Maseto 2-band finest, 30mm brush - 3 photos.

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Shwmae pawb - alright all!

Where to begin? Firstly, it's brush, no questions asked. It has a resin handle, available in 3 colours - black, ivory and horn. From said handle, a plume of badger hair sprouts. Nothing more to be said in this respect.

It has a nicely minimalistic silvered lettering on the handle. The handle is also nice and chubby and stubby and weighty. It feels good in the hand and is by no means uncomfortable. As a reference, my Razorock Synth has a significantly smaller (in diameter) handle and this can get a little uncomfortable to use for, e.g., bowl lathering where grip seems to have more of an influence (subjective, I know).

IMG_4298.jpg


But, how does it perform? This is, rather obviously, the question which needs the most depth. It was tightly packed when first received (I'll get onto general packaging/shipping a little later), and it smells a bit funky... not typical wet-dog smell but quite ammoniacal, bleachy. It's been treated probably quite heavily to do away with the 'badger-funk'. I'm fairly used to these sort of smells given my profession (R&D Chemist) but I can see why they might be an off-put to anyone else. That being said, two lathers in, it's dissipating nicely. I digress, I test lathered/cleaned the day I received it and it managed to make light work of Fine Platinum soap. I thought I'd give it a good run and introduced the slightly dampened brush to the soap and a lather quickly erupted. In fact, there was a lot of lather. It was worked right the way through the brush and took a good while to wash out - it does hold a lot of soap/water. My usual wringing/shaking of brushes gives far less lather in the tub than this did. I can only assume that it's the badger's qualities vs synthetics, which I'm used to.

Trialling this brush today, I managed to whip up a bountiful lather in not a lot of time. Due to the sheer size, I found it harboured a lot of soap, so a lot of water was required to make a decent lather. That works fine for me! I slathered it on my chops and neck. It scrubs well, with fairly soft tips out of the box, though I don't doubt they'll soften over time. It's wide splay and thick knot gave me enough backbone to really get into every nook and cranny, so no neck was left un-soaped. It paints well, it scrubs well, but I did fine it hoarded the lather a little at the base. This isn't an issue in my opinion, though, as it produces so much you don't notice it holding onto any.

IMG_4299.jpg


It's barely shed anything. I have introduced a new step into my morning ritual - blow drying the brush post-use. I have a nice comb which aids this.

Onto packaging. It arrived promptly (11 days from China, if I remember correctly), and was packaged securely. I opened it to find a mass of green, thin, paper shreddings surrounding the brush.It was certainly secure in it's box. I opted for the paper box and this is absolutely fine. It's pretty sturdy but the dye used to colour it is not a fan of water. It does tend to run in contact with water. The brush also comes with a cheap-looking, plastic stand, which holds the brush well and should perform no worse than any other brush stand. Nothing more to be said. It can also be bought in a wooden box which, from what I've heard, is fantastic quality for only a couple of quid more.

So, would I recommend it? If you want an inexpensive (circa £40 delivered for the paper box, 2-band finest variant) big brush, this is probably the place to turn. Compared to the Body Shop synthetic I started out with, it is softer. Compared to the Razorock synthetic I own, it's far tougher, but definitely not a point against it - it doesn't really feature much 'scritch'. It really does do well getting into every little crevice it can find, and I've had no lathering problems with the two soaps I've tested it with (Fine Platinum and P&B Sanskrit).

If, however, you want something comparable in softness to a synthetic, this might not be it. If you're used to higher-end brushes, this might be a step down for you. As a beginner in the wet-shaving world, however, there's nothing better to get into badgers. It gives you a respect for preparation and care routines surrounding brushes, which is often overlooked with synthetics.

IMG_4297.jpg


In short, it's a great brush which does all I need it to. It's soft at the tips and firm throughout the knot. ~£40 down, I think I'll get my money's worth from this big, badgery beast. I can only assume it compares to some higher-end brushes for a fraction of the price.

If I've missed anything or you want any further information, pop a comment below. Otherwise, pop a comment below to let me know how I've done! I can do shorter reviews in future, if required!

Enjoy, folks!
 
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Shwmae pawb - alright all!

Where to begin? Firstly, it's brush, no questions asked. It has a resin handle, available in 3 colours - black, ivory and horn. From said handle, a plume of badger hair sprouts. Nothing more to be said in this respect.

It has a nicely minimalistic silvered lettering on the handle. The handle is also nice and chubby and stubby and weighty. It feels good in the hand and is by no means uncomfortable. As a reference, my Razorock Synth has a significantly smaller (in diameter) handle and this can get a little uncomfortable to use for, e.g., bowl lathering where grip seems to have more of an influence (subjective, I know).

