For the synth fans (or those curious)

thisISjoel

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
Location
Australia
Before I start I want to clarify that I am in no way associated with any of the brands/products that will be discussed in this post, and in fact I have never actually used any of them. This is something of a collation of products/information I have found to be interesting, which I thought some of you might also be interested in.

As you may or may not be aware synthetic shaving brushes have come a long way in the last couple of years and these days there are many wet shavers who prefer synthetic brushes over natural hair brushes. I exclusively use synthetic brushes so I am always on the lookout for new developments in the synthetic knot game.

For a good while it seemed the Plisson/plissoft style fibre/knot seemed to be the gold standard in synthetic brushes, however in recent times a few challengers have reared the heads, namely the 'tuxedo'/'black wolf'/black and white synthetics and the 'game changer'/'boss knot'/black synthetic, as well as some less popular new knots like the 'cashmere' and 'faux horse'.

Similar to badger hair knots where there is no universal standard for grading hair (silver tip, best etc.), synthetic knots/fibres that appear to be the same have different names depending on who is selling them, and nobody seems to be willing to acknowledge that they all get their knots from the same factories/suppliers in China (yaqi brush seems to be the most likely source for most, if not all of these different knots and brushes), but I digress.

Recently, I found out that yaqi brush are selling brushes direct to consumers through aliexpress (I have no idea how they have been doing this, but I have only just discovered it) and it looks like this could be a really affordable way for people to try some of these newer synthetic knots and see how they like them. Below I will post some images comparing these brushes with the knots they appear to have and link to where they can be purchased.

Brush number 1: Yaqi 'game changer'/'boss knot' look-a-like

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vs. Amack4Shaving Game Changer

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Brush number 2:

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vs. APShaveCo Cashmere

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Pretty close looking to my eyes.

The Yaqi Brush AliExpress store also have brushes with 'tuxedo' style knots in stock yesterday, but this morning they aren't there so they may have sold out. They also do a wide variety of safety razors on their AliBaba site, but I haven't been bothered to see if they sell them individually on AliExpress.

Anyway gents, I think this post is plenty long enough, just make sure if you do pull the trigger on any of those brushes post your findings here!
 
Thanks @thisISjoel - one thing I have found with synths is that the vast majority are trying to imitate badgers, which makes them too soft for my taste. My preference is boars and the closest option I can find seems to be the Omega S brush. Know of any others?

My preference is for the softness possible face feel, but still maintaining good backbone (obviously everyone's idea of what constitutes "good" backbone is going to be different) and my experience with natural hair brushes is essentially nonexistent (I've never so much as held a badger brush in my hand, and the only board I've used is the Turkish no. 6 "horse hair" brush I bought when I was very, very new to the game) so I can't really help you there.

From what I've read online the "game changer" is generally considered the best imitation of natural hairs, but probably closer to badger than boar I'd imagine. I have an omega s brush, but I absolutely hate it. It's springy and pokey and just not enjoyable to use on any level.

Again, I have no idea how it compares to natural hair brushes (badger or boar), but the whipped dog 30mm synthetic I recently traded away was pretty scrubby. It was very dense and I had Larry set if a couple mm deeper as well so while the tips were still soft (softer than both the maggards 24mm and stray whisker 28mm synthetics, but not as soft as my original whipped dog 24mm, or the 25mm black wolf or 30mm black and white) it had plenty of backbone and felt scrubby in a good way.

Not sure how helpful any of that is to you, but I hope maybe at least some of it is :)
 
Quite funny - I have the S10005 Omega S brush and love it! No issues with springing or poking - still prefer my boars though - the natural hairs are more of an interactive experience with soaking etc. As always YMMV etc...
 
Fantastic info Joel!

Have you picked up any from yaqi?

I'm thinking of ordering the cashmere knot brush as I think 2 plisson style are enough.

I'll write up a review once I receive it, which will be a very long time due to the delivery times.
 
Fantastic info Joel!

Have you picked up any from yaqi?

I'm thinking of ordering the cashmere knot brush as I think 2 plisson style are enough.

I'll write up a review once I receive it, which will be a very long time due to the delivery times.

No, I havent (well in all likelihood the 30mm black and white knot I bought from maggards is one of theirs, and maybe as well as the other synthetics I've used, but I've never bought one directly from them so can't say for sure), but I'm seriously considering the "game changer" looking knot in the red handle.

