*New ***Forest suggestions requested.

I had the good fortune of picking up a New Forest 2221 from a generous member last week. Man, this thing has soft tips. Takes in a lot of water but when I tried to face lather the brush spread flat on my face. I think floppy is the term (correct me if I'm wrong). Creates a nice, thick, and voluminous lather.

But I didn't like the lack of backbone and felt that it could have created lather a bit faster without the flop. So I did a side by side test. I grabbed a tweezerman and loaded both brushes with an equal amount of cream (TOBS Rose) and started lathering my left and right cheeks simultaneously. Result? The tweezerman created a leather that was a tiny bit thicker and reached that point about 10-15 seconds before the New Forest.

I realize that I am still somewhat new to face lathering and the amount of cream I used could have been the perfect amount for the tweezerman and too much/not enough for the New Forest, so I plan on doing this experiment again tomorrow. I will report back with the results.

While I really like the New Forest, I already know it's not for me. Could anyone suggest a brush with a bit more back bone but soft tips, a handle that is a tiny bit larger (The handle is a bit too narrow near the base, see pic below), and preferably less than $50. Does such a brush exist?

did you soak the brush first maybe, try doing a rinse of the brush? idk i always soak mine prior... but i have heard of other members just rinsing theirs out....either way thats a beautiful pic and nice looking brush...

You are going to be hard-pressed to find something larger than the NF with better backbone for $50. Why? Badger hair is expensive. More backbone typically means more hair shoved in the knot (alternatives include setting the knot lower or using a coarser/springier hair type like 2-band).

You could get a custom brush done by Rudy Vey for relatively cheap and have it tuned to your specs. I've heard good things about the TGN finest and Shavemac knots he uses, and nothing but great things about his craftsmanship.

i keep looking back at that razor that is incredible looking... and love the T&H in the background i love T&H stuff...

Thanks, it is a Merkur 38c with malachite handle. Hefty at a little over 4 ounces. Here is another picture from the auction in which I bought it. It looks even better in person.




franz, I will definitely take a look at Rudy Vey, thanks for the tip.

vegas said:

While I really like the New Forest, I already know it's not for me. Could anyone suggest a brush with a bit more back bone but soft tips, a handle that is a tiny bit larger (The handle is a bit too narrow near the base, see pic below), and preferably less than $50. Does such a brush exist?

Click to expand...

I can vouch for the goodness of the Finest Badger knots from The Golden Nib (TGN). How about finding and restoring a vintage handle that's to your liking and gluing in a new TGN Finest knot? I've done several and they're now my primary brushes.

If you don't want to screw around with a vintage handle, TGN also offers Penworks and Penchetta handles that you can match up with your choice of TGN knots. A little bit of epoxy to glue in the knot and you've got yourself a great brush for well within your $50 price range.

So far I am looking at 3 options.

1. Mix and match from the Golden Nib. Price: around $50 shipped
2. Pick up a Simpsons Berkeley Best from westcoastshaving (10% off coupon makes this even nicer). Price: around $50 shipped
3. Pick up a Franks shaving brush "Richmond" in finest. Price: around $24 shipped.

I am not looking at developing one of your "acquisition disorders" so it will only be one of the above. Hmmmm.

A New Forest Tubby with Super 2-band hair. Good backbone, soft tips. Should be just what you are looking for.

The goldennib is an awesome place to get a brush. Their Finest has great backbone and soft tips.

The other thing you can try is use the Mantic style and hold the bottom of the NF knot to give it backbone.

Don't get Frank Shaving, they are great brushes for what they are but going from the NF to Frank's is a massive downgrade and I think you will be very disappointed!

I have a Berkeley 46 Best that is wonderful. To me it is the best brush for $50 you can find. It has good backbone and is soft.

Uh, does that shave soap say Pants Relief Elixir? Exactly what kind of shave soap is that?!

LOL, I realized that once I posted the picture. It is a glycerin hand soap from a seller on etsy. I have never shaved with it but I just tried it out and created a really nice lather. The scent is excellent as well, bergamot and sage. It has a classic quality to it. I will try face lathering tomorrow and report back.