[ Post a Response | Razor and Brush ]
Posted by Murray
on July 25, 2009, 4:31 am, in reply to "Semogue badger brushes"
Andy, in my estimation, the Semogue 2015 (silvertip with wooden handle) and 730 (silvertip with acrylic handle) are the best badger brushes in the Semogue line, and they are the best silvertip brushes I have found to date. I prefer them even to the Semogue Limited Edition brush with the horn handle.
Perhaps I should explain what I look for in a brush.
I want a brush that holds its shape with minimal distortion in the lathering process and that has good flow-through.
A dense knot has poor flow-through, it hoards lather, and it is prone to excessive bloom. (The Rooney Heritage line has very dense knots, which some can work with and some can’t accept.)
A loose knot has good flow-through, but it is often “floppy.” (This is a characteristic of Vulfix Super brushes, that are reported to lather creams in a bowl very effectively, but they don’t hold their shape well for face-lathering).
I have generally been disappointed with silvertip brushes, finding them “mushy.” Pure badger brushes were a revelation, because they had backbone (without resorting to a dense knot), controlled bloom (because of the stiffer bristle), and good flow-through (again, because a dense knot was unnecessary).
I had despaired of finding a silvertip brush with these desirable characteristics, until I bought a Semogue 2015. For me, this brush has the perfect size and density. Its fan shape loads more effectively from a cake of soap, it has good backbone and very well controlled bloom, it has excellent flow-through, and it has the soft tips of a silvertip brush.
Many find bowl-lathering with a relatively “floppy” brush like a Vulfix Super to work very well for them. I use both swirling and compression motions to lather in a bowl. A knot like that of the Semogue 2015 requires only light compression to lather because of the good flow-through and because the fan shape provides a more effective surface for compression.
A knot of higher density requires more aggressive compression to overcome the tendency to hoard lather. I have a new Rooney Heritage Stubby Medium brush in Pure Badger, which has been a disappointment because it is, in my mind, unjustifiably dense for a pure badger brush. I have to compress the daylights out of it to get it to yield the lather. The exaggerated compression, combined with the dense knot, results in bloom utterly unbecoming of a pure badger brush.
The Semogue Limited Edition brush has a denser, more bulb-shaped loft than the 2015 and 730. (You can get “HD” or high-density versions of the 2015 and 730, which presumably have similar density to the Limited Editions brush.) For me, these characteristics reduce its performance. The Limited Edition brush produces and holds a lot of lather, but it takes more work to accomplish it and the bloom is relatively uncontrolled (more like a Rooney Super, except that the Semogue silvertip is much softer on the face).
I have both the 2015 with the wooden handle and the 730 in acrylic. The wooden handle has the advantage of being taller, and it is very comfortable to grip.
The acrylic handle is shorter (the same height as an Omega 63171, a tiny bit taller than a Rooney Style 1/Small), but it is cylindrical in shape with some faceting around the top, making it more comfortable to grip than more shapely handles of the same size. The acrylic handle has more heft to it and it imparts a classier look.
I like the heft and the classier look of the 730, but I think the 2015 is a little more comfortable to work with. (I’m glad I have them both!) A word of caution, however: The simple cylindrical shape of the handle that makes the 730 comfortable to hold while lathering does not have the typical indented pedestal shape at the bottom. So, when you shake the water out of this brush, grip it securely, or it will surprise you by flying out of your hand.
The Semogue 2015 and 730 not only represent exceptional value, but I find them to be outstanding brushes.
- Murray
--Previous Message--
: I've really enjoyed the recent posts on the
: boards regarding Semogue boar brushes. I
: have the Semogue limited edition horn handle
: brush - and it is without question the best
: brush I own. I'm wondering - for those of
: you who have Semogue badger brushes - what
: do you think of the them? I'd be interested
: in your thoughts on both the wood handle and
: acrylic handle badger brushes.
:
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