New Forest brushes - Badger hair grades

I have written about badger grades in my shaving brush blog here:

Badger grades

There is some agreement on pure, best and silvertip being in ascending order of softness. But no consistency in other words like "super" or "finest". Rooney go from pure to best, silvertip,super and finest. Vulfix go pure, super and silvertip. Simpsons have pure, best and super. Edwin Jagger go pure, best, super then silvertip. And there are other variations.

For the time being, my New Forest brushes will just be two grades: Superior badger - a two band which is firm with soft white tips - and Finest silvertip. A high quality redressed silvertip.

Shave of the day

Now discontinued, Coates is a superb cream. A custom brush by beejay of The Shaving Room Forum, a Merkur 38C with Gillette super Thin and DR Harris After Shave milk make another excellent combination.

Shave of the day

Gillette Super Thin brilliant with the Merkur 38C. The Kent BK4/TOBS cream painted on - simply luxurious. Just too floppy for much scrubbing, but who cares? Each brush is different and this works best with creams and painting style lathering for me.

Shave of the day

After the Lord Mayor's Show brushes of recent days, the BK8 had a run out - stiil an upper range brush but well below half the price of the last three I've used. And a fine brush it is. Just a bit too big for my personal comfort but superb and more than adequate lather applied with a luxurious feel. The spatula makes it so easy to spread the cream around the bowl to speed up lather production. Merkur 38C/crystal platinum still good on the third day.

Shave of the day

After the Rooney Finest and High Mountain White Plisson came the Simpson Astor Super Two Band. This comes into its own with soaps but did a great job on the T&H Rose cream. Noticed a difference between the red personnas and crystal platinum which I used today. Not quite as sharp, but left me more comfortable and still with a very close shave.

Shave of the day

This is a great combination. The little Plisson (22mm knot/ 53mm loft) produced superb lather from just a small blob of Coates in my pottery bowl. The Merkur/Red personna gave another exceptionally close shave with a very light touch. And DR Harris Milk finished things off nicely.

Shave of the day

Shave of the day (SOTD) is a regular feature on shaving forums. A useful source of ideas and informal feedback about products. I've decided to add some to my blog. Starting today.
My new ridged bowl is becoming one of my most valued accessories. Big enough to work up great lathers. Today it was my Rooney Finest 1/2. Although expensive - at $299 simply too much - I only bought it to complete my shaving brush blog - it does a fine job with creams. And it feels sumptuous as you paint it on your face. With a loft of 56 mm it is a little too big for comfortable face lathering.
The DR Harris Rose is a relatively new product. A match for any of the rose creams. My Merkur 38C was on duty today with a Red personna - a very close comfortable shave. Who nicked the Merkur?