Antiga Barbearia De Bairro Shaving Brush

Draco Noir

Gone but not forgotten...
In Memoriam
Joined
Jan 31, 2015
Location
Hawthorn
As promised in an earlier post, here's a review of this brush after a short breaking in period :

boar_zpsyeke2hh5.jpg


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.
 
Top review! [emoji106]
Antigua Barbearia De Bairro is an interesting company. It's a revival of an older Portuguese company I believe. They only have a single shaving line, and have a wider range of products for both men and women.
 
Fantastic review - thank you very much!!!
 
That's a lovely brush, @Draco Noir . It looks like a face latherers dream. The knot looks like a Semogue 620 but the handle is more distinctive. I must be on my own when it comes to dyed bristles - don't mind the contrast.

...and yes, I too prefer this brush to a SOC but we are in the minority camp.
 
Thanks all for the +ive feedback :)

@Lifes a Peach - I'm not a face latherer myself, but I'm sure you're right on that score. Plenty of nice mild exfoliation on tap, coupled with excellent lather production should make any face latherer a happy camper (y)
 
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