Tweezerman badger

If my Kent BK4 is floppy then this is a true scrubby. Don't overdo face lathering or you will rip your skin off. When I first used it, I nearly threw it in the bin, it was so rough. But after a few sessions to soften it up it performs surprisingly well. Best to dig in your hard soaps and face lather with it - gently! Made in Korea - John Lewis are not hung up about where their products are made - its good value at around £10.

Knot 22mm

Loft 49mm

Handle 50mm

Height 99mm

Price £10

I'm not linking to other reviews because I'm not sure exactly which this model is. But do check out the brand - it may suit you.

Executive Shaving Best badger

This is the worst example of a so called best badger brush I have come across. It is no more than pure badger quality and even then doesn't match up. It's soft, floppy, prickly and even at just £24, overpriced. Give it a miss. It does create lather and does get it on your face. If you do have it, just paint it on and save yourself from the prickles.

Knot 22mm

Loft 48mm

Handle 56mm

Price £24

Wilkinson bristle

A typical supermarket cheapie. It gets you started. It cost £5 and that's all it's worth. Not bad but really doesn't hold much lather. You will soon want to move on. For just a few pounds more, you can get a decent brush.

Omega 10005

This is a pure bristle brush. Most unusual. It is very firm, almost pointed, yet it is a decent brush for face lathering if you find the right technique. I find that all boar/bristle brushes take time to break in and to learn how best to use them. I find this works best with rapid to and fro movements. At £8 it's another of those brushes an enthusiast will be tempted to try out. Trouble is, if you buy too many, you could have bought a decent badger for the money you have paid out on several cheap boars. Take a good look at the TSR thread to which I provide a link below. Someone loves it!

Knot 22mm

Loft 55mm

Handle 55mm

Height 110mm

Price £8

Other reviews

TSR

Omega 31064

This is the softest of my Omega/Semogue brushes and my least favourite. But it does still produce a decent all round job. It's just too floppy for my liking and with a 60mm loft, just splays around when lathering in circular motions - stick to swift to and fro movements to get the best out of it. But take a look at the other review for another viewpoint.

Knot 25mm

Loft 60mm

Handle 55mm

Height 115mm

Price £18

Other reviews

B&B

The 1305 is an excellent boar brush. For me, it comes into it's own when I use it to make a lather from soap pucks. I had no problem quickly breaking it in - I just spent a little time early on making a lather, rinsing then repeating about 3 or 4 times. Did that again the following day and it seemed pretty soft to me. It makes great lather from creams and soap sticks so it is a versatile all rounder.  This little beauty for less than £10 is remarkable value. The price is higher now.

Knot 22mm

Loft 55mm

Handle 57mm

Height 112mm

Price £13

Other reviews

TSR
SMF

Semogue LE 2009

I'm going to do this differently. Take a look at this to see why.

Semogue LE 2009

Semogue LE 2010

Another great brush from Semogue. A lovely silvertip which has an unusual shape. Echos of the boar shapes they use - a sort of cross between bulb and fan shape, but it works well. The knot is dense and has a firm backbone, but not too much. This is a very fine silvertip brush, and it was a limited edition of 100, so at 65 euros, it was good value.

You can see more details here:

Semogue LE 2010

Custom brush -Fido's LE 2010

There's only one of these. Every serious shaver should have at least one custom made brush. It's great value. This was made for me by neocaligatio of The Shaving Room forum. Great to deal with.It has a Golden Nib 24mm Finest with 20% extra hair. A superb soap brush and face latherer. Imitation ivory (polyecter) handle, nice and chunky for a real man. There must be some out there. I could happily throw away the rest of my brushes and stick with this one. But it would be such a waste.

Knot 24mm

Loft 52mm

Handle 50mm

Height 102mm

Price - Trade secret.

Other reviews

There's only one.

Custom brush - Rudy Vey

Made from Redwood Burl by Rudy Vey with a silvertip knot hand made by Bernd Blos of shavemac. A lovely quality brush mainly for use with creams but dense enough to produce fine lather from hard soaps. Another enjoyable experience, selecting the wood and the dimensions of the brush. You get exactly what you want when you use a custom brush maker. This is how the brush looks after a few latherings:

Handle 53mm 

Loft 52mm

Height 105mm

Knot 23mm

Custom brush - Neon Streamer

A lovely brush by Beejay, a member of TSR forum. This is a neon streamer fly fishing hook embedded in an acrylic handle with a super badger knot. A real display model not used yet. But I will succumb soon.

