Anyone tried a Penhaligons brush?

[chrisbell]

You chaps might recall in my first SOTD post I mentioned being squeamish about using badger brushes because of seeing undercover footage of how some farmed animals are treated in China. As I understand it, most hair for shaving brushes comes from that country, and some of the footage of how other mammals were kept and slaughtered over there was very unpleasant to watch.

Anyhow, something made me search the net for "ethical shaving brushes" as it's not the fact that animal hair is used (I eat meat and wear leather shoes after all, so, logically it would be hypocritical to take the moral high ground over a shaving brush) but how the badgers are farmed and "processed" that has kept me away from badger brushes. This search sent me to Penhaligon's site, where, in the FAQ section, they refer to their nickel brush by saying:

Do you use badger hair in our shaving brushes? Yes we do as this is by far the most superior fibre for applying shaving lubricants. However, as a part of gaining our warrant status we have proven to the Royal Warrant Holders Association (who re-issued our warrant in 2006), that our shaving brush supplier only purchases from ethical badger farms in a part of the world where badgers are not endangered and are in fact primarily farmed for their meat.

Now, aside form the thorny question of how much oversight and how much control they have over the purchasing of the hair (which I might email them about), my question to you gents is: Has anyone here got any experience of this brush? I ask as I can't find a single review of it anywhere on the net; yet it must sell for them to keep stocking it.

EDIT: It would appear from this http://www.badger.org.uk/_Attachments/Resources/284_S4.pdf from the Badger Trust that the animals are not farmed, but trapped, at least in China. :?: Does this therefore mean that the Penhaligon brush has non-Chinese hair? More confusion!

 

[Audiolab]

I have a Penhaligons brush, which I got in a set with a M3 Fustion handle and a stand. I have never used it but if you like I will dig it out and have a look at it. Something in the back if my mind tells me this was the same but slightly different it was more like real hair and whiter but perhaps that was a momentary lapse of sensory perception.

I didn't use it because it looked like it needed a good soak in Barbosol and then vinegar, in short it was as minging. The metal handle is a ton weight so the brush got bagged sealed and put in the war chest beside the toggl'es and#58's

Don't think their is anything nasty in there, it was bone dry and has been for some time I suspect. I am just very clinical with brushes, a wet brush is the ideal breeding ground for bacteria so it would get a good clean before I used it.

 

[chrisbell]

Cheers, I await a review with interest!