Tried an Omega Syntex Today. First Synthetic.

Eeyore · Mar 28, 2015

Nusquam Humanitus said:
My apologies! I must be confusing you with another B&B member named Eeyore.

Hold on! I need to close the door..............

I guess you mean this picture, which was not made by me, and which is not even an Omega Syntex brush as well ...

The thread is this one: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/449929-Omega-synthetic-advice-request

Interestingly enough, in that same thread you say: "I have never actually seen an Omega Syntex brush, but from the pictures, the synthetic fibers look pure white and sans any technology at all. Good coloring technology maybe? The fibers look like solid, plastic drinking straws."

Nusquam Humanitus · Mar 28, 2015

Eeyore said:
Can you please show me the picture then that you claim I posted?

I really have no idea what picture you meant. My sincere apologies if I am missing something obvious.

Edit: I have not held an Omega Syntex in over twenty years, so I am really at a loss here as to what picture you mean ... my guess is that someone else posted such a picture, and somehow you attribute that to me? Otherwise I'm really missing what you mean.

Eeyore,

My true apologies! I really did mistake you for someone else. I was focusing on the Northern European location. Here's the thread, post #11. Netherlands vs Copenhagen! I'm an idiot on this one. For what it's worth, his post is a good one.....

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/449929-Omega-synthetic-advice-request

Peace!

Eeyore · Mar 28, 2015

Apologies accepted of course! And glad that the confusion is resolved :001_smile

Nusquam Humanitus · Mar 28, 2015

Yes - You beat me to the explanation! Sorry brother! My confusion!

BSAGuy · Mar 28, 2015

Nice review. I agree with Mr. Humantis. This Omega looks like a throwback synthetic and nothing like the current top brushes.

Nusquam Humanitus said:
Yes, from what I have read here at B&B, the Omega Syntex is pretty much an artifact relative to pretty much any other synthetic available today. I have never used that particular brush, but I can say with almost absolute certainty that any other synthetic will perform much differently.

There are a decent amount to choose from. You really did pick the bottom of the barrel.

Peace!

Nusquam Humanitus · Mar 28, 2015

Eeyore said:
I guess you mean this picture, which was not made by me, and which is not even an Omega Syntex brush as well ...

Interestingly enough, in that same thread you say: "I have never actually seen an Omega Syntex brush, but from the pictures, the synthetic fibers look pure white and sans any technology at all. Good coloring technology maybe? The fibers look like solid, plastic drinking straws."

Yes, by "never actually seen", which I initially stated, I meant live and this indirectly sort of meant, feeling the fibers, etc.. I hope you would agree seeing something in actuality is different than looking at a picture? I do love that picture though!

Peace!

Eeyore · Mar 28, 2015

Nusquam Humanitus said:
Yes, by "never actually seen", which I initially stated, I meant live and this indirectly sort of meant, feeling the fibers, etc.. I hope you would agree seeing something in actuality is different than looking at a picture?

Yes agreed, pictures can be deceiving indeed, and do not tell the whole story.

For the record, as unimpressed as I personally was with the Omega Syntex (1st generation knots), as impressed I am with modern synthetics. The Edwin Jagger Silvertip Fibre is a great brush, in my opinion.

Musikmann · Mar 28, 2015

I found one on sale for less than $10 and gave it a shot. It's my least favorite brush in the den. I'm told it's technique dependent and to use a lighter touch so I need to try it that way. Dittos the the Hi-Brush suggestions. For $20 mine is a really nice brush. If you want to go up a level, I'll also ditto the others recommending Edwin Jaggers and Mühles.

Nusquam Humanitus · Mar 28, 2015

Eeyore said:
Yes agreed, pictures can be deceiving indeed, and do not tell the whole story.

For the record, as unimpressed as I personally was with the Omega Syntex (1st generation knots), as impressed I am with modern synthetics. The Edwin Jagger Silvertip Fibre is a great brush, in my opinion.

I have 1 Muhle Black Fiber and 2 Muhle Silvertip Fiber brushes (which are very close, if not exactly like the EJ STF's) and they are very nice! I absolutely agree!

Also, I have an Omega S Brush and Hi-Brush. These babies are priced lower, but IMHO are well worth the price. They both work very well. The great part about my Synthetic collection: They all feel and act quite different from each other, other than the 2 Muhle STF brushes which are fairly close to each other - 22 and 23mm knots.

Additional - The OP purchased the Syntex at around $7-$9 and for a little bit more, he could have purchased an S Brush at around $10. My guess is, the S Brush is light years ahead of the Syntex in performance and tech.

Peace!

JohnG10 · Mar 28, 2015

I've been using my plisson exclusively for months. Today I used my silvertip badger just for fun. I couldn't believe how scritchy it was, or how long it took to make lather, and how the lather was only 80% as creamy no matter how much I whipped it up...

