Why Spend more than $100 on a Brush?

Another reason why someone might want to own a higher priced brush is if it was made by an artisan that you would like to support/encourage.

Some of our wet shaving members are also hobbyists (my wife and I among them) who enjoy making brush handles and fitting them with great knots.

They may be woodturner's who use exotic materials, or they may hand cast acrylics, or they might turn a brass handle on a metal lathe... Or come up with something unique.

Unlike factory operations, these artisans often put many hours into their creations, and of course, that moves the price upwards.

I see reports of how excited folks are when they receive a brush that was made to their specs. For many of us, there is joy in owning one of a kind, or limited run items... And supporting those who produce them.

BigDogInAZ said:

The one thing I haven't seen answered is what the $100 plus brushes have that lessor priced brushes don't.

And let's say things that aren't just cosmetic.

Also are we talking usable or collectable?

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I think this discussion has been most polit (which is what I usually find here), but I take OldGrowth's point. Sometimes these questions seem to imply that you'd have to be crazy to spend more than $XXX on a certain product. I don't think anyone has gone there this time, but print does lend itself to misinterpretation.

I did spend $195 on a collectable brush. It's my most expensive but not my favorite. I had the money and I'm old and believe in indulging myself on occasion.

My Kent BK8 is around $200 in the US, but I purchased it for around $135 from the wrong side of the pond. It is a wonderful brush for my desires: enough backbone but nothing short of pure luxury on the face. Worth every penny.

My current favorite brush is an SOC boar, so I don't feel compelled to like everything expensive.

I also think it's important to remember that the higher you go on the luxury scale the more you face the law of diminishing returns. Is a $20,000 car twice as good as a $10,000 car? Probably. Is a $60,000 car twice as good as a $30,000 car? Probably not (or definitely not). But it is better. Only you can decide if the difference is worth the money.

Being a retired teacher, I can't often afford to go top shelf. But I can with a few shaving products.

So have we found a functional reason to spend more than $100 on a brush yet.

BigDogInAZ said:

So have we found a functional reason to spend more than $100 on a brush yet.

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I think if you read the undertone of the thread, you have your answer. If not, I'll spell it out.

There are those of the opinion that you get diminishing returns above $XX price point -- all relative to each individual.

There are those that find substantially more enjoyment from a $200 brush than a $20 brush. Orders of magnitude more enjoyment, hence justifies the cost.

Is one right and the other wrong? Do all brushes make lather?

I think the point some of us are trying to make while trying to prevent this thread from going down the mostly obvious, inevitable path is that those guys that spend $20 on a brush think they're right, and they are. The guys that spend $200 on a brush think they're right, and they are. What is there really to discuss without it becoming testy?

You're not going to convince one guy to drop $200 on a brush if the thinks his $20 brush is good enough for him -- it obviously is. We're also not going to convince people spending $200 on a brush that it's a waste and they should just be using $20 brushes because they make lather just as well.

If I must provide anecdotal, personal experience, I will. I used 2 brushes for about 5 years. Just those two. A pure and a best. They made lather. I was happy. They were "cheap". I had about $50 invested combined. Then, for no particular reason, I decided to start exploring other brushes. I have found some amazing brushes that are well above $100. I still have my two "old" brushes, but they are in boxes. I keep them for sentimental reasons. My frivolously expensive brushes provide a much more enjoyable experience, for me, than the other brushes. Is the lather/shave orders of magnitude better? Maybe not, but the overall experience is. For me, that justifies the cost. For others, it does not. We're both right.

For the record, I also have a handful of boar brushes and enjoy using those from time to time as well.

Also keep in mind that no one really NEEDS a brush at all, it just makes it easier to produce and apply lather.
There are many brushless shaving solutions (e.g., oils, creams, canned foam).
So it really comes done to what one wants and enjoys.

