Truth!!!
Some Info from Shavemac
- Thread starter Rudy Vey
- Start date
I started my kit of wet shaving accessories when I was in my early 40s, and even though I had some money to spend, it all seemed daunting and expensive. I couldn't understand the B&B members with several brushes, razors, etc. Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my grandfather and used his Gillette adjustable when I started shaving as a young kid. His kit was simple, but I got a feel for wet shaving.
When I started shaving regularly in my late teens, I went from a Trac II to Gillette Good News disposables, to Bic disposables, to three-bladed cartridges, etc. When I bought into wet shaving in my 40s, money was a big part of the reason. I remember paying $39 at the grocery store for four, four bladed cartridge razors (and a handle with AAA batteries that vibrated!) and thinking it was too expensive. The cost of expensive cartridges was the driving force for me to look into wet shaving.
Since I bought and used one brush, razor, and a couple of pucks of Mitchell's Wool Fat for a decade, I achieved a better shave and saved considerable money. It took me a long time to become interested in acquiring more shaving gear. I have never been a two-pass shaver. To this day, I am pretty efficient in my routine. I can see a young kid buying into wet shaving but not appreciating the finer parts of the process. And in all candor, I could get by with a cheap brush and still get a good shave, but I don't want to!
Judging by the changing landscape in the wet shaving manufacturer world, it seems we have passed the peak. My guess is a lot of people got into making products out of passion or as a hobby, and it grows into a business. Now, with so much competition, and likely fewer sales, it makes sense that some have reached the end of the line. I wouldn't be surprised to see a resurgance in the future, because "what was old is new again" is a recurring theme. Although, even though I love wet shaving and having options, my kit is pretty dialed as far as brushes and razors, and with all of the razor blades, soaps, and aftershaves I have on hand, I won't be doing any restocking anytime soon.
I appreciate a good brush, but I agree that it doesn't have much of an impact on the quality of my shave. That doesn't mean I enjoy cheap brushes, but I completely understand your point.
Thank you, Rudy! Sincerely appreciated!
I can't help but be puzzled by the seeming contrasting developments between -- on the one hand, the surge in recent years in artisan quality soaps, even razors (Wolfman, Karve, etc), and on the other hand, the apparent simultaneous decline for artisan brush makers (THATER, Vie-Long, and now seemingly Shavemac).
Is it really a pattern that people are increasingly willing to splurge on "software" (soaps), yet are simultaneously increasingly set on skimping on hardware, e.g. by choosing cheaper synthetic brushes (seemingly increasingly popular) over a top notch badger ..?
But then look at Semogue --- this is a small artisan family company too, they are seemingly continuing to do well.
It's hard to truly appreciate what is going on ....
Is it really a pattern that people are increasingly willing to splurge on "software" (soaps), yet are simultaneously increasingly set on skimping on hardware, e.g. by choosing cheaper synthetic brushes (seemingly increasingly popular) over a top notch badger ..?
But then look at Semogue --- this is a small artisan family company too, they are seemingly continuing to do well.
It's hard to truly appreciate what is going on ....
Last edited:
I can say only for me, as I'm still young 
(40) I needed little time to be happy when spending money on brushes. And didn't have same issue with razors. Brush was first not so important (similar as soap) as razor and sharp blade.
With time I try to improve also little variables. I like to have "special" brush for Sunday for example but still not so easy to spend hundreds. Different Semouque brushes are for now what I bought and are most used.
in some years it can change, but hardly can find better brush for my need as 2023 Barbear Portugues Limited Edition what is my most expensive brush (€130)
(40) I needed little time to be happy when spending money on brushes. And didn't have same issue with razors. Brush was first not so important (similar as soap) as razor and sharp blade.With time I try to improve also little variables. I like to have "special" brush for Sunday for example but still not so easy to spend hundreds. Different Semouque brushes are for now what I bought and are most used.
in some years it can change, but hardly can find better brush for my need as 2023 Barbear Portugues Limited Edition what is my most expensive brush (€130)
Bernd makes some excellent brushes. I can understand his decision to drop the custom brush konfigurator. It must be a pain to make each brush differently. Not to mention inefficient. I for one am happy to choose from a selection of pre-made brushes. Bernd will have a pretty good idea by now of what works best with the grades of hair that he has available. Probably more so than the vast majority of his customers. I’m sure he would still do the odd custom brush on request for a repeat customer just like Simpson does. Long live Shavemac.