IMG_4298.jpg


But, how does it perform? This is, rather obviously, the question which needs the most depth. It was tightly packed when first received (I'll get onto general packaging/shipping a little later), and it smells a bit funky... not typical wet-dog smell but quite ammoniacal, bleachy. It's been treated probably quite heavily to do away with the 'badger-funk'. I'm fairly used to these sort of smells given my profession (R&D Chemist) but I can see why they might be an off-put to anyone else. That being said, two lathers in, it's dissipating nicely. I digress, I test lathered/cleaned the day I received it and it managed to make light work of Fine Platinum soap. I thought I'd give it a good run and introduced the slightly dampened brush to the soap and a lather quickly erupted. In fact, there was a lot of lather. It was worked right the way through the brush and took a good while to wash out - it does hold a lot of soap/water. My usual wringing/shaking of brushes gives far less lather in the tub than this did. I can only assume that it's the badger's qualities vs synthetics, which I'm used to.

Trialling this brush today, I managed to whip up a bountiful lather in not a lot of time. Due to the sheer size, I found it harboured a lot of soap, so a lot of water was required to make a decent lather. That works fine for me! I slathered it on my chops and neck. It scrubs well, with fairly soft tips out of the box, though I don't doubt they'll soften over time. It's wide splay and thick knot gave me enough backbone to really get into every nook and cranny, so no neck was left un-soaped. It paints well, it scrubs well, but I did fine it hoarded the lather a little at the base. This isn't an issue in my opinion, though, as it produces so much you don't notice it holding onto any.

IMG_4299.jpg


It's barely shed anything. I have introduced a new step into my morning ritual - blow drying the brush post-use. I have a nice comb which aids this.

Onto packaging. It arrived promptly (11 days from China, if I remember correctly), and was packaged securely. I opened it to find a mass of green, thin, paper shreddings surrounding the brush.It was certainly secure in it's box. I opted for the paper box and this is absolutely fine. It's pretty sturdy but the dye used to colour it is not a fan of water. It does tend to run in contact with water. The brush also comes with a cheap-looking, plastic stand, which holds the brush well and should perform no worse than any other brush stand. Nothing more to be said. It can also be bought in a wooden box which, from what I've heard, is fantastic quality for only a couple of quid more.

So, would I recommend it? If you want an inexpensive (circa £40 delivered for the paper box, 2-band finest variant) big brush, this is probably the place to turn. Compared to the Body Shop synthetic I started out with, it is softer. Compared to the Razorock synthetic I own, it's far tougher, but definitely not a point against it - it doesn't really feature much 'scritch'. It really does do well getting into every little crevice it can find, and I've had no lathering problems with the two soaps I've tested it with (Fine Platinum and P&B Sanskrit).

If, however, you want something comparable in softness to a synthetic, this might not be it. If you're used to higher-end brushes, this might be a step down for you. As a beginner in the wet-shaving world, however, there's nothing better to get into badgers. It gives you a respect for preparation and care routines surrounding brushes, which is often overlooked with synthetics.

IMG_4297.jpg


In short, it's a great brush which does all I need it to. It's soft at the tips and firm throughout the knot. ~£40 down, I think I'll get my money's worth from this big, badgery beast. I can only assume it compares to some higher-end brushes for a fraction of the price.

If I've missed anything or you want any further information, pop a comment below. Otherwise, pop a comment below to let me know how I've done! I can do shorter reviews in future, if required!

Enjoy, folks!
Very good review indeed and my experiences are very similar to yours. Would recommend them without hesitation and the sellers aftercare support is by all accounts, very good.
 
If this came with a smaller knot, say 24 - 26mm, i'd already have one. As it is, i'm still holding off.
It seems incredible value, judging by people's reviews. 30mm is too big for me. I rarely use my Chubby 2 which is 28mm because I find it on the large side, preferring my Duke 3 which is 23mm or Romera ( yes, I actually received one ) which is 26mm.
 
I can see why! It's not the most intricate of brushes by any measure but for the price vs performance, it's quite difficult to do better! I'm another who would wholeheartedly recommend.
How about this? ---> CLICK ME <---

I think it's the same manufacturer, or at least its from the same seller as the Maseto 30mm.

Edit: Let me know if posting links to 'buy it now' eBay items is against rules.
 
If this came with a smaller knot, say 24 - 26mm, i'd already have one. As it is, i'm still holding off.
It seems incredible value, judging by people's reviews. 30mm is too big for me. I rarely use my Chubby 2 which is 28mm because I find it on the large side, preferring my Duke 3 which is 23mm or Romera ( yes, I actually received one ) which is 26mm.
@Benz3ne has posted a link above to the smaller brush provided by the same manufacturer. These have had a few more "issues" reported across the forums but by most accounts are still a very good brush for the price. The 30mm I'm yet to read a really bad word on and the one person I've spoken to who did have issues with shedding contacted the seller a couple of months after purchase and they have sent him a new brush. Can't fault that aftersales.
 
