Vie Long Silvertip Badger Olivewood Shaving Brush

Aku Aku · Mar 25, 2011

Hi All,

Recently picked this up and have not used yet. Did not find it in the compendium. Anyone have or use? Comments welcome.

From the internet:
European Badger Hair - Handmade

Genuine Olivewood Handle

Medium Knot Size 21mm - Handle Length 1.6 Inch - Hair Length 2 Inch - Overall Length 3.5 Inch

Made in Valencia, Spain by Vie-Long S.L.

Vie-Long Shave Brushes with Olivewood handles are exceptionally beautiful. Each handle is handmade and finished with a multi-coat of clear lacquer that highlights the individual olivewood grain unique to each piece. The Vie-Long logo and crest is in black. Each handle is 1.5 inches diameter and fits the hand nicely with recessed band at the base for a secure grip. Olivewood is so dense that water cannot penetrate it and therefore a perfect wood to use for shaving brushes.

Badger hair used in Vie-Long Shaving Brushes is sourced from Europe rather than China and is of very high quality. The tips are never trimmed of their natural tapers but rather are formed in wooden molds to the bell shape by hand. The silvertip badger hair in this brush are selected with darker shafts (very slightly thicker than normal silvertip) giving it a little more backbone than normal silvertip. Compares with two-band shave brushes by Simpson.

njpaddy · Mar 25, 2011

Nice looking brush. You'll have to let us know how it is and post some post-bloom pics.

malocchio · Mar 25, 2011

I have had my 23mm olivewood for a year...a marvelous horse hair brush...I have said this many times,when it comes to horse hair brushes,no one beats vie-long..fantastic quality,fit & finish...my 23mm works great with any cream ,stick or soap...not too firm not too soft,a perfect caballo !!

bladebuff · Mar 25, 2011

Nice looking brush, please let us know how it works out for you.

kbuzbee · Mar 25, 2011

Very nice! :thumbup:

Where did you find it?

Ken

malocchio · Mar 25, 2011

both of these brushes,which are the same quality ,just different in size,can be obtained from giftsandcare.com in spain

Aku Aku · Mar 25, 2011

malocchio said:
I have had my 23mm olivewood for a year...a marvelous horse hair brush...I have said this many times,when it comes to horse hair brushes,no one beats vie-long..fantastic quality,fit & finish...my 23mm works great with any cream ,stick or soap...not too firm not too soft,a perfect caballo !!

malocchio, nice collection of vie long. It appears not be a very popular or commonly sold brush. Looking forward to breaking it in shortly. The olivewood handle is unique and feels great.

bassopotamus · Mar 25, 2011

malocchio said:
I have had my 23mm olivewood for a year...a marvelous horse hair brush...I have said this many times,when it comes to horse hair brushes,no one beats vie-long..fantastic quality,fit & finish...my 23mm works great with any cream ,stick or soap...not too firm not too soft,a perfect caballo !!

My first brush is very much like the one on the left of your picture (not sure if hey specds are the same).. I think it is wonderfully soft, but doesn't have very much back bone. It has not been a shedder at all (maybe 3 hairs in 3 months)

malocchio · Mar 25, 2011

bassopotamus said:
My first brush is very much like the one on the left of your picture (not sure if hey specds are the same).. I think it is wonderfully soft, but doesn't have very much back bone. It has not been a shedder at all (maybe 3 hairs in 3 months)

they all have the same knot, just different handles...out of my 5 vie-long horse hairs,and one vie-long silvertip,in one year all 6 brushes lost no more than 6-7 hairs COMBINED..the craftsmanship is excellant !

mftoms59 · Mar 25, 2011

kbuzbee said:
Very nice! Where did you find it?

Ken

Love My Horse Hairs, 13520 & 13070, Big Selection from Horse to SilverTip Here: http://bestgroomingtools.com/shaving-brushes-c-87.html?filter_id=105

BullGoose · Mar 25, 2011

Aku Aku said:
Hi All,

Compares with two-band shave brushes by Simpson.

I strongly disagree...Vie-Long and Simpson are two completely different beasts. The Vie-Long "two-band" brushes do not have the backbone of a Simpson two band brush, they are not nearly as dense and the tips are softer. That is not necessarily a bad thing but the fact is that the two brands have completely different characteristics.

Code · Mar 25, 2011

I've had this brush for a couple of months now. It's my goto brush right now.

I think it's a great brush. I use it to lather hard soaps, soft soaps, and cremes.
It handles all these tasks extremely well. I would rate it middle of the road as far as backbone is concerned.

The only brushes I can compare it to are: Simpson Emperor 3 Super, Plisson HMW 16, Rooney Heritage Chubby 2XL, and a PILS Super. It's closest to my Emp 3, which I think is another great all-around brush. It's a little less dense than the Emp 3, but it has no effect on its ability to whip up a nice lather. The tips will give you a very nice light scratchy feedback. I face lather, so I prefer this type of feedback.

