Shaving Brushes 101....

I've had several brushes in my lifetime and most have not lasted for very long at all. Remember that you get what you pay for in terms of a brush quality when you look at what's available especially in drug stores and super markets. There's 4 types of shaving brushes you can choose from which is boar, badger, horse and synthetic. For the money, you won't beat the price of a boar brush. Now depending on whom makes the boar brush, try to avoid the ones found in drug stores, walmart and super markets because these will not last at all. I've got 2 boar brushes here and one of them came from a local super market and is already on its last leg. The other is an Omega 10049 black handle boar's hair brush which is and has a lot better quality and performance to it compared to my other which will remain nameless. The boar brushes tend to be a bit more stiffer than the others and are best suited for bowl lathering. The only real problem with a boar shaving brush is that some have an excessive animal type of smell to them which can be over whelming. The next type of brush you can get is badger. These tend to be a lot softer than the boar as well as more expensive than most brushes on the market today. The badger shaving brushes have the tendency to hold moisture better and are best suited for face lathering. These can range anywhere from $18 bucks and so far the most expensive one I've seen is a super badger that was pushing $200 bucks which is way too high. The only problem with a badger brush is that they tend to take the longest to dry after use due to their moisture holding capabilities. Horse hair shaving brushes are some what in the middle. They're still soft to use, but will also have that typical animal smell to them. They also tend to have an average price point which is slightly above a boar, but not as expensive as badger. These tend to dry at or maybe a tad bit faster than the boar and they're also pretty easy to find. The last type of brush is the synthetic shaving brush. These often use the same materials as wigs and artificial hair pieces do. They're reasonable when it comes to price points and they're extremely soft. However they also have a major problem. These dry way too fast. That would be bad if you're in the middle of a shave and you go to apply cream with a brush that's bone dry. It would be like using sand paper to apply shaving cream with. But this also could be good for traveling as well. My personal choice will be boar because they're much more affordable and easier to load and build lather with and they're best with shave creams.