Say Hello to Betty

L'Ultima Setola has a new ladyfriend!

I have a thing for "custom" stuff. The idea of having something one-of-a-kind makes me really, REALLY excited, and the best way to express this has been, for me, in brushes. So when I saw member Del1r1um on Straight Razor Place posting pictures of his gorgeous hand carved, non-lathe-turned brush handles, I figured I wanted one, and he very very generously agreed to make me one.

Of course, being a boar man, I went the way of the pig and sent him the knot out of an Omega 48 and told him "I like to face lather, I like hourglass shapes, and I don't use brush stands. What can you do?"

This is what he did:



Betty is her name, Betty the Beautiful Boar. She's got quite a figure on her, as you can tell...



She's solid...and she's beautiful, and she's one of a kind.



In all seriousness, this is one hell of a brush. Solid claro walnut hand carved and finished from a single piece of FANTASTIC wood...it's a work of art, is what it is. Of course, it lathers like a dream with that Omega head, and the handle is ergonomically gorgeous. It fits the hand in unusual, but really great, ways...what a beauty.

Thanks, Del1r1um!

L'Ultima Setola

It's heeeee-rrrreee!!

My custom boar brush from Rodd (of knotty badger fame--check his work out at The Shave Den store) using a knot from an Omega professional boar brush, donated by Reformation Student, also a member at TSD.
Check this out:


Gorgeous! The handle is good old American Oak--it's a common wood, for a common animal--but it's beautiful! Rodd's finish brings out a lovely golden sheen from the wood, and I wish you could see it in the light...there's almost a 3d effect.

I wanted something with a narrow waist and a double ring up near the knot--kind of a class knob handle design. Rodd took my ideas for the design and turned them into a big, ergonomic beauty. I've used it twice now, and it is one of the best handles I've used. It feels great in the hand, it looks great, and of course with that Omega knot it lathers great.

Made. Of. Win.

Wonders Never Cease

You may have seen this guy before:

He came at about the same time as two other brushes, so I never really talked about him. But it's high time I did...He's got a secret!

I got three brushes all about the same time. The Kim Son Horn Handle Silvertip, which you have read about; the pre-Vulfix Simpsons Duke 3, which has moved on to warmer pastures; and the Omega 21047 Travel Boar brush. That's the little guy on the right--he's got a hand turned acrylic handle, and according to Giovanni at Razor and Brush (who sold me the brush), a 21mm knot and a 47mm loft. The handle has a lovely faux horn look to it, and the whole thing just looks classy.

Now, the first thing I noticed when I got the brush, apart form its tiny size, was the look of the bristles.
Compare this:

To this:


In the Omega picture, the bristles have the look of a typical boar brush, with the fake badger "sketch"-the bristles are the kind of off-white "blonde" of a boar brush. In my picture, though, you can see more of a "brindled" color; there is more brown to it. I thought it was an aesthetic thing, to match the bristles with the handle--and it may well be so. But there is another factor at play here...

When I finally got around to using the brush (thanks, Zach, for reminding me to!) I found something a bit unexpected...

First was the smell. When I got my Omega professional, it frankly reeked. Reeked like a wet dog. That's just part of it--animal hairs smell bad when wet. The badger brushes also smell, though there is a different funk to it. This brush, however, had an odd smell--neither like the Omega professional nor the badger brushes I had used. Somewhere in between. Strange.

Second was performance. This is a boar brush. Boar brushes have a tendency toward low water retention and a slower lather rate than badger brushes; I thought that, due to this brush's smaller size this would even be more of a problem. I was absolutely wrong.

This brush is a lather monster. It took just a few swirls to work both the Cella from today's shave and the TBS Maca root cream from yesterday into a thick rich lather, and the water level was just right...I had to dip only once for each of them. The brush was a bit scritchy, but being a new boar brush that was no problem. It had a good amount of backbone, very massagey feeling, but it also had more splay than I assumed it would from the short loft. It felt good lathering, and it did a great job of it.

The performance was outstanding...and I couldn't understand it. I was sure that such a small boar brush should not be able to hold enough water to work so quickly...But then I looked more closely.



In among the coarse, poker-straight boar hairs I could see finer, somewhat kinky or wavy hairs. Some of them were dark brown to the tips, some of them were banded, some of them were bleached almost white...badger hairs.

This is a boar/badger mix! The website and the Omega catalogue both list this as a boar brush, I know, but the look, the performance, and the smell all seem to agree...this is a mix!

It has the stiffness and scrubbiness of a boar, lending it to work wonders with soaps and creams, and it has the water retention of a badger brush, helping it make the lather more hydrated. It's an awesome brush, and more than worth the $16 or so I dropped on it.

A hearty recommendation, and a very pleasant surprise!

Review: Kim Son Brush In Use

This will be an ongoing commentary on how this brush performs in use. I will update a few times before making a final judgment in a couple of weeks.

So, let's see how she goes...


The First Lather...



So, I started out using this brush with a test lather. I used TBS MACA Root Cream in a bowl, just to see how it worked--I'm a face latherer by nature, so bowls aren't my bag, usually.

I snurdled in the bowl, wet the brush in the running sink (no soak this time) and shook it about three times. I started to lather--and it just exploded. I didn't need to add any extra water to make a good, slick cream. However, as you can see from looking at this lather in the picture, it maybe could have used a touch more work with the brush, but like I said...I'm not a bowl latherer.






Here is the knot after use, still wet, with more bloom:



No shed hairs on this lather.

*****

The First Shave...(Christmas!)

For my first shave with the brush, I decided on Cella Crema Da Sapone. I don't have any good soap pucks right now, so this was the closest I had to a soap--they load similarly, but when my VB Luxury Shave Soap gets here, I can give a better indication of soap performance.

I soaked the brush while I showered (I know this isn't necessary for Badger brushes, but some people do it, and this is a test so I went for it.) After my shower, I shook the brush out a good four times, getting all the excess water out, and loaded the brush. I had no problems getting a good load of soap on the bristles. They have a good backbone for this--I don't anticipate any big problems with soaps. After loading, there was one hair left in the Cella.

For the shave, I face lathered as it is my main MO. And...this was a very pleasant brush. The bristles were smooth and soft, with no hint of scritch or scrubbiness at all. It was stiff enough to lather the crema with no extra work, and made a good lather quickly. I personally found it much easier to use than the Shavemac Silvertip I tried, which was much silkier, but (or therefore?) much more difficult to gauge as far as water content and loading goes.

I had to dip the bristles once, as I might have overshaken the brush in the beginning, but it was overall a very easy, intuitive brush to use, and exremely comfortable.

I got enough lather to last for 3.5 shaves, though I had to squeeze the knot a bit for the last touch up pass.

Another hair was shed when I was drying the brush on a towel after the shave, for a total of 2 hairs shed.

Nope, nothing wrong here!

(Sorry I didn't get any pictures of the shave, but I don't like the idea of using the Camera in the bathroom...)

***
Second Shave...(Dec. 26)

Switched to Castle Forbes Lime Oil Cream today, love the smell. Again, face lathering after the shower. I didn't soak the brush today, just let it get nice and wet, and the performance was the same as yesterday. It holds a lot of water, but is fairly easy to adjust.

Today, I kind of felt that the density was a bit low for my tastes. Holding the knot with thre fingers, like they teach you in the barber books, my finges really sank in. It's not a big problem, as the hairs hold up pretty well in the lathering, but it is there...

The knot doesn't splay out too much, and it hilds a nice big god of lather for your shave.

3 Hairs shed today--I still don't think it's anything to worry about, but if it continues too long it might be a problem.

Last update this week...Be back next year with a thorough report!

***

Dec. 27--I know I said I'd be back in a week, but I got a puck of Vintage Blades Soap yesterday, so I had to give it a try.

Great lather, easy loading--no problems with soap! Again, this brush seems a little too soft, maybe not dense enough, for me. I like a stiff brush, with lots of backbone. But it's got more backbone than the Shavemac, though it isn't as dense.

1 shed hair today.

***

Dec 28--2 hairs shed. A little weak with MWF...hmmm....

Special Review: Kim Son Horn Handle Brush **UPDATE**

A Vietnamese company, Kim Son Handicrafts, has recently gotten into the shaving brush game, and they sent me a sample of their work to review. Here are my first impressions.

I got this brush in the mail today from Vu Kim Son. Vu represents Kim Son Handicrafts, a company specializing in handmade genuine horn products. The have a huge range of products, from shoehorns and combs (which Vu also generously included) to pistol grips and razor handles.

Kim Son has been making brush handles for some time, having done work with Savemac in Germany on custom brush handles (Correction: Apparently, the custom brush was for SRP, NOT B&B. Sorry about the mixup.), and now they have begun supplying complete brushes in Silvertip badger.

But enough talk, here it is:



This is an attempt to give you a view of the darker side of the handle. The handle is a lovely marbled horn--just beautiful.



Another view, with different lighting, showing the lighter side. The Knot here is just out of the package--it was rather tightly bound, so it hasn't bloomed at all.

It is quite a large brush--here it is in comparison with some other brushes I have; a Simpsons Duke 3 (which is 92mm tall, with a 23mm knot) and an Omega Travel 21047 travel brush (a TINY boar brush):



Here's the knot after some rest and a little blooming, from above:


It's rather dense. It feels firm to the touch, with a bit more bounce-back that the only other silvertip I've tried up to this point--a 23mm Shavemac; it seems to have a bit more backbone, but is not as densely filled. The hair might be of a slightly lower grade than the Shavemac, I'm not sure.

Vu says that his knots are sourced from India, which is unusual. The knot looks fairly dense and has a nice springy feel to the hand. I haven't tried it in the shave yet, but I am looking forward to it tomorrow. I've also sent some specific detail questions to Vu, and will post his answers when I get them.

**UPDATE**
Here are my questions, and Vu's answers.
1. What knot size is this brush--that means, how wide is the hair where it goes into the handle? 23mm? And can you make other sizes?
The Knot size is 23-21 mm the wide of hair could do custom follow customer.

(Ed. I need to measure this...it looks like the knot is closer to 25mm to me.)

2. How tall is the brush total? How tall is the handle, and how tall is the hair loft?
About the tall , I don’t measure when I send them but your samples is standard . Let me discuss with my father next day.

(Ed. I just eyeballed with my trusty pink plastic ruler--it looks like the brush is just under 11 cm tall, with a 49mm handle and a 58mm loft...!!!)

3. Where (what country) did you get the hair from? Was the knot (this is the word we use for the hair in the brush) hand tied, or machine tied?
The hair come from Asia , specially from India and I also looking for best resource . As you know, I do business with 1st is quality and customer feedback not the big sale. Later in the email, he also said that the source uses hand tied knots, as per his request.

4. Can you make brushes in different grades? There is silvertip, Pure Badger, Best Badger, etc.
Of course , I could provide Silver Badger , Pure or Best Badger . But I think the horn handle come with the Silver badger is the best because my supplier said the silver badger is the best quality. I will listen your comment and put the option for customer choice when they order. They could choice the Silver , Pure , Best etc.



My initial impressions are, on a purely visual level, very favorable. I will be making periodic updates with my progress with this brush, and giving a final verdict in a couple of weeks, so please check in often!

Back in the saddle again!

Ok, so things are back to normal on the vast open plains of my face.

On the recommendation of a good friend, I returned to the warm, wooly bosom of Mitchell's Wool Fat, and the lanolin did work a charm. My face feels better after last week's shenanigans, and shaving is once more a pleasure.

What's more, the very day that my last drop of that sweet, sweet TSD Aftershave milk went, I got a new shipment in. This time Old Spice Type, Bourbon Vanilla and Mayan Gold (I couldn't resist...it's just so tasty!). I wasn't sure about the Old Spice, but my wife seems to like it so there you go.

I also got in some shave soap from Susie's Bubbles--Citrus Sage with Shea Butter and Honey Almond with Goat's Milk. The scents on these soaps is something else. Sweet and fragrant....like candy. I'll let the MWF take care of me for a few more days, and then see how these guys shave. Thanks Suzie!

In other news, I am working with the famous "Swede".


No, not that one...

Gillette Super Platinums, commonly known as "Swedish Gillettes", are some of the priciest, and well loved, DE blades around. They are reputed to be smooth, sharp blades that last forever; one gentleman of note claims that he got 30 good shaves out of one--and, as most good blades give about 5-6, that is something else. I find them sharp, but smooth...hmmm. I'm not ready to give up on my yellow/green 7 O'Clocks yet.

So that's the current state of affairs. In the near future, expect an extended series of Brush reviews as I get a silvertip in a hand-carved genuine horn handle from Kimson Handicrafts in Viet Nam, and a pre-Vulfix Simpsons Duke 3 to try out. Yay!

I feel special!

So, a while back, when I first got into this gig, I sent an Email to Omega, the boar brush company, asking for information about their brushes, and wondering about how to get a brush "for review purposes" (hey, I was new!). Looki what they sent me!


I got what has to be their ENTIRE sales catalogue, with posters, brochures, sales info...all their professional brochures! It's nice, in that old-fashioned Italian barbershop kind of way. And, of course, I found something I want. Several somethings, in fact...

