Ah, the mythical badger hair shaving brush. What is the reason for it’s popularity from London to Bombay?
Normally shaving brush bristles are made out of a nylon synthetic, boar’s hair, or badger hair. It’s your face, and your morning ritual takes a lot of time over the years, so the decision as to the one that is best for you is not to be taken lightly. Questions you should ask yourself if you are running a little comparison between the three are: How well does the brush hold water? How long will the brush last? How do the brush bristles feel on the skin of my face?
So let’s take these one at a time. First, water retention: as you might imagine a plastic brush is really terrible at holding water. The plastic actually seems to repel water and that’s pretty much the opposite of what you want when you’re trying to make a nice thick foam for your face. On the other hand, since it is real hair the boar’s hair brush does hold water better, being an organic material. The fact is though, that that there is very little debate among shaving aficionados as to the fact of the badger hair brush retaining water the most efficiently.
When it comes to durability the plastic brush has to have the upper hand, as few things are more long-lasting than plastic. Unfortunately, this won’t be enough for most men to really lean towards a plastic shaving brush. On the other hand, the boar’s shaving brush bristles tend to be quite coarse and stiff so that they will tend to break quicker than those of the synthetic brush, and almost certainly faster than those of the softer badger’s hair shaving brush.
You probably already can imagine how the competition between our three main brush types will turn out when we address the question of comfort. There are plastic shaving brushes that have very fine bristles, but they are still plastic and this is probably forever a limitation upon them. Okay at least the boar’s hair brush is a natural substance, but unfortunately this type of bristle ends become stiff over time. In the area of comfort, badger hair is the easy winner, this is why shaving brushes made out of badger hair have been in use for centuries.
For lathering, durability, and for comfort, you can’t go wrong in choosing a badger hair shaving brush for yourself or for the man in your life. There is a reason why these brushes have such a great reputation, and it’s one of those cases where the reputation is entirely deserved.
Want to find out more about the world famousbadger hair shaving brush, then visit Roger Stewart’s site on how to choose the best badger shaving brush for your shaving needs.
