Shaving - brushes

Shaving brushes

For creating the lather and applying on the face you need a shaving brush. The hairs on such a brush can be synthetic or from animals.

The most used animal hairs is either Badger hair or Boar hair. Sometimes horse hair is used, but most often it will be in a mix together with Boar hair.

It is more difficult to obtain Badger hair than Boar hair, which makes brushes made of Badger hair more expensive than Boar brushes. This price difference has resulted in the perception that Badger brushes is of a higher quality than Boar brushes, only because the Badger brush has a higher price tag.

That perception is wrong. Yes, the price is higher on a Badger brush, but it doesn't mean that the brush is of a better quality or that it is better in use.

There is no official classification of Badger hairs quality, but it seems that manufacturers generally agree on four qualities:

Silvertip
Fine Badger or Super Badger
Best Badger
Pure Badger

Silvertip range as the highest quality. Brushes made of silvertip hair is the most expensive, as it is the hairs from the neck region, it is also the most soft hairs. Pure Badger means that the brush is made of Badger hair only, but the hair can come from everywhere on the body.

Silvertip brushes are formed by hand, the hairs are not cut into shape and thus they keep their incredible soft properties. Pure Badger brushes are mostly cut into shape and that makes the brush more rough when the lather is applied. A Pure Badger brush is more stiff than a Silvertip, the stiffness is often referred to as backbone - the more stiff a brush is, the more backbone it is said to have - this goes for all types of brushes.

There doesn't exist a quality term for Boar hair, even though I will assume that there also on a pig must be a difference on the hairs on its body. In dry condition a Boar brush is rather stiff, but when it is soaked in water, the hairs and especially the tips becomes quite soft. All of the Boar brushes I have can easily be compared to a Badger brush in Fine/Super quality when it comes to softness of the tips. All my Boar brushes is better than any Pure Badger I have tried.

Because of the higher grade of stiffness in a Boar brush it is very suited to hard soaps, where the quite easy can whip up a good lather, here a Silvertip is more challenged and it takes more work and patience to saturate the brush with soap.

On the other side is a Silvertip not surpassed when it comes to softness when the lather is applied, and in my world there is nothing more satisfying than applying warm lather with a Silvertip brush.

Apart from synthetic that I haven't tried yet, I use all brushes with great enjoyment, and they have each their strengths and weaknesses, which make it impossible to say that one type is better or that the quality of a certain brush is the best. What type you might prefer is purely a matter of personal preference.

As can be seen a good shave has become somewhat of a passion for me and my collection of shaving brushes has increased to an amount I didn't expect, so I have divide the brushes into four categories; brushes with badger hair, brushes with boar hair, brushes with horse hair and brushes with mixed hair.

Brushes, badger hair	Edwin Jagger Large Silvertip	Data
	Dovo, Pure Badger	Data
	The Art of Shaving, Pure Badger	Data
	The Art of Shaving, Fine Badger	Data
	Victoria Butterscotch, Pure Badger	Data
	No name Butterscotch, Silvertip	Data
	No name cream Butterscotch, Silvertip	Data
	~~Ever-Ready 75~~ I have PIF'ed this brush, as it was too prickly for my taste. It is now residing in Australia.	Data
	Kent B26	Data
	Semogue 2040HD	Data
	Safetyrazors Silvertip (Safetyrazors.co.uk)	Data
	New Forest Best Badger (2201)	Data
	Foroafeitado-Shavemac D01 Silvertip	Data
	Semogue 2010 LE Silvertip	Data
	Semogue Owners Club, 2-band Finest	Data
	S.X Brand, Pure Badger	Data
	Vie-Long, White Badger	Data
	H. L. Thäter Bruyére Silvertip	Data
	Vie-Long, 2-band	Data
	Badger & Blade 2011 LE (#54/75) by Rudy Vey	Data
	Semogue Caravela edicion limitada (#52/100)	Data
	Simpson Persian Jar (PJ2)	Data
	Semogue 730HD	Data
	PenWorks Super Silvertip	Data
	PenWorks Silvertip	Data
	Rubberset, cream butterscotch	Data
	5 Butterscotch	Data
	No name ben-håndtag	Data
	Semogue 2011 LE, Finest badger, size 1	Data
	Semogue 2011 LE, Finest badger, size 2	Data
	Mühle LE Silvertip with rose gold handle	Data
	Orso	Data
	Standart	Data
	Standart	Data
	Semogue Owners Club, 2-band, ash wood	Data
	B&B 2012 LE, #13	Data
	Semogue 2015 HD	Data
	Vulfix 2234 Silvertip	Data
	Culmak #55	Data
	Culmak #50	Data
	Rudy Vey Horn 2-band D01	Data
	Victoria Silvertip	Data
	Semogue 750	Data
	No Name	Data
	Klenzo	Data
	Foroafeitado.com 2013 LE by Semogue	Data
	Morris & Forndran Blonde Badger "Chief"	Data
	Barbear Clássico 2013 LE, texugo by Semogue	Data
	Semogue Horn Handle, size 1	Data
	Semogue Horn Handle, size 2	Data
	Semogue Horn Handle, size 3	Data
	Semogue 2013 Special Edition	Data
	Mühle Silvertip	Data
	Antiga Barbearia de Bairro 5 Year Anniversary silvertip by Semogue	Data
	Semogue 2015 Special Edition	Data
	Vie-long 75 Year Anniversary	Data
	Foroafeitado 2016 Limited Edition by Semogue	Data
	Shavemac 2016 LE, 2-band Silvertip	Data
	Shavemac Finest Badger	Data
	The ShaveNook 2018 LE, 2-band Finest badger	Data
	The ShaveNook 2018 LE, 2-band Finest badger	Data
	Shavemac Americana	Data
	Old Cahaba Shave Club 2018 LE, 2-band Silvertip	Data
	Old Cahaba Shave Club 2018 LE, Silvertip	Data
Semogue Owners Club, 2-band Finest Badger, Taj resin	Data
Antiga Barbearia de Bairro - Chiado	Data
Epsilon 2-band Super badger	Data
Foroafeitado 2019 Limited Edition (#14/50)	Data

