Wilkinson Sword Pure Badger Brush

Although cheap the quality of the brush leaves a lot to whish for; it is scratchy, too flimsy (no backbone at all) and doesn't stop shedding.
True, all you can buy for this money is boars but however some other poster called this brush soft in comparisson I doubt he ever broke his boars in! This type of badger is exactly the reason that I recommend a boar if this is your budget since all of my boars are substantialy softer and have more backbone to them.

The handle is nice enough though and as long as you use it for creams and soft soaps (and don't like face lathering unless you are a masochist) the brush gets the job done. Paint brush stroke advised!

IMO the best brush Wilkinson has to offer, for even less money, is their badger/boar mix brush; a bit of a shedder too but the firmness of the boar hairs make up for the lack of density.

The best reason to buy this one is that it gives you some (vague) ideas what a badger is about for very little money; but please don't judge all badgers after trying this one!

available in every supermarket in France at the incredible price : 10 to 13 euros. Not to big, not to small. Easy to use whit soaps and creams. Sometimes lost 2 or 3 hairs...so what

I bought this brush for $10 on my trip to Germany. What can i say? For $10, it's the best brush i possibly could've bought.

Sure, it's not the densest, not the hardest nor the softest tips but all together, this is one GREAT brush for only $10. I'll buy 3 or 4 more next time i go over as this is a great deal on a decent brush.

Going home to visit my parent's this christmas I brought my old, and extremely worn, artificial Wilkinson brush. I thought it would do nicely as travel brush.

I was wrong; the worn out artificial bristles didnt work with the AOS soap I brought. The first shave I had at my parent's was terrible.

Luckily my father had a brand new Wilkinson badger brush which he gave to me.

I must admit I was quite sceptical about that brush du to my experience with the artifical brush - but my scepticism was brought to shame:

Price
For me it was free, but in Denmark this brush generally costs around D.Kr. 100 (approx. $ 18-20). I find that price quite reasonable, considering the the danish 25% tax

Quality
Quality is, by definition, subjective. For me the overall quality of this brush scores just above average compared to the brushes I have tried before

Density
The knot is really not that dense, but dense enough to get the job done

Stiffness of Tips
Quite stiff, builds lather ok

Softness of Tips
A bit scratchy, but not uncomfortable

Ergonomic
Excellent! The design of the handle is not wery visually appealing, but it is wery comfortable. Maybe the handle is a little light, but for me that is not an issue

Latherability
It does the job - not outstanding, but better than expected

This brush is hard to beat in a price vs. quality comparison among the cheaper badger brushes on the market. As a beginner's brush it must be said to be an excellent choice - especially if you are on a budget.


Regards.

Jakob

I was very surprised this brush was not yet reviewed. Maybe it is my inexperience and everyone has moved on to higher standards....

After some boar brushes (Omega, Vergulde Hand), I was looking for a real badger brush. In the Netherlands people are Gillette Sensor, Mach3 Fusion whatever minded, to the extend that also most people that shave wet, use the Gillette foam/gels. In short, brushes are not easy to find, let alone badger brushes.

It when I was in Belgium on business that I forgot most of my toiletries and had to go shopping. And to my surpise in a GB (supermarket chain, nothing fancy), they sold a "real badger" brush by Wilkinson Sword. No luxurious packaging, right beside the boar and synthetic ones and just labeled: real badger. The price around 9-10 euro! I was sure this had to be a labeling mistake, so I checked at one of the tellers. No, price was right. And right is was!

Then for the experience: after the boar brushes, this was great: Soft , luxurious (please keep in mind what my previous brush was).
I have used this brush for over a year (then upgraded to a Kent BK4) and it is now in my travel bag. Little or no shedding, not floppy (not nearly as floppy as the Kent), makes a good lather. Ergonomic is good. Not a great design, but it works.

I read everyone here is quite enthousiastic about the C&E Best Badger "Great value. As $35 brushes go, it can't be beat", but I wonder if they tried this one! Not looking for an argument here, but just to state how much I liked this one.

In summary: I would recommend it to every beginner. For this price, you cannot affort not to try it. It is a price you cannot go wrong with.



Someone here suggested this brush is actually made by Mühle, but I can't confirm or deny.