Edwin Jagger 1EJ946SDS Classic Best Badger Hair Exfoliating Shaving Brush with Stand for Shaving Cream or Shaving Soap for Men and Women (Imitation Ebony)

I have been shaving for over 40 years. That's a long time and a lot of shaves! I started out many years ago with a shaving mug, a cake of soap and a double edge razor. Over the years, I dabbled with electric razors, but I always felt that the shave was not as close as with a razor with an actual blade. For many years now, I have used cartridge razors. They are handy, work well with shaving creams available in just about all department/grocery stores, and rarely produce nicks or cuts... if you change cartridges relatively regularly. For me, that is at least once each week to week and a half. Cartridges are EXPENSIVE!!! I recently switched back to double edge razor shaving. The blades are MUCH less expensive, and I have found that the shave is also much closer... although you have to slow down and make multiple passes instead of "slap - dap - done" that is possible with the cartridge razor system. I purchased the shaving brush to increase the luxury of the shave - a luxury that I can well afford with the elimination of the expense of the cartridges that I no longer have to fork $$$ out for. This particular brush is much nicer feeling and produces better lather than the brush I used many years ago. I attribute that to the badger bristles used in this brush instead of the boar bristles that my old brush used. My face is well hydrated with the lather produced with this brush (and a Crabtree & Evelyn shaving cream) and the razor glides smoothly and leaves a silky smooth aftermath. I have been using the Edwin Jagger Best Badger shaving brush for 2 weeks now - and a single DE razor blade - and couldn't be happier. A very close shave, a luxurious lather, and a pleasant experience now that I have slowed down to actually enjoy the experience.

Edit: Been using this brush for about 2.5 years now and mine still looks brand new. When I first used it there was a strong scent that went away after just a couple uses. Also maybe 10 to 15 hairs came out in the first couple months that I noticed. Once those loose ones came out, I never again lost another hair from it that I noticed. I don't baby it (I really swirl it around to get a fast lather) and it has held up great. Although I am not careful about how I lather it in the dish and on my face, one thing I do do is rinse it and very carefully wring it out after use every time. That said, I have a friend with the same brush and his started shedding hairs very badly (to the point of being in my opinion unusable) after a year and a half or so... he bought his a year or so before I did though so maybe it was a bad run... but like I said mine has been working great. Honestly I wouldn't buy it again, but only because I want one that is slightly bigger because I like a very wet/thin lather. It does it's job well but a larger one would hold slightly more water for the lather that I prefer. I know many people who like a thicker lather than I do though. The feel is very soft, the bristles do not poke. I would also probably like to get a slightly less luxurious one next time so I can build lather a little faster (my face is not sensitive so it could take a firmer bristle). I recently compared it to the brush my grandfather has used since well before I was born. His, by comparison, felt like sandpaper was nowhere near as good at this one. This is not related to the review but (just trying to help out) if you're just getting into old timey shaving and not sure what you want to do, might I suggest Edwin jagger De89lbl razer and derby 200 pack (usually around 15 bucks). There are cheaper razers if you're on a budget but it is nice and pretty and should last a lifetime if cared for... there are very few blades cheaper than the derby though. I tried just about every blade and I liked the derby's as much as the more expensive feathers and such and the 200 pack will last you a couple years. Also I started out with proraso sensitive shave soap which is very minimal and non irritating but eventually switched to dr harris lavendar which lathers just awesome and leaves a nice finish on my face, which is great. If you are thinking about straight razers I would suggest giving the DE a try first. Both because daily you will want to DE anyway and just straight when you have time and because the straight has a huge learning curve and costs more to get into.