One of the beauties of this hobby is that you really can get the full experience using purchases at all ends of the price spectrum. There are brushes at $20 and less that are awesome and will make a great lather, be plenty soft and last for quite a long time. I see tons of love on the forum for these brushes. If you're handy, you can also restore a vintage handle and put in a knot of your choosing at a very reasonable cost. This opens up a wide variety of very accessible options. And then there are increasingly expensive models that provide the lover of shaving brushes opportunities for even more new experiences, or to tailor the experience around your personal technique. Or tailored to aesthetic preferences. A pretty good analogy might be to wine. The deeper into the hobby you explore, the more nuance you'll discover. If you love wine and have a nose for it, it can be very enjoyable to hone your senses such that you can appreciate these nuances. Shaving brushes also offer a diversity of nuance that can be very enjoyable to explore and learn to appreciate.

dreadpirate said:

Why Spend more than $100 on a Brush?

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Why not? The same questions could be asked of anything. Every decision is a matter of compromising and different people are willing to compromise on different aspects to different degrees no matter what the topic.

If I was happy with a Rooney or Semogue then I would have stopped there and never picked up my M&F. I'm glad I didn't settle. YMMV as well all draw the line at different points. It's all about finding what suits the individual and not about an arbitrary price limit for everyone. Everyone has to just try the options and determine where their limits lie.

dreadpirate said:

For me - the Porsche is good enough.

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...and plenty could argue that the Porsche is overpriced, overkill, etc -- that a fun driving experience could be obtained with a much less expensive car. Each of us can only say what is good enough, too much, etc for the individual.

BigDogInAZ said:

The one thing I haven't seen answered is what the $100 plus brushes have that lessor priced brushes don't.

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It's not always about what X has that Y doesn't. Brushes generally all have the same components. It may be about materials, it may be about craftsmanship, etc.

takeshi said:

Why not? The same questions could be asked of anything. Every decision is a matter of compromising and different people are willing to compromise on different aspects to different degrees no matter what the topic.

If I was happy with a Rooney or Semogue then I would have stopped there and never picked up my M&F. I'm glad I didn't settle. YMMV as well all draw the line at different points. It's all about finding what suits the individual and not about an arbitrary price limit for everyone. Everyone has to just try the options and determine where their limits lie.


...and plenty could argue that the Porsche is overpriced, overkill, etc -- that a fun driving experience could be obtained with a much less expensive car. Each of us can only say what is good enough, too much, etc for the individual.


It's not always about what X has that Y doesn't. Brushes generally all have the same components. It may be about materials, it may be about craftsmanship, etc.

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Now the answers are getting closer to why instead of just calling people who would spend more than $100 crazy or stupid.

But it also sounds like there is a point were the return for the money over x is marginal vs exponential say a $10 brush or linear, say a $80 brush.

A smart car will get two people where they are going and has pretty good crash test ratings.

A Miata, Fiat Abarth or JCW Mini are all lots of fun to drive and are fairly cheap for what they do.

A BMW M or Porsche Boxter are more but also slightly faster yet almost double in price and quadruple to maintain yet usually much higher quality interior wise.

There are those who can spend more but don't because they want a linear increase in utility and or comfort or both. This might be the Warren Buffet Way of spending.

Then you have people who buy just about every car out there because they can. The Jay Leno's of the world.

So in today's dollars what is the point where spending more on a brush is not a waste of money but where the utility is no longer as valuable?

Because most of us don't have the cash of Buffet or Leno.

The best bang for the average consumer on a budget. The Honda Accord of Brushes. A fully loaded Honda Accord.

Three things I regret not getting on my car are Leather, Hard Top and Bluetooth. They would have cost me about 7k more but now I'm looking at new cars again.

BigDogInAZ said:

Now the answers are getting closer to why instead of just calling people who would spend more than $100 crazy or stupid.

But it also sounds like there is a point were the return for the money over x is marginal vs exponential say a $10 brush or linear, say a $80 brush.

A smart car will get two people where they are going and has pretty good crash test ratings.

A Miata, Fiat Abarth or JCW Mini are all lots of fun to drive and are fairly cheap for what they do.

A BMW M or Porsche Boxter are more but also slightly faster yet almost double in price and quadruple to maintain yet usually much higher quality interior wise.

There are those who can spend more but don't because they want a linear increase in utility and or comfort or both. This might be the Warren Buffet Way of spending.

