Shaving Brushes

Posted by: Mick P on 06 November 2003

Chaps

I have always wet shaved and my 30 year old shaving brush has had its day.

I looked on the internet and found several sites selling Badger hair brushes at prices ranging from £29.00 up to £200.00.

Do any of you use Badger hair and what is the difference between a £29.00 model and a £200.00 one.

Regards

Mick
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by garyi
They are nice I have one, I had the intention of getting a cut throat razor, but couldn't find one, which was a shame.
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by Spock
You could also try

The Gentlemans shop

Plenty of stuff here and some reasonable descriptions of the products - you could get a "Simpsons chubby super" for £153 must be a bargain ?
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by herm
Garyi,

Rue Monge 48 drug store (Paris, Q Latin). Brushes, razors, the works. And it's not a boutique store, so no AmEx fancy prices.

Herman
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by Spock
You could get a flatcap for that!!
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by Tony Lockhart
Damn!
Thought the thread was 'Shaving bushes'...
Oh well,
Tony
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by Chris Dolan
Interesting. Is this for real?

I thought that badgers were a protected species - and on the few occasions that I have been up close and personal with them they were also scary when disturbed.

Am I missing something?

Chris
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by MichaelC
quote:
Originally posted by Mick Parry:
and what is the difference between a £29.00 model and a £200.00 one.



£171.00 Smile

Which equates to a few new records and/or cds or a contribution tot he next upgrade.

Cheers

Mike
Posted on: 06 November 2003 by Mick P
The badgers used are Chinese.

There seems to be different grades of hair so I may settle for a medium grade.

Regards

Mick
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by Madrid
A true story.

My wife liked my Taylors of Old Bond Street pure badger shaving brush so much she expropriated it. She now uses it to apply some lovely creme.

This did give me an excuse to buy a new one.

I recall that all pure badger brushes were acceptable. If you spend more money, you will get a softer part of the badger and/or more volume.

Cheers,

Steven
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by gusi
Mick

I always used a (budget) camel hair brush. If you soak it for a while before you first use it, it should last a lot longer.

I would have thought that shaving brushes would be syntetic these days.

I never paid more than 20 bucks for a shaving brush. Maybe that's why they never lasted 30 years for me.

cheers
Gus
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by Madrid
quote:
Which part of the badger is the softest?


For shaving afficionados:

http://www.enchanteonline.com/pages/men/shavinggraces/essay10page3.htm

quote:
For this reason, I strongly encourage every beginning shaver to seriously invest in a powerful, best or silver tip badger brush. Obtaining a handmade variety, if possible, is even better.


Steven
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by Mick P
Thanks for the information....just what I was looking for. I intend to buy one but I will only spend the money if there are genuine differences in quality.

I will digest it all tonight.

Regards

Mick
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by throbnorth
Mick, - what's your current shaving regime?

I'm blessed with beard growth like Brillo [Red Sea Pedestrian genes on father's side] and consequently always on the lookout for the Ultimate Shaving Solution. I inherited a Kent badger brush [possibly even from an English badger] but never had much luck with it, and keep it mostly for sentimental reasons. Once, [admittedly a long time ago - things may have changed] I even had a shave at Trumper's as a treat with the full soap treatment, but wasn't that impressed.

Currently my personal best involves a Mach 3 Turbo razor and King of Shaves gel. This combo is by far the best [by quite a serious margin - not just slightly better, but life-changingly better] than anything I've yet encountered. Can a soap shave really equal or beat this?

throb
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by matthewr
There are two types of King of Shaves gel -- the one which boasts "Kinexium Silicon Technology" on its lurid blue and lime green packaging gives a significantly better shave than the ASC2 "Active Skin Cleansing" AlphaGel.

Or rather it does if you are in a rush -- the latter seems much better with a generous 5 minutes massage and soak-in time. It also has slightly less souped-up-Capri-owner style packaging.

There's also the shaving oil which is great but requires half an hour of cleaning you sink with industrial mole releasing agent to get rid of the thin greasy film.

Matthew
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by throbnorth
Matthew, - tried the Kinexium variant, but found that the jowl stretching I need combined with its extreme slipperiness didn't suit as much as the standard. Mach 3 turbo better than standard Mach 3 however. Who possibly buys single blade razors once having tried either of them? Possibly OK for bumfluff, I suppose.

throb
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by garyi
King of Shaves was rubbish for me, far to much hassle. Turbo Mach 3 and Gillete gel for me all the way, quick easy and effective.

I thought they used road kill badgers for some of the hand made ones, I could of course be way wrong.
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by ARC
and there's me thinking it was the ones from baiting.

I hear that Rhino skin is excellent for exfoliating
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by Mick P
You could survive on beans and toast but you eat other stuff as well.

Regards

Mick
Posted on: 07 November 2003 by Jez Quigley
The Mach 3 turbo is so good you dont need to mess about with badgers, or environmentally unfriendly foam cans for that matter. Wash your face with whatever you prefer, and before rinsing, shave.

Time and money saving, equally good result.

(I guess this confirms my place as pond life in Mick's pantheon of undesirable oiks)

"Let your life proceed by it's own design. Let the words be yours, I have done with mine"
Posted on: 08 November 2003 by gusi
Those shaving gels are the biggest rip off ever.

An 8 dollar can lasts about 2 weeks compared to 4 months for a 1 dollar stick of shaving soap.

The gels also make your blades go blunt. When shaving with gel the blades only last a few shaves whilst with soap they go forever.

the shaving luddite.