Category — Brushes

I posted a while back that I’m breaking in a new boar bristle shaving brush.

I was wondering whether my new Semogue 2000 brush was going to lose its rank aroma, start making good lather and live up to the good reputation it’s built in the wet shaving community.

Wow.

This brush is awesome. It’s stiff enough to face lather soap, but the tips are very gentle. It’s now making mounds of lather.

I have adapted the way I make lather with it, to something more like Zach prescribes in the video below:

I’ve also been reading about how the terrific shaving soap Cella has no preservatives and might go bad. I’ve been using mine for over a year and it still has the bitter almond scent I love, but I’m taking no chances. I’m digging into my pot of Cella with the 2000 like there’s no tomorrow. I haven’t had so much fun since I was a kid. Also, I haven’t used a soap so exclusively since I started wet shaving. I think I will actually use up my Cella.

Then, I’ll order more.

Speaking of boar, the Razorbacks of my alma mater THE University of Arkansas got this football season off to a good start by crushing Missouri State. Looks like Ryan Mallett is gonna do well under Bobby-M*ther F#ckin’-Petrino. Go Hogs!

I posted earlier about what I perceive as a trend toward boar shaving brushes.

I have received my own Semogue 2000 boar brush from Portugal. I’ve shaved three times with it now and can report on my progress breaking it in.

It stinks.

Wait, I’m kidding! Sort of. This thing is made of boar hair for sure. It reeks of boar. Not that that’s such a bad thing; I’m from the country and have participated in the butchering of more than one hog. You ain’t gonna get barbecue without killing the pig first.

This brush smells just like Mr. Hog as he’s coming out of his barrel of boiling water, ready to have his bristles scraped off.

I understand there are a few things that can be done to cut the scent. Shampoo the brush, borax soak, and so on. I’m going to leave the scent as it is. See how long it takes to pick up the sweet aroma of Tabac or Palmolive Stick.

Actually, my first shave with the brush was with Arko, because I was ready for the boar smell and was feeling a little masochistic. Bring on all the bad funk at once, baby!

My real issue so far is the lathering capability of the brush. It’s not great. I’ve read reviews that said these brushes take a couple dozen shaves to break in and reach their full lathering potential. Other people have said their boar brush was a great lather-maker right out of the gate.

I’m going to give my 2000 thirty shaves. If it isn’t kicking out a mountain of lather by then, I’ll revert back to my treasured Badger&Blade Essential badger brush, which is a lathering beast.

The wetshaving community is rediscovering boar hair shaving brushes.

Generally, badger hair brushes are considered the standard of quality.

Two forces seem lately to be igniting a trend toward boar brushes: The eroded economy, and a surge in shavers switching to soaps from creams and face lathering the soaps.

While a nice badger hair brush can set you back well over one hundred US dollars, really nice boar brushes are available for less than fifty.

The boar hair tends to be stiffer than badger, lending itself to the rigors of face lathering soap. There is a break in period while the brush offloads its native boar aroma. It also takes a month or so of shaves to split the bristles at the tip and soften the feel of the brush.

The heavy hitter of boar brushes is Omega. They offer a range of knot sizes and lofts. Lately a small outfit in Portugal called Semogue has been generating excitement. Yours truly has a model 2000 Semogue boar brush crossing the pond as I write. To, um, research the emerging trend, yeah, that’s it, that’s the ticket.

Boar brush users swear by their tools. Looks like more shavers are swinging to that side of the fence every day.