- Shaving brushes make it easy to work up a good lather for shaving, especially if you're using a hard puck of shaving soap.
- The Edwin Jagger pure badger brush is our top recommendation for any man who's looking to add a bit of luxury to his wet shaving routine.
- If you're looking for the best shaving soap or the best safety razor to complete your shaving kit, check out our guides.
More and more men are discovering the simple joy of traditional wet shaving, and if you're reading this, you're probably one of them. You may have already completed the first part of your wet shave journey - selecting a good blade - but after you've already upgraded your routine with a double-edged safety razor, your next step is to hunt down a high-quality shave brush.
A good brush is an essential part of your shaving ritual. When used with a good soap or cream (one that, unlike canned foam, is made for wet shaving), a nice bristle brush is the key to getting a rich, creamy lather that lubricates your face well for a smoother shave. Your brush is used both to generate a proper lather and to apply it to your skin, and the bristles of the brush, arranged into what's called a "knot," also help to soften and stand your whiskers up before your razor does its thing.
Ideally, bristles should be soft enough at the ends to not feel scratchy or prickly on the skin, yet feature good rigidity or "backbone" so that they're not too floppy to work up a lather. The purpose of a brush is also to transfer heat and water to your face, and the different kinds of bristles each have distinct properties that help or hinder this. Shaving brushes are thus categorized by their bristles, which come in four main types:
- Badger: Badger hair is the generally the softest bristle material used in shaving brushes and is further broken down into four grades (in ascending order of quality): pure, best, super, and silvertip. "Pure" badger bristles come from the belly, "best" bristles are the finer and softer hairs from other parts of the badger's body, and "super" bristles are softer still. "Silvertip" bristles are the rarest badger hairs that are naturally white at the ends, are extremely soft, and have excellent water retention and lathering capabilities.
- Boar: Boar is less favored by wet shavers, at least in the United States and England, but nonetheless remains the second-most popular brush material in use today. Boar brushes aren't graded by bristle quality like badger hair and are considerably less expensive. Boar bristles are also noticeably stiffer than badger hair - something favored by many shavers and ideal for hard soaps - but boar is unique in that the bristles split at the ends over time to result in a soft brush once properly broken-in.
- Horsehair: Horsehair is the least common animal material used in brush knots and is somewhere in between boar and badger bristles when it comes to softness and pliability. Horsehair brushes are very popular in Spain, and high-quality examples typically hail from that country. Horsehair is a great "Goldilocks" option on the rigidity spectrum for shavers who find boar bristles too stiff and badger too soft.
- Synthetic: Shaving brushes made with synthetic bristles are growing in popularity and have gotten much better in recent years, with modern examples boasting impressive softness and flexibility (although never as good as animal fibers when it comes to water retention). Synthetic bristles are the best option for anyone looking for an animal-free brush as well as those who are allergic to animal hair.
Although the bristles are by far the most important component of a shaving brush, there are other quality considerations. Good handle construction and a solid handle-to-knot connection are important for comfort and longevity. Poor construction here may result in the handle separating from the knot due to the moisture eroding the glue that's holding the bristles. A poor-quality knot will also shed bristles excessively. However, almost all animal hair brushes, especially badger, exhibit minor shedding at first which is normal.
All of our recommendations are, of course, well-made with high-quality bristles and nicely-designed handles. With all brushes, no matter the materials used, you still want to invest in a good drip stand that orients the bristles upside-down after use so moisture evaporates properly and doesn't soak down into the base of the knot. Spending a little extra to ensure you get a quality brush and a solid drip stand will greatly extend the life of your bristles for years of regular use.
Here are the best shaving brushes:
- Best badger bristle shaving brush: Edwin Jagger best badger shaving brush
- Best boar bristle shaving brush: Omega boar bristle brush
- Best horsehair bristle shaving brush: Vie-Long horsehair brush
- Best synthetic bristle shaving brush: Fendrihan synthetic brush
- Best silvertip badger bristle shaving brush: Maison Lambert silvertip badger bristle shaving brush
Updated on 1/7/2020 by Jen Gushue: Updated links, prices, and formatting.
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