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For the synth fans (or those curious)

nav1 said:
I have the time and the inclination but not the brushes.

I'm away from home for the next 4 months and i only brought the quarter moon brush with me... Which i have been enjoying a lot! Here are some points about the quarter moon:

I got mine in the clear handle as i wanted the contrast between the handle and black knot, and i reckon it looks awesome!!

Density: The knot is dense! No two ways about it! Much more dense than razorock and maggard synthetics.

Softness: the tips are very soft and comfortable. Softer than the plissoft range of knots but different face feel due to higher density.

Scrub: due to the density, the brush gives a great scrub (no scratch). Feels nice on the face and generates lather very fast.

Splay: I "dry load" my soap and face lather so the brush doesn't like to splay much at the beginning, which the Razorock Bruce does beautifully but once enough water has been painted in, the quarter moon splays nicely and due to being a nearly flat top knot, the face feel is very nice.

At 25mm, it holds a ton of lather and due to the density, it doesn't lose too much lather out the sides.

I did use the full moon once before i left home and i loved it also! It's nearly opposite to quarter moon as the full moon is a bulb knot, not hybrid. It is very dense also but a little less scrubby due to not being an extreme fan and also splayed better from the beginning of the face lathering process.

Both unique in their own ways and I'm very, very happy with both of them! Can't wait to try the other two which i didn't get a chance to use before leaving home.
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Thanks mate :)
 
People shouldn't be prejudiced by synthetic. Paint brushes used to be boar bristle, as the splits on the end meant they would hold paint well. With the various disease outbreaks in China, the USA put restrictions on importing natural bristle brushed (about 15 years ago). Hence the synthetic market stepped up, and cost and quality and innovation stepped in e.g how may splits vs straight fibre, diameter etc. So costs of synthetics don't make them an inferior product, advances in manufacturing make them a competitive product. My son paints plastic models and the fibres in some of his artificial sable brushes is amazing.

So for synthetic shave brushes, there would only be a few fibre manufacturers, but finding a supplier that assembles it all in a way you like is the challenge.

I find my natural badgers too soft, I like my boar brush, but I think good synthetic will be end game and aliexpress and eBay make it cheap enough to try a few, as shops are limited in what they can keep for functionality vs things people buy as presents , indulgence etc. It's not like you can go into a supermarket and they have a selection of brushes .... it's online, keep it affordable and try a few.

Wish there was a shave or grooming expo in australia where you could see, touch, feel these things before buying and hoping.
 
DE is the new black said:
I find my natural badgers too soft.
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I assume you are talking in terms of backbone or scrub here.

If that is the case I would suggest that you have not tried the right kind of badger knot. There are many 2 Band Badger knots that are readily available that have an incredible amount of backbone. The density and loft of the knot will of course alter the amount of backbone that the knot presents. In addition the shape of the knot can often play some part in how much backbone the knot presents with bulb knots generally displaying more backbone than a fan or flat knot. The feel of the tips can vary fans well with some knot types presenting extremely soft and luxurious tips and others presenting a more scrubbier (or sometimes) scritchier feel.

If you are at all interested in sharing the types of characteristics you prefer personally I am happy to share some suggestions of some badger knots that you could consider trying. It is also however important to note that whilst you are generally looking at a considerably higher investment in a quality badger brush over a synthetic, there are some quality brushes to be had starting form around $50 AUD depending on your preferences.
 
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