I finally received this boar brush today. I just used it and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed by it. I like the feel on the face. It's a little different feel than my synthetics, but still a pretty good feel. It has a wet dog smell, but it wasn't that bad. The only issue I had was I thought I loaded enough soap on the brush, but I did not. There was not much lather for the 2nd pass, but I think I will load longer next time to make sure I have enough lather for 3 passes at least. I had to load up for a 2nd time, but it wasn't that big of a deal. overall, I am pretty impressed with my first official boar brush. lost I think maybe 2 hairs, but I think the more I use it, the less and less hair it will shed. Very nice brush for the money. Nice comfortable plastic handle and a pretty big knot. I give this brush a thumbs up. I used tabac with it. Nice combination.
omega pro 49
- Thread starter jonwilson
- Start date
Congrats! May the 49 serve you well.
It's a boar brush and it needs some time to break in. It will get better with every shave. Just make sure that you go through the process of lathering/drying it out completely with every use.
After 20 or so shaves, it will be much different than it is now. The hairs will start to split, it will become softer, it will splay, it will be able to hold soap better.
Most of them lose few hairs, there's not a problem. Make sure you use warm water, and not hot, as hot water can dissolve the glue that keeps the knot together.
I'll post a picture between a broken in boar (right) and one used two or three times (left). The 49 should bloom even more due to bigger loft.
It's a boar brush and it needs some time to break in. It will get better with every shave. Just make sure that you go through the process of lathering/drying it out completely with every use.
After 20 or so shaves, it will be much different than it is now. The hairs will start to split, it will become softer, it will splay, it will be able to hold soap better.
Most of them lose few hairs, there's not a problem. Make sure you use warm water, and not hot, as hot water can dissolve the glue that keeps the knot together.
I'll post a picture between a broken in boar (right) and one used two or three times (left). The 49 should bloom even more due to bigger loft.
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Just keep using it and it will break in nicely.
It will definitely hold 3 passes, if not 5, once it's broken in. 
The Omega bristles, to me, don't look as nice as the Semogue bristles. But they seem to generate lather better for me. They split nicely, retain some backbone and feel great.
Enjoy that brush!
The Omega bristles, to me, don't look as nice as the Semogue bristles. But they seem to generate lather better for me. They split nicely, retain some backbone and feel great.
Enjoy that brush!
Love me those face brooms.
Once your Pro 49 breaks in, order the Pro 48, they are twins in performance to me! Both have a funky smell when new but once broken in they are excellent performers!
- Thread starter
- #7
The smell will go away after a week or two. They are awesome brushes. I find that I enjoy using mine with croaps the best; especially Cella.
- Thread starter
- #9
I just did a test lather with the brush and some tabac. Wonderful lather. I find that the brush is easier to rinse of soap at the end than my synthetics. How long do you soak your brush for or do you just wet it under the sink for a few seconds? I am loving this brush even though I have only used it twice so far.
- Thread starter
- #10
With my synthetics, I usually had to press down with the brush quite a bit to load my brush. With this boar, I just press down a tiny bit and it picks up enough soap for numerous passes. When you press down too much, you get the feeling that some bristles might break off the brush. I don't think you will have this problem with the boar as you barely have to press down with the brush to get a lot of lather. All in all, a wonderful brush. As a synthetic brush user, I think everyone should try a boar at least once.
Glad to hear it sir! Those omegas are pretty good brushes. When I got my first boar I also was surprised at how much I had to load it to get a good three pass lather out of it.
Just make sure to go through the whole process. Lather>Let it dry completely in an area with enough air. Don't lather up frequent, as it does not help speeding things up. If you want to get rid of the smell, lather it up and let it sitting covered in lather, in a ventilated area, overnight. Use your most strongly scented soap. I usually get rid of any kind of odd smell this way, on natural brushes.
Regarding your soaking, I don't see any difference between soaking the brush for 5 minutes or for 30. I would say that anywhere around 2-5 minutes is a good enough period to soak it up in warm water. Wetting it under the sink does not really work for boar brushes. The bristles absorb some water and they soften up. They need some time to do that. Just place it in a cup with some warm water. If you want to be over-cautios and make sure that nothing odd will happen with your knot, you can fill the cup enough so about 3/4 of bristles are in the water. But you can drop it in your bowl/sink if you don't want to bother with that.
I found all of my Omegas to be really tough brushes. They get some rough handling like champs.
I usually fill the sink up with warm water and let it soak while i shower....so about 5-10 minutes.
If I need to shave after a shower, then the brush can sit there good 10-15 min while I shower, if the shave is not after shower then it soaks about 3-5 min while I warm up my face with a hot rag.
To wet the brush, I use a shave bowl filled with hot water and I let the brush and my shave razor both sit in it together.
Some people soak the brush in warm water some in cold and some in hot. I prefer hot, this way I can feel the warm brush/lather/razor on my face, all methods work, just to fine one that works best for you.
You may hear people say to never use scalding hot water to soak the brush in, main reason for this is to avoid damage to the glue which holds the knot in place, since you never know how well it was put together.
Glad you're enjoying your pro 49. Awesome brush...congrats! 
