I paid £110 for the Plisson European Grey shaving brush to include in my Fido's Shaving Brush Blog. I haven't changed my opinion. The only way to use this brush in comfort is to paint on the lather in to and fro motions. And if that's all you want to do, you can pay much less to obtain similar results. The Bluebeard's Revenge shaving cream is a delight. Very soft, easy to lather, pleasant scent. It's claimed that it will limit beard growth. Difficult to judge how effective it is if, like me, you use it just occasionally in a rotation.
Barbershop Bay Rum rounded things off nicely. My Gillette Tech/Lord handle hybrid continues to deliver great results with red personna.