I bought the professional barber version of this brush for $10.00 six months ago and bought another one for my barber a month ago. The price was increased to $13.00. I have a number of great badger brushes, some softer, some harder, some longer, some shorter. This is a long brush with a lot of dense bristles. This has, however, become my primary brush. With soaking and lathering it provides a nice, soft application. It works especially well with soaps as the bristles hold up well with repeated turns on the soap. It works well with creams as well although not quite as well as medium dense and soft badgers. One of the real pluses is that this, as well as the barber version, is long enough that it will lather well without getting your hands full of the lather if you choose. Moving the lather up from the base to the head is not really necessary. Also, the brush will stand in your mug or bowl without getting into the lather, keeping the handle clean and relatively dry.