SMF

I have two fabulous badger brushes, two great boar brushes and two excellent synthetic brushes and still looking for a different experience. Can anyone recommend a quality horse hair brush.

Vince

Vie-Long specialise in horse hair brushes. They are a mix of mane hair and tail hair; some are 50/50 and sme are 65/35. I had a 50/50 brush, but never like it in comparison with my badgers and boars.

Horse is definitely different. I bought a used Vie-Long and initially I was going to resell it. But I'm patient and I gave it time. It took quite a long time (years) and I don't know if the brush "broke in" or my face did, but the shave experience is different today than it was when I first got it. It's my one and only horse. Maybe I should buy another to see if it was my face that got broken in, but I haven't done that. Do I want another? Well, no. But not because of what I just wrote. I have more than enough brushes; enough for many lifetimes and don't need more.

They're good brushes and definitely different.

Experimented with various Vie-Long horse brushes for a while, but ultimately found that they were not for me and that I prefer badger, synthetic, or boar brushes over horse.

Historically, horse brushes were associated with anthrax in WWI and I thought I play it safe and buy a brush from a manufacturer that is well know, respected, and has been in business for a long time, rather than some unknown outfit with no credentials.

In the end, most of the horse brushes turned out to be shedders and horse hair has a known tendency to tangle.
For reasons unknown, the white horse hair brushes did not appear to be shedding, but as I only ever owned two white horse hair brushes this may not be representative.

Looking back, I found nothing unique in horse brushes that I miss and other brushes seem to do the job as well, if not better.

Earlier this year the local Target store was showing the Cremo horse hair brush by Vie-Long.
This gave me a chance to examine one up close, and it had a nice feel, no smell that I could tell,
but was a bit pricey compared to what I could get a larger Vie-Long for online. In view of the
stories about horse hair tangling, and shedding, I decided to pass, and the Cremo brush has
disappeared from Target's shelves.

I have three nice boar brushes, and a so-so badger brush or two, but since I've been using
24mm synthetic brushes by RazoRock and Stirling Soap, those others have been sitting
back on the shelves.

Thank you all for your feedback as usual you help me make my decision, for now I will stay with my current brushes. As I stated in my first post I am very happy with my brushes and was just looking for a different experience.

Vince

I, too, am in search, of a horse hair brush.

Are there any companies, besides Vie-Long, which make them?

Modern Ancient wrote:I, too, am in search, of a horse hair brush.

Are there any companies, besides Vie-Long, which make them?

Not that I am aware of, unless you have more luck on google than I have. Regardless, Vie-Long is apparently the world's standard in variety of horsehair shaving brushes. I recommend Vie-Long. Do you have any specific reason why one should avoid Vie-Long?

Zenith brushes from Italy make some horsehair models. Check out "jankdc" on ebay.

I only have a few modern horse hair brushes and have never found them tangling or requiring treatment different than I give my boar, badger or synthetic brushes.

jar wrote:I only have a few modern horse hair brushes and have never found them tangling or requiring treatment different than I give my boar, badger or synthetic brushes.

This reflects my experiences also. They have a different face-feel. A lot of guys worldwide use horse because they can't use badger or boar. This makes me wonder if those guys are also prevented from using synthetics.

brothers wrote:

jar wrote:I only have a few modern horse hair brushes and have never found them tangling or requiring treatment different than I give my boar, badger or synthetic brushes.

This reflects my experiences also. They have a different face-feel. A lot of guys worldwide use horse because they can't use badger or boar. This makes me wonder if those guys are also prevented from using synthetics.

I am prevented, from using synthetics. My skin allergies forbid it.

Sorry to hear that.

brothers wrote:Sorry to hear that.

It is okay. I used to lament my allergies/hyper-sensitivities, but, now, I embrace them. I think God had planned this, from the beginning.

I hope you take this the right way. Let ,me preface it by stating that I have allergies also, and there's simply no rhyme or reason to them. I understand.

That's odd that you can't use synthetics. Most of the time it's the other way around; where folks can't use natural so they move to a synthetic. Just one question, was it a virgin synthetic that you tried or had it been used previously and residue might have triggered your allergies?

That might be an explanation. I have always made a presumption that the synthetic brushes are inert, and of no effect on contact with human skin.

Hello everyone,

Yes I realise I'm late to the party but as a new member and a recent convert to DE razors (3 months) I'm going through the old posts.

I've been wet shaving for years now, using canned foam and 5-bladed razors. <gasp, I *know*, right>

In December I moved from the $6CDN drug store synthetic brush to the Vie-Long Cachurro when I purchased my Merkur 38C. I really enjoy it for its lather-generating capabilities, but to be honest, it seems a little large for me. Somehow it feels imprecise and I have to work at getting into corners (e.g. beside my ears). However, this thing will generate enough lather in one go for an entire hockey team (men's hockey team, in case you were wondering ).

I enjoy the feel of the horse hair on my face and will probably move to a brush with less loft and more backbone, like this one from Kent of Inglewood: https://www.kentofinglewood.com/collect ... and-silver

Regards,

Bill_K
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Kent of Inglewood, other than being a customer.

Bill, That's a pretty brush. If you get one, please give us an update on the brush's performance. By the way, welcome to SMF.

I use a horse hair almost exclusively. It's Turkish. I've never had a problem with shedding or tangling. Once in a while, I use a comb to comb it out, condition it with coconut oil. No complaints- it lathers like a boar brush but the feel is almost like badger hair.