmemfg]

A most thought provoking thread. I think if I could find some outlet to sell a large portion of my brush and soap/cream inventory for a modest sum, I’d most probably do it. Seems no one wants to buy anything though.

 

[Mojo88]

Holy crap!!! You better not let PETA get a look at that..

You made me have to count. At least I have less than 100 brushes. 99 to be exact. Some I made handles for and set new knots, others I restored. Then some I just wanted to try and still others that I found in estate sales and such. It seems to me I just WANTED more brushes. No real reason. And I have about 20 that I actually use. The rest are dust catchers. Here is a pic of the biggest part of my collection...

View attachment 1813013

 

[Ranyart Finn]

It took me a while to discover what works best for me, and each new discovery, led me to wonder something else...

I started with boars, but kept killing them due to hard tap water and not letting them dry properly, and moved to a few synthetics. After being gifted a badger, and liking it, I found that I really liked the small Simpson pure/best badgers, and ended up collecting all the ones under £40 that I liked the handle shape of.

View attachment 1811879

They actually feel more different in use than they look. I enjoy them all, except the wee floppy Scottie.

Along the way I tried one of the Vulfix London Series mixed hair brushes, and that led to me collecting a few of those too, both in mixed and pure badger.

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... plus a few Vulfix Old Original brushes.

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It wasn't long before I started wondering about other makes though. So I decided to try a few Jaggers and a few Kent's.

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Over time, these accumulations mount up, until one day you put them all together, and it looks ridiculous.

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For the most part, barring the exceptions as can be seen in that last pic, I have stuck to "ivory" coloured for the brushes from the Isle of Man, and "ebony" coloured for everything else. So looks wise, they are all of an ilk, but in use they are very diverse in feel, and what handling they need to deliver the best lather.

Any regrets? Not really. I do like most of them, and even the ones I am not overly enamoured with have taught me something. Of all those shown above, having now understood what works well for me, and what doesn't, these are the only ones I am considering getting rid of.

View attachment 1811878

I want to have a few more shaves with each, just to be sure I'm happy to let them go, and then pass on those I'm sure I won't regret parting with. The rest will stay. I do like the mini collections within the overall spectrum, and they do all have their own character and charm.

Yet despite all this, I tend to only pick two brushes to use each month, as two is as much choice as I want to face every time I go into the bathroom to shave.

This is an extremely pretty collection! It doesn't look ridiculous at all - in fact, I think its rather elegant.

 

[Chef455]

@squank /OP, a great question. As you can see from the posts on your thread there are a multitude of answers.

I can't offer any more insight. I will say if you're a minimalist pick something and back it up with a similar something. I/we like your business to dry. But really you'll be fine with only one.

My preference is to have the best of each category. I'm not there yet but I think I'm on my way. I won't bore you with the details.

Suffice it to say that synthetic brushes are low hanging fruit, easy to come by and very easy to use. Boars require a tad of commitment. Great payoff for a few bucks. Badgers, in my experience, are the tough one. "OG's" swear by them. A LOT of research and a certain amount of trial and error os only natural.

Summing up, we only need 1 brush, but we think 2 is better... drying and all. Yet there is something to be said about b in

 

[Maxwedge]

I own 3 brushes but only use one (the other two are in my "supplies" box). The other two are fine but who needs more than one? I'm pretty sure I can get a bbs shave using a cheap nylon paintbrush.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I have 8 badgers that I rotate.... 5 for shaving cream, 3 for applying pre-shave.

I also have 4 Zenith boars, but I only use them for DecemBOAR. I really should use them more but I love the feel of all my badgers.... 4 of them are exactly the same... The other 4 are similar...

You never know, I might add one of the newly released Semogue Pegasus models. I think a 26mm Mistura would be wonderful.

 

[Lane101]

enjoy my badgers, plus a couple others!

View attachment 1813087

Reminds me of a scene from the original Star Trek series episode "Trouble with Tribbles". Have your brushes started reproducing on their own yet? Looks like a great collection. Enjoy!