What I'd like to ask,... I've just managed to get into badger, I had a rough start with them, scratchy.. Red... Itchy... Perhaps that was the knot involved
But Ive used a Stirling finest badger with great findings and also I have a Simpson Duke here to use, all lent to me by my friend, I just wonder.. What knots will suit me more? Softer ones I'm guessing... But which are th soft ones?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 
What I'd like to ask,... I've just managed to get into badger, I had a rough start with them, scratchy.. Red... Itchy... Perhaps that was the knot involved
But Ive used a Stirling finest badger with great findings and also I have a Simpson Duke here to use, all lent to me by my friend, I just wonder.. What knots will suit me more? Softer ones I'm guessing... But which are th soft ones?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
That's quite an involved question for a beginner but I'll try and help where possible. Of the three brushes I own, i.e. the three brushes I've used in my ventures in wet-shaving, I have two synths and a badger. In other words, this is my first badger brush. The best thing to do, first off, is give a good clean. There are plenty of 'how-to' videos around, though it's fairly common-sensical.

As per my review, my Body Shop synthetic is my least comfortable, personally. I found it scratchy and would assume it's like a boar brush. I was anticipating the tips of this brush to be a little bit scritchy/pokey, but haven't found anything to confirm that. It's a surprisingly soft brush considering. My Razorock synthetic is next-level softness. It also lacks the backbone found in this beasty brush.

The way I see it, there's a general list of softness for hair-types, as follows (guesstimate);
Boar,
Horse,
Badger/bristle,
Badger 2-band,
Silvertip & plissoft-type synths.

If you want something a little floppier and with less poke/scritch/scratch, the general consensus is the silvertip. Some people don't like a floppy brush, but it suits others. I wanted something firmer and was keen enough to trial a 2-band finest and I have no regrets doing so. No redness, no itch.

Hope this helps!
 
What I'd like to ask,... I've just managed to get into badger, I had a rough start with them, scratchy.. Red... Itchy... Perhaps that was the knot involved
But Ive used a Stirling finest badger with great findings and also I have a Simpson Duke here to use, all lent to me by my friend, I just wonder.. What knots will suit me more? Softer ones I'm guessing... But which are th soft ones?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Personally, if you want very soft tips, a good two or three band silvertip is likely the way to go. Depending on your preference of bowl or face lathering depends on the kind of loft you want the brush at and whether you want it as a two or three band. Two generally has more backbone and is more suited to face lathering, but they tend to be a bit more likely to have scrub or scritch. Three is generally more suited to bowl lathering and tend to be a bit "floppier". Either way, both brushes can do both jobs, it's just to give you a very generalised view on those two types of Silvertip brush.
 
Currently I love boars and find no issues at with them I have
Semogue 1305
Semogue Oc
Forget the name a semogue with a square handle
Omega s brush
Stirling Kong
Cadman Synthetic

Im not new at all to the shaving and know what I love etc, just with using this finest badger and its been great I thought I'd use the Duke badger and see how that performs as well, just wondering where I should go or even buy next


Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 
@Benz3ne has posted a link above to the smaller brush provided by the same manufacturer. These have had a few more "issues" reported across the forums but by most accounts are still a very good brush for the price. The 30mm I'm yet to read a really bad word on and the one person I've spoken to who did have issues with shedding contacted the seller a couple of months after purchase and they have sent him a new brush. Can't fault that aftersales.

Ah, my mistake. I had seen those brushes but I meant a smaller knot with the chubby style handle. I only have brushes with chubby handles, all others seem wrong somehow.
 
Thanks for the beautiful review, I'll have to get one of these myself already.
Ah, my mistake. I had seen those brushes but I meant a smaller knot with the chubby style handle. I only have brushes with chubby handles, all others seem wrong somehow.
Would something like this work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/MS-100-Fine...m-Knot-/322448666586?var=&hash=item7713350842
There are more options on the US ebay site. I'd like a 26 mm myself, all others I have are 24 mm and 30 mm just seems wrong.
 
Ah, my mistake. I had seen those brushes but I meant a smaller knot with the chubby style handle. I only have brushes with chubby handles, all others seem wrong somehow.
I'd recommend sending the seller a message. By all accounts he's very approachable and I would think he would be able to sort that out for you. Obviously no guarantee, but you don't ask you don't get!
 
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