Then you have people who buy just about every car out there because they can. The Jay Leno's of the world.

So in today's dollars what is the point where spending more on a brush is not a waste of money but where the utility is no longer as valuable?

Because most of us don't have the cash of Buffet or Leno.

The best bang for the average consumer on a budget. The Honda Accord of Brushes. A fully loaded Honda Accord.

Three things I regret not getting on my car are Leather, Hard Top and Bluetooth. They would have cost me about 7k more but now I'm looking at new cars again.

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I understand the car analogies, but they drive me crazy. I'm in sales. I sell specialized chemical/ion analyzers, and my customers want to do the same thing; however, you're not buying a car when you buy a brush. A brush is a significantly smaller relative portion of your expendable income. Also, with proper care and maintenance, you could own a brush much longer than a car...arguably you could own just one brush your whole life. When put in that context, how significant are these "diminishing returns" if it is something you truly enjoy?

To keep the math simple, let's say you only own one brush. Guy (A) has a brush that's $50, another guy (B) has a $100 brush, and another guy (C) has a brush that is $500.

Over just one year, the amortized cost of that brush per use (assuming daily shaving) is 14cents/day for guy A, 27cents/day for guy B, and $1.37/day for guy C.

Take it to 5 years:
A=3cents/day
B=5cents/day
C=27cents/day

I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm worth 27 cents a day. At the very least, we ALL have to be worth 5 cents a day...am I right?

Again, I understand the logic behind the car analogy, but it's flawed...significantly. If you can't afford to spend 5 cents a day on yourself, you should be growing a beard. So, if we've debunked the whole "I'm okay with a Ford...it's good enough for me. I don't need a Cadillac or Porsche." argument, the remaining issue is, is the price difference justified. I think that answers itself. There would be no market for 2-band badger hair, densely stuffed into handmade handles if there wasn't a difference. Maybe it's not for you. Maybe boar bristle makes you happy, and that's fine. All brushes make lather...so do aerosolized cans. But as I (and others) have already stated, the greater issue is not "Does a $200 brush make better lather than a $20 brush" but rather "How much more enjoyment does a $200 brush provide over a $20 brush". I can only speak for myself, but that brush I use that costs me about 10 cents a day (over 5 years) provides me with much more enjoyment/satisfaction than having that extra 7 cents in my pocket. That's just my two cents...as they say.

I kinda have to agree with the sentiment of the OP. I know this sounds like blasphemy, but I have a Simpson Duke 3, and I rarely use it. In fact my regular brush is a VdH boar. It lives in the shower next to a SS Blue Tip from a friend, and I use it practically every day.

Sure, I can tell the difference. But after the novelty wore off I lost interest.

I'm certainly not saying other folks don't have a different, and legitimate, perspective. I mean, after all, it's your face, your brush, your razor. If you're happy I'm happy for you, and if you like either the finest brush you can have or the cheapest brush you can make work then bang on!

I guess it's like my coffee, too. While I certainly can enjoy a wonderful cup of hand brewed with fresh roasted beans on special occasions, at 5 in the morning I'm going for the Maxwell House.

OldGrowth said:

I understand the car analogies, but they drive me crazy. I'm in sales. I sell specialized chemical/ion analyzers, and my customers want to do the same thing; however, you're not buying a car when you buy a brush. A brush is a significantly smaller relative portion of your expendable income. Also, with proper care and maintenance, you could own a brush much longer than a car...arguably you could own just one brush your whole life. When put in that context, how significant are these "diminishing returns" if it is something you truly enjoy?

To keep the math simple, let's say you only own one brush. Guy (A) has a brush that's $50, another guy (B) has a $100 brush, and another guy (C) has a brush that is $500.

Over just one year, the amortized cost of that brush per use (assuming daily shaving) is 14cents/day for guy A, 27cents/day for guy B, and $1.37/day for guy C.

Take it to 5 years:
A=3cents/day
B=5cents/day
C=27cents/day

I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm worth 27 cents a day. At the very least, we ALL have to be worth 5 cents a day...am I right?

