Well that better brush was VDH's Deluxe boar brush. It has a textured cream handle as apposed to the Natural brush's slick green handle. It has only lost about 3 hairs in the first week I've used it, unlike the 2 dozen hairs that were shed by my first VDH brush. Now I did not expect much from my first brush but it worked. I didn't think their would be any difference between the natural and the deluxe but they made this one of much better quality hair, as bowl lathering takes me about half the time and more lather makes it to my facce, using this brush. This is a brush is a great improvement and is well worth the extra $2 and a little more time looking.

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As Riddick shaves his head with a makeshift Knife and engine grease-
Johns: Hey, I thought I said no shivs!
Riddick: You mean this? This is just a personal grooming appliance.

Gentlemen, Please avoid this brush at all costs! I have tried two and firmly stand behind my opinion that this is the worst brush made. The few times i mustered up the courage to try it over my Shavemac or AOS brushes it shed abot 10 hairs each shave. By all means please treat yourself to a deceant shaving brush, and pay more than $5. A $35 dollar badger brush can last years! As always YMMV and to each his own.

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-Austin

"If the world is naught but a grain of sand, what am I?"

Originally Posted by AustinC9

Gentlemen, Please avoid this brush at all costs! I have tried two and firmly stand behind my opinion that this is the worst brush made. The few times i mustered up the courage to try it over my Shavemac or AOS brushes it shed abot 10 hairs each shave. By all means please treat yourself to a deceant shaving brush, and pay more than $5. A $35 dollar badger brush can last years! As always YMMV and to each his own.

If money is just that tight then save your lunch money or dont go out to dinner twice. I believe what brush Austin is talking about is the C&E BBB which is an incredible brush and an incredible price as well. I still use this brush exclusively for soaps....well right ahead of my BK4(not a cheap alternative btw)

Been DE shaving for 1.5 years now, and this has been my only brush (VDH Deluxe) until yesterday when I got a C & E Best Badger. The C & E brush was incredible for my first shave with it this morning, but really, the VDH is adequate for the task and has its own virtues. I've bought multiple razors, creams, soaps and after-shave products, and through it all the VDH boar brush never screamed "REPLACE ME!" I acknowledge that the badger brush is superior, but for $3.90 w/ no tax (USAF BX), the VDH is a helluva deal.



On a six day rotation, it still loses 2-5 hairs/wk. Nothing criminal. The handle is large, solid and easy to hold. The hair pleasantly holds the scent of the last shave and I never noticed an overt "boar hair" smell. I assume the badger will as well, but right now it still smells a bit "badgery".



The stiff boar hairs lend themselves to face scrubbing (I like!) and loads up easily with properly prepared soaps.



If you're on a budget and need a decent brush, this will fit the bill. I'm not on a budget and it worked for me; that probably says it all.

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Anachronistic Shaving Equipment Guy

The soap and brush kit was priced ok. I soon discovered the brush hairs fell out and made a mess. The included soap wasn't much better and left my face burning.

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The boar bristles came out of the brush and ended up on my face and razor and down the sink drain. So much for a $9.99 shaving kit with brush, mug, and soap. The soap wasnt any better made my skin burn. Fortunately I got a refund.

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For a boar brush this is pretty good. I still use it from time to time. As a matter of fact, the more you use this brush, the better it gets!

So, is the brush being reviewed that comes in the green little box at rite aid? I was thinking of trying it for $8... I need a shave bowl, soap I use and ~$4 for a new brush is worth the fun.

This was the first brush I ever tried. I also bought it at CVS. I even opened it and rubbed the hair a bit to see how stiff the brush was. It was stiff! When I did this no hair fell out either. Then, got home got it wet and started lathering...by the end of my shave, 3 lathers, this thing must have lost at least 20 hairs! I brought it back.

