Synthetic Brushes

[Drubbing]

Starting to marshal together inventory for my trip up North. Still not quite settled on the razor (most likely the Slim), nor software for that matter - but this is the Brush Forum so they are of no consequence (like that one Moods?).

Take the one you'd not worry about losing, should the worst happen. Anything else is overthinking it.

 

[stillshunter]

Take the one you'd not worry about losing, should the worst happen. Anything else is overthinking it.

Nah, not taking either of the Simpsons. So I'll need another brush. It would be something like the Wee Scot or…..the synthetic seems an interesting choice. I suppose I could take a boar, but I just don;t much like them...

 

[Nick the Knife]

Nice review Filo, I was actually going to ask you for some feedback on that brush so great to hear your thoughts.

I suspect that that specific seller is using 'Pur Tech' in his listing to attract buyers looking for genuine 'Pur-Tech' bristle using brushes, which are 4th gen synthetics. It's a pretty common tactic for Chinese sellers to do something like this and so I do doubt these are real Pur-Tech brushes are rather 3rd gen synthetics - which their prices basically align with. No way to really know unless you compare to a known Pur-Tech but your review would show that regardless its a decent brush and excellent value at its price point (though oddly that seller doesn't seem to post a lot of his stock to Aust?)

Great review.

 

[filobiblic]

Thanks NtK. Yeah, I bought it 2 weeks ago and they were shipping to Oz no probs. But someone else told me the same thing: that they specifically no longer ship to Australia. Very strange...

 

[filobiblic]

And I think you're right. There is no way to know whether what they say is real or not. I take it at how it performs really.

It was enough for me to think there would definitely be something in a decent synthetic. This one will make a good, cheap travel brush.

 

[filobiblic]

...(though oddly that seller doesn't seem to post a lot of his stock to Aust?).

It seems that they are shipping to Australia again?!? But they don't appear to have any more synthetic brushes. Perhaps they will in time...

 

[Nick the Knife]

I actually emailed the seller and lobbied them to start resending to Australia!!!

Apparently they had a lot of issues with items sent to Australia 'not arriving' and Paypal claims being lodged against them - the seller had somewhat naively posted the items without any tracking and thus could not prove the items were ever sent thus had a whole spate of refunds to Australian sellers. So he/she decided we were a too tricky a market to sell into and removed us from the sales list - haha with Nigeria, Afganistan and other peachy spots!

Anyway I've written again reassuring her that Aust Post is one of the best postal services in the world for delivery accuracy and that like many other Ebay sellers they should find a cheap tracking option to cover their arse in legit sales. Kind of seems redundant having to say this as I'd have thought sellers had known this for yrs but go figure.

 

[Nick the Knife]

Had a quick shave (aka my neck as with a beard thats all I can do presently!) with the Virginia Sheng 22mm Pur-Tech and I must say that several things leapt out:
- first, whilst the bristles are VERY soft at the tips they do have a significant amount of spring to them. This is an interesting thing to have to deal with as whilst I've brushes with backbone they don't have SPRING - so takes a tiny bit of getting used to.

- it's ridiculously quick at building that 'yogurt' textured lather that really is what you chase for a great shave. VERY fine bubbled and needed alarmingly little loading or work to get this. I face lathered some Mikes Natural Soaps Lime but I have pulled my scuttle out for next time (been years since I last used this as I'm a dedicated face lather). My theory is that the spring and lack of water retention will see the synth being better suited to bowl lathering - that said it did do a very good face lather (honestly fare superior to any of the other brushes I have used so far - haven't touched my Muhle Silvertip yet!).

- water retention is better than I thought - I suspected if you shook it you'd basically have a dry brush but its very good.

- it's the ONLY brush that SWMBO has ever asked if she could have her own one of (she's been on safety razors for years now - but have kept her at bay with a user grade fat handled Tech and the BestShave Horsie) - truth be known its the perfect brush for someone not savvy with wetshaving as it lathers so easily. Would be phenomenal to see what it'd do with a La Toja/Arko/Camelot/P160 etc

- Love the little 'Kent' copy handle. Is uber light but very comfortable to grip and your fingers slide into the slimmest section and hold on VERY securely. I do think that in all the talk about hair grades and loft etc brush handle geometry is often overlooked. We've all had brushes that aren't comfy to hold and thus use and it's just a real turn off.