Again, I understand the logic behind the car analogy, but it's flawed...significantly. If you can't afford to spend 5 cents a day on yourself, you should be growing a beard. So, if we've debunked the whole "I'm okay with a Ford...it's good enough for me. I don't need a Cadillac or Porsche." argument, the remaining issue is, is the price difference justified. I think that answers itself. There would be no market for 2-band badger hair, densely stuffed into handmade handles if there wasn't a difference. Maybe it's not for you. Maybe boar bristle makes you happy, and that's fine. All brushes make lather...so do aerosolized cans. But as I (and others) have already stated, the greater issue is not "Does a $200 brush make better lather than a $20 brush" but rather "How much more enjoyment does a $200 brush provide over a $20 brush". I can only speak for myself, but that brush I use that costs me about 10 cents a day (over 5 years) provides me with much more enjoyment/satisfaction than having that extra 7 cents in my pocket. That's just my two cents...as they say.

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Cost per use is a good way to look at things. And that is actually the best way to look at something.

That is how I can now justify a $500 pair of shoes.

If I spent 3 hours a day in a car I might also buy a really expensive car.

I once bought a Laser Disc player. That was about $50 per use. LOL it was also 1985, I was making 90k a year selling insurance and thought I would be a millionaire by 1990. Turns out spending all your money isn't how you become a millionaire.

Plus you have to work really hard and that's something I have never liked. That's also why I don't sell insurance anymore. I always had a hard time answering the objection when a guy said why should I leave my wife a ton of money so she can live well with the next guy. Could be why divorce attorneys make so much money.

The great thing about a shave brush is nobody really cares how much it costs per shave or per year or even a lifetime. Most people buy them because they can and as you say. Even the most expensive ones out there cost less than an iPhone. Something people don't really need but think they do.

It's given one brush to start. An AOS best badger.
Finding this place made me want to try more. Now I have a Simpson Wee Scott. I use it when I travel. Is it better than the AOS, not really, just smaller. Then I bought an EJ on sale, $80 marked down from $160. It is a Fine Badger. I like it. Use it most every day. I also have that $30 Plisson. It's actually really pretty and soft. Haven't used it once.

If all I had ever used was the AOS brush I would still be happy.

Sites like this just like advertising on TV only make use what more.

Who really needs a Rolex? You could argue till you are blue in the face and the only answer that any normal person would buy is nobody. You have to want a Rolex.

Is $100 where the line is between want and need?

If it was all about the best utility and cost per use we would have to look no further than your nearest Amish Community.

One thing I like to do in case many of you haven't noticed by now, is try to get more people involved in a conversation. I like to hear lots of different opinions and ideas.

So keep posting guys. This is what makes coming here fun. So many different points of view.

I am sorry to say this but that math is no good for decision making.
I can take most qualitative arguments but hard for me stand bad calculations and the respective interpretations.

lloydrm said:

I am sorry to say this but that math is no good for decision making.
I can take most qualitative arguments but hard for me stand bad calculations and the respective interpretations.

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Math takes all the emotion out of decision making.

There are lots of things that people should use maybe but don't.

But if you do the math I have wasted about 50 plus minutes on this thread. That's 50 minutes of my life I will never get back. I could have washed my car and saved $5.

In another thread people were talking about brushes and now I want an Omega 599. I really don't need one but now I want one. What should I do. The best mathematical answer is nothing. I already have 4 brushes of which two I never use.

But I want it.

lloydrm said:

I am sorry to say this but that math is no good for decision making.
I can take most qualitative arguments but hard for me stand bad calculations and the respective interpretations.

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Please elaborate. I didn't think it necessary to get into high level statistics, calculus, or finance for a $100 shaving brush, but if you have the time and energy, I'd love to see your more accurate quantitative breakdown. Or, are you simply saying any/all math is no good for decision making, and you base your decisions on qualitative factors alone?

This thread has been persistently at the top of the brush forum for the past few days.

