#4 in Shaving brushes
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Reddit mentions of Omega Professional Boar Hair Shaving Brush
Sentiment score: 14
Reddit mentions: 20
We found 20 Reddit mentions of Omega Professional Boar Hair Shaving Brush. Here are the top ones.
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- Available in Black, White or Red handle
- High quality, natural boar hair
- Bristles are longer than normal
- Great starter brush
- Height: 5 1/4"
Features:
Specs:
| Color | White |
| Height | 1.5 Inches |
| Length | 5 Inches |
| Weight | 0.2 Pounds |
| Width | 1.5 Inches |
Sure. I will offer up this as a super cheap example of a decent way to start. It will provide a decent shave at a very reasonable price and you can always upgrade later if you decide that you want to.
Razor. It is cheap as hell, but works surprisingly well.
Blades. Buying a sample pack is a great way to decide on a blade that suits you. Every blade is different for everyone. A blade that works wonders for me may leave you with razorburn or stubble and vice versa. Unlike most things cost is not indicitive of how good a blade is.
Brush. Some people prefer badger hair brushes, some people prefer boar bristle. I like both and I use both. This is a decent boar bristle brush for someone starting out. The more that boar is used, the softer it gets.
Soap. Believe it or not you can easily spend hundreds a year on soaps and creams alone if you decide you want to try everything out there. Proraso soap is a great one for a beginner though, easy to lather, slick, and protective. It gives a nice tingle to your face due to the menthol so that is something to be aware of though.
For under $45 you can get started with a full kit. For under $25 if you just want the razor and some blades.
Now here is my favorite setup
Razor. The Merkur 39c has a head that holds the blade at a slant, enabling it to cut more like a guillotine. This is good for someone like me that has very tough and wiry beard hair.
Blades. Astra Superior Platinum razor blades are my favorite. Each one will last me for 3-4 days of shaving. Remember, a blade that works for me may not work for you. Blades are a trial and error thing.
Brush. I have more expensive brushes, but this brush is my favorite. Very soft, yet has enough stiffness to easily whip up a lather and it holds tons of water.
Soap. This is a shave stick. You rub the soap on your face and then use your brush to build a lather. This listing is for 15 shave sticks. A single stick can easily last 6-9 months.
For about 130 bucks you can make a big jump in quality. The majority of costs involved are in the razor itself and a more expensive brush. If I wanted I could spend upwards of 200 dollars on a stainless steel razor and over 500 dollars on high end silvertip badger hair brush. As I have mentioned before, this hobby is as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.
I hope this helps.
I very much enjoy using the Vie-Long Zurito Horsehair brush. One of the best feeling handles IMO. Still keeping the price at around $50 you could also add an Omega boar to your stable for well under $20. Like this one.
There's nothing wrong with anything on your list. But IMO there's room for improvement.
I'm not a big fan of the Merkur 23c. It was my first DE and served me reasonably well, but better options have been introduced in recent years. In the same price range, you could get an Edwin Jagger DE8xxx or, for a bit more, a Muhle R89. A few years back those two companies collaborated on a new head design that's really, really good. Plus, they both tend to do a better job than Merkur with plating. Another option - that costs significantly less money - is a Maggard safety razor. It's a very recent introduction, patterned on the EJ/Muhle head, that gets uniformly positive reviews.
You could do better on the blade sampler, too. The one you've linked has ten each (too many) of four types (too few) of blade. I like this sampler. Yeah, it costs more, but you're getting a wider variety of more expensive blades.
I like Proraso and use it often (both the green and the red). But IMO most people don't really need a pre-shave, and many of those who benefit from it find that a $2 bar of glycerin soap works as well as or better than more expensive products.
Finally, your list doesn't include a brush. I'd recommend an [Omega boar] (http://www.amazon.com/White-Handled-Omega-Professional-Shaving/dp/B000CB8Q4Y) or, if you want to go with badger, a Whipped Dog silvertip.
If you've got an Amazon gift certificate you need to use, most of the stuff I've recommended is available there. But if you're just in it for the quick shipping, I can't recommend the folks at Maggard highly enough. They ship very promptly, so the only question is how long it will take a priority mail package to make it from their shop to your door. IMO there's no better introduction to DE shaving than their budget starter kit and a blade sampler pack. Plus, the owners are nice folks and active participants on this sub.