- Honestly this brush is a major steal at around $15 delivered. If you're thinking about seeing what synths are all about it's hard to go wrong at this price point - worst case scenario you can use it as your travel brush but I can assure you that most users will find it becoming a bigger part of their rotation than they would expect.

 

[filobiblic]

Great thoughts there NtK. Well put and very helpful. It's telling that your SWMBO wants one! (At least it's a lot cheaper than a Muhle STF/Plisson!)

It'll be great to hear your comparison to the Muhle STF and your thoughts with it bowl lathering...

 

[stillshunter]

Had a quick shave (aka my neck as with a beard thats all I can do presently!) with the Virginia Sheng 22mm Pur-Tech and I must say that several things leapt out:
- first, whilst the bristles are VERY soft at the tips they do have a significant amount of spring to them. This is an interesting thing to have to deal with as whilst I've brushes with backbone they don't have SPRING - so takes a tiny bit of getting used to.

- it's ridiculously quick at building that 'yogurt' textured lather that really is what you chase for a great shave. VERY fine bubbled and needed alarmingly little loading or work to get this. I face lathered some Mikes Natural Soaps Lime but I have pulled my scuttle out for next time (been years since I last used this as I'm a dedicated face lather). My theory is that the spring and lack of water retention will see the synth being better suited to bowl lathering - that said it did do a very good face lather (honestly fare superior to any of the other brushes I have used so far - haven't touched my Muhle Silvertip yet!).

- water retention is better than I thought - I suspected if you shook it you'd basically have a dry brush but its very good.

- it's the ONLY brush that SWMBO has ever asked if she could have her own one of (she's been on safety razors for years now - but have kept her at bay with a user grade fat handled Tech and the BestShave Horsie) - truth be known its the perfect brush for someone not savvy with wetshaving as it lathers so easily. Would be phenomenal to see what it'd do with a La Toja/Arko/Camelot/P160 etc

- Love the little 'Kent' copy handle. Is uber light but very comfortable to grip and your fingers slide into the slimmest section and hold on VERY securely. I do think that in all the talk about hair grades and loft etc brush handle geometry is often overlooked. We've all had brushes that aren't comfy to hold and thus use and it's just a real turn off.

- Honestly this brush is a major steal at around $15 delivered. If you're thinking about seeing what synths are all about it's hard to go wrong at this price point - worst case scenario you can use it as your travel brush but I can assure you that most users will find it becoming a bigger part of their rotation than they would expect.

Need to see a photo….

 

[eggbert]

Had a quick shave (aka my neck as with a beard thats all I can do presently!) with the Virginia Sheng 22mm Pur-Tech

Nick, you are going to have to change your avatar if you are no longer the clean shaven (with a couple of razor nicks around the eye) gentleman your avatar suggests.

 

[Nick the Knife]

Nick, you are going to have to change your avatar if you are no longer the clean shaven (with a couple of razor nicks around the eye) gentleman your avatar suggests.

I have to say is kind of a bummer having a beard - as shaving ones neck takes all of 3mins. But anyway first time in my life I've had one (always bailed at the "Agh! This thing is killing me get it the hell offa me!!!!' stage) - getting good reviews so we'll see where it goes from here). Changed avatar? Hmmm will give it some thought.

Need to see a photo….

Oh my amateur pix won't even compare to the YKW-esque shave porn shots that you blessed us with in your Aesop vs Duke shootout. Filo did a really good review of the exact same knot with a different handle only a few weeks ago - truth be known if it hadn't been for his brilliant review I'd not have gotten it - and if anything I think he undersold the bargain of a lil brush.

 

[eggbert]

Nice neckbeard!

My beard grows very slowly, so I've never managed to get passed the "get it the hell off me" stage. I think the closest I got was a goatee which I grew a couple of years ago to upset Mrs Egg while she was away for a few months.

She hates the "needles" as she calls the stubble, and doesn't like beards at all.

 

[Nick the Knife]

Yes, well full credit to yourself for the avatar switch.

Yes, it's absolutely brutal for a few weeks - stuffs up your sleeping and everyone thinks have you gone completely troppo - BUT if you can make it through you might have something to work with. You won't want to make the mistake of shaping it too early or bringing it too far up the neck. My missus loves the look but hates the feel, c'est la vie.

Ummm but anyway synthetic brushes, where were we?

 

[filobiblic]

Yes, well full credit to yourself for the avatar switch.

Yes, it's absolutely brutal for a few weeks - stuffs up your sleeping and everyone thinks have you gone completely troppo - BUT if you can make it through you might have something to work with. You won't want to make the mistake of shaping it too early or bringing it too far up the neck. My missus loves the look but hates the feel, c'est la vie.

