Parker 3-Band Silvertip Badger Shaving Brush Black Handle (BHST)

UPDATE: I'm still using this brush ten years later and I couldn't be happier with it. I don't buy/use many different brushes, so I don't have a lot to compare to, but I've owned one boar brush and one synthetic badger brush, and this Parker brush has easily outperformed both of them. It's soft and comfortable on my face and it builds and holds a thick and rich lather. It has lost so very few bristles over the years that it feels almost as full as the day I bought it. If you're like me and are looking for just one good brush, this one will do the job. I'll see if I can dig out the original brush I received that shed so much and compare it to this one. I'm sure that this one is fuller, even after ten years of use. If I can find the old brush, I'll upload some photos. TL;DR This brush works wonderfully and it lasts for a long time. ORIGINAL REVIEW: My first brush loses bristles, but it's probably just coincidental. A replacement is on the way. Let's hope it is better! Otherwise, the brush feels great and lathers really well. I'd definitely recommend it. Now I have to prepare myself for the badger funk again! As a side note, I bought the brush from Super Safety Razors here on Amazon, and their customer service has been exceptional. I wouldn't hesitate to shop with them again.

Over 7 years of use and still going strong! Over 6 years of use. Still in great condition! After 3 1/2 years of use it's still a fine product! After a week of use: Not shedding, no smell, whips up an awesome amount of lather, and feels great! I just received my shaving brush yesterday and I must say it looks to be a very good product for the price. I washed it initially and have used it to shave once. It hasn't lost any hairs so far. Yes, it has the expected "wet animal hair" smell but not too bad. I'm sure it will go away quickly. I may elevate this to a five star rating if it holds up well over the next few weeks. I've had this brush for over a year now. No complaints whatsoever! OK, I've now owned this shaving brush for over two years. Yes, it does shed a hair or two every other shave or so. It probably doesn't have the best crafted knot but still a very good value for the price. I expect to have this brush for years to come.

Initial results were excellent, exceeded my expectations. The shave cream performed very well. Used with a brush & mug, I only needed a littlee finger nail sized blob to make plenty of lather. Lubrication was great & I got a very close, even shave. Initially, I portioned out a sphere of about 5?8" in diameter which made enough lather for about 3 shaves. The razor's handle is too short for my XL hands but I can live with it for now. Will probably end up with a collection of razors. I like the look of the Muhle all stainless steel razor with a longer handle. The blade that came with the razor was very good but will have to experiment to determine best comfort & longevity. I expected some lacerations and/or filleted skin but nothing of the sort happened. We will see what happens on shave #2.

Review of Multiple Related Products Products Reviewed: • Merkur 34C HD double edger safety razor • Israeli Personna stainless steel double edge razor blades • Parker silvertip shaving brush • Simpson’s Wee Scot shaving brush • Simpson’s Classic 2 (best badger) shaving brush • Simpson’s Chubby 1 (super badger) shaving brush • Mitchell’s Wool Fat shaving soap • Tabac shaving soap in bowl • Tabac shaving stick • Proraso green shaving soap • Taylor of Old Bond Street Traditional shaving soap 57g travel size • Lucky Tiger aftershave and face tonic Background: I switched to an electric razor approximately 35 years ago from a Gillette Atra razor and Edge shaving gel because I got tired of cutting myself. This led to a much less close shave but also saved me from cutting myself. Apparently in the pre-internet era, I had not properly learned how to shave. Being frustrated with the lack of close shave, I decided to give safety razor (“wet shaving”) another try. I am extremely glad that I did. I felt it was necessary to invest in quality but not the most expensive items to start. I began with the Merkur 34C razor, Israeli Personna (Personna Red) blades, the Parker silvertip brush and the Proraso shaving soap. The next step was to provide for a travel kit. This was accomplished with a cheap boar brush (not evaluated here) and Taylor of Old Bond Street Traditional shaving soap along with the Merkur razor. I next upgraded my travel kit to Simpson’s Wee Scot brush and Tabac shaving stick. My home supplies were upgraded to add the Simpson’s Classic 2 and Chubby 1 brushes, Mitchells Wool Fat shaving soap, Tabac shaving soap (after purchasing the stick), and the Lucky Tiger aftershave. Merkur 34C razor – I find this to be an excellent razor. It fits my hand well, gives great control with the short handle and provides for a clean comfortable close shave that is not too aggressive. The only criticism that I have is the finish is not as nice as certain other brands. When my luggage was temporarily lost, I purchased the same razor at the Art of Shaving for more than twice as much money, I did not feel it necessary to experiment with something else when this razor worked so well. Israeli Personna (Red) blades – These blades were purchased in a 100 pack at a very reasonable price. I chose them based on the overall reviews and have not been disappointed. I change the blade after four shaves and always get a consistently good shave. Parker silvertip shaving brush – This is a nice brush and a good value at its price point. It is soft on my skin and lathers Proraso very well. It does not have the backbone of the Simpson’s brushes and as such is now rarely used. I consider this a good starter brush if one is to limit their investment and give wet shaving a chance. With hindsight, I would have saved my money and gone right to the Simpson’s brushes if I were to do it over again. However, there is little to criticize for this brush at this price point. Simpson’s Wee Scot shaving brush – This brush is really small. It looks like a toy, but don’t be mistaken. It is surprisingly effective with the right soap and is excellent for travel. Be aware that even though this is a best badger brush, it is the scritchiest of all my brushes. Other reviewers have been able to get three passes from loading this brush once. I cannot, and therefore now load for each pass. Simpson’s Classic 2 shaving brush – This is a superior brush. This best badger brush is not nearly as scritchy as the Wee Scot. It has tremendous backbone and is superb for face lathering. The best badger hair is packed very densely which initially made it tough for the lather to release but with time the lather releases better. Be advised though that unless you live in a very dry climate, this is not an everyday brush as it takes more than 24 hours to dry and therefore must be rotated. Additionally, it will eat tremendous quantities of soap. Simpson’s Chubby 1 shaving brush (super badger) – This is my best brush. It is similar to the Classic 2 but even more dense with the super badger hair. The handle is slightly wider and bigger all around compared with the Classic 2. Both are good, but you need to like a short handle and be prepared to occasionally get lather on your fingers. Although this is a super badger brush, the degree of softness compared with the best badger Classic 2 is minimal. Compared with the Wee Scot, it is night and day. As with the Classic 2 this brush eats lather due to its density and also takes more than 24 hours to dry. Mitchell’s Wool Fat shaving soap – This is probably my favorite soap. It is however more difficult to lather. I have found that soaking the puck in tepid water while I shower has vastly improved its latherabilty. Tips for better lathering include not using very hot water, squeezing most of the water out of the brush and then adding only a few drops at a time when needed. The result is the best face feel after the shave of any of the soaps. It provides good cushioning and glide. The scent is minimal and not a factor at all for me. Tabac shaving soap – I first bought the stick for travel. Unfortunately the Amazon listing showed this as including the case. I only received the refill. Because the Wee Scot brush is so small, I tried lathering directly on the top of the refill stick and was completely satisfied with the results. So satisfied that I then bought the full size puck and bowl. I have since cut the stick into pieces and place it in the travel bowl with a screw down lid that came with the TOBS traditional soap and that is now my travel soap. This soap lather extremely well and is not so sensitive to the water level or have to be rehydrated as does the MWF. The scent is much stronger when lathering but eventually fades. I find the scent to be fine, I don’t have to have it, but don’t object to it at all. My wife likes this scent the best of all of my soaps. It provides good cushioning and glide and is extremely easy to lather. It does not have quite as good a feel after the shave as the MWF, but that is more a statement of how good the MWF is. I do however rotate daily between this and the MWF. They are both that good. Proraso green shaving soap – I started with this soap and found it good, but nowhere near as good as the MWF or Tabac. It lathers well and is probably the least expensive of any of the soaps that I have used. It provides decent cushioning and glide, but my face feels dryer after shaving than with the MWF and the Tabac. Taylor of Old Bond Street (“TOBS”) Traditional shaving soap – I was very dissatisfied with this soap. It did not lather with the cheap boar brush, and then I found it did not lather well with any of my other brushes. It did not provide good cushioning or glide and I got the least close shaves with this soap than any other. Given that I can lather MWF, I tend to think it is more the soap than I am the problem. I popped the puck out of the plastic travel case and filled the case with the Tabac stick for my travel needs. The soap was used a bathroom hand soap, because the price was just too high to throw away largely unused. Lucky Tiger aftershave and face balm – I like this aftershave which is largely witch hazel based with a host of other natural ingredients. There is no alcohol in this product so it does not have the burning bracing effect that some like. It has an orangey citrus scent that goes away after about 30 seconds. This aftershave is very thin and absorbs well. It moisturizes (especially with the MWF) and is a product that feels very clean to me. Other comments: After reading comments from others, I have learned that pill bottles that can be obtained for free from most pharmacies make excellent travel cases for brushes. I drill several holes in the cap for ventilation. I have also used a pill bottle to store the Tabac refill pieces not put in the travel bowl

One of my all time favorite brushes. Long loft, solid handle (could maybe be a bit longer for mug but perfect for a bowl) and is super soft but has amazing water retention and dries quick. Lost a few hairs at first but thats to be expected on most and is fine now. All around nearly perfect brush and I love it.

UPDATE: I've had this razor for two years now. The brush rarely loses a hair anymore and it's continuing to build a nice lather everyday. I would definitely purchase this brush again, but I doubt that would be necessary for quite some time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I've owned this particular brush for roughly 11 months now and thought it would a good time to review it. First of all, the included stand that came with mine was made of a cheap plastic and the brush handle was too big to fit into the stand opening; I couldn't even use it. The brush itself does what it's supposed to--create a lather for shaving. It is my first silver tipped brush, so I can't really comment on its texture and usability compared to the more expensive silver tipped brushes out there. The only other major setback I have has to do with the bristles falling out. As I stated earlier, I've owned this brush for almost 11 months. I'm in the military and shave at least 5 days a week. Every single time I have used this brush, including this morning, I have lost at least one hair from it. Eventually I'll have a completely useless brush. This may work for someone else as an entry level silver tipped brush, but I think it's safe to say I wouldn't purchase this again if I had the chance.

I purchased this brush and shortly thereafter picked up a Merkur safety razor to continue my path into "traditional" wet shaving. I'm honestly not sure what to think. This brush did not give the Silvertip lathering experience I was expecting. The bristles are stiffer than my little trial Art of Shaving plain badger brush, resulting in less comfort on lathering. I went into an AoS store recently and tried one of their displays, and it was incredibly soft. Do these brushes have to be broken in? I'd think that would happen in the wild... on the badger. Additionally, there seems to be a fair amount of hairs in the brush that appear to be dark all the way down rather than the typical narrow Silvertip band. I don't know if this means that this brush is not 100% Silvertip, or if this is normal. Finally, the brush has lost a couple of hairs each time I've shaved with it. I notice other people have had this problem as well but since the brush is still new, I'm willing to accept it might just be shedding the few hairs that weren't glued in properly. Overall I'm pretty underwhelmed by this brush so far. I'm hoping that with use it will soften up and that the shedding will stop. I'll update this review as I progress. UPDATE: 7/24/13 I've used this brush now regularly for over a month. Unfortunately, I cannot give it my recommendation. * The bristles are no softer than when I first opened the box, and they still poke my cheeks. I was informed by a knowledgeable third party that because this is a budget brush, the bristles are often trimmed to make the brush shape rather than hand formed. This trimming causes sharp ends on the bristles. * The brush does not work as well as I would have expected for lathering. I attribute it to the huge size of the knot and the rigidity of the bristles. The size of the knot makes this brush very awkward to use on the face and the bristles do not seem to retain the water I would expect them to. * Finally, it is still shedding two or three bristles every time I use it. Some of these bristles are black all the way down from their white tip. At this point I can no longer assume this is due to initial break-in, and I am also not willing to believe this brush is actually 100% Silvertip badger hair as advertised. All other Silvertip brushes I have seen are uniformly white with a narrow dark band and do not contain the anomalous black hairs that this brush has. I would guess that this brush is part Silvertip and part pure badger to save on cost, based on the colors and the stiffness. I thought the high cost of brushes was due to markup and that this brush was simply more appropriately priced, but I'm finding that you get what you pay for in this case. If I had known this in advance, I would have certainly opted for a nicer brush.

This is my second brush, the other one I've used (~$50 colonel conk, 7 years old) has held up quite well, with the occasional bristle falling out, but was too bushy for me. So I purchased this one. The bristles are a little stiffer, and provide an excellent lather. It gets under my beard a little better, on account of the bristles. However, after a few months of use they started to fall out, at least 5+ per shave, and sometimes more. I hoped that this would subside, but it hasn't really slowed. Fortunately Amazon refunded my money without any protest, kudos to Amazon for that. The stand is just a small plastic stand, not really a show piece, but it holds it bristles down in the medicine cabinet.

This is a quality brush that lathers easily and gives a soft application of the lather. Can’t beat the feel of a quality shaving brush and this delivers. Recommended.

Es muy suave y bate muy bien la espuma, que se vuelve densa y abundante en poco tiempo. Retiene bastante agua, por lo que hay que escurrirla bien antes de aplicarle jabón, ya que puede empapar la espuma excesivamente. Muy satisfecho con ella, aunque la esperaba con un nudo un poco más grande por cómo se veía en la fotografía. El vendedor debería especificar el tamaño en la descripción. Cuando llegó la dejé en agua templada durante una hora más o menos y al usarla no ha soltado ningún pelo ya que con el tiempo que estuvo en remojo terminó por apretar bien el nudo y no he encontrado pelos en la espuma en el mes que llevo usándola. Muy satisfecho con el producto y a muy buen precio comparado con otros fabricantes.

I have used a shaving brush for many years and this brush is of exceptional quality. It is far softer than my previous brushes and as a consequence seems to produce a much better soapy lather. This looks and feels like real quality. Having said that, it is quite expensive (I am happy to pay more for quality) and it did take a while to arrive (from the US I believe - but it was worth the wait! Thank you.

Silvertip Badger の毛質は素晴らしく、重さのバランスも良いです。脱毛の問題もありません。

I purchased this product four months ago and can say that, along with its luxurious lather, it has proven very durable. With proper maintenance (rinsing free of shaving soap and using the stand provided) there has been a minimal loss of bristles. I’m very happy with my purchase.