Sunday, February 7, 2010

Frank Shaving brushes

Since I published this blog, Frank Shaving, an established Chinese brush maker have launched their own brand of brushes which they have been selling direct fom China through agents on Ebay. The low prices have attracted a lot of attention on the shaving forums. I decided to buy the two most popular and I describe them here.



Finest


Silvertip



 I have used the Finest several times and the Silvertip just twice. Anyone who has read my shaving brush blog will appreciate the wide variety of brushes I have been able to test and will have noted many enthusiastic reviews.

Frank Shaving have been around for a long time. But only recently have they decided to market their own brand through an agent in China operating on Ebay. That is the key to their prices together with the use of moulded handles. A Chinese agent is likely to be satisfied with a return far less than a retailer in the West.

The Finest brush is priced at $9.99 with $6.99 for shipping to the UK. At that price it compares well with any brush below £20 and with some even higher. The loft on my brush is 52 mm so it has decent backbone. This is not a typical two band brush to compare with Simpsons, Rooneys and others, the tips are not as soft. The hair is more like a very good quality pure badger. It lathers well and is pleasant to use for face lathering. All in all great value. The logo went after a couple of sessions, but that's acceptable for a brush of this price.

The silvertip was $23.99 plus $6.99 delivery. A very cheap silvertip. It has a loft of 48 mm. Having used silvertips by all the major brands I have to say it doesn't match the quality of others I have tried. But is it it good value? Perhaps for what it is, the price is about right. But the star is clearly the Frank Finest. If I wanted a brush for my collection, that would be my choice.

2 comments:

  1. I recently acquired a FS Silvertip. It's a good brush with good value. Very dense. I like the size but was surprised that my T&H cheap ($20) brush was better at lathering than this one.

    ReplyDelete