Anything with the word SIMSPON on it. Not only highly overrated, but overpriced.
Feathers are what they are, they are amazing!
Feathers are what they are, they are amazing!
Any soap containing tallow. There's nothing amazing or magical about it, and overall it's neither better nor worse than veggie-based soaps overall.
Don't think Astra SPs are Turkish - made in Russia, aren't they?
I must state that I'm fairly new (about 2 months now) to DE shaving.. I have 3 razors now, a WeiShi, a Parker and just received my Gillette adjustable (black beauty).
I've got a few soaps now, and a few brushes (one boar, one synthetic, one badger silvertip).
I also have several brands of blades and only have gotten to 2 types so far.
The only thing that I really can say that I find myself not really interested in using is the other brushes from my silvertip. If I want to scrub and really clean the pores, the boar and synth are rough enough that I feel like I've sanded my face while the silvertip is extremely soft. I know I've read a lot about brushes needed a period of breaking in, but I'm finding it hard to find it worth the trouble when the silvertip already feels great.
And so far, the worse I've had was when I was testing my new jar of Prorazo (white tub for sensitize skin) and I used the boar brush... ended up with sore skin (red inflamation), and the worse part is that I didn't even shave... that was only from testing the lathering.
Today, just re-used the Prorazo with my silvertip and (also my first use of the Gillette adjustable) and my skin's fine, so it must have been the brush.
So for the question, I'd say boar's brushes, unless I just have a poor example.
As far as price for badgers, I paid about 25$ (with shipping) off eBay for my silvertip, so I don't know why the price is an issue mentionned for many. Maybe less concern with the brand? As far as quality... over a month and only a few hairs came off, it's sturdy and very soft... I'd love to compare it against an expensive one, but I don't see the point.
Could be, but the writing on my packets seems Turkish. I might be wrong, I'd have to check.
The future just isn't what it used to be.The Futur