Hi from Melbourne SE suburbs

[Monsta_AU]

Is there anyone in Australia selling the Plisson?

L'Occitane stores do. Hellishly expensive however.

If you can source one of the Crown King (PAA) brushes then that works very well, or you need to look to some of the harder to get stuff. Italian Barber has some cheapies which are well regarded. If you were ordering Stirling Soaps then they also have some synth brushes which are also get good reviews.

Another good local option is The Body Shop which sell a synthetic brush for $15. It's not great but does the job well. Did a couple of test lathers in store and the girls were impressed how well I was able to get the Maca Root cream to lather with it.

 

[Drubbing]

I've got an old omega. Apparently it's half synthetic and half badger? Not sure, but I've had it for a number of years. I'm sure my wife got it from the shaver shop.
Edit: it's losing a good few bristles each time I lather.

Old synths or mixes, are crap. They'd have used thick nylon that's pretty harsh. Any Omega boar is a good brush, the mediums at around 55mm loft are best, they can get too big. My own top pick for performance and value is the Aesop/Jagger synth. It feels more like a brush than the Loccitane, which is great, but pricey.

The whole backbone thing, that many sites get obsessed with, is moot with modern synthetics because they don't need that pushback to produce stupidly good lather.

 

[Dale.Whiley]

I know. Since having my shavette and reading things on here and various other forms, I'm not even sure if I'm going to continue down the straight path or jump head on into the DE rabbit hole...

You on the right path with the shavette. Now head to straights & kamisoris, not DE's.

 

[alfredus]

Plisson:
You can buy directly from them - it has a (way) nicer handle than the wooden one, but is also expensive expensive

Other option:
Whipped Dog - http://www.whippeddog.com/
You can set your own loft with this one, which is fantastic IMO. If it is your first (synthetic) brush though, you don't need to do that.

Stirling - http://www.stirlingsoap.com/
They have 2 sizes and the smaller one is on sale at the moment. As an added bonus, you can load up on some FANTASTIC soap.

Italian Barber - http://www.italianbarber.com/
Unfortunately sold out at the moment, but you can sign up for an Email alert, when back in stock. And of course here you can also load up on some great products.

The US$ is bad for us at the moment and you have to pay shipping. But let's be honest, the last 6 or so years have been an exception. The AU$ to US$ ratio is pretty normal and what is used to be in the past ~20 years.

As for shipping:
Larry from Whipped Dog charges 5US$ shipping for a brush - that's the same as buying in OZ! So no excuses there.

And for the rest there is shipito - http://shipito.com/
They have cheaper rates than basically anybody and charge you only 2$ per package. Usually that is still way cheaper than some of the smaller shops can offer. Domestic shipping from Stirling is for example a flat 5US$...just get together, buy a couple of brushes and soaps and it's all well priced...

 

[alfredus]

I'm finding my synths lack the ability to hold water.
Best thus far is the Plisson, yet trying to find who makes the knots, so I can source a bigger knot to try is nigh upon impossible.

Absolutely true my friend - and therefore chances of getting a foamy useless mess are also smaller for any newbie

As always, I try to give advise by looking a what mistakes I made and problems I had at the beginning.

I am not trying to advise somebody like you who has X years of experience and knows exactly what he likes and dislikes. Just trying to make life easy - preferences you have to discover for yourself...

 

[Normie]

Just put an Astra green blade out of my sample pack into my shavette. Wow! So much better than the others in the pack so far. First pass was really nice, and I probably could have gotten away with only 1 pass. Went for the full 3 passes - should have stopped at 2. Cut my neck in a momentary lapse of concentration... Apart from the minor nick, was a nice shave. Will probably stick with these for a while and hopefully my technique will improve vastly!

 

[Lifes a Peach]

A belated welcome to Paste & Cut, @Normie . By the looks of it you are fitting in here just nicely

 

[Normie]

Had a horrible shave on Wednesday evening. Was probably a bit rushed, but also was excitedly trying out my new body shop synthetic brush. And I thought I would go back to the staple soap of proraso green. I just couldn't get enough water into the lather. Needless to say, the shave was sub par. Maybe I should have stuck with the shave heaven soap.

 

[alfredus]

Very sorry to hear that...a bad shave is always a downer - but without those we wouldn't appreciate the great ones (and they will become less frequent over time).

Getting water into the lather is for me the biggest negative of any synthetic brush...and even more with those wirey ones.

Next time maybe try to open up the brush a bit and put in the drops of water inside the knot. That way you can then work it into the lather more easily.

Oh, and of course Shaver Heaven will help as well

 

[Normie]

Very sorry to hear that...a bad shave is always a downer - but without those we wouldn't appreciate the great ones (and they will become less frequent over time).

Getting water into the lather is for me the biggest negative of any synthetic brush...and even more with those wirey ones.

Next time maybe try to open up the brush a bit and put in the drops of water inside the knot. That way you can then work it into the lather more easily.

Oh, and of course Shaver Heaven will help as well

Thanks @alfredus. I will be sure to try that. I might go back to my old faithful brush for a few shaves. Hopefully your correct and the bad shaves will become less frequent!