Pure Boar Bristle Brush by Semogue

Real bristles

I just ordered my second 1800. In all honesty, the first one (the very first shave brush I ever used) separated from the handle after about seven months of daily use on my face and head with multiple passes. I tried to glue it back, but I unfortunately used an expanding glue and ended up ruining it. I had to use a cheaper store bought brush until I decided to order a Perfecto brush from Amazon with thousands of reviews. Well, the store bought brush became loose after a couple of weeks, but by then the Perfecto with the black plastic handle came in. I'm still using the Perfecto, which sheds daily, and after another round of research and review reading, I decided last week to re-order the 1800. Using the other brushes gave me a chance to experiment and rate my experiences with other brushes. The other brushes made me realize how unique and effective the 1800 is. I've been DE razor shaving for a little over a year now. I shave my face and my head daily. I now know that it's probably best for me to stock my "shave den" with multiple brushes so that I don't wear out a single brush, and I am convinced that I will stay with the Semogue family of shave brushes. If you are surprised that I am rating it 5 stars despite it having failed, keep in mind that this is a shave brush, not a tank. It was well worth the investment and I can't wait until the next one I ordered comes in. If I had paid $370.00 for it, this might be a different review! Having used cheaper brushes, I can say without reservation that this is a high quality brush AND an extreme value for the price. If you are going to use it to shave your face and head on a daily basis with multiple passes, then learn from me and invest in multiple brushes. I'm trying to decide now on which wood handled Semogue I am going to purchase next.

I just recently got into wet shaving and started off with a very cheap badger brush. After being underwhelmed with the performance of the badger brush, I started doing some research on brushes. I considered spending $50+ on a better badger brush, but after reading about boar brushes I decided to save some money and give them a try. I ultimately decided on this Semogue 1800 because the bristles seemed to be a good fit for using hard shaving soaps for face lathering, which is my preferred way of shaving. I'm extremely happy with this purchase and I'm glad I decided on this Semogue 1800. It's exactly what I was hoping it would be and it has vastly exceeded my expectations. My cheap badger brush was producing such poor lather that I was about to give up on my soap. The very first time I used this Semogue brush it created an amazing, thick lather. The difference was so profound that had to walk to the kitchen to show my wife the beautiful, meringue-like lather I made. She thought I was nuts, but I couldn't believe my eyes. The amazing thing is that this brush is noticeably smaller and appears to have fewer bristles than my cheap badger brush, but it completely annihilated it in performance. I can't image spending more that $20 on a brush after seeing how well this thing performs. I don't think I'll ever spend the money on another badger brush. When this thing wears out, I'll certainly be buying another Semogue brush! This is by far the best $17 I have spent in years. I am completely amazed with this little thing. Oh, and the handle is also fantastic. It looks great, feels great, and provides an excellent grip!

I've been using Boar Hair Shaving brushes for several years and recently received this one. Shipping from Portugal took several weeks but it arrived in good shape. The first thing I do with animal hair brushes is to give them a good cleaning to eliminate any of the "funk". I wash it thoroughly in warm water and soap and then build a good lather with a strongly-scented shaving soap or shampoo. I let it dry overnight and then give it another washing. This gets rid of most of the animal "fragrance" and starts the process of breaking in the brush. I've used this brush for a couple of times and overall, I'm pretty pleased. There were no stray, loose bristles coming out, it was reasonably soft for a new brush, and it built a good lather with minimal effort. A few negatives: The overall construction and quality of the materials is fine but far from luxurious. The wooden handle is a little rough and the boar knot is a little skimpy. If you can spend the extra dollars, I highly recommend the Semogue Owner's Club model (https://www.amazon.com/Semogue-Owners-Club-Cherry-Bristle/dp/B00FAAY1VE/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=semogue+owner%27s+club&qid=1592840938&sr=8-1), which is probably my currently favorite shaving brush. It's got a smooth