Noob - What first brush?

So I'm looking at getting my first shaving brush. I really don't want to spend more than about $15 bucks on it at this point. I was looking at the tweezerman on Amazon. Any other suggestions for that price range? Going for something that is non-irritating. Thanks.

You can get an Omega 49 from many vendors easily for less than $15. Great brush. You won't be sorry. It's good from the get-go, and really good once it's broken in. The Tweezerman is fine for what it is, and many use it as their first brush, but it tends to get dropped from the rotation if the shaving hobby sticks, whereas the Omega 49 is more of a keeper. And again, for the price, there's very little risk with the Big O.

First off, welcome to B&B. I see this is your 6th post. I hope you have enjoyed your time here so far.


I'm not sure you will get much for $15. I'm not trying to purposefully overlook your budget but these are some brushes I would recommend as brushes which will WAY OUTPUNCH their price tag.

For around $20 you could get a great boar- I personally love the Semogue 610. You may be able to pick up a used boar on the BST forum (BST is Buy/Sale/Trade) for around $15 and I would highly recommend that over the Tweezerman. Not sure how you feel about using a used brush but that is a very viable option.

In regards to badger brushes, I would recommend the 2 band brushes from Vintage Blades. www.vintagebladesllc.com I have no affiliation with the company, owner, etc. These brushes are well regarded on this forum. They are about $35 but are excellent.

Another option would be a whipped dog silver tip. I have never used one but these are also VERY highly regarded.

Others will chime in here with some great advice as well. Again, If I were you and it were possible, I would put a little more capital into the brush and it will pay dividends, I promise.

Good luck with your search and keep those questions coming.

Joe

I'd go a little more up the scale and have Larry at Whipped Dog sell me a silvertip. Have the knot set low enough to avoid floppiness; Larry is a huge help. I use mine 100% of the time now, my nice old boar retired after 15 years.

I'd recommend that you have that guy Shaverjoe make you a brush but that's not in your budget. I'd go with a Semogue boar brush as Joe stated. I've had three whipped dog brushes and have had issues with all of them. Larry has great customer service and took care of it each time but I wouldn't buy another. I have 4-5 of Joe brushes and will happily buy more.

Vespasian said:

I'd go a little more up the scale and have Larry at Whipped Dog sell me a silvertip. Have the knot set low enough to avoid floppiness; Larry is a huge help. I use

mine 100% of the time now, my nice old boar retired after 15 years.

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+1. Love my WHipped Dog silvertip.

I love my tweezerman. I've used it for 9 months and only face lather. After the initial shedding it doesn't lose many and does an admirable job. I've since gotten an omega 10049 for $11.86 shipped from west coast shaving. Very nice brush...very different than the badger but very nice quality. Depends on if you want a very soft no back bone brush like a badger or something that is soft yet had some stiffness to it like the boar

Thanks for all the input. Think I've decided to go ahead and give the omega suggestion a shot and see how it goes.

Congratulations and good luck with the Omega!

You can get for $21 the B & B Essential - a boar with an Omega knot @ West Coast Shaving. Love mine.

The B&B brushes are sold out as of earlier today I believe. Not sure what the ramp up time is for another batch.

The B&B is a nice brush but I also prefer the Semogue 610, it was soft out of the box but still has plenty of backbone.

JPM1961 said:

The B&B brushes are sold out as of earlier today I believe. Not sure what the ramp up time is for another batch.

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The sea-foam green one sold out, but they have ~40 of the 2013 pink ones back in stock.

john233 said:

Thanks for all the input. Think I've decided to go ahead and give the omega suggestion a shot and see how it goes.

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I think you will be pleased. Report back.