SMF

Several years ago I wanted a new badger brush and couldn't afford to spend much. At that it there was an Italian merchant on these boards that sold Omega brushes. I bought a black handled urn shaped 666 brush. It was listed as "pure badger". It had a loft of 55mm and a knot of 23 mm. What I found was that the bristles scratched like mad. I figured that Omega had clipped the tips to get the shape cheaply and I used it infrequently. Let say 8 years pass and I am doing a rotation among a half a dozen brushes and lately I have found that with my current soap or cream I am not noticing the scratch. Moreover, the brush handles very well at making lather. Rather better than my old Simpson Duke II or Colonel. What a pleasant surprise. I don't know if the tips just broke in or if the soap made a more protective lather or if I just got used to the feeling.

My guess is all three.

The Colonel is a tough brush to beat, by and large. It's my favorite brush, and while it was a bit scritchy to start, it's quite comfortable now. There was a run of custom made Colonels quite a while ago, I bought one as it came with the higher quality hair, but the handle still says Best Badger and it was more of a bulb shape instead of the traditional fan. I don't know why, but I just don't care for bulb shaped brushes.... My loss I guess....<sigh>


Regards

Christian

the mysteries of shaving brushes never cease to enthrall and amaze! One of the reasons I can never part with a brush...."but in a few years it might be best brush evahhh" HAHAHA

clive

I have an old Ralph Lauren brush that was refilled with a clipped black badger knot a few years ago. It was quite prickly but has mellowed out nicely. I am guessing that lathering slowly rounds out the rough edges of the tips and it softens. Maybe this could be sped up by working a knot onto a very mild abrasive (400 grit) I don't know. At least these rougher brushes do pay off in the long run.

These clipped rough brushes are capable of very solid work, the flexible nature of badger hair just lends itself to making good lather. Soft tips are a bonus, an unnecessary one, but nice nonetheless.