With the surge of more quality synthetic brushes today more people are stepping away from natural hair brushes and finding they actually prefer the synthetics and with Yaqi, DC Cosmetic, Franks, Maseto, Oumo, and a few I can't remember the names of, the majority being very inexpensive its just hard for someone like Shavemac to keep up with price wise and their synthetic isn't exactly top of the line nor very economical...
Shavemac makes a good synthetic. I have one.
Part of the reason for the rise in all the Ali Express garbage is that those companies have people that shill their stuff online. Lots of stealth shillers on social media that also receive free product.
Companies like Shavemac do not give out free stuff or have an army of online shillers.
Vendors are also to blame as many import loads of cheap crap and slap their brand name on it. A lot of this crap goes into "starter kits" that you will NEVER see me recommend personally.
Bottom line, if Simpsons can successfully make and sell reasonably priced, pre-configured synth brushes I see no reason why Shavemac can't do the same eventually.
Part of the reason for the rise in all the Ali Express garbage is that those companies have people that shill their stuff online. Lots of stealth shillers on social media that also receive free product.
Companies like Shavemac do not give out free stuff or have an army of online shillers.
Vendors are also to blame as many import loads of cheap crap and slap their brand name on it. A lot of this crap goes into "starter kits" that you will NEVER see me recommend personally.
Bottom line, if Simpsons can successfully make and sell reasonably priced, pre-configured synth brushes I see no reason why Shavemac can't do the same eventually.
I have and I have had several Simpson brushes. I have Shavemac brushes. Several from Omega. Zenith as well now. Badger, Boar and Synthetic.
I also happen to have four brushes, eight knots and seven or eight brush handles, all made in China, both badger and synthetic.
In all honesty I have to say that UNFORTUNATELY the only "crap" I had to deal with, was some of the more expensive stuff made in Europe.
Surprising, isn't it?
Why was it “crap”?
Are you the guy that bought over half a dozen Simpsons brushes even though you hated the first one? Hated the second one too and kept buying and buying? If so, that would be a "you" problem.
I've owned a whole bunch of brushes over the years and problems have been rare from reputable makers whether badger, boar, or synthetic.
I did have an issue with Simpsons recently and they took care of the problem within days by working with the vendor. Same service I got from them ~15 years ago.
Never liked Omega brushes much. Nothing wrong with the ones I did have. No experience with Zenith.
No idea why you have had such bad luck or what potentially weird stuff you are doing to your brushes.
I still have Simpson brushes that I am enjoying. You may be referring to this post: Your favourite simpsons badger - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/your-favourite-simpsons-badger.646111/page-2#post-12463389
If that is the case you may want to read it again. in any case as far as the reason of the bad luck is concerned you need to ask who made the brushes not me.
The companies that I mentioned make excellent brushes, however I have seen several issues with some of the brushes that I have received, from the quality of the hair (look at that picture again), to a knot falling off the handle at the very first shave, poor engraving, prickly tips (on high end silver tips!). The only exception is Zenith, probably because I have only the two brushes that I have recently purchased, however you can simply read some of the discussion about Zenith here and on other forums, and see how many people had a lopsided knots, shedding, losing the top ring or other problems. You can do the same exercise for other brands, you will see that I am not a special case. It happens, they make 'crap' too. Do they have excellent customer service? Probably, but I do not see the point.
However, I don't want to drag this thread further off topic. I was just making a commenting about the 'crap' thing.
A bad brush can happen with any brand.
How the company resolves the issue is what matters. I've been on here a long time and have had a lot of brushes like I said. Were all of them perfect? No, but I was able to get any issue resolved quickly in every single case where I had one. I'm not talking about just one brand either.
I also know from being on here (and other shave forums) a long time that you can never trust what anyone says about how they treat their equipment 100%. I have seen folks complain about brushes and then it turns out they are mashing it into their face or soap way too hard, pouring near boiling water on it, not letting it dry adequately between uses, not cleaning it correctly, using harsh cleaners not meant for brushes, the list goes on.
This is before we get to other issues I see on here with different products, many of which are clearly user error. I see the same thing in other hobbies and have for years.
If anyone has a specific issue with a specific product and believe that to be a legit issue, they need to take it up with the vendor or maker.
Thank you.
OK, one more time: all very interesting, however that does not change the simple fact that the only problems I have ever had were with brushes made in Europe, not in China. By the way, I am still buying both products.
With regard to #2 I have a Shavemac “The Tribute” brush that says “Designed by Karl Blos”. Rudy, is Karl possibly Bernd’s son? Could Karl be the “new hands”?
I'm not Rudy but here's what I know...
Karl is Bernd's father and the orignator of Shavemac. As to the "new hands", the way I read it was "new hands"= new clients hands and not new owners. There was nowhere in his statement that said he was selling Shavemac, only that the Configurator was closing down in February.
Time passes and everything changes. - Shavemac
- Thread starter
- #38
No, Karl is Bernd's father, the founder of the company.
Thanks, I sure hope you’re right.I'm not Rudy but here's what I know...
Karl is Bernd's father and the orignator of Shavemac. As to the "new hands", the way I read it was "new hands"= new clients hands and not new owners. There was nowhere in his statement that said he was selling Shavemac, only that the Configurator was closing down in February.
Time passes and everything changes. - Shavemac
shavemac.com
I can understand the pricing of synthetic brushes being appealing. Do you think synthetics are really becoming more popular than natural bristle brushes? I only have a Simpsons synthetic in a Chubby 2, and I am extremely underwhelmed by the brush. The rest of my brushes are badger, so my experience is relatively limited. When I first started wet shaving (besides using my grandfather's setup when I was in my teens), I purchased a Semogue Owners Club brush in a Cherry Wood handle with Badger hair that was not terribly expensive. That brush has served me well for a decade and still outperforms my Chubby synthetic in every aspect. I understand the YMMV aspect of shaving gear, but it seems crazy that people would be foregoing badger and other natural bristles in favor of synthetic. I also understand that many B&B users are big synthetic brush fans, which was a big reason I tried a synthetic in the first place. I had posted about my growing collection of Badger brushes, and a member here suggested a synthetic and thought I would be surprised by how good they are. As I mentioned, I was underwhelmed, and the synthetic performed how I imagined it would: serviceable but had no character. If I started with a synthetic and had no other reference point, I would think it would be fine. However, even if I liked synthetics, eventually, I would have become curious about Badger or Boar, and after trying them, synthetic would have lost any appeal to me. Again, I have only used one synthetic, so I might have a perspective that is too limited here. Also, if someone were collecting several synthetics because they were inexpensive, it wouldn't take long before those synthetic purchases would equal the cost of a good Badger brush.
With Shavemac, all of this is speculative since we don't know if Shavemac will continue for many years and is only shutting down the configurator. Maybe their sales have declined, input costs have risen, or competition is fierce with synthetics. Whatever the case, it is all speculative. As for all the different razors, soaps, etc. markets are always flooded with products at or after the peak.
With the technology that has made its way into wet shaving, I could see younger shavers drawn to the latest and greatest. Still, I have a hard time wrapping my head around that since nostalgia and the older ways of doing things were a big part of the appeal for me and wet shaving. But, this wouldn't be the first part of my life where being older has left me out of touch with what is going on in the world!
Similar threads