My biggest concern is even if the knots are identical to those being sold under different names by various other sellers (which I strongly suspect they are) I doubt much thought has been put into what loft to set the knots at. I wouldn't be surprised if the handles where just drilled deep enough to fit the plug.

My suspicion is that many of the issues people have with synthetic brushes being spring and/or splaying weirdly are, at least in part, due to not enough thought and testing being put into determine what the optimum loft is for the knot.

For the money, the yaqi brush is very tempting, but I'm not sure I wouldn't prefer to spend more and get something from smack, or kshaveworx, or brushguy where I can feel a bit more confident that these considerations have been made.

If you pull the trigger on a yaqi do make sure you let us know how you like it, however far in the future that may be :)
 
You're probably right. I better confirm the loft before I purchase.
I want to try that cashmere not just due to the knot but I love the Simpson Commodore handle shape they've used.
 
You're probably right. I better confirm the loft before I purchase.
I want to try that cashmere not just due to the knot but I love the Simpson Commodore handle shape they've used.

Yeah, at <$20au shipped I'll probably take the punt at some stage though. The one I'm most interested in (red handle, black "game changer" knot) is sold out now anyway, so I'll have to wait regardless.

I wonder how difficult it would be to remove the knot if I didn't like the loft, and how the knot would hold up.

Did you get that knot I sent you yet? If so, how did it hold up after being steamed out of the handle?
 
Yeah, at <$20au shipped I'll probably take the punt at some stage though. The one I'm most interested in (red handle, black "game changer" knot) is sold out now anyway, so I'll have to wait regardless.

I wonder how difficult it would be to remove the knot if I didn't like the loft, and how the knot would hold up.

Did you get that knot I sent you yet? If so, how did it hold up after being steamed out of the handle?

As I'm overseas, I haven't been able to set it yet but yes, it had arrived.
I have a handle ready for it...contained the worst ever badger knot ever and I just yanked it out!!

I've emailed the seller about loft so let's see what they say. I'll take the plunge on the cashmere once loft is confirmed.
 
Guys, I have got a response that the brushes are set at 60mm loft!! They said for one brush, they can't alter the loft, only for bulk purchases.

I'll be staying away from this one!!
 
Rip it out and drill it deeper if you can and want too.
Had one brush from that part of the world where the expoxy/adhesive substance is not very strong or very brittle and breaks out easily.
Also lately made a query as wanted a different handle with another knot and they mentioned that they glue it before sending. So possible in some cases to ask them not to glue it.
 
Quite funny - I have the S10005 Omega S brush and love it! No issues with springing or poking - still prefer my boars though - the natural hairs are more of an interactive experience with soaking etc. As always YMMV etc...
I'm on the fence with synthetics but completely understand the love of them. I have a Black wolf 25mm Ultra fan coming in and I have a TF Custom Synthetic 26mm. I understand it's a maggard I think, so so soft but my Kent VS70 boar brush is just amazing. Reassuring scritch to lift those hairs and fantastic backbone. Keen to try my 2 band super dense Silvertip Badger by shavemac. But I'm still interested in these synths
 
It's a great time to try some great synthetic knots, if you haven't already. Now both whipped dog and maggard are offering the 'black and white' (aka tuxedo) knots in really well priced handles. Whipped dog are a little dearer, but still great value. Check them out!
 
Agreed - there are a lot of options out there and that's only a good thing!

I'm getting really synth-curious to add the Omega 46806 to my collection of Omegas. 30mm/60mm synth knot goodness and what looks to be a great barber pole handle. If anyone has got / is getting one I would be very keen for a review... it's not the cheapest synth in the world but looks to be worth the ask.
 
Agreed - there are a lot of options out there and that's only a good thing!

I'm getting really synth-curious to add the Omega 46806 to my collection of Omegas. 30mm/60mm synth knot goodness and what looks to be a great barber pole handle. If anyone has got / is getting one I would be very keen for a review... it's not the cheapest synth in the world but looks to be worth the ask.
That is a nice looking brush!
 
It's a great time to try some great synthetic knots, if you haven't already. Now both whipped dog and maggard are offering the 'black and white' (aka tuxedo) knots in really well priced handles. Whipped dog are a little dearer, but still great value. Check them out!

TurnNshave on Etsy also has wonderfully awesome synthetics.

I have four of them, including the tuxedo style black and white which is a fairly flat top fan knot. They are dense and splay nicely. I'd highly recommend them!

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Whipped dog brushes are good but they are not the best in price like they used to be.
$24 is quite pricey when compared to TurnNshave, razorock, maggard, Stirling synthetics.
 
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