First Brush - Which?

Hey guys,

So I'm as new to this as is possible, I'm waiting for a vintage Wosty to arrive from Australia so I have a good wait ahead. In the mean time I'm looking at getting the rest of the stuff I need ie Brush, Strop, Soap/Cream, Scuttle. I imagine at first I'll be face lathering which I think I'm right in saying a boar brush would be best for?

The brushes I'm looking at are:

http://www.shaving.ie/products/omega-81064-shaving-brush.html

http://www.shaving.ie/products/pure-badger-black-shaving-brush.html

http://www.shaving.ie/products/omega-13522-value-boar-shaving-brush.html

and also as part of a set:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Taylor-Old-...keywords=taylor+of+old+bond+street+sandalwood

So what would you guys suggest? Any advice would be really great!

Boars always get the job done. I'm face latherer myself, and, i must say, at the moment, i'm pretty excited for my new Plisson L'occitane. I think that is a great brush for the price. I think i miss the scrubbing feeling of boar brush, but not sure yet. You can start with boar, an inexpensive one, like Omega 10066, see how you like that one, and know from there where do you want to head to, if you want to head somewhere, of course. I personally picked Plisson L'occitane mostly because stocks are pretty low and i saw it on stock. But otherwise, i love my Omega 10066.

I started with a badger but it seems most members here recommend a boar as a starter brush. I'll second the SmurfK suggestion of an Omega 10066.

10066, Okie doke. I've found a site to order it, £9, well within budget! Read some other good reviews of it so here goes! Cheers guys!

£9 i'm guessing with shipping too. Connaught Shaving is selling them at £5.40, but with shipping in my country, for example, the price is exactly £9, so we might talk about the same supplier. Bought my first 10066 from them too, great customer service from those guys.

L'Occitane Plisson
Semogue 620
Badger from Whipped Dog or Vintage Blades

SmurfK said:

£9 i'm guessing with shipping too. Connaught Shaving is selling them at £5.40, but with shipping in my country, for example, the price is exactly £9, so we might talk about the same supplier. Bought my first 10066 from them too, great customer service from those guys.

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Yep Connaught, £9 with shipping.

I read that boar brushes need "breaking in"? My razor won't be arriving for a couple of weeks at least, in the mean time, as the brush will arrive sooner, is there anything I can do to get this breaking in process going before I start my shaving journey? Soak it and brush it against my palm for a while maybe?

Yes, that's exactly what you should do. Leave it for few minutes in some warm water, make some lather in your hand, leave it on brush for a while, dry the brush and repeat. I like to leave the brush to dry with lather on it, bad smell gets out faster this way. Leave it to dry for at least 24 hours before wetting it again. The whole drying process will help bristles to split and become softer and softer over time.

why not add more chaos?
Simpson's Wee Scot or Simpson's Case 1 are excellent face latherers, especially for badger.
Synthetics are quite nice face latherers: my favorite is Muhle 39k257 and Muhle HJM
I too have an Omega 10066 - a gem.

Sir, for face lathering a brush with a rather short loft - usually below 50mm - would work best. You can opt for a boar if you prefer, but that is absolutely not mandatory.

Marco said:

Sir, for face lathering a brush with a rather short loft - usually below 50mm - would work best. You can opt for a boar if you prefer, but that is absolutely not mandatory.

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Is it?

Just kidding... Excellent advice above!

Connaught is a good place to do business, even for us yanks!

+1 for the Omega 10066. BTW, IME the 10066 takes a bit longer than many other boar brushes to get completely broken in. Follow the break-in procedures in the shavewiki http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/How_to_Break_in_a_Shaving_Brush

Don't know about others, but heard some long periods of more than 3 months on some brushes. My 10066 was fully broken in after about 50 uses. With the method from your link, i got rid of the nasty smells in about 3-4 cycles.

I'd go for a synthetic. Either a Plisson or a Muhle V2. For me, you've got to pay a lot of money to match them with a natural hair brush.

I started off with an Omega Boar so it's hard to argue with above suggestions. But if you have a little extra cash, a Plisson Synthetic is the way to go. It lathers so easily in a bowl you'll feel like a hero. And you can face lather it as well. It feels amazing on the face. And it dries so fast you can use it every day.

I would also not recommend a boar as a first brush, as it needs a break in period.

My recommendation would also be a synthetic - I would go for a Whipped Dog, or if still easily available for you a Plisson.

I wish I had a semogue as my 1st brush. Every one I have tried is good and reasonably priced. I think the semogue 1305 is as good as any brush made as well as being a great bargain. I thought it was pretty good right out of the box and break in was fast.

I ordered the omega and it arrived today. Really quick delivery! Had a smell and it doesn't smell much at all!
I'm guessing when it gets wet the smell might come out a bit?
Gonna get some cheap soap and see if I can break it in before my razor turns up.

What i love about boar brushes is that you go from stiff and scratchy and reach soft. The way that the brush behaves on first uses is different than it will behave after some time. You can have an idea about the differences between a soft and a more stiff brush, so it can help you with future purchase.
Also, and don't want to be sentimental about my brushes here, but starting with a boar brush was a thing that helped me having such enjoyable ride with DE shaving, as i went from pouring some foam on my face into the whole ritual, soaking the brush, working to load it as much as possible, building the lather, reapplying it, and, waiting for the next shave to see if my brush is getting softer. Now, Plisson is great. Does not require soaking, it loads up extremely fast, creates lather very fast, holds it very well, and dries in few minutes, but, in the end, i'm getting the feeling that something is missing. Even if i'm pumped up about Plisson, as i have it for few days, today i used my Omega 10066, just because i was missing the old ritual.

I will definitely use Plisson, as it's the best performing brush i have ever used. But, surely, not gonna stop using my boar either. And looking for some other boar as my next purchase.

The price can be a starting point too. Synthetics like Plisson or Muhle STF are at least 5 times more expensive than basic Omegas and Semogues. There is a considerable price gap, while, the results, even if i truly believe that this new synthetics are better brushes, the boars get the job done too.