First Brush "splurge"

My birthday is coming up and I usually treat myself to something nice, and thought I may want to finally splurge on a nice Badger...
Until now I have been very happy with my two Semogue Boars, but am starting to wonder "just what am I missing"
I am a face latherer for the most part, but have bowl lathered plenty as well.

Thoughts?

Face lather: shorter loft and I'd go with one of the "lower grade" badgers like a pure. IMHO the silvertips are too soft but they are dynamite for bowl lathers.

Shantytownbrown said:

My birthday is coming up and I usually treat myself to something nice, and thought I may want to finally splurge on a nice Badger...
Until now I have been very happy with my two Semogue Boars, but am starting to wonder "just what am I missing"
I am a face latherer for the most part, but have bowl lathered plenty as well.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

How much moolah do you want to spend on your splurge? I say go for it!

I did the same thing. I own 2 Semogue's, a 620 and 830. Both very good face lathering brushes. But I wanted a quality badger.

I ended up getting a Simpson Colonel and couldn't be happier with their best badger.

My next will be a Duke 2 or 3. YMMV or course. There is a wide selection of great brushes, and as many favorites as members of B&B.

If you want to get yourself THE one and only bowl lathering brush get a Kent BK8



If you want a "Swiss Army Knife" brush (one that is just as home face and bowl lathering) get a Da Vinci 293.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/297253-Da-Vinci-293-Bead-Handle-Brush-Review

I like the looks of the Da Vinci 293 a lot! I also have a Kent BK8 and I will ditto turtle's opinion.

Chesterfield said:

How much moolah do you want to spend on your splurge? I say go for it!

Click to expand...

under $100 preferably under $75...plus minus 20% if i was really pushed

i will look into the daVinci and Simpson as recommended, any others?

Shantytownbrown said:

under $100 preferably under $75...plus minus 20% if i was really pushed

i will look into the daVinci and Simpson as recommended, any others?

Click to expand...

hmm davinci is $140 at West coast...could be pushed for this nice looker...keep the advice coming and we will see...

I may have to change my ranges to under $150...

Shantytownbrown said:

hmm davinci is $140 at West coast...could be pushed for this nice looker...keep the advice coming and we will see...

I may have to change my ranges to under $150...

Click to expand...

About my only "keepers" (not counting ones I will keep because of sentimentality) are:

Kent BK8
Da Vinci 293
Muhle 19mm synth

All the rest are "meh" by comparison to these 3

Simpson Duke 2 or 3 in Best is hard to beat for face or bowl lathering

captp said:

Simpson Duke 2 or 3 in Best is hard to beat for face or bowl lathering

Click to expand...

those look nice, and certainly fit in my "original" price thoughts, how do you decide between the 2 and the 3?
Turtle..is this in your collection? is it one of the "meh" brushes?

Shavemac 23x55 is hard to beat IMHO

OP - Fairfield County, nice! I work in Stamford.

I recently splurged for my own birthday with a Rudy Vey custom. For under ~$100 you can get a TGN Finest knot in a suitable size for face lathering, and a custom handle of your choice. Many of us can attest to the quality of Rudy's work - just tremendous. And if it's for your birthday, you'll feel great getting an item that you yourself had input in designing (I know I did!) Good luck choosing!

Shantytownbrown said:

those look nice, and certainly fit in my "original" price thoughts, how do you decide between the 2 and the 3?
Turtle..is this in your collection? is it one of the "meh" brushes?

Click to expand...

I've had multiples of all the Duke lineup.

Out of them the Duke 2 was my favorite face brush for years until I got the Muhle 19mm synth which put the Duke 2 on the shelf. I have to keep the little Muhle put away so that I use my other brushes when I want to face lather.



The Duke 3 was just not right even though I tried 3 of them. I always parted with the the Duke 3 after a few months as they just did not make me happy and I had to force myself to use them.

This is not said to poo poo the Dukes, It's just MHO..... You may feel differently about them. The Duke 1 and 2 are killer face lathering brushes and I had hoped that the Duke 3 would be a "jack of all trades" brush as it had a taller handle but unfortunately it failed as a face brush AND bowl brush for me.

All 3 Dukes (both sides)





The Duke 1 is a nice smaller brush but for me the Case seemed to out perform it.

Duke 1 and Case



Duke 2 and a Chubby 1 (Duke and Chubby where head to head in my face off of them)

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/285366-Duke-2-vs-Chubby-1-Face-lathering-title-bout

Turtle et al,

Hope I dont see myself getting diagnosed with a B-AD after this thread...

luckily I can only afford one of these right now...as I also want to save some $$ for some Penhaligon's which I was finally able to sample today...

Shantytownbrown said:

Turtle et al,

Hope I dont see myself getting diagnosed with a B-AD after this thread...

luckily I can only afford one of these right now...as I also want to save some $$ for some Penhaligon's which I was finally able to sample today...

Click to expand...

Just pull the trigger on the 293. You might as well do it now as you know you will do it later anyway.

.....and you will save a LOT of money by just cutting to the chase and avoiding all of the heartbreak and expended capitol of getting a bunch of other brushes first....

Sometimes the best way to save money is to spend a little more up front and just get what you are after even though it cost more because by the time you factor in a half dozen other brushes that fall into the "meh" category before you get that first one that was "just too expensive"

One brush that cost $130 is cheaper than half a dozen brushes that cost $40 and THEN you still spend that $130 to get the one you should have bought in the first place.

Check out Rudy Vey's brushes.

He's a B&B vendor and one of our member's pointed him out to me when I made a similar post. He talked me through the brush selection process and made the right brush for me.

http://ultimatependesigns.com/Shaving.html

Shantytownbrown said:

those look nice, and certainly fit in my "original" price thoughts, how do you decide between the 2 and the 3?
Turtle..is this in your collection? is it one of the "meh" brushes?

Click to expand...

I had all 3 Dukes at one point. Just came to like the 3 best, the 1 was just a bit too small for my taste, and it was almost a tossup befewwn the 2 & 3, but the 3 came out as best. As with so much in shaving, it all really comes down to personal preference; Turtle prefers the 2, I like the 3. Take your best shot and choose one, you won't be disappointed in either, they're both great brushes

Shaverjoe, deruitem, Rudy Vey all do great work and will also give an opinion on what knot they recommend based on your usage

Skip the Simpsons if you want a soft brush, IMO.

$75, have Rudy Vey make a brush with a tgn finest.

If you can stretch to $125 or so, go Shavemac Silvertip or Thater.