Knot 20 mm

Loft 52 mm

Handle 62 mm

Height 114 mm

Price - great value!

shavemac 177

This is a Premier league brush. A silvertip. When dry, the tips feel a little course. When wet, they are soft and gentle. This brush is just firm enough to overcome accusations of excess floppiness. As with other silvertips it dispels the myth that you need a solid backbone to lather with soaps. I used it today with an old Yardley hard soap and it lathered superbly. Just firm enough for face lathering in circular motions it has a soft luxurious feel on your face. At 23mm knot it is plenty big enough. A truly fine brush from a great maker with an outstanding reputation for customer service.

Knot 23mm

Loft 54mm

Handle 50mm

Height 104mm

Price £75

Other reviews

B&B

"So what makes it the “perfect” brush- it’s soft- but not floppy, It's very easy to make a great lather with, its flexible- but not moppy. Dense enough not to deflect too much. Yet still cashmere soft on my face" Anon.

Vulfix 2234 Super badger

This is an interesting brush. Soft, a bit floppy, yet surprisingly firm in use. Similar in size to the Kent BK4 it has a similar luxurious feel, but the added firmness of the super badger makes it a more effective face latherer in circular motion. This is a really good all round brush that should be on any short list below the £50 mark.

Knot 22mm

Loft 47mm

Handle 53mm

Height 100mm

Price £47

Other reviews

B&B

SMF (interesting references)

Vulfix 404 Grosvenor badger/boar mix

At £8, you have to have one of these, even if to just have one below a tenner. A very firm brush ideal for soaps it will turn in a display that will make you wonder why high end brushes cost so much. It has a nice robust handle of decent size and the quality looks just the same. Its just the knot that's different. A great little brush. I wrote a fuller review on TSR to which I provide a link below.

Knot 21mm

Loft 47mm

Handle 53mm

Height 100mm

Price £8

Other reviews

TSR

Vulfix Pure badger 2197

Pure badger is the cheapest badger grade, considered rather prickly. Just a quick look and you notice the quality of the hair doesn't match the higher grades. This is reflected in the price of pure badger brushes. Despite this, the Vulfix pure gives a decent performance. It feels quite soft yet it generates decent lathers with soaps. When face lathering with a circular motion the tips are slightly prickly but once you get cracking it really isn't a big issue. Paint your lather to and fro and it will provide a nice soft feel. This is a good badger brush at an affordable price.

Knot 19mm

Loft 48mm

Handle 50mm

Height 98mm

Price £27

Edwin Jagger Silvertip medium

This medium size is actually a 21mm knot imitation ivory brush. A great all round performer. The brush head is small enough to give you options for face lathering. Soft, luxurious, great lather with soaps and creams. The slight floppyness doesn't detract from its effectiveness. My only quibble is the size of the handle - just a tad too small for my comfort. A great little brush though.

Knot 21mm

Loft 50mm

Handle 37mm

Height 87mm

Price £67

Other reviews

B&B

Edwin Jagger Silvertip large

This is incredbly soft and will appeal to those with sensitive skin. But this also makes it floppy and just a little unwieldy for me for use with soaps and face lathering. Used with creams and soaps with a painting motion it will serve you well. A luxurious brush. Imitation horn handle. All these things are a matter of personal preference and judgement, but take a look at the medium Jagger (21mm knot) and the Rooney Silvertip (22mm knot) And look at the relative loft heights. They make such a difference!

Knot 23mm

Loft 50mm

Handle 42mm

Height 92mm

Price £84

Other reviews

None found!

Edwin Jagger Super large

Run this super badger over your face when dry and it will feel softer than the best badger. But when applying lather the difference is barely noticeable. This is floppy and while great for creams with a painting motion it just feels clumsy with a soap puck. And it splays out when lathering with a circular motion. Find your best way to use it and it will be a great performer. But it's not a versatile brush. Like other Jaggers it does create great lather and plenty of it.

Knot 23mm

Loft 53mm

Handle 50mm

Height 103mm

Price £46

Other reviews

B&B carry reviews of smaller and larger sizes but not fair to compare this directly.

Edwin Jagger Best Large

All Edwin Jagger brushes tend towards the soft and floppy. This best badger with imitation horn handle is a really effective performer.Slightly firmer than silvertip, not particularly dense, it lathers well on your face and feels really soft even when using a scrubby circular motion. Not much backbone, but it really does do a good job with soaps and creams alike. The fan shaped head in full bloom after use gives it the appearance of a much larger brush than one would expect with a 23mm knot. Good value.