A good synthetic will spoil you.

BradWorld · Mar 28, 2015

Nusquam Humanitus said:
Additional - The OP purchased the Syntex at around $7-$9 and for a little bit more, he could have purchased an S Brush at around $10. My guess is, the S Brush is light years ahead of the Syntex in performance and tech.

Yes, this is totally true. I am the OP. Now that I have this experience, I know I could have definitely gotten a much better brush for about 7 dollars more. But how was I supposed to know? There is an awful lot of information to process on this forum. I saw a post that recommended the sintex as a good beginner synthetic brush and bought one. So it kind of sucks. You live and learn. At least it was a $9 mistake, and not a $50 mistake. I wont be a noob forever! In the end, i dont even think it will make a good travel brush, as I have a couple of cheapo badger brushes that I got when I first started that are tons better than this sintex brush.

Another question... The Muhle HJM 21P8 Black fiber brushes look really cool, and they arent too expensive. They seem to be well reviewed too. I think I can swing the $40 to get one. How would one of those be for a next step in my synthetic quest? Not sure I want to go with another Omega. I have a couple of Omega Boars already and would rather diversify my collection a bit. If I were looking to keep it around $40, what would be the best synthetic brush to get?

Eeyore · Mar 28, 2015

You make a valid point there; for a beginner, it must be hard to separate the valuable information from the noise. Part of that problem is because you cannot see how much experience a poster has in a given field. Someone recommending brush X may be a seasoned shaver with a formidable brush collection, or a beginner who never used anything else than brush X yet. Both can put the same authority in their words, so how do you know who's most creditable?

Eeyore · Mar 28, 2015

BradWorld said:
Another question... The Muhle HJM 21P8 Black fiber brushes look really cool, and they arent too expensive. They seem to be well reviewed too. I think I can swing the $40 to get one. How would one of those be for a next step in my synthetic quest?

I've never used the Mühle black fibre brush, so I cannot comment on that one.

I've used the following synthetics:

Few dollars Chinese EBay brush: hopeless. Not worth even the few dollars imho.
Syntex (long ago): you tried that one.
Whipped Dog 24mm: good travel brush, does not whip up the best lather for me, sturdy and with a comfortable handle (for me).
Edwin Jagger 23mm: great knot and handle, whips up a very creamy lather, great face feel (the 25mm is said to be even better, and that one is on my wish list).
The Grooming Company synthetic: good knot, a bit too springy, so so handle (too small for my hands), looks are less than the EJ.
l'Occitane by Plisson: very soft knot, creates a very good lather, wooden handle does not feel like quality really, price (30) was good though.

Overall, I like the Edwin Jagger best. The Whipped Dog is my travel brush. It is well made, and feels more sturdy than the TGC or the l'Occitane brushes. Where the WD falls short is in creating an effortless lather; that needs more effort than with my other synthetics.

On my wish list to try are:

Omega S-brush
Kent Silvertex
The WD 22mm synthetic
Frank Shaving Pur Tech
Edwin Jagger 25mm synthetic (the XL brush).

Nusquam Humanitus · Mar 29, 2015

BradWorld said:
Yes, this is totally true. I am the OP. Now that I have this experience, I know I could have definitely gotten a much better brush for about 7 dollars more. But how was I supposed to know? There is an awful lot of information to process on this forum. I saw a post that recommended the sintex as a good beginner synthetic brush and bought one. So it kind of sucks. You live and learn. At least it was a $9 mistake, and not a $50 mistake. I wont be a noob forever! In the end, i dont even think it will make a good travel brush, as I have a couple of cheapo badger brushes that I got when I first started that are tons better than this sintex brush.

Another question... The Muhle HJM 21P8 Black fiber brushes look really cool, and they arent too expensive. They seem to be well reviewed too. I think I can swing the $40 to get one. How would one of those be for a next step in my synthetic quest? Not sure I want to go with another Omega. I have a couple of Omega Boars already and would rather diversify my collection a bit. If I were looking to keep it around $40, what would be the best synthetic brush to get?

First - I would look at the black fiber brushes at Connaughts. You can get a "higher quality" Muhle BF Synthetic (or any Muhle product) for 1/2 the price of N. America vendors. The N.A. mark up on Muhle products is obscene. Actually, it's flagrant robbery in my opinion!

As far as what's the next step in your synthetic quest? - I would say whatever you want! Actually, I would honestly say all of them if you want to or have the means to!

I agree! There is a lot of information to process. The only way to truly know is to buy and try. I have 5 synthetics and love them all. But, I love all my brushes and do not discriminate. I think of brushes like humanity. Maybe we are all crazy? Between information and opinions, one could go bananas

If you want a synthetic that moves away from a boar - Muhle BF or STF and an Omega Hi-brush are the only ones I can personally speak for. I know the Plissons are very soft from reading reviews of other B&B members. I know they are correct. There are a lot of guys here who have a ridiculous amount of knowledge and experience in this psychopathy called "classic wet shaving".

