Different Types of Shaving Brushes

An important tool in the whole shaving process is the all crucial shaving brush. It plays a very pivotal role in the whole shaving process, which can be very tedious for many. A good shaving brush is very necessary for a good shaving experience.

The roles of a shaving brush are to gently exfoliate your skin and make your beard hair standup for the razor to cut them without much effort. The beard hair is not very difficult to cut when you use a good shaving brush as the razor can easily glide on it causing very less irritation.

This small looking shaving brush plays a very vital role in your daily shaving activity. Shaving brushes comes in many different varieties and qualities; and their prices vary from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars.

The cost of a brush depends on the number of bristles and quality. Choosing an ideal shaving brush is very essential for the irritation free shaving. The different types of shaving brushes are as follows:

1. Natural Shaving Brushes

The natural brush type helps improve the overall shaving experience by improving the overall brush performance by increasing the brushes ability to hold water.

1. Badger Hair Shaving Brush
   This is the most popular shaving brushes because of its ability to hold water. It can easily whip hot water, soap, and air into foam by cleansing and lubricating the beard region. Since it has better ability to hold water, it helps in giving you a very good lather and shave experience. The exceptionally soft bristles of badger hair give a very reliable and comfortable shave each time you use. Badger shaving brushes prices range from $50 to up to $1000. Main types of badger hair shaving brushes are:
   • Silvertip Badger
     This is the finest quality of badger hair shaving brush. The finest badger hairs are graded and sorted with the most natural and untrimmed silvertips. This makes these quality brushes the most expensive shaving brushes available worldwide. Long hair from the neck region of the animal is very soft and flexible. The tip on the hair is white while the hair under the tip is pure black. They all are graded, filled, and shaped into a shaving brush.
     
   • Super Badger
     This fine hair is extracted from the back of the animal. It is supposed to be finer and longer than the best badger variety shaving brushes. The hair is grayer than the silvertips. Since the hair is very fine, it requires more quantity to fill a whole brush. They are used only in hand filled shaving brushes.
     
   • Best Badger
     This is regarded as the benchmark for quality shaving brushes and is one of the excellent quality pure badger hair. The hair is extracted from the belly region of the badger and varies in color from grey, brown, and black. This quality shaving brush provides you with superior lather for a great shave.
     
   • Pure Badger
     This badger shaving brush is made from lower grade badger hair. The hair are trimmed to shape. That is why this brush has stiff ends. This type of brush is easily identifiable because of its bristle color, which is generally darker in shade.
     
2. Boar Hair Shaving Brush
   Boar hair shaving brushes are stiffer and less expensive as compared to badger hair. They do not hold water like in badger hair brushes, but are better than the synthetic ones. These bristles are also referred to as pure bristles or natural bristles. The only drawbacks of these types of bristles are they are more prone to breaking due to their brittleness. They are much better compared to synthetic ones and are priced very reasonably.
   
3. Horse Hair Shaving Brushes
   Horse hair is clipped to make these brushes and is very popular in Asia and Middle East regions. These shaving brushes are not as soft as the Badger varieties.
   

2. Synthetic Shaving Brushes

Synthetic brushes are a good option for people who do not prefer animal fur and are allergic to them. These brushes are made from slightly stiff nylon bristles. The only drawback of these brushes is its inability to hold water as compared to the Badger shaving brushes.

3. Natural/Synthetic Mixture Shaving Brush

A mix of nylon bristles along with Boar hair bristles are a good alternative to natural hair bristles. They also provide with good lather and shaving experience at much lesser price.

Natural shaving brushes are prone to variations due to their inbuilt nature and are considered normal as compared to synthetic ones. The choice of brushes depends a lot on the user’s preference to animal fur and cost.