If you are hell bent on Amazon:
Omega 10049 - Will take a bit of breaking in, but is an excellent larger boar brush.
Semogue 1438 - Another excellent brush. Same knot as more expensive Semogues, but with a wooden handle that makes it cheaper than the acrylic. Will require a good break in period but one of the best face lathering brushes you'll ever find.
Satin Tip Purest - No personal experience here, but I've heard good things about this synthetic.
Fine Stout - Not prime, nor free shipping and slightly above your price range lol, but wonderful nonetheless.
But seriously, just get a synthetic like something that's been mentioned here by others.
a couple of things i would personally change.
I like old spice as a fragrance but as for actually using it as aftershave i personally am in the camp of non alcoholic after shave balms. nivea sensitive skin asb is a common one you can get anywhere.
on the brush, i personally feel like any omega boar brush is a better brush than the tweezerman and i really think they shine when using soaps and soft soaps like you have picked out. The pro 49 is considered a great standard boar. i know this one is more than the tweezerman.
its up in the air to me whether the pre/post shave makes any difference and at that price i would drop it and use the money use save on the brush and a blade sampler pack. getting to that next.
the blades. lots of people love derbys. lots hate them. with blades you dont know until you try them so we alwys recommend a sampler pack. like this maybe
also amazon is great especially when buying one or 2 things at a time but when buying a whole setup like this you can probably get it a little cheaper at a wet shaving retail website. if you are set on using amazon np but if you dont have to we could probably get you setup a little bit cheaper with the same stuff (or better).
Fair enough but I would price what amazon gives you against one of those sites. I would suggest getting an Edwin Jagger DE89, really good starter razor, or a parker though you will need someone else to tell you which one to get.
You will need a brush so look for omega brushes, these are boar brush that are cheap and once broken in can become as soft as a silvertip badger brush. As for shaving soap there is a vast array to choose from but I have been using proraso which is easy to get a nice lather from. Though if you are on a tight budget get arko, though be warned that some people hate the smell of it (it does die down after a few weeks).
As for aftershave you can pick up nivea aftershave balm from your local drugstore or supermarket. You will also need an alum block and styptic pencil, just get the cheapest ones you can find. Though you could use a healing cut gel instead of a styptic pencil, which would avoid the milky white marks the styptic pencil leaves behind.
edit: forgot to say about sample blades. Most sample blade packs on amazon are ridiculously priced so use try a blade to get a selection of sample blades. Start of with 5 different types of blades
The blades I would suggest are:
You should try out an Omega boar hair brush like this one, I have one( and love it, you do have to soak it in hot water for 5-10 minutes before a shave to soften it up though. Try shaving right after a shower(not sure how you wet your beard right now) and some pre shave soap like MRGLO or other glycerin based soap, your shave will improve even more.
I agree totally with /u/GeneralKinetics: Order a Parker 24C, a blade sampler pack, and this Omega boar brush and this Nivea shaving cream.
Wet the brush knot well under the hot-water tap, squeezing it to make sure it's fully wet. Let it sit a few minutes (e.g., while you shower), then put a squeeze of shaving cream about the size of an almond into the brush and brush you (wet, washed) beard briskly to bring up the lather and work it into the stubble. Take your time on the first lathering; for the other passes, you can just apply it, but for the first pass work it in.
New boar brushes may have a smell and they also tend to kill lather. They get better as they break in over the first week or two. (I generally recommend one of the Omega S-Series brushes, and you can get those from Maggard, along with the Parker 24C, a blade sampler pack, and a better soap or shaving cream---and they probably can get it to you about as fast as Amazon, FWIW.) Make a bunch of practice lathers to gain experience quickly and to expedite the brush's breaking in (and losing any animal odor).
Take care in your initial shave to avoid the four most common mistakes cartridge shavers make when switching to a DE razor.