Knot 23mm

Loft 54mm

Handle 51mm

Height 105mm

Price £34

Other reviews

B&B (medium version)

Travel brushes

I have never seen the point of a "Travel" brush. I just take out a couple of favourites and take them with me. Unlikely to include my Polo 14 but I have plenty that will do. But it seemed a good idea to add a couple more brushes to my Fido's Shaving Brush Blog. And here they are, the ones I bought on a visit to London.

This has a 43mm handle, 19mm knot, 43mm loft. It's a Super Badger, made for DRH by Edwin Jagger. Cost £50. The same brush with a higher loft can be bought direct with the Jagger logo for £32. A lot for a logo, but DRH is a fantastic shop in a world famous shopping location. As for the brush, typically soft Jagger hair makes it seem bigger than its size on your face. It performed really well and is comfortable to hold.

This is the TOBS version of a little Vulfix travel brush. A 20mm Super Badger knot, loft 43mm and a little handle 37mm high. A good performer although not so comfortable in hand as the DRH. At £39.95 including the case, not such a large premium fot the shop logo.

Kent BK2 Grey badger

This is described by Kent as pure grey badger, it is surprisingly soft tipped yet a little firmer than the BK4. It is claimed to have a loft of 52mm compared with 55mm for the BK4. Look closely at the photo to see if you can spot a difference. Despite its lower price, the BK2 is a better all round performer than the BK4. Not a dense brush, it creates great lather and is comfortable to use in painting and circular motions.

Knot 22mm approx

Loft 52mm

Handle 50mm

Height 102mm

Price £30

Other reviews

B&B

Amazon

SMF discussion

Kent BK4 Silvertip

The BK4 is a very popular brush with excellent reviews. It is the softest, and perhaps most floppy in my collection. The very opposite of scrubby. If you want to face lather using the tips of the brush in circular motions, move on. If you like to paint your lather on, you won't find a more luxurious feeling from many other brushes. It is far from dense and although approximately a 22mm knot, it seems much smaller because of its relatively low density. Personally, I prefer a firmer brush but plenty of people love it. It has the common silvertip ability to create great lather. Have a close look at the photos to give some idea of how it compares with the other Kents.

Knot 22mm approx

Loft 55mm

Handle 50mm

Height 95mm

Price £50

Other reviews

B&B

Shave Den

Kent H8 Best badger

Each maker seems to have a different quality of best badger. This is not quite up to the standard of a Simpson best - but it costs less. It is quite a firm brush, good with soaps and creams.  Lather in a bowl and paint it on and it will feel soft and luxurious. It face lathers well too - it has a decent backbone A good size brush, and priced the same as the smaller BK4 silvertip, it gives it a run for its money. Plentiful lather for several passes. A nice looking well made brush.

Knot (estimate) 27mm

Loft 55mm

Handle 55mm

Height 110mm

Price £50

Kent BK8 Silvertip

The Kent sits between two Jagger silvertips - one medium, one large. It was my first good quality badger brush and it is still one of my favourites It is soft and looks floppy. But it doesn't behave like a floppy. It is surprisingly firm and great for face lathering with creams and soaps. This really disproves the myth that silvertips are not also capable of producing excellent results with hard soaps. It doesn't have the backbone of some of the dense firmer brushes yet truly is a great all rounder.But it is sufficiently dense to produce all the lather you need plus some more. A fine quality brush. It's the largest of my Kent brushes - I wouldn't want a bigger one. The BK12 must be a monster!

Note that all Kent brushes are imprinted with the Pure Badger mark. This is a silvertip!

Knot (my estimate) 27mm

Loft 55mm

Handle 55mm

Height 110mm

Price £80

Other reviews

SRP

B&B

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.

Brush Reviews

All my brushes were bought because they were highly rated by other enthusiasts. The prices of my brushes range from £5 to £200 +. Some are great value, others are less so. I have soft ones, firm ones, prickly ones. Some are great for face lathering with circular motions, others can be used only paint style. I'm not going to write lengthy perceptive reviews. I'm not that way inclined. I'll just provide photos, dimensions and a brief comment on key characteristics. And where I have found them, I will provide links to other reviews. So if a brush takes your fancy, you can at least see some other opinions.

This will take a while, because before I review a brush I will use it again to ensure an up to date recollection of it.

Other makers and brands

The rest so far:

In transit:

Plisson High Mountain, European Grey, Savile Row and Rooney Finest.

UK Shaving Brushes

Here are my UK Shaving Brushes so far: