As promised in an earlier post, here's a review of this brush after a short breaking in period :
The brush arrived from G&C very safe and sound indeed - packed in its own wooden box with heat branded logo and branding. A nice touch
The first use was quite a surprise - I soaked the brush in warm water for 3-4 minutes then loaded it from a puck of Mitchell's Woolfat hard soap. The brush loaded very well without the need for scrubbing away at the puck or "mashing" the brush. I then built the lather in a bowl : about 1 minute to a thick, glossy homogenous lather. Minimum effort, maximum result.
I then applied the lather to my face, to be greeted with amazingly soft tips out of the box. The brush released lather easily, and in no time I had a well lathered face ready to shave. It turned out that there was more than enough lather for a 3-pass shave.
This is the first time I've experienced such high out of the box performance from a boar bristle brush. And it has steadily gotten better over the subsequent week and a half that I've been using it. The bristles have softened up further while still retaining a satisfying backbone, and the tips are almost badger soft.
I rate it better than any of the other boar brushes I've tried, and interestingly I find it much more pleasant to use than Semogue's flagship Owner's Club brush.
I'll try to give it a 1-10 rating against various parameters :
Price: 8
Quality: 8
Density: 7
Backbone: 7
Softness of Tips: 9
Handling Comfort: 8
Lather Quality: 9
Lather Quantity: 9
Presentation: 8
Criticisms - only one. As a couple of other members observed, it's a pity that Semogue felt the need to dye a strip on the bristles to simulate the appearance of badger
Pure white boar bristle really doesn't need any cosmetic improvement, and IMO would have looked more striking and classy...
In summary, for my money this is a terrific little brush - attractive and with excellent performance. Would I replace it if I lost it? Absolutely! Although the good old YMMV disclaimer applies, I'm quite confident in recommending this brush to anyone who wants a nice little boar to round out their brush options.
The brush arrived from G&C very safe and sound indeed - packed in its own wooden box with heat branded logo and branding. A nice touch
The first use was quite a surprise - I soaked the brush in warm water for 3-4 minutes then loaded it from a puck of Mitchell's Woolfat hard soap. The brush loaded very well without the need for scrubbing away at the puck or "mashing" the brush. I then built the lather in a bowl : about 1 minute to a thick, glossy homogenous lather. Minimum effort, maximum result.
I then applied the lather to my face, to be greeted with amazingly soft tips out of the box. The brush released lather easily, and in no time I had a well lathered face ready to shave. It turned out that there was more than enough lather for a 3-pass shave.
This is the first time I've experienced such high out of the box performance from a boar bristle brush. And it has steadily gotten better over the subsequent week and a half that I've been using it. The bristles have softened up further while still retaining a satisfying backbone, and the tips are almost badger soft.
I rate it better than any of the other boar brushes I've tried, and interestingly I find it much more pleasant to use than Semogue's flagship Owner's Club brush.
I'll try to give it a 1-10 rating against various parameters :
Price: 8
Quality: 8
Density: 7
Backbone: 7
Softness of Tips: 9
Handling Comfort: 8
Lather Quality: 9
Lather Quantity: 9
Presentation: 8
Criticisms - only one. As a couple of other members observed, it's a pity that Semogue felt the need to dye a strip on the bristles to simulate the appearance of badger
Pure white boar bristle really doesn't need any cosmetic improvement, and IMO would have looked more striking and classy...In summary, for my money this is a terrific little brush - attractive and with excellent performance. Would I replace it if I lost it? Absolutely! Although the good old YMMV disclaimer applies, I'm quite confident in recommending this brush to anyone who wants a nice little boar to round out their brush options.