This is my first shaving brush. I have been using it for 5 months now, as my beginning into DE shaving. The brush is high quality, hand knotted in Sheffield England. It feels soft and smooth on your face and beard and shaving is now a luxury for me, not just a daily chore, the brush softens the hair and works great, you can feel the exfoliation effects...now I know why my wife loves facials. The included stand is very nice and matches perfectly, I am very happy with the stand included. If you want pretty chrome and want to spend buy one, after all this is a bathroom counter accessory. A stand is a must to let your brush air dry properly, with the brush tips down, and you never want to rest the brush on it's bristles, so even during shaving flip it over to rest it on the counter, once dry completely you can invert your brush on its' top for storage. How to choose a shave brush? I knew to go with badger hair from all my research on DE & wet shaving, but picking the quality of badger hair from the 4 types of badger hair qualities was difficult. Better hair is better right? Yes but also very expensive. Well being new to wet shaving I did not want to ruin a very expensive brush, so I eliminated the top two qualities and targeted the best quality brush I could find under $60. This brush was about $45 included a stand and was Best Badger. That was the easy winner. I also choose a rounded brush over a staight brush, because it would cover more of my face faster, and provide more surface area. The medium size is ideal for my average size face. I lather up in 4 quadrants to keep the face lather wet, a good wet lather is important to a good and comfortable shave. Once you finish a quadrant rinse and move to the next area. Come back at the end and go over any areas you missed, short hairs left, or better yet redo the whole face. My brush looses an occasional hair which can be either a sign of poor quality or misuse. As I became more experienced, the hair loss from the brush is much less. Maybe one hair a week, it is still a lot but I am not an expert on wet shaving yet either, so for the price and inexperience I think that's me being to hard on the brush. If you take care of this brush it should last many years. Being new to wet shaving I have to remind myself not to press too hard so I don't ruin the brush tips...that ruins your brush. I bought a quality shave cream - Taylor of Old Bond also from Amazon. I started lathering with an old mug, but I was banging the top of the brush annoying my wife and not getting a good lather. I now use a small Pyrex bowl to lather up and that works great, lots of room and I get a great lather....spending a minute to gently work up a good lather is well worth the time. I love this brush it will sit next to the Jagger 98l DE razor I bought as my first DE razor for many years.

Easy going on my skin gathers enough lather & drys fast goes very well with my Hawkins & Brimble!!!

Excellent quality brush. Note that this one is size Medium and a bit more expensive than the small size. The badger is very soft and works up a great lather with shave cream. There is no odor and only one or two bristles have come out in about two weeks of use. This is worth the money and I would recommend it. This is in a completely different league from the cheaper boar brushes.

Acheté en remplacement d'un blaireau abordable Wilkinson utilisé pendant plusieurs années, je dois dire que la différence est grande. Ce blaireau possède des poils très souples est fins mais il permet de faire mousser très facilement la crème à raser en pot que j'utilise ( Proraso pot vert). Je n'ai pas de pertes de poils à déplorer pour le moment. L'application sur le visage est efficace et agréable. Le manche est par contre un peu petit et glissant. Le support fourni est très basique mais indispensable pour le séchage. Je pense que ce produit vaut son prix.

Buena brocha. Distribuye bien la crema, es suave. Muy importante el soporte para que pueda estar boca abajo y no se pudra el pelo.

First of all, if you're looking at this and toying with the idea of getting the cheaper "small" version - don't! Well, unless you have either tiny hands or a tiny face, the small is just too.... well, small. This one is still quite compact, but much more usable. It comes nicely packaged in a classy looking cardboard box, and comes complete with a drip stand. This is plastic and a bit lightweight, but it comes with a handy sticky pad on the back which means you can secure it to the wall. Be warned, it's very sticky - once it's up it's staying put - so make sure it's definitely where you want it if you're going to use this feature. I'd suggest you consider it a permanent fix. The brush itself is nicely weighted, and the handle is a good, comfortable shape. The Best Badger hair holds plenty of water and if your technique's any good you'll get a good lather with this one. It lathers Proraso soap nicely, and that one's usually a tough one to get going. If you use it with Tabac then you'll have lather all over the place. That particular soap and brush combo is epic! The brush is easy to clean and once dried the knot holds its shape very well if you brush it back into shape. Despite being a plastic handle this is a quality brush with a good weight, a nice size for everyday use and for travelling and comes with a stand. This is good value for money and if you've never used a best badger brush before then this one will improve your shaving without breaking the bank too badly.