The softest and most luxurious brush?

[SubmarinerLV]

The title pretty much says it all gents, I am wondering after all the discussion on the boards recently about what grades are "soft" exactly and where does "floppy" begin to be an out and out bad thing? So basically my question is what is the most luxurious and soft brush you have used? Then was that your sweet spot or did you then end up going for something a bit more scrubby? So basically what I'm trying to establish here is what is the softest tipped brush out there and is that a good thing for this brush or a bad one? Of course YMMV.

Regards Grant

[wimbouman]

Muhle's and TGN's silvertips are both very soft and luxurious.
Haven't tried the really expensive brushes though, so maybe someone here can give some ideas about Plisson or the expensive Simpsons?

Wim

[thunderball]

My Shavemac Silvertip is ridiculously soft...so much so that I actually prefer their Finest grade which is considered a step down.

[SubmarinerLV]

Muhle's and TGN's silvertips are both very soft and luxurious.
Haven't tried the really expensive brushes though, so maybe someone here can give some ideas about Plisson or the expensive Simpsons?

Wim

Yes, Muhle's are supposed to be very soft but not "floppy" so they're definitely in the running. I have a Simpsons 3-band CH1 which is soft at the tips but it's density makes it very "scrubby" on the face.

Regards Grant

[drandall]

some popular contenders....shavemac finest, kent BK4, saville row, plisson in high-mountain white

[xriley]

I'll add Simpson's 2-band to the list. My emperor 2 in 2 band is both soft and luxurious.

[Aaron622]

Vie-Long 16510 is the softest, plushest brush I've used. If you want a little more backbone, I'd say a Savile Row, but I think they are a little less luxurious with the shortened loft.

[SubmarinerLV]

some popular contenders....shavemac finest, kent BK4, saville row, plisson in high-mountain white

Ok good list of contenders. A few questions though is the Shavemac finest softer than the Silvertip. Is it only the kent BK4 that is extremely soft or are the other BK lines as soft? Also how soft is the HMW I thought it was more Scritchy, but obviously haven't used them?

Regards Grant

[msandoval858]

I've used a few brushes that really fit in to this category. The Vulfix #40, Kent BK4 and BK8 definately come to mind.

The one that really wins out for me is the Simpsons Polo 14 Super. Mine is an original Somerset made model from several years ago. This brush is an absolute monster and not something I use very often, but the hair on this one is absolute perfection. It's like lathering your face with a warm pillow (about as big as one too!) and nothing else feels quite like it. Unfortunately, it will also put a big dent in a tub of cream and make enough lather to shave your face, your wife's legs, your head, and maybe a couple of your friends :tongue_sm

[blantyre]

Rooney heritage Emillion or Victorian - get the original "3-band" bristle - softest face contact I've ever felt. The Kent BKs are a close second but the price of softness there is some floppiness.

[Perished]

Kent BK8 or Shavemac... Both really soft. Mind you, they're the only two I've tried :)
I think my Shavemac JUST nicks it, not sure though, only just breaking in the Kent.

[sucuri]

Shavemac

[SubmarinerLV]

Ok some really interesting things coming through here, I think that the Polo 14 is kind of a moot point since it is almost impossible to come by in original form nowadays (although I would dearly like to own one) and also it's frankly insane size. So now I am wondering how the Rooney heritage line compares to the Kent BK line, on a side note I am interested in this review : http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?ltr=R&t=1604 by Joel as it says that a Kent is prickly compared to this Rooney. However this does render us with a slight problem as Rooney has 5 count 'em 5 different "silvertips" here's a list 1: Silvertip 2:Super silvertip 3:Finest 4:Heritage Silvertip 5: Heritage 2-band Silvertip. All of these presumably are different in their characteristics so which one is the really soft one mentioned?

Regards Grant

[blantyre]

Ok some really interesting things coming through here, I think that the Polo 14 is kind of a moot point since it is almost impossible to come by in original form nowadays (although I would dearly like to own one) and also it's frankly insane size. So now I am wondering how the Rooney heritage line compares to the Kent BK line, on a side note I am interested in this review : http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?ltr=R&t=1604 by Joel as it says that a Kent is prickly compared to this Rooney. However this does render us with a slight problem as Rooney has 5 count 'em 5 different "silvertips" here's a list 1: Silvertip 2:Super silvertip 3:Finest 4:Heritage Silvertip 5: Heritage 2-band Silvertip. All of these presumably are different in their characteristics so which one is the really soft one mentioned?