Ummm but anyway synthetic brushes, where were we?

Bowl lathering. This morning I used my cheapie Pur-Tech Syth for bowl lathering as your suggestion. It worked a treat. Frothed up like a bad cappuccino in the first 30 seconds. But after a minute it started to thicken like a good full-fat, pot-set yoghurt from fat, grass-fed European mountain cows.

It works very well indeed. Not my preferred means of generating lather, but certainly an excellent job.

I'm not as much a fan of its poor ability to apply the lather to the face however... Because the bristles have good backbone they tend to be a little too stiff for good 'painting' of the lather.
How have you found yours?

 

[Nick the Knife]

How have you found yours?

Well I'm glad to hear my mental simulation of the brush + bowl lathering was generally positive. Completely agree it's not my preferred method of getting lathered up but c'est la vie.

I've not had an opportunity to try it again myself sorry. Thats the thing about beards, they're great but tend to get in the road of a good bloody shave. ;-)

 

[stillshunter]

Bowl lathering. This morning I used my cheapie Pur-Tech Syth for bowl lathering as your suggestion. It worked a treat. Frothed up like a bad cappuccino in the first 30 seconds. But after a minute it started to thicken like a good full-fat, pot-set yoghurt from fat, grass-fed European mountain cows.

It works very well indeed. Not my preferred means of generating lather, but certainly an excellent job.

I'm not as much a fan of its poor ability to apply the lather to the face however... Because the bristles have good backbone they tend to be a little too stiff for good 'painting' of the lather.
How have you found yours?

Weird mate coz my opinion is quite different….not that you asked for it but anyway

I find the synth - well my Aesop 23mm (STFv2 I believe) - to be the nicest thing I've found to apply lather to my face (well except Ms. Speick of course). I like how the spring ensures it doesn't splay too much and invites you to focus painting with the tips…and the tips are so soft. I can pump the brush to introduce air to the knot and so beef up the lather, and it does this with release so much better than my Simpsons Best - less mess on the floor too. I am seriously starting to put the lil' Aesop in front of the Simpsons. Granted nothing can exfoliate so nicely as the Classic and Duke (2s), but I don't always want that level of grind truth be told. Having used boar and the Simpsons Best badgers on the one hand versus the EJ Super on the other I thought it was an either/or proposition - trade-off backbone with scratch or else soft with floppy. But the synth, tells you this aint the case. I am getting another brush - keeping one Simpsons Best for a weekly facial flagellation - just not sure if the next one will be a short loft Silvertip or a "gel-tip 2 band" (what a bunch of YKW wank) or another synth. Maybe a Plisson to keep the Aesop company…they sound so cultured together - "Aesop and Plisson"…kinda like "Waldorf and Statler".

 

[filobiblic]

Weird mate coz my opinion is quite different….not that you asked for it but anyway

I find the synth - well my Aesop 23mm (STFv2 I believe) - to be the nicest thing I've found to apply lather to my face (well except Ms. Speick of course). I like how the spring ensures it doesn't splay too much and invites you to focus painting with the tips…and the tips are so soft.

The Pur-Tech I have and your STF equivalent are different beasts. (Just like the Muhle black fibre is different to their STF.)

I think your STF equivalent trumps my Pur-Tech. But then again, mine was only $10... [emoji13]

 

[stillshunter]

The Pur-Tech I have and your STF equivalent are different beasts. (Just like the Muhle black fibre is different to their STF.)

I think your STF equivalent trumps my Pur-Tech. But then again, mine was only $10... [emoji13]

Please mate don't confuse my opinion here with thinking I got some superior brush. I admit to being far happier - nay "completely surprised" by this brush so much more than I'd have thought I would. By way of background, my other half is a keen vegetarian so she's keen for me to rub my face with less dead animal. So I'm eating humble pie on this one - albeit non-meat pie. Got me thinking of experimenting more with synthetic knots, rather than just natural fibres.

Again, I'm blown away by these plastic things. I'll know more by this month's end as I'm only taking the synth with me on holiday. No choice to revert to badgers out there.

 

[Marlow]

I have always been for natural stuff, but the Plisson has blown me away.

It is different but since I sussed it out it is all I want to use.

I can't compare it to the brushes you guys are talking about because I don't have them but they seem to be having the same effect that I experienced.

It is good to hear all this stuff whatever the results.