So many choices!

Follow your heart, get what you want, don't look back and worry about stupid ****e! It's not worth it!

Peace!

BradWorld · Mar 30, 2015

This brush addiction thing can get silly really quickly, doesnt it? Based on this thread and some other conversations, I went onto Connaughts and ordered up a Muhle Vivo Black Fiber, as well as a Kent Infinity, which I am thinking may be a good travel brush. I felt guilty about buying those two after buying a Simpson Duke 3 in Best just a couple of weeks ago. Then I was walking through Newark airport just now waiting for my flight, and I spotted a L'occitane store. I was drawn in like a magnet. And they had two of the Plisson brushes left! One sealed and the floor model. Needless to say, they only have the floor model left now. I thought that the razor addiction was bad enough. And I expected that, as I am a life long gear horder in many respects... guitars and amps, computers, car and motorcycle stuff, Fishing gear, etc. So I expected that I would get a little nuts with the razors. But I never for a minute contemplated a brush addiction. LOL... Hopefully the ones I have now will hold me over for a while.

BradWorld · Mar 30, 2015

By the way, this is the damage so far... since January...

Escali Badger - my first brush
cheapo small Amazon.com badger - bought for my travel kit early on
Omega Syntex - the subject of the original post - probably gonna never use it again. LOL.
Simpson Duke 3 in Best Badger - pure awesomeness. I couldnt imagine a badger brush getting much better than this one
Omega 49 boar - I broke it in right! Followed all the instructions on here to do it. Really digging it!
Muhle Vivo Black Fiber - inbound
Kent Infinity Silvertex - inbound - hoping this will be a good upgrade for my travel kit
L'Occitane Plisson - just got it today. Will probably shave with it tomorrow!

Thats 8 brushes in 3 months. Crazy how it adds up. Thanks for all the great info guys!

Nusquam Humanitus · Mar 30, 2015

BradWorld said:
By the way, this is the damage so far... since January...

Escali Badger - my first brush
cheapo small Amazon.com badger - bought for my travel kit early on
Omega Syntex - the subject of the original post - probably gonna never use it again. LOL.
Simpson Duke 3 in Best Badger - pure awesomeness. I couldnt imagine a badger brush getting much better than this one
Omega 49 boar - I broke it in right! Followed all the instructions on here to do it. Really digging it!
Muhle Vivo Black Fiber - inbound
Kent Infinity Silvertex - inbound - hoping this will be a good upgrade for my travel kit
L'Occitane Plisson - just got it today. Will probably shave with it tomorrow!

Thats 8 brushes in 3 months. Crazy how it adds up. Thanks for all the great info guys!

Child's play - When you stop warming up, let us know! :blink:

fat_boy · Apr 1, 2015

Here are a couple pics of my Ever Ready F40 restored with a VS 22mm synthetic knot I got for $9. I'll admit I have zero experience with badger, and this is the only synthetic I've used. But this knot feels awesome. I only lathered up with it once so far. (I just finished it yesterday on my lunch break. ) Test lathered with Arko.

fat_boy · Apr 1, 2015

BradWorld said:
I never used a synthetic brush before. I read a couple of people talking about the Omega Syntex, so i picked one up. It was stupid cheap, so there was no risk. I tried it today. My first impression was that the bristles look like something from a scrub brush I would use to wash my boat. I was skeptical to even try it. But I cleaned it with Dawn and soaked it for a couple of hours, then went to work. I gave it its first test with some Arko stick. I cut off a small chunk and whipped up a lather in a bowl. It made the lather quickly and easily. So far so good. Then I wet my face and started lathering up on the face. To my surprise, the brush felt soft and smooth. However, I didnt get that rich creamy lathering sensation I enjoy with my badgers. But, the end result lather was just fine. So I think the brush is performing better than expected, but the sensory pleasure I get with my badgers is just not there. I will have to give it another try. Is this feeling typical of synthetics in general? Or will a more expensive synthetic feel luxurious and creamy on my face like my badger brushes? I question this because even my $12 Escali Badger brush feels nice and pleasurable on my face. This Syntex does not. But the resulting lather was superb, and the shave was as expected after a nice lather. So i just dont really know what to think at this point.

I did a second "test" lather with some Proraso Red just to check it out. I was able to whip this up in about 10 seconds! Not bad! I will have to try shaving with something a bit more creamy like this when Im ready to test this brush again. End result? The jury is still out on this one.

I personally would take that handle and put another knot in it. Nice looking handle.

Cash_Stronomer · Apr 1, 2015

I have that same brush and would LOVE my EJ Synthetic in it. Excellent! :thumbup1:

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Tried an Omega Syntex Today. First Synthetic.

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