Correct, it is the Men-Ü Premier Synthetic; I bought the brush in 2008 and it has been my go to brush ever since. It's very soft, as softer than any badger I've ever owned; feels as soft as a silvertip badger brush that I felt at The Art of Shaving store. My brush has never lost a single hair and is as good today as when I originally bought it. The Omega 643167 brush is slightly smaller in size, but has the same bristles and performance (the Men-Ü is a rebranded Omega) and is more affordable!
Since I've started shaving with an old fashioned style, and caring for the skin on my face, I've noticed that I have a much healthier, more bright look. I'm glad that I found out that the phrase "Art of Shaving" was more than just a slogan.
It's strange, but since I switched to using a safety razor, I find shaving more enjoyable. I thought it might be the "newness" of the shaving experience, but still after a couple of months, I still enjoy shaving with the safety razor over the old cartridge blade type of shaving.
great vid truly informative.I use 2 brushes one for weekdays one for weekends ,both are badger hair , i do moisturize them with mineral oil once a month .I use one hair to test the sharpness of my straight razor before each shave . i soak my brush in hot water 10 mins before i lather i like your hand lather method . Be sure to have a completely dry hand if you use a straight razor and hold it firmly yet relaxed. shaving is fun .I even bought a 1940's old spice mug like my dad used to have on E Bay man time flies when ur having fun . Forget disposable razors people.
Thank you for a video that thoroughly explains the information I was looking for. However, I still plan on using a canned shaving gel and lathering it in my palm with the brush.
The best explained lathering video so far. Man... I've been doing it in my Proraso bowl rather than in a seperate bowl itself since I've started so I've been doing it wrong since the beginning lol. Did not know also you had to spin it around and pump it for that long. Now I see what REAL lather is, I definitely had nothing but lame bubbles so far :o Can't wait to try that out tomorow!
Thank you sir for this video. Before I moved, I used to use a (rather amazing) cream which didn't require lathering, but it's sadly not available here, so I picked up some shaving soap. Which I didn't know how to use. :P But now I do, so thank you once again.
Nice video and thanks. A suggestion: cover what you mean by the shaving cream being ready and of the right consistency. This trips a lot of newbies (me included)
The Omega's synthetic bristles are the same height (or slightly longer) but the base knot is smaller in diameter. It's still a very densely packed brush and I highly recommend it. Honestly the handle is better and heavier (solid resin); my one criticism of the Men-Ü is that the brush handle is hollow plastic (resin).
great video i´ve bought shaving cream before not note-sing the brush on the side....and just put the cream and shaved now i know what to do i have bought a brush after a while though but never did things right or just used foam then the brush now i know how to use the soap and cream i have stored away
Making leather on your face with the brush is what I envision men of the day doing when they shaved. Is it good enough to leave your brush upside down on the counter?
Leaving the brush upside down is a bad idea. Water will run down into the handle and knot and with natural hair brushes you will get rot in the base of the knot and the brush life will be shortened. Get an inexpensive stand and store your brush with the handle up/ bristles down so that the knot will between shaves.
Products I used in this video (in order of appearance) 1. RazoRock XXX Cream 2. Mitchells Wool Fat Soap (transfered to glass dish; poured water on top) 3. Acca Kappa 1869 Cream (bowl demonstration) 4. Van Der Hagen Luxury Shave Soap (palm demonstration) 5. Palmolive Shaving Stick (left) and Palmolive Cream (right) (face demonstration) 6. Art of Shaving Sandalwood Cream + Col. Conk Amber Soap (left) and Speick Cream (right) (superlather demonstration)
Nolan, the VDH Boar brush is pretty crap compared to other brushes. The VDH Badger brush is definitely better and available for about $10; personally I prefer Synthetic brushes. You can get the Premier Rasage synthetic for $12 on Amazon. I don't find the VDH Deluxe Soap to be bad, but there are definitely better soaps available. Col. Conk is decent quality and cheap, but gave me razor burn. (YMMV) Take a look at Proraso, Palmolive, Barrister & Mann, Razorock, or Synergy shave soaps.
Wow. Thanks so much! I made my on soap. Do you have any tips for croap? I'am having dificulties to make a good leather, I watched some videos telling to add whater to the leather.
The synthetic you are using is the Men-Ü correct? It looks like it handles soaps very well. I'm dying to try one out, but the cost seems a little steep. Since the bristles are plastic, will they break or rip, or are they good for life? How soft is it on the face?
I was inspired by Mantic59 to make informative videos about wet shaving, but any similarity with the name Shaveology is purely coincidental. I had the idea for Shaveology (a dedicated RU-vid channel and later blog) mid 2011, but was in the middle of a job transition; I wasn't able to get the channel started until November 2011 and the blog until February 2012. We're just two wet shaving enthusiasts; it's not my intention to "compete" with him. I just wanted to join the online conversation.
Maybe its just me, but I seem to have a hell of a time lathering, doing everything right, but just not that great of results, bought a van der hagen deluxe kit, first of all that damn brush reaks and its just rough as all get out. That and for the life of me I can get a decent lather with the cheap soap they give you, but it never seems to apply to my face well, even when properly moistened. Maybe I need to get some col konks glycerin soap or a better quality soap period, and badger hair, brush.
My brush comes with a warning that says Do NOT use excessive pressure building the lather. Were you over dping yours or is that how you're supposed to do it? Lol
Awesome, I hope you enjoy them. I've been really pleased with the quality from Zazzle. I bought 3 myself. If you send a photo of yourself wearing the shirts to Shaveologist@gmail, I'll feature you on the Shaveology Blog!
If you tend to get limescale buildup in places where water rests, or like in the bottom of your water boiler, then you know you have hard water. Typically more developed and greener countries have the best soft water, like Scandinavia - where I'm from. I suppose Britain and countries like Belgium and Switzerland would have good water too. I currently live in the middle east, and the limescale builds up horribly here. Water is also hard in places like Mexico and South America, Africa, and I'd assume even Texas and southern USA. Canada and upstate New York probably has good water though. Get my drift?
Hard water is caused by a high calcium/mineral content in your water. You may notice it comes out the tap looking cloudy or tastes 'chalky', and hard water tends to produce thin or little lather with soap, shampoo and shower gels. You'll also get limescale build up in kettles, irons, sinks etc. That's your indicator if you can't find out otherwise. In the UK, places like Norfolk and the south of England near Dover have hard water, whilst Scotland tends towards soft water - it has little to do with how modern or developed your area is.