I would rate the fit and finish of this brush 10/10. I have yet to see a loose hair, and the handle is beautiful.

I believe, for this model of brush there are two handle sizes. If you use a bowl to lather, the larger handle might be better, especially if the bowl is deep.

Bottom line: if you consider cost vs quality, this is the best brush I own.

I purchased this from Bullgoose. Great service, timely delivery, I would definitely do business with him again.

Regards,

Code

DunEdinRanger · Mar 25, 2011

malocchio said:
I have had my 23mm olivewood for a year...a marvelous horse hair brush...I have said this many times,when it comes to horse hair brushes,no one beats vie-long..fantastic quality,fit & finish...my 23mm works great with any cream ,stick or soap...not too firm not too soft,a perfect caballo !!

I love the red color of the handles you have there!

bassopotamus · Mar 25, 2011

malocchio said:
they all have the same knot, just different handles...out of my 5 vie-long horse hairs,and one vie-long silvertip,in one year all 6 brushes lost no more than 6-7 hairs COMBINED..the craftsmanship is excellant !

I think mine is a 20 or 21mm knot. Love the handle look, wish it were maybe a tad bigger.

malocchio · Mar 25, 2011

it is unrealistic to compare the vie-long horse hair brushes to silvertips...the biological structure of the hair is different,so the qualities of each variety of hair is different. the amount of water saturation time,the feel of the tips,the speed of the lather,all are different with horse hair...the comparison between pig hair brushes and grey badger is the same..they are two different brushes with different qualities... I bought the vie-long top of the line silvertip # 16510 from a fellow forum member..the handle is the same that is used on the much less expensive grey and black badger brushes,and the same as the even less expensive horse hair brushes.....the 16510 brush is way too soft for most shavers....I can barely feel anything on my face it is so cloud like soft....I have seen these come up on the forum in brand new condition because the original owner had no idea that the brush is the one of the most soft brushes you can ever use...I like it..a good change of pace...I find my horse hair vie-longs with the 23mm tips to be superb brushes for any type of shaving adventure....I sold my first horse hair vie-long 19mm because the smaller horse hair knots do not have the density or strength of a larger medium sized knot...the 23mm really whips up whatever you throw at it....

bassopotamus · Mar 25, 2011

malocchio said:
it is unrealistic to compare the vie-long horse hair brushes to silvertips...the biological structure of the hair is different,so the qualities of each variety of hair is different. the amount of water saturation time,the feel of the tips,the speed of the lather,all are different with horse hair...the comparison between pig hair brushes and grey badger is the same..they are two different brushes with different qualities... I bought the vie-long top of the line silvertip # 16510 from a fellow forum member..the handle is the same that is used on the much less expensive grey and black badger brushes,and the same as the even less expensive horse hair brushes.....the 16510 brush is way too soft for most shavers....I can barely feel anything on my face it is so cloud like soft....I have seen these come up on the forum in brand new condition because the original owner had no idea that the brush is the one of the most soft brushes you can ever use...I like it..a good change of pace...I find my horse hair vie-longs with the 23mm tips to be superb brushes for any type of shaving adventure....I sold my first horse hair vie-long 19mm because the smaller horse hair knots do not have the density or strength of a larger medium sized knot...the 23mm really whips up whatever you throw at it....

Mine is a 16910 (had to go look it up), and I agree with your assessment. So soft. Still fine to face lather though.

Aku Aku · Mar 26, 2011

Wow, it seems that I may have stumbled into something very nice.

malocchio, great "apples to oranges" logic on the comparison of different hairs within the same brush lineup.

code, awesome write up and comparison to the more well know brushes. Sounds like you have put together a nice collection.

Maybe it is time to get the Vie-Long line inserted in the compendium....

DunEdinRanger · Mar 26, 2011

Must resist urge to buy!

Aku Aku · Mar 26, 2011

DunEdinRanger said:
Must resist urge to buy!

Too funny

Joe Edson · Mar 26, 2011

BullGoose said:
I strongly disagree...Vie-Long and Simpson are two completely different beasts. The Vie-Long "two-band" brushes do not have the backbone of a Simpson two band brush, they are not nearly as dense and the tips are softer. That is not necessarily a bad thing but the fact is that the two brands have completely different characteristics.

I'm in complete agreement with what Phil says here to the differences between the two. Trust be told, I didn't like either 2 bands from simpson's or vie-long.

Search

Vie Long Silvertip Badger Olivewood Shaving Brush

Aku Aku

njpaddy

malocchio

bladebuff

kbuzbee

malocchio

Aku Aku

bassopotamus

malocchio

mftoms59

BullGoose

Code

DunEdinRanger

bassopotamus

malocchio

bassopotamus

Aku Aku

DunEdinRanger

Aku Aku

Joe Edson

Similar threads