New to safety razor shaving; Brush suggestions?

Jonathon MB

Jonathon MB

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23
I got a starter kit this morning that I put together on Amazon, and I picked out a $19 USD generic badger hair brush, though the quality isn't too good. (I suppose I got what I payed for)
What are some good budget suggestions for a brand spanking newbie like myself? I practically know nothing about the matter for the time being.
Thank you!
 
It depends on if you want a badger, boar or synthetic brush, (horse is also an option!) I’d say get a cheap half decent synthetic and go from there. I’ve only been shaving this way over a year and a half and have limited experience with badger, but synthetics are great. Cheap and cheerful brands such as Yaqi produce excellent quality brushes, but a top quality synthetics such as APshaveco do amazing knots and nice handles too. You can get a reasonable one for less than $50. Any Omega, Semague or Zenith brush could be had for less than $20 and will give you an excellent boar knot, (eventually after breaking in!)
 
I would suggest a travel brush in synthetic the Simpsons Trafalgar serie, my preference the T3.

i very much prefer Badger brushes and of the ones i have i would recommend for trying the Yaqi brushes on Ali express. Personally the Yaqi Moka Express 26 mm Two band badger is one of my favorites and also is a big brush so you can try a good badger and also a big brush. And they are relatively cheap and dense. in my perpective you need or want dense brushes otherwise they end up being very floppy and for me thats not nice.

floppy brushes are OK if you are a face painter, but if your a smasher like me you will prefer the denser and bigger brushes.

if you like small brushes also Yaqi has nice two band smaller brushes on offer at 24 mm or 22mm

again all very affordable and can reccomend. if you want to spend more then also Oumo has very nice brushes but there you need to select the knot so it makes sense that you then first know what you like or not.

hope this helps!
 
Yaqi 26mm Moka Expres now selling for 40 USD but so worth it, i have brushes more then triple the money that can not live in its shadow!

but several two band Yaqi brushes on their site are in your price range too (like the 24 mm Moka Expres at 25USD) and a bit smaller but these two bands have excellent performance i.m.o
 
As time goes by you'll very likely experiment with different brush options but modern synthetics are a great place to start. Cheap, low maintenance and no break-in period.
As you live in the US, home grown / Canadian brands such as Razorock or PAA might offer the best value for money and are definitely worth checking out. Good quality at low cost and will be readily available from most US vendors with low ( or no ) shipping fees and fast delivery. British or European brands might carry an additional premium ? ? Razorock Plissoft brushes are a personal favourite but the choice is entirely yours of course ............. and there's plenty of choice !
Yaqi brushes are also excellent as previously mentioned but you might have to wait a while for delivery if you’re buying from China.
 
For any beginner, I believe it's difficult to look past synths which are sold by Maggards, Yaqi and Razorock all under $20 or so.

Like with many things in this hobby, there can be issues with YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) but I found when I was a beginner, my first good synth (a Yaqi) improved my shaves exponentially as it was much easier to build a good lather than the brushes I had before it, which isn't anything against those brushes, as my technique wasn't great.

Synths are great as they do not require any soaking, do not eather lather, do not lose hairs/fibres/bristles, the knots are less likely to deform from a little too much force.

For not a huge amount, the Yaqi Sagrada is a forum favourite and the performance is excellent.

You can find it here.
 
Radar said:
As time goes by you'll very likely experiment with different brush options but modern synthetics are a great place to start. Cheap, low maintenance and no break-in period.
As you live in the US, home grown / Canadian brands such as Razorock or PAA might offer the best value for money and are definitely worth checking out. Good quality at low cost and will be readily available from most US vendors with low ( or no ) shipping fees and fast delivery. British or European brands might carry an additional premium ? ? Razorock Plissoft brushes are a personal favourite but the choice is entirely yours of course ............. and there's plenty of choice !
Yaqi brushes are also excellent as previously mentioned but you might have to wait a while for delivery if you’re buying from China.
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+1 for the RazoRock and PAA options given your location and budget. You'll easily find something good with them within your budget.
 
Boycie83 said:
+1 for the RazoRock and PAA options given your location and budget. You'll easily find something good with them within your budget.
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Chris, which of the PAA brushes was your favourite?

It's a little more than his budget, but a 24mm Synbad can be bought from ApShaveCo for for $25. I've not used one of their brushes, but they seem to be really highly rated.
 
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