- Joined
- Monday February 20, 2012
- Location
- Staines
I've been using an inexpensive Vie Long horsehair brush as part of my rotation for well over a year now and found myself making more and more use of it, finding it particularly effective for hard soaps. As such, when my wife and her pals decided to go to Barcelona for a weekend I asked her to look out for a slightly more stylish wooden handled version.
The requirement became slightly lost in translation and she brought me back a Vie Long Professional No. 2 Boar / Horse mix. According to the Gifts and Care website, it's 60% boar / 40% horse. When I received it, I was interested but not overwhelmed - I was hoping for something elegant in olive wood and got an odd hybrid big enough to fight off muggers. As expected, it is accompanied by the usual horsehair aroma.
In an attempt to lessen the stink (and to break in the boar bristles), I'm lathering up every time I nip into the bathroom - to the point that SWKBMTB (She Who Kindly Bought Me This Brush) is beginning to get concerned. The problem is - lathering with this brush is completely addictive.
I started off using it with my favourite soaps - Proraso Red, DR Harris Marlborough and MWF. I quickly realised that you need to treat the brush with respect - it will absolutely devour a softish soap if you overdo it. Harder soaps have more margin for error and are loaded in no time at all. Then the fun starts.
The early lather quickly firms up into a reasonable foam and then, with judicious application of an extra few drops of water, starts to build and build. I'd seen people referring to lather 'exploding' and hadn't really experienced that phenomena until now. It's absolutely remarkable how much lather the thing can generate - if I palm lather it can literally make my (albeit not huge) hand disappear.
I've also tried it out with my two problem soaps - Trumper's Violet and Musgo Real. Neither of these lather particularly well with the hard water in my area and I've more or less given up on them as a bad job. However, a significant swirling followed by a fair amount of brushwork really does deliver a quality lather from both of them. I've tried to replicate the technique with my badger brush and it really doesn't deliver the same results (at least not in a reasonable time).
So - any negatives? Well, it's a bristle brush and it does have a significant scritch on the face. If you don't like that, then this brush isn't going to be for you. I'm also worried that the metal collar on the brush might be a potential rust risk. Time will tell and I'll add an update if it does.
I think I'll save my final point for the price. It cost her around 9 euros - so about £7.50 at today's exchange rate. I think it's phenomenal value for what it is. This isn't a replacement for your M&F or Rooney, or even your (my) New Forest. It also doesn't have the elegance of the Limited Edition Semogue brushes. However, if you are looking for something pretty unique, that offers a different feel from any other brush I've tried and that is seriously effective (I'm considering naming it Latherling, The Destroyer Of Soaps) it is well worth your consideration.
Thanks for reading!
The requirement became slightly lost in translation and she brought me back a Vie Long Professional No. 2 Boar / Horse mix. According to the Gifts and Care website, it's 60% boar / 40% horse. When I received it, I was interested but not overwhelmed - I was hoping for something elegant in olive wood and got an odd hybrid big enough to fight off muggers. As expected, it is accompanied by the usual horsehair aroma.
In an attempt to lessen the stink (and to break in the boar bristles), I'm lathering up every time I nip into the bathroom - to the point that SWKBMTB (She Who Kindly Bought Me This Brush) is beginning to get concerned. The problem is - lathering with this brush is completely addictive.
I started off using it with my favourite soaps - Proraso Red, DR Harris Marlborough and MWF. I quickly realised that you need to treat the brush with respect - it will absolutely devour a softish soap if you overdo it. Harder soaps have more margin for error and are loaded in no time at all. Then the fun starts.
The early lather quickly firms up into a reasonable foam and then, with judicious application of an extra few drops of water, starts to build and build. I'd seen people referring to lather 'exploding' and hadn't really experienced that phenomena until now. It's absolutely remarkable how much lather the thing can generate - if I palm lather it can literally make my (albeit not huge) hand disappear.
I've also tried it out with my two problem soaps - Trumper's Violet and Musgo Real. Neither of these lather particularly well with the hard water in my area and I've more or less given up on them as a bad job. However, a significant swirling followed by a fair amount of brushwork really does deliver a quality lather from both of them. I've tried to replicate the technique with my badger brush and it really doesn't deliver the same results (at least not in a reasonable time).
So - any negatives? Well, it's a bristle brush and it does have a significant scritch on the face. If you don't like that, then this brush isn't going to be for you. I'm also worried that the metal collar on the brush might be a potential rust risk. Time will tell and I'll add an update if it does.
I think I'll save my final point for the price. It cost her around 9 euros - so about £7.50 at today's exchange rate. I think it's phenomenal value for what it is. This isn't a replacement for your M&F or Rooney, or even your (my) New Forest. It also doesn't have the elegance of the Limited Edition Semogue brushes. However, if you are looking for something pretty unique, that offers a different feel from any other brush I've tried and that is seriously effective (I'm considering naming it Latherling, The Destroyer Of Soaps) it is well worth your consideration.
Thanks for reading!