Regards Grant

You want the heritage which has its own special extra dense high grade silvertip -it's fantastic. There are a few 2-band heritage around but you want the original version.

[SubmarinerLV]

You want the heritage which has its own special extra dense high grade silvertip -it's fantastic. There are a few 2-band heritage around but you want the original version.

Right good so a Heritage 3 band Rooney will be the Softest brush out? That seems to be the direction this discussion is heading in.

Regards Grant

[Sieges]

The softest brush I have tried is the B&B 2006 LE.
Other softies I would mention is the Kent BK 2/4/8/12 and Mühle brushes....

[Thebigspendur]

You guys should try a Thater Silvertip. Has all the qualities of a two band without the scratchyness but has no floppyness at all and is quite resilient and is silky soft on the face.

[JPDyson]

The softest brush I own right now is actually my B&B Essential - we don't know who made it, but I have all ideas the name rhymes with Kent. Wait, I think I did that wrong... Anyway the BK4 is probably right up your alley.

The word on Shavemac is that the tips are very soft. Can't speak to that myself.

[RetroGrouch]

I've owned a ton of brushes -- including expensive ones by Simpson, Rooney, et al -- but when I'm in the mood for a soft and luxurious feel, nothing tops my Shavemac silvertip. Pillow soft, yet not floppy.

[lsbrodsky]

Shavemac Custom D01, but waiting for my new B&B
Larry

[SubmarinerLV]

Ok so right now the three most suggested softest brushes are Kent BK (), Shavemac Silvertip and Rooney Heritage can anyone say definitively which is the softest out of these 3?

Regards Grant

[richmondesi]

They are both soft. Both floppy in my experience. The good thing about Kent is they don't seem to be as prone to shedding.

Simpsons 2-band Super is about as good as it gets in terms of soft without floppiness IME.

[kevinm]

My Shavemac silver tip (22580) is softer than my Rooney silvertip (3/1) but not as floppy.

[Ignatius]

Vulfix #41. Loft isn't all that tall for a 26mm knot, so it works equally well with soaps and creams.

[Darjeeling Express]

The Rooney Heritage old version 3 band (Emillion) and Shavemac Silvertip 177 are both phenomenal brushes. The Emillion is a rather huge brush. The Shavemac has the edge on cloud like softness but it requires 3 "O" rings to bring up the backbone. The "O" rings do not present any problem for me and I would say it is my most luxurious brush. You may want to get the Shavemac with a 23/24mm knot and a 44mm loft. For me that would be heaven.

[jhclare]

Right good so a Heritage 3 band Rooney will be the Softest brush out? That seems to be the direction this discussion is heading in.

Regards Grant

It will be very soft tipped, yes. I personally wouldn't call it luxurious though - due to its insane density and backbone, it may not be what you're after.

[jrhudgins]

Savile Row 3824. Luxuriously soft with an underlying strength that keeps it from being the least bit floppy.

JR

[JPDyson]

Savile Row 3824. Luxuriously soft with an underlying strength that keeps it from being the least bit floppy.

JR

Good recommendation that. Joel's review should seal the deal there.

[rvargas]

I have a shavemac 177 silvertip 23mm, savile row 3722 and a Rooney stubby.

I'd say all three have soft tips. I wouldn't desribe any of them as being floppy. The Rooney has the most backbone and density. The shavemac and the Savile are easily more luxurious than the Rooney.

For softness and luxury it would be a tie between the shavemac and savile row for me.

FYI - I also have the vulfix 41 mentioned above, and would put it up there with some of the softest and most luxurious brushes I have tried. But if I had one brush to choose it would be the shavemac or savile.

[JPDyson]

For softness and luxury it would be a tie between the shavemac and savile row for me.

Adding fuel to the rumors. Joel addressed this in the review of the Brush Wars wining SR, and gave the edge to SR.

[SubmarinerLV]

Ok I'm looking into the Sr3824 pending any other mind blowing suggestions :thumbup1: I think it may well be the way to go. I'll shoot Charles at QED an email about shipping to the UK and take it from there.

Regards Grant