Synthetic vs Badger - State as of 2022

CjH said:
Well.... I do love a synthetic. However....
I some how managed to get the following brush last year for only £8.99. don't know how.
But it is a nice badger, little to no smell. And it's one of my favourites.

Frank shaving badger Hair Shaving Brush for Men's Personal and Professional shaving
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Picture is dead, got a link?
 
Ed-Belfast said:
Thanks folks!

I’m actually coming at it from the other side. I have a Yaqi Tuxedo that I’m perfectly happy with. It’s a fantastic brush, but I was kinda thinking I was missing out on a classic wet shaving rite of passage so to speak.

Thought I’d give Badger a go before they wind up getting banned or become too expensive for me.

You’ve all certainly given me plenty to think about. If I do land a badger brush it seems I’ll have to be a lot more careful and patient with it, and perhaps get a stand for it. My Yaqi just sits on its stand - knot up.

Thanks again
Ed
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I felt the same way about badger, I bought a Yaqi Silver Tip, used it once and it felt like prickling my face with tiny little needles, which lead to terrible irritation and listed it for sale the following day. We're all different and some really enjoy using badger brushes.

I'm more enthusiastic about using boar brushes though, I'd recommend a Omega one to your next Connaught order, FWIW I find a £5 Omega boar to provide more pleasure than my other brushes, but there is a time and place for my Yaqi synths.
 
as metioned before i prefer badgers to synthetics, BUT i would consider certain things regarding badgers as well.

Personally i do not see any issue with soaking badger, just a couple of minutes and your off to the races.
BUT from my personal experience some advice:

#1 badgers do dry out much longer, i do not hang them upside down, to me this is no problem but i only use my badger once a week as i have a rotation. Once a week is over the top but do think you should not regularly use wet badger brushes (as in not well dried) as this can give mold issues and skin problems. so if you have a synthetic use a badger, alternate and you'll do fine.

#2 Badgers you need to clean to get the wet animal smell off. you can look it up on youtube many simple ways to do this. a synthetic you just get it out of the box and its ready to go.

my routine is get your badger out of the box, make a luke warm glass of water with dishwashing liquid inside, lather the brush with dishwashing liquid, the rinse and soak it in the glass for 2 hours, rinse, lather with TOBS Sandalwood or any soap that is very intensely scented and you dont otherwise very much like:) put the brush in a zip lock bag and keep there for couple hours on until you go to bed, rinse and lather with a nice soap you like but still strong scent and put back in the bag and leave over night, rinse next morning and then do your first shave and your off to the races! the badgers tend to get better and "softer" over time.

#3 For me personally the badger smell has never been an issue or reason to clean BUT i believe that Natural hair has likely proteins and such attached and if i dont clean them properly i get skin irritation, so its been mentioned that badgers irritate the skin because they are prickly, i personally believe or at least in my case its a reaction of my skin to an uncleaned element likely protein. as a side note when i handle pork meat with my bare hands i also get this reaction typically so i ware gloves when handling raw meats.

so using a badger or Boar for that matter requires a bit more work to break in and clean but once thats done your good to go and then only mind the drying where to me the hair is so dence that upside down hanging does not really matter, it just needs time.

one of my favorite badgers is the not so expensive Yaqi Mokka Express 26mm two band badger brush so if you want to give a badger a try i can certainly reccomend to use it next to your Synthetic! (y)
 
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I prefer using badger. I do have one synthetic, which works better with soaps, than creams. It is easier to lather, and I do use it with new soaps, before switching back to a badger brush.
Most synth brushes seem to be bulb shapes, I much prefer a flatter fan shape, or flat head if I could find one.
 
CjH said:
Try this.... ;)
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L5GP3TH/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_6M39HYWHHSDQ2NKWSQYR
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Perfect! But apparently it is synthetic, Amazon can be confusing sometimes.


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I think that you can’t really compare badger, synths or boar as they are all totally different even though they do the same thing. In each group you’ll have terrible and great brushes and it’s finding what works for you. Regarding synths they have definitely improved over the years and I happily use them amount my badger and boar brushes. I’d recommend Omega for Boar, Yaqi for synths and Oumo for badger as good value options to try what suits you best.
 
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