On vacation I realized while en
route that I had my shave soap, razor, blades, headblade, alum block, and
aftershave. However, absent from the
list was a shave brush. Fortunately, The
Body Shop Store at the Philadelphia International Airport happened to have a
nice, wood handled, synthetic shave brush at a decent price. While I use a synthetic brush on occasion, I
do tend to prefer a badger brush. I was
on the verge of putting this back on the shelf thinking the local Target would
have Van der Hagen Badger Brush.
Because it was reasonably priced (I think I paid about $12.00), my girlfriend (now fiancée) insisted I
get it just in case I couldn’t find a badger brush when we reached our
destination. Wouldn’t you know it …
Target didn’t have it in stock.
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| The Body Shop Synthetic Shave Brush |
One of the positives with a synthetic
brush is that it didn’t stink when using it the first few times. I was just able to wet it, load it, and
off I went. The bristles on this brush
are rather soft and the wood handle, even though light, feels pretty solid. It measures roughly 4.25 inches (approximately
108 mm) in height with the knot measuring about 20 mm. The Body Shop Synthetic shave brush weighed
about 1.5 oz according to our scale.
Dimension and weight-wise it was in the ballpark of my Vulfix 2006 brush; which
measures about 97 mm in height with a knot of about 19mm and a total weight of
about 1.6 oz.
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| The Body Shop Brush is roughly the size and weight of my Vulfix 2006 Shave Brush |
I tend to soak it or rinse a
synthetic brush in hot water for about ten seconds or so to wet it. It holds water differently than my badger or
boar brushes; so I only gently shake out excess water. For me, shaking a synthetic brush a little
too rigorously doesn’t leave it with an adequate amount of water to build a workable lather. The Body Shop’s Shave Brush doesn’t splay as
easily as, for example, my Fine Accoutrements Badger Brush. So, I have to use a
little more effort when loading the brush or face lathering. And perhaps it’s my technique, but with this
brush I find it easier to load and build a lather with a cream rather than a soap.
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| Takes me a little more effort with a synthetic shave brush, but still able to build a nice lather |
For me, synthetics don’t seem to
hold soap as well as other brushes. It’s
not a terrible thing, given the price. But
as with other synthetic brushes that I’ve used, I will tend to reload The Body
Shop Shave Brush for my second pass on my head and face.
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| The only downside is that water seemed to get under the finish; leaving a ring at the base of the knot. |
While I like the synthetic brushes
that I’ve tried thus far, I don’t typically reach for them first. If I’m pressed for time in the morning (which
is often the case with me), I just reach for a badger brush due to ease and
familiarity.
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| The Body Shop Shave Brush: an impulse buy since I forgot my shave brush while on vacation |
For the price, and considering the
circumstances, I thought The Body Shop Synthetic Shave Brush was a good
buy. It was lightweight and kind of
compact so it didn’t take up too much space in the dopp kit; it performed ok;
and it was reasonably priced. The only
downside that I encountered is that it looks like water can seep into the
finish near the base of the knot. It
doesn’t seem to be progressing further than what’s pictured, but this could
change of the course of more uses.