Brushes, boar hair
	Ever-Ready 12a	Data
	Victoria	Data
	No name travel brush	Data
	Omega 11137	Data
	Semogue 2009 Limited Edition	Data
	Gillette Standard	Data
	Culmak	Data
	Culmak	Data
	Frieb	Data
	No Name travel brush	Data
	Souplex Butterscotch mini-brush	Data
	Ever-Ready 315b, black/butterscotch	Data
	Ever-Ready 79, red/cream butterscotch	Data
	No Name	Data
	Semogue 1520	Data
	Semogue 2000	Data
	Victoria	Data
	No Name Travel Brush	Data
	No Name	Data
	Omega 10005	Data
	Vulfix 2234	Data
	No Name Butterscotch	Data
	No Name	Data
	Goldpunkt	Data
	Edwin Jagger	Data
	Comparison of: Victoria - Semogue 2000 - Omega 10005	Data
	Semogue 1305	Data
	Semogue 1250	Data
	Semogue 830	Data
	French bakelite boar brush	Data
	English porcelain and bakelite brush	Data
	No Name brush of wood	Data
	No Name Boar	Data
	Maws Boar	Data
	No Name Boar	Data
	Semogue Owners Club, cherry wood	Data
	Semogue Owners Club, ash wood	Data
	Semogue, boar	Data
	Semogue 610	Data
	Semogue 820	Data
	Semogue 1460	Data
	Semogue 2030B	Data
	Semogue 1800	Data
	Semogue 2011 LE, Finest bristle, size 1	Data
	Semogue 2011 LE, Finest bristle, size 2	Data
	No name	Data
	No name	Data
	Semogue 620	Data
	Semogue 1438	Data
	Semogue 820	Data
	Semogue 1470	Data
	Semogue Black Boar, prototype	Data
	Vulfix VS5	Data
	Omega 10049	Data
	Italian Barber 2012 LE af Semogue	Data
	Semogue 610	Data
	Culmak Junior	Data
	No Name Beehive	Data
	No Name Green marble	Data
	No Name Persian Jar	Data
	No Name Persian Jar	Data
	Barbear Clássico 2013 LE, cerda by Semogue	Data
	Antiga Barbearia de Bairro by Semogue	Data
Antiga Barbearia de Bairro by Semogue	Data
Semogue 605	Data
Semogue 680	Data
Semogue 840	Data
Semogue 850	Data
Semogue 1200	Data
Semogue 1439	Data
Semogue 1450	Data
Semogue 1530	Data
Semogue 105	Data
Semogue 1140	Data
Semogue 1160	Data
Semogue 1439	Data
Semogue 1440	Data
Semogue 1993	Data
Semogue Owners Club, boar, Taj resin	Data
The ShaveNook 2018 LE, boar	Data
Semogue 208	Data

Brushes, horse hair
	Vie-Long 13061	Data
	Vie-Long 13800	Data
	Vie-Long Professional no. 2	Data
	Vie-Long 14831M	Data
	Vie-Long 13071B	Data
	Vie-Long American Style, brown	Data
	Vie-Long American Style, white	Data
	Vie-Long American Style, brown	Data
	Vie-Long 12750	Data
	Epsilon Butterscotch, brown	Data
	Vie-Long Professional	Data
	Vie-Long American Style	Data
	Vie-Long American Style	Data
	Vie-Long American Style	Data

Brushes, mixed hair, synthetic
	No name, mixed hair	Data
	No name, mixed hair	Data
	Gillette, Boar and Badger	Data
	Culmak Junior, mixed hair	Data
	No Name, maybe horsehair	Data
	Progress, 1943	Data
	Culmak Red Cross	Data
	Culmak Traveller	Data
	Culmak Jr.	Data
	Anti-Thrax	Data
	Vie-Long Professional no. 2	Data
	Vulfix 404 'The Grosvenor'	Data
	The Shave Nook 2012 Limited Edition by Semogue	Data
	Semogue Owners Club 2012 Special Edition	Data
	Culmak	Data
	Culmak	Data
	Kent 1945	Data
	Mühle Silvertip Fibre	Data
	Barbear Clássico 2013 LE, mistura by Semogue	Data
	Barbear Clássico 2017 LE by Semogue	Data
	Semogue Owners Club, boar/badger, Taj resin	Data
	Semogue Owners Club, boar/badger, cherry	Data
	Semogue Owners Club, boar/badger, ash	Data
	Barbear Clássico 2019 LE, boar/badger 30/70, cherry	Data