Need tip for a custom made Shavemac FACE LATHER brush ?

Bernd from Shavemac has offered me to send my 439 Silvertip D01 brush back and have it exchanged for one with another shaped knot.

Since I just made a plan to stop bowl and scuttle lathering and only do face lathering from now on, I might as well send it back in exchange for a custom build Shavemac dedicated to only one thing - face lathering of shaving creams (don't use soaps, they dry out my skin)

What would you prefer your perfect face lather brush to be like ?

I'm thinking something like this - since I like a good scrubby face massage in my brush I most likely with go for a Silvertip D01 2-Bander like this:

Handle 323, handle height 49 mm:


Knot shape: FAN shaped (The brush in the picture has a bulb shaped knot)
Loft: 50 mm (normally I would go for 46-48 mm, but take into consideration that Silvertip D01 2-Band is very dense and scrubby, I think 50 mm is the way to go - just as with the new Silvertip Fibres, you have to get a higher loft, than with regular soft silky smooth Silvertip hairs)
Knot size: 24 mm (I would love 22 mm, but with EXTREME BRUTALLY hard water in my area, I need some hairs to have enough product for 3 passes without having to reapply for more product)
Silvertip D01 2-Band hair (this type of hair is the stiffest Silvertip hair you will find, comparable to Simpsons Super 2-Band hair, I think)

Would you change anything ?

As said I only use shaving creams, never soaps.
The hardest shaving cream I own is the croap from Acqua Di Parma followed by my Santa Maria Novella, then CF Lime and CF Lavender and my 2 older DR Harris (they are dried out and therefore should be treated like croaps) - all my other shaing creams are pretty soft.
I try to avoid to dip my brush in the jar like I used to, since this will leave a bit of water in the cream, which is not so good for the shelf life of the cream (and since I own 52 shaving creams optimizing the shelf life of my creams is kind of important)
Now I just apply the cream to my face in a thin layer and use a little cafe latte spoon to apply a bit of cream to the top of the bristles on my shaving brush before I start to face lather.

Thanks for any advice

I would knock the loft down from 50 to 46/48 just my preference for a face latherer. Good luck with your purchase

The ratio knot/loft seems to be fine, only I would take smaller around 22/48, but thats because I prefer smaller knots.
Nice looking handle btw!

Triad said:

I would knock the loft down from 50 to 46/48 just my preference for a face latherer. Good luck with your purchase

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I also would go with a lower loft normally, but you have to consider that Silvertip D01 2-Band from Shavemac is VERY dense stiff hair with lots of backbone for a Silvertip grade of hair, which is why I opt to go for 50 mm loft.

ziplepingouin said:

The ratio knot/loft seems to be fine, only I would take smaller around 22/48, but thats because I prefer smaller knots.
Nice looking handle btw!

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I also like a smaller knot for face lathering, so 24 mm is the biggest I could go for and still have a brush that can retain some good amount of lather.
I find that even denser Silvertip badger brushes with too small a knot seems not to be able to hold enough lather for me to get 3 passes without having to reapply for more product. Take into consideration that I have some of hardest water found on earth in Copenhagen, where I live. The water is brutally hard here.........brutally hard !

CHSeifert said:

Knot shape: FAN shaped
Loft: 50 mm
Knot size: 24 mm
Silvertip D01 2-Band hair

Would you change anything ?

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Yes. Knot 25/50 or 26/50 also might want to consider D01 silvertip 3-Band. Finally, I am bulb kind of guy but YMMV.



just received mine 25/50 D01

Well, the thing is Brussels is quite the same then. I bought lately a d01 3band, 22/46, so dense that it took me while to learn how to get good lather from it... Thats why i tend to prefer D01 2band, even though stiffer, it does have better "flow through"..

Knot/loft ratio is good (I would even go with 25/50mm). I prefer bulb over fan but that is YMMV. The 323 handle had some glue issues between the resin and metal piece. Mine fell apart and he replaced it with a different handle. Unless you have real robust skin I would not recommend the D01 2-band. I would rather go with the regular silvertip or DO1 3 band (that is already on the edge of scritchyness for me).

CHSeifert said:

I also would go with a lower loft normally, but you have to consider that Silvertip D01 2-Band from Shavemac is VERY dense stiff hair with lots of backbone for a Silvertip grade of hair, which is why I opt to go for 50 mm loft.

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Interesting would you say Denser than simpsons best?

ridnovir said:

Yes. Knot 25/50 or 26/50 also might want to consider D01 silvertip 3-Band. Finally, I am bulb kind of guy but YMMV.

View attachment 257239

just received mine 25/50 D01

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So you prefer the softer Silvertip 3-Band and not the more scrubby Silvertip D01 2-Band ?
D01 2-Band is 25% mre expensive than Silvertip Regular 3-Band - and I like the extra scrub I get from it sometimes, other times I like a softer feel though.....

Why do you prefer a bulb shaped knot for faca lathering ?
I have a bulby shape to my Duke 3 2-Band Super, but if I could change it, I would have preferred it in a fan shape, I think.....

Triad said:

Interesting would you say Denser than simpsons best?

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Yes, I would say Silvertip D01 2-Band is denser than Simpsons Best but maybe not as dense as the Simpsons Super 3-Band, and the Silvertip D01 3-Band may be almost as dense as the Simpsons Super 3-Band - YMMV

I only have had 2 Shavemacs and 3 Simpsons to compare, so it's based on that.

ziplepingouin said:

Well, the thing is Brussels is quite the same then. I bought lately a d01 3band, 22/46, so dense that it took me while to learn how to get good lather from it... Thats why i tend to prefer D01 2band, even though stiffer, it does have better "flow through"..

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This is why I choose Silvertip D01 2-Band, D01 2-Band gives me extra scrub & massage, and the better flow through is vital if you have extreme hard water, which makes the shaving cream harder to lather.

German said:

Knot/loft ratio is good (I would even go with 25/50mm). I prefer bulb over fan but that is YMMV. The 323 handle had some glue issues between the resin and metal piece. Mine fell apart and he replaced it with a different handle. Unless you have real robust skin I would not recommend the D01 2-band. I would rather go with the regular silvertip or DO1 3 band (that is already on the edge of scritchyness for me).

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I might change it to 25/50 or even 26/52 - why do you prefer bulb over fan for face lathering ?
I have both bulb and fan in my face lather brushes, and while I like both, I sort of just thought everyone would prefer fan over bulb for face lathering and bulb over fan for bowl lathering - YMMV of course

I wouldn't choose aloft shorter than 50. I think it would be too scrubby.
And, remember that a 24 mm Shavemac knot will measure close to 26 mm at the point the hair and handle meet.
Finally, I prefer bulb over fan. And, yes, i face lather most of the time. Seems fan shaped knots are just a little too "wild" for me.

Just my two cents.

CHSeifert said:

So you prefer the softer Silvertip 3-Band and not the more scrubby Silvertip D01 2-Band ?


Why do you prefer a bulb shaped knot for faca lathering ?

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1. Yes I like softer hair.
2. I like bulb for more backbone and to me it feels better.

Shape is all about what you like. Fan increases face feel coverage. Thus you should add 2mm to a bulb shape in diameter to get a similar face coverage. Bulbs tend to allow for same backbone with less density than fan as the outer hairs support the inner ones, i.e. you get same backbone with better flow through (at least my experience). In the end it depends what you like. I would not go below 50mm loft as it will add easily too much scrub... I have a 25/50mm shavemac regular silver tip bulb that is probably my best face latherer due to shape and loft/knot ratio... but again there are no "rules" as there are too many variables...

CHSeifert said:

I might change it to 25/50 or even 26/52 - why do you prefer bulb over fan for face lathering ?
I have both bulb and fan in my face lather brushes, and while I like both, I sort of just thought everyone would prefer fan over bulb for face lathering and bulb over fan for bowl lathering - YMMV of course

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First, when using a Fan knot, your backbone would be more relaxed due to the shape which spreads out the hairs. Secondly a Fan will feel bigger on your face, I decrease my knot by 1 or 2 mm to equal the feel of a Bulb on my face, ie; my Bulb @23mm, My Fan @21mm feel equal on my face. Lastly, since you're strictly using Creams a loft of 50mm is good, and if you choose to use a soap, it would be more than adequate to handle the task, personally I'd go to a 52mm loft for the D01-2 knot.

Thanks for all your help with information and tips - I really appreciate it !

I've decided to order this and in bulb shape:



Loft: 52 mm
Knot: 24 mm
Silvertip D01 2-Band

Hope Bernd has that knot available at the moment

A very fine choice Claus