Omega 11126

I'm considering getting the Omega 11126 shaving brush to add to my collection. I like the idea of the natural wood handle, and the knot seems to be very nice, reading from descriptions and reviews on different sites. Do any of you have this brush, and if so, could you please let me know your thoughts on it? I own and adore my Omega 10098, so how is the 11126 in comparison? Thank you for your help!

I am waiting for mine to be delivered, will definitely post some opinions on it. 1-2 days and I should have it.

Cerbul13 said:

I am waiting for mine to be delivered, will definitely post some opinions on it. 1-2 days and I should have it.

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Very nice! I just placed my order for the Omega 11126, along with an Omega 50014 travel brush. It will be replacing my GBS Pure Badger travel shaving brush. I'm going to gift my best friend with the GBS since he needs one for travel. Right now, he just tosses his normal home shaving brush into his Dopp kit without a protective case or anything. I think he'll benefit from the brush, and it will also be his first badger brush.

It looks like my new brushes might arrive tomorrow, which is very exciting for me! After I've had a chance to inspect them and do a test lather, I'll report back here about my thoughts.

They did indeed come in today, and both seem flawless! After getting them unpacked, my family and I had to take the girls out for trick-or-treating so I haven't been able to give them a chance to soak and test lather as of yet. I have to admit that the Omega 11126 is even more lovely in the hand than in pictures, and has a nice weight without being overly heavy or too light in the hand. The wooden handle really is a thing of beauty, and the brass ring that holds the knot really gives it an elegant appearance and class.

I'm likewise impressed with the seeming quality of the Omega 50014 travel brush. Even without a test lather or soak I can tell that it is light-years ahead of the GBS travel brush I had been using.

If you've never considered getting either or both for your collections in the past, or found yourself on the fence, I can honestly say that they don't disappoint in person. I'm going to really enjoy tomorrow's shave!

I have the 11126, and love it. Remember to keep the wooden handle clean after each use. It picks up a soapy residue after a while. In between the grains.

asingh said:

I have the 11126, and love it. Remember to keep the wooden handle clean after each use. It picks up a soapy residue after a while. In between the grains.

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Thank you for the tip! It's one I do already, but can't be overstated. Also, I only had one bristle come loose while I did a test lather after soaking it for fifteen minutes. It made a flawless lather! Yes, I had to do that before bed! ;-)

^^
Mine did shed a bit in the beginning. Probably around 8-9 bristles.

Mine came in as well. Here is what I think:
The wooden handle is much more beautiful then in pictures. The wood treatment against water is giving the handle a shiny sheen which makes it totally elegant.
I was afraid of the golden ring being pathetic, but not only that works nice color wise, is actually improving on the elegant look of it.
The loft size seems to be totally enough, and the knot I was afraid that is too big. However, the hairs are really densely packed into it. The smell was absolutely not present at all. I was honestly afraid of the specific smell, but I wasn't able to pick anything at all. It seems however, that they are treating the hairs with some oils or something which came off on the first lather, that are most likely used to eliminate the smell. Really nice on their part.
After a few test lathers and an actual shave, many many hairs split, I really wasn't expecting this. I also did circles dry in my hand to help split before test lather and shave, and after, which led to have a few, 8-9 or so, hairs to break and fall off. On the second shave no other hairs came off.
The brush, in its current state, requires a bit more then a day to dry completely. This will most likely improve as soon as more hairs will split and have the knot more bloomed and the chances that air will get deeper into the knot will increase. I am not sure if the time will reduce under 24 hours, but if I think again I do need a reason to get a second boar brush t rotate don't I
One thing that I realized was that this cannot be a travel brush, so I will have to get a synthetic for that purpose. Yay, a reason to get a synthetic !
Softness of the tips: when I soak it, the hairs get really much softer, yet the backbone is not much diminished. I was able to feel the many split hairs being absolutely gentle on my face yet here and there a hair that was not split felt like my pure badger. I can totally agree that once most hairs split, it will 100% get softer then my pure badger, which I regret purchasing.
The handle is very very comfortable, and bowl lathering is absolutely awesome. It fits my hand very very nice, and it allows more comfortable grips. I did a very good thing believing that the shape of the handle will offer comfort.
The brush is a bit on the light side, but is just enough to feel nice in the hand. While with lather/water on it, feels really nice.
Lathering is really easy. The fact that the hairs stand more straight combined with comfortable handle, helps a lot with the lather. Picking up soap from harder pucks is much more easy, yet you still need to apply the "gently push into the puck and hold the position and then keep swirling while enough resistance from soap" approach when loading. It does feel like the amount of water it holds is not yet improved, but on some dryer test lathers problem is easily solved by adding 2-3 drops of water at the base of the knot. But this is also in the case of badger, if you feel like is not releasing lather at all, put 2-3 drops into the base of the knot. This will help with lather releasing.
Overall? I was literally expecting a cheap product and I was honestly expecting many possible flaws. I was totally surprised by the attention to treating the hairs for smell, wood treatment, the attention to the knot shape and size, and I really think is an awesome product for the price. I do not regret the purchase at all, in the contrary, it opened the book of boar brushes for me.
I tried to tell both the good and the bad about this product, but keep in mind that since it is my very first boar brush that I ever seen/touched, I have limited experience and all the thoughts come from comparing this to my silvertip and pure badger brushes.
Thank You

Those are fine brushes. You will be pleased.