Have we all realized that the people who ask the question: "What does a $100 brush have?" are asking it because they want the answer to be "nothing", and anyone who doesn't give them that answer is wrong yet? I mean, we didn't realize that the first dozen times this same thread existed with slightly different wording, but I had hopes this time we'd get there. Boar is exactly the same as badger, and also better. FS brushes are every bit as dense as Shavemac D01, in fact they're probably denser. Injected plastic handles are as high quality and eye catching as individually turned ones of exotic woods, custom resins, horn, etc... in fact they're better.

There are great brushes out there under $100, but the perpetual need of people to reaffirm their choices by insisting that there are no reasons other than egoism to own things they don't own is unnecessary and insulting. This isn't a healthy alternative to the drooling threads whenever someone buys a Simpson Manchurian, nor is it how things have to be. There are plenty of threads in the past of people celebrating and praising brushes like the Semo 620, the Omega Pro's, the Simpson 46, TGN and WD knots, VB and FS brushes, the list goes on. Am I the only one who rolls his eyes seeing threads that aren't celebrating what you enjoy but questioning why others would enjoy what they do?

+1

I'm a true lover of all things cheap. Yesterday I ordered my most expensive brush to date at a whopping $21.99. Until now, my Semogue was my most expensive at $16. Aside from a few crap brushes I've put to other uses, all I need is the 3 I'll have now. 2 good boars and a synthetic.

SliceOfLife said:

This thread has been persistently at the top of the brush forum for the past few days.

Have we all realized that the people who ask the question: "What does a $100 brush have?" are asking it because they want the answer to be "nothing", and anyone who doesn't give them that answer is wrong yet? I mean, we didn't realize that the first dozen times this same thread existed with slightly different wording, but I had hopes this time we'd get there. Boar is exactly the same as badger, and also better. FS brushes are every bit as dense as Shavemac D01, in fact they're probably denser. Injected plastic handles are as high quality and eye catching as individually turned ones of exotic woods, custom resins, horn, etc... in fact they're better.

There are great brushes out there under $100, but the perpetual need of people to reaffirm their choices by insisting that there are no reasons other than egoism to own things they don't own is unnecessary and insulting. This isn't a healthy alternative to the drooling threads whenever someone buys a Simpson Manchurian, nor is it how things have to be. There are plenty of threads in the past of people celebrating and praising brushes like the Semo 620, the Omega Pro's, the Simpson 46, TGN and WD knots, VB and FS brushes, the list goes on. Am I the only one who rolls his eyes seeing threads that aren't celebrating what you enjoy but questioning why others would enjoy what they do?

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Don't forget how much smarter I am than you because I spent less.

In my opinion, it's about preference and means. I like a 26mm m&f or shavemac, so I'm going to give it a shot. My best friend does not see the value of such a brush, but will drop 3-4 thousand (dollars, not drachmas) on a camera part or telescope. Either way, none of us are taking it with us. I get enjoyment from using my brushes, Scrooge McDuck gets enjoyment from swimming in money. To each his own.

And yes, there are things that more expensive brushes have that less expensive brushes don't (usually). More consistent knots, more hair, better glue so the knot doesn't fall out or shed, different handle materials, customization options for ergonomics, etc. And yes, there are exceptions both ways, but I'm talking about the norm.

Wow. After three pages, I guess the answer to the OP's question is: Because you might want to.

As a new wet shaver, I currently have one brush. Am I deprived? I must be, since I asked for another brush for Christmas. But just to try a different experience. I may or may not be able to tell the difference. If I can, I'll probably try some other brushes eventually. Obviously I have a lot of reading to do on the subject, but I like the previous posts that say 'if you like it and can afford it, do it' - after all, that's what consumerism is all about, is it not?

I enjoy some of the fine things in life but don't obsess over any of them. There are some of the 'finer things' that are worth it to me, and others are lost on my plebian tastes. So if I find value in something, I'll spend the money. If not, I won't. It's really that simple if you ask me.

To tie into some of the other posts, I have a few pairs of Ferragamo shoes. Worth the money to me. And although I could afford a nice German sports sedan, I choose to drive a Mini JCW. More fun and less money. I'll spend good money on single malt scotch and cigars, but not so much on craft beers. It's all a matter of personal taste.

So if you want to spend $200 or more on a brush and it makes you feel good, by all means, do it!