Comparing this brush to the C&E BBB or a more expensive badger is simply unfair. A better comparison would be between this VDH and Burmashave. The 5 dollar Burmashave is a much better brush imho. I was very disappointed in the VDH after using the Burmashave for nearly a month. I tried the Deluxe with about 5 shaves before I gave up and went back to the Burmashave (that is, until I got a C&E 3B). The VDH might get better with age, but I am not interested in waiting for that time.



Conclusion: go with Burmashave for the cheap boar brush.

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-Doug

I also picked this one up as my first brush and i must say that I'm rather disappointed. Even though the price certainly is right, the quality lacks profoundly, even for it being so cheap.



With every shave, my brush loses more hair than my face it seems. It's really getting annoying and 8-10 hairs per shave are lost, which i find totally unacceptable, even for a $8 brush.



It's working as far as creating a lather with my Tabac soap but that's about it. It's neither ergonomic, nor of good quality and in retrospect, i would really only buy it again if i could not find any other brush locally and i needed a quick shave. And even then i would actually consider using a gel than this brush instead.



I know the price is low but so is the quality imho and in this case it feels like that you get what you pay for.

My guess is that most people are put off with this brush when they first use it and never give it a chance. I have the Deluxe and the standard green handle. They are the same brush. Right out of the box, you have to wash these with shampoo and conditioner. This does two things, it softens up the brush just a bit and the majority of the hairs that are going to fall out, will fall out. You have to be a bit rough during this initial wash to get the loose hairs out, and there will be a lot.



The brush is stiff out of the box. Very Stiff. But after about a month of use, it softens up. When I bought my second VDH brush I was amazed how stiff the new brush was compared to the green handle brush I had been using for a month. Works fantastic with hard soaps and gives your face a nice scrub. It rarely looses any hairs now that the break-in is over.



It will never win any beauty contest but it gets the job done.

Been using VDH brushes for 5 months. I have to say that overall poor. I am on my second brush already as the first separated from the handle. I would recommend spending a few more bucks and getting an Omega boar. i have the travel one for $13 and it works great.



The VDH. Sheds a few hairs often for the first month. Works well on soaps and not so much on creams esp T&H and Castle and Forbes for some reason.



The hairs are very stiff and do not soften that i can tell. it will bloom some, but again certain creams have a hard time with it.



I went beck to my travel Omega and realized it is soft in comparison.



All in all I am back to my Omega travel and my VDH is now a gun cleaner.

This brush is, for the most part, a piece. It's too stiff, it lathers badly, it comes out of the box horrible, and it sheds constantly. A month of soaking (unintentional) turned it into something quite soft and stiff feeling; but the bristles don't bloom like a badger brush, and the stiffness makes it quite hard to get a good lather.



The good point, though, is you can get a workable lather off the damn thing with a couple extra minutes of work; and it's quite stiff for when you're literally grinding your way into soaps. Of course, it doesn't even load as well as the Tweezerman, I think; too stiff to work the soap up into its bristles, but it does load much faster initially.



Although not a favorite of mine, the brush has lead me to recognize that boar will soften up a bit. Not enough to be functional, but a decent amount. This lead me to seek a combination badger/boar brush, as I think a blend of some boar would improve stiffness and load off soaps better. And thus I wet looking for a Vulfix 404...

Although at first sight they look very much like the same brush. The Deluxe really is a pretty good brush. The Natural is not. El Deluxo is more densely packed and the quality of the bristle is a little bit better. In my case, the Deluxe has not shed any more than any other shaving brush I've ever owned. When I first got it, I gave it a good and rough shampoo. This got rid of the couple of loose hairs and it's only lost a couple more as it continues to plow through my soaps.



It's not very attractive, but very available and I insist; It's much better than their Natural version.



If you are on a tight budger and can get this Deluxe version. Go for it. I got mine at CVS on sale = reduced to half price from $7.50 and I also used a $.50 store coupon so I paid $3.25 plus tax.



Hey, look,,,,,,,,, you've got yourself a Shaving Brush there.....

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Joe