The most common problem is using too much pressure. Use the same pressure you'd use if you had really terrible sunburn and the razor were an uncomfortably hot metal rod: still touch the skin, but barely. Think of the razor just barely grazing the skin, though still touching. Professional barbers are tested by having them shave a lather-covered balloon, so you might try for that: just enough pressure on your face as would remove lather from a balloon (without popping the balloon, of course :).
You'll feel stubble when you rinse after the first pass (with the grain), but that's fine: rinse, relather and do a second pass, this time shaving across the grain. Then rinse, relather, and do a third pass against the grain. ALL passes are done with LIGHT pressure as described above.
Try 3-4 brands from your sampler pack and then use the best of those exclusively for a couple of months. (To stick to the same brand for two months, you will have to buy a couple of packs of that brand so that you can replace blades as they become dull in use.) By keeping the brand of blade constant, variation from shave to shave is (probably) due to prep and technique, so you can focus more on perfecting those by not changing the razor or brand of blade. Also, after two months, you'll really know what that brand of blade feels like so when you try a new brand the differences are highlighted.
After the two months, start exploring: every 4-8 weeks, try one blade of a new brand. If it's better, it becomes your regular brand---the one you use daily. If it's not, return to your regular brand for another 4-8 weeks. This gives you a break (shaving with a brand that's good for you) and also reminds you of what a good shave is like. Every now and then most will stumble upon a brand that takes their shave to a new level.
Hope this helps. Do NOT rush the shave: take your time and pay attention.
Welcome.
Take a look at the sidebar, it has good information. HERE is what I recommend for DE kit. Check out all the information links in that post. Below is an example from Maggard Razors:
Total: About $65.
If you don't have any aftershave products, you can pickup some Nivea sensitive aftershave balm from your local supermarket, should cost around 5 dollars.
Or if you are on a super tight budget then get the following from Amazon.
Total: $33
already mentioned here by ourufnek99, you should give single blade razor a shot.
Yes, definitely do your research and make sure you're buying a good brush. You can pick up an Omega boar for under $10, or a Semogue under $20.
Correct. there are a few different kinds (boar, badger, horse, synthetic). But you can pick one up made of boar bristles (they stink for a bit, be warned) for around $15 on amazon.
Unless you have gift certificates, you can get a much better deal from a specialist vendor.
The stuff you chose is pretty good. I'd just swap the feathers for a blade sampler (get one with at least 5 blades per brand and 4/5 brands) and ditch the pure badger brush (which is quite prickly) for a good Omega boar brush, a new generation synthetic (this one is cheaper on ebay), or a silvertip from Whipped Dog.
I haven't used it myself, but I get the impression that you could spend your cash differently.
For example this brush
And maybe this soap
Use a bowl or mug out of your kitchen and skip the brush stand for now.
$32 vs $21
When you get some money maybe look at this boar brush for $12. Here are some excellent cheap soaps that would last you at least six months Van Der Hagen Glycerin Shave Soap Omega Shaving Cream
I was going to buy it from Amazon along with
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CB8Q4Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A11C50J5I9SKBO
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VAWZ2U/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A247KQ8J6Y7OFS
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SGKMA0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
and free shipping
The Maggard starter kit would cost me 55.85(includes shipping)
Edwin Jagger De89lbl user here. Well worth it.
I picked up a combo of these things...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RBF1PO/ref=oh_o03_s00_i00_details
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CB8Q4Y/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q2Y0AI/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details
Free shipping with no minimum purchase is provided for all the following items in the CONUS:
For blades:
Personna Blues
&
ASTRA Superior Platinums.
Here's an inexpensive Omega Boar Brush for $15.50. I bought it myself and it's effective and highly reviewed on Amazon. Not cheap enough? Try this @ just under $10.
Here's some inexpensive, great and well reviewed shave soap for face lathering that'll last you a lifetime. Use a cheese grater to break it up to squish in the bottom of your mug (though some are soft enough to crush).
Thank you, definitively saved me some money with those cheaper links. Also after reading the advice around here I'll go with a variety pack instead of the single razor. I like those razors. Is the old formula of Proraso the same? Is it worth just getting it separate from the brush package you linked to?
Is this a good/better brush?
Good show. Post a pic will ya?
Aftershave is no evil. Be prepared to experiment a ton and find what's best for your skin.
Protips: