Shaving Brushes- What's the story and why use them?
Posted on November 22 2016
You would have noticed by now that our shaving creams don't come in a can, and that's because they are specifically designed to be used with a traditional shaving brush for a 'wet-shave'. So what's the go with a shaving brush and why use them?
It's pretty simple. Shaving brushes offer 4 things in total that 'can based' cream hand and finger applications can't.
1 - Generates a rich and warm lather by whipping air into shaving cream or soap.
2 - Softens and lifts the facial hair off the face - Allowing for the blade to get at the base of the hair and only cutting through it once over cutting through the same hair twice. This is how traditional wet shaving will produce better results than shaving cream out of a can as it will cut closer to the skin and smoother across your face.
3 - Adds heat to the skin during the shaving process which helps open pores and lubricates the skin. It helps rid the skin of any ingrained grease and dirt leaving it free from infection, acne, blemishes and rashes.
4 - Gently exfoliates the surface of the skin to rid if of dead cells and provide a massaging effect on the skin.
With hundreds of bristles, a shaving brush is the best way to generate a warm and rich lather. Rich lather is important because it protects and lubricates the skin. Also, the gentle friction of the bristles on your face as you lather the shaving cream and your skin, softening the beard and opening the pores. The brush helps guide the direction of your whiskers as they loosen up in the pores, preparing them for the blade. A shaving brush is also ideal for ensuring adequate moisture to the face when shaving: it captures and transports the moisture from the sink, through the bristles to your skin and beard. This is a far more efficient method of wetting your skin than cupping water in your hands and bringing it to your face when shaving, which is what you have to do without a brush. Finally, the brush provides gentle exfoliation and removes dead surface cells, something that fingers alone cannot do.
So, what type of brush is best for you? At Ministry of Shave, we offer 3 of the most popular types of shaving brushes available individually or as part of our shaving kits.
Silvertip- Super soft, hold an insane amount of water and lather and is the ultimate in our shaving experience. Silvertip is the best and the most expensive grade of hair. Silvertip has a very distinct colour banding, but usually a more defined contrast in colour between the black and white-silver colour bands. Silver-tip hair is gentle and luxurious, like a soft sponge that massages the lather on to the face. On average, a Silvertip badger brush will last ten years or more.
Fine- Soft, hold water and lather well and provide a gentle exfoliation of the skin when using. The fine grade is soft on the face and has little to no scratchiness on the skin. The hair has a colour pattern with a black banded midsection and whiter tips than the other quality hair types. The density and water holding capacity of FIne brushes offer a noticeable difference in performance.
Pure- Our entry level brush perfect for those dipping their feet into wet shaving for the first time. Often you will find this type of brush to provide a more exfoliation type effect on the face. Many people enjoy this type of brush if they spend time in particularly dirty or dusty workplaces. Pure hair is the least expensive of our 3 grades and ranges in colour from brownish-grey to black. The hairs are more flexible than boar bristles and usually coarser in texture than higher grade badger hair. The stable quality will perform well for wet shavers who like a massaging effect while preparing to shave. Pure graded brushes normally offer a good value in quality for the price. A pure badger lasts on average three years.
What else should I know about shaving brushes?
Now, all of these shaving qualities come in different knot sizes (the diameter of the knot base - usually measured in mm) and the loft height, which is the height from the base to the top. Longer hairs will feel softer, but it also depends on the thickness of the hair. Some people prefer a big loft while others prefer a small one. At the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference, though the big diameter knot bushes with a high loft are generally softer and more expensive than the smaller brushes. At Ministry of Shave, we only use high loft brushes in all of our models to provide the most luxurious and comfortable shave possible.
When caring for your brush it is important to make sure you hang the brush upside down to let any excess water drain from it. Simply rinsing and placing upright will cause the water to fall into the knot of the brush and potentially shorten the life of the brush. When lathering your brush you can either lather straight onto your face or grab one of our lathering bowls on your way out. Either way, we believe that a lathering bowl and brush stand are 2 crucial elements of having the best shaving experience while caring for your equipment.
So, there you have it. As you can see, application of a high-quality shaving cream with a high quality shaving brush will improve your shave straight away! While many other brush manufacturers sell their brushes for upwards of $200, we believe that shaving should be better value than that. All of Ministry of Shave's brushes are available individually, boxed in a sleek black package ready for you or as the perfect gift and make the perfect gift when coupled with one of our complete kits.
Don't forget that all Of Ministry of Shave's products are available via our subscription service. get them delivered to your door when you want them and never go without or forget about them again. Also, a portion of these products also goes to our charity of the month to help the rehoming of animal right across Australia.
Free delivery for all orders over $50 or only $5 for orders under.
Sign up to our newsletter and receive your special code to use at checkout to receive 15% off your first purchase. If you don't have a shaving brush or lather bowl the make sure you grab one before you check out!
All of our shaving creams are made in Adelaide, Australia.
To Shop our complete kits-
www.ministryofshave.com.au/collections/ministry-of-shave-shaving-kits
To Shop our complete range of brushes-
www.ministryofshave.com.au/collections/ministry-of-shave-badger-shaving-brushes
Choose your kit-choose your brush-grab an accessory and check out- Simple!
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