WetShaving
This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
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Use [First Impressions] in the title if your experience with the product is limited.
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SOTD - 2026-01-25
Taking down 8.5 days of growth, one pass WTG. I would say it was a socially acceptable shave, a bit more irritation than I was going for, not terribly close on the upper lip and parts of the neck. My lather was maybe (?) not dialed in well, or perhaps it was that this is the 3rd use of the blade. Not too bad anyway, and the alum combined with aftershave and balm helps a lot. Sharp Dressed Man is fine I guess, the shave soap smells like ivory soap to me but the aftershave is nice imo... Gf says it is OUT however. Deton-8 is the favorite so far.
Sadly this shave is probably not close enough to guarantee I will not have to use a beard net at work tomorrow. I must do better...
I have an AP Shave Co Silksmoke synthetic brush that I’d be happy to give you if you’re CONUS. It’s nice, I just don’t really use it much.
Lmk if you’re interested.
I appreciate your offer very much and have been giving it some thought. I think I want to move away from synthetic materials generally since I am trying to minimize sources of microplastics in my life... But I am very interested to hear your perspective on synthetic vs. natural brushes. Maybe I should try to set my growing fear of plastics aside?
I wouldn’t recommend you set it aside just for the sake of shave brushes.
Synthetics are very easy to lather, they dry quickly, and nice ones can feel great on the face. They also tend to use slightly less soap, but that’s not really a big deal in my experience. Soap is cheap.
I tend to use synthetics when I’m traveling or in a hurry. There’s nothing wrong with using a badger or boar brush instead though! They just take a little more work.
That said, my favorite brushes are boar brushes. Once they break in, they’re a pleasure to use.
Thanks for your perspective. I think I will keep trying to make it work with the boar brush that I already have. I really want to try a badger brush - do you have a recommendation for a quality choice? (Budget of $100 maximum? Is that reasonable? I know badger gets expensive...)
$100 is certainly a reasonable budget.
I would take a look at https://apshaveco.com/ or the Maggard "Build a Brush" option.
The Maggard SHD knots are well regarded, as are the AP Shave Co. Gelousy SHD knots. In either case you're ordering a handle and knot separately, but they're easy to set with some silicone glue or epoxy. I'd recommend using silicone as it's easier to pull the knot if you need to in the future.
You could also look at a badger brush from Yaqi or DSCosmetics on aliexpress. In my experience their badger hair doesn't tend to be as nice, though that's probably the cheapest option.
With boar brushes, you need probably MOAR soap