Vie-Long brushes have been rumored to source their hair from the same place as Plisson. Whether this is true or not I'm sure no one knows but the manufacturers.



Price: 9 - $70 for a 2-band badger from bullgoose is about the lowest price you can pay for a 2-bander outside of a TGN knot.



Quality: 8 - The olive wood handle is nice and the knot hasn't shed any hairs since purchase. Does come with the worst badger funk ever out of the box that takes some time to get rid of before use.



Density: 7 - This brush is definitely lacking on density. It is no simpson's or rooney that is for sure.



Stiffness: 8 - Being a two band brush it does have a decent amount of backbone, but really suffers from IMHO a much too high of loft for the knot size for face lathering.



Softness: 10 - Out of the box there is some scritch, but after a dozen uses it goes away completely and the tips are some of the softest out there.



Ergonomic: 6 - The handle is too short period. It is not very ergonomic at all.



Latherability: 10 - This brush had become my de facto face lathering cream brush, though works just as well on soaps. It definitely releases lather quite well and really shines in this department.



Overall: If VL sourced their badger hair from the same place as plisson, then I would feel price gouged at buying a plisson (admittedly never owned one). I have come to realize that I love uber dense brushes with crazy backbone and super soft tips with shortish lofts, thus this brush is really not for me. If you like less dense brushes with soft tips and decent backbone with a slightly longer loft than is needed, then this brush would suit you just fine.

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~Joe~