So, Thanks Omega! And well done, I'm gonna buy!

It Was a Very Good Week...

One thing about this hobby is, since you can't shave all the time, people make up for it by getting acquisitive...And I am no exception.

I got a whole lot of stuff this week.



This all came in this week, in 4 separate shipments:

WAY TOO MUCH. Four shave sticks, a brush, and blades out the ass.

What's a boy to do?

Shave, I reckon.

The most exciting thing is the Brush.

That's an Omega Professional 10083 model Boar brush (available for purchase, by the way, at Razor and Brush). Stiff and smooth, great for soaps...and smelly. WHEW. Wet pig hair...

I gave it a try this morning, lathering up some Vetiver soap from TSD. A great shave, but a little getting used to--the water control is a bit different from the badger I've been using, but this is definitely a quality tool. The handle is smooth and a bit heavier than I was expecting, as it's an injection molded plastic handle.

People say that Boar brushes are no good with creams, but I'm not sure I agree.

Here are some shots of handlathered Lider cream from Poland.

The brush:


And the Hand:



The lather was very good--it was quite thick, maybe a little dry. But slick and smooth, better than I've been getting with my little badger! I will admit, the brush itself didn't hold a large amount of lather inside it, but I think that with a little more practice this brush will be a lather monster.

And it's only $15!!

This little piggy...Product Review

Well, I'll be. In a previous post, I mentioned that I had found a cheap brush at Daiso. I thought it was Synthetic, but upon further inspection, it turns out to be...Boar!


The plot thickens!



Boar doesn't get much love on the wetshaving forums. Sure, there are a few threads about it, but overall the badger is the king of the brush club. However, boar brushes have a long and celebrated history--your grandfather probably lathered up with a boar brush, unless he was named Rockefeller.

The main reasons for the badger fancy are:
1. Badger hair is softer and holds more water, so it is easier to get a lather going, especially with creams.
2. Boar hair is usually stiffer than badger, so it feels harsher on sensitive skin.
3. Badger is a luxury item. People can brag about their massive Plisson Horn Handle High White Mountain that cost $560, but their $15 pig hair brush? Not so much.

Nevertheless, I have been intrigued by reports of quality boar hair. I liked the price, and as I am a soap man, stiffer bristles mean better lather. So I started looking for a boar brush--never knowing that I already had one.

I was looking through my gym bag for some socks when I stumbled on that brush. I had stuffed it there for some odd reason...who knows why. But as I was looking at it, I realized that the bristles looked a lot like those I had seen in pictures of boar brushes. On closer inspection, they were tapered and not exactly uniform, which I thought odd for a synthetic brush. And then, when I got it wet it smelled like a wet dog!

I had boar!

Now, even with this grand revelation, I didn't have high expectations. We are talking about a 98 cent brush, here. But hey, you never know.

The brush is wood-handled, about 10 centimeters tall. The knot is about 2 centimeters, and it looks like it is set into a black plastic setting, which is then set into the beige wood handle. There are no markings, stickers or any other identifying features.

After a good warm water soak, the hair did soften up a bit. Enough so that when applied to the face it wasn't noticeably scratchier than my "St. James of London" badger brush (not, in and of itself, the most luxurious of brushes).

I tried it out lathering Mitchell's Wool Fat in my hand. The brush very clearly did not hold as much water as the badger, as I had to sprinkle more into my hand in the lathering process. It did, however, whip up a very nice, slick lather. It didn't hold as much volume in itself as the badger, but it created more lather, faster--most of it stayed on my hand, is all.

On face lathering, I had similar results. A good, fast lather, though the brush did not hold enough for a second pass.

Surprisingly, the brush only shed about 2 hairs. I was expecting much worse. At one point, the plastic knot setting did feel a little loose. After it had dried, a couple of spots of superglue fixed that right up.

All in all, I would say that I am pleasantly surprised by this product. For the price, you can't ask for much, but the brush delivered a completely acceptable performance. Would I recommend this to someone looking for a good brush to use for life? No. But if someone said to me "Hey, Jim, I got a couple bucks and I'm looking for a cheap travel brush, any ideas?" I'd say "Have I got a deal for you!"

It's a keeper!


**Update: I used the brush again, that would make it the third try. It fell apart. I mean, this was beyond shedding---it's like my brush had radiation poisoning! Big clumps of bristles started falling out and sticking to my face. Maybe the glue is water soluble...Soooo, recommendation retracted. Folks, stay away from this one.***