Reddit mentions of Semogue 1305 Superior Boar Bristle Shaving Brush

From cheap to expensive:

Boar: You could get a smaller Omega, but why not branch out? The Semogue 1305 is a nice medium-sized brush.

Horse: The Vie-Long 12705 is a solid performer. I actually prefer the 12705B, but that's not available on Amazon. The one that is available is 65% tail hair, so it'll be a bit scritchy, but that will also make it less prone to tangling.

Synthetic: I like the Kent Infinity Silvertex. It's on the small side, but it performs well, especially considering the price.

Badger: Either the Wet Shaving Products Prince in Silvertip or the Monarch in 2-band. Or, if it's a really big gift card, the Monarch or the Stubby in High Mountain White.

If someone was looking for a brush in this price point, I would highly suggest they spent the extra $10 and get a L'Occitane Plisson. But if I had to choose one brush $20 or under, it would be the Semogue 1305. I have a 830 which has the same exact knot, and I really enjoy it. I soak my boars in warm water while I shower which makes it plenty soft with great backbone. If you don't soak them they can tend to be a bit scratchy. There is also a break-in period with boar brushes but once the hairs begin to split you will notice the brush will feel softer. It has it's con's but at that price point It's hard to beat a quality boar brush. I've never used Omega but those also seem to be popular in that price point as well.

No, no, no, oh hell no on the brush. That is a Syntex and it's complete trash.

Instead, get an Omega boar or a Semogue boar or a Vie-long horse brush. Like these:

http://smile.amazon.com/Omega-10065-Bristle-Shaving-Handle/dp/B00KZAGDSI/

http://smile.amazon.com/Semogue-1305-Superior-Bristle-Shaving/dp/B004OJS8E8/

http://smile.amazon.com/Vie-Long-12705-Shaving-Acrylic-Handle/dp/B008MN7QDG/

In addition to or instead of Proraso, grab a Chiseled Face Groomatorium soap. It is better.

The blade sampler is adequate, but really you don't need multiple packs of the same blades to find out if a blade is good for you or not. A better value for blade samplers can be found at tryablade.com or a Maggard Razors DE blade sampler.

The EJ razor and alum block are good items. Are you limited to only buying from Amazon?

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.

I'm going to go in order of what I do in a shave so I don't miss anything. First, you will likely want to get a good soap so he can have a good pre-shave wash/scrub. Whatever you get, make sure it is glycerin soap. I use one made by Musgo.

Next, I would suggest a good quality boar hair brush. The reason I say this is because while there are different brushes that have different features, the boar hair brushes are much less expensive for a good (some say just as good) product. If your boyfriend isn't sure if he will stick with wet shaving, do you really want to sink $100 into a badger or synthetic brush? I personally use an Semogue 1305.

Next, soaps are a dime a dozen, some much better than others, but Proraso puts out a great product and happens to be the favorite that I have bought so far (although I have only bought a few at this point. It lasts a while).

I use a straight razor, so I can make suggestions about straight razors and strops, but don't have any input at this point on razors and blades.

Next, get a stypic pencil and an alum block. I have not cut myself since getting the stypic pencil, so I can't tell you if the one I bought is good or not, I just took a shot in the dark. But, the alum block that I use fresh after shaving is from RazoRock.

Lastly, there are a ton of aftershaves out there. He likely already has one that he uses. But in case he doesn't, go to the store and smell them. Whichever smells the best, buy that one. That way at least one of these products you can buy for you and not just him. ;)

All the links I posted were for Amazon, which is easy to search and is trusted. That said, there a lot of good online stores that are trustworthy and will give you a better price for the same exact product. I'm not going to give you the same YMMV or "it might not work for you" speech that everybody gives after these.

This is the brush I use:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004OJS8E8

It's badger hair instead of the more traditional boar hair. It lathers really well and has broken in very nicely over the past 6 months I've used it.

As for blades, I prefer Personna's Made in USA razors. They've never let me down.

The one accoutrement I can't recommend enough is a block of alum. Alum is a natural astringent that closes up nicks and cuts better than anything else on the market. I can nick myself while rushing in the morning and running the alum under water then holding the block to the cut will make sure no one can even tell. It's extremely cheap, lasts for a long, long time, and you'll never use any other method again.

Bought the same VDH kit myself at WalMart when starting out. Please don't make the same mistake I did -- don't assume that because this one VDH boar brush does a poor job for you (and sheds hairs like a mofo), therefore all boar brushes will do a poor job for you.

That's what I assumed, so I bought a number of badger brushes including LeisureGuy's expensive favorite "Rooney", only to discover a year later that the brushes which work best for me are the Omega $10 boar and the Semogue $20 boar. For me, heaven on earth is a shaving stick, a boar brush, and face lathering. That, or MWF soap bowl-lathered with a boar brush.

Here are some photos, if you shop around you can find better prices than these PIC.1 , PIC.2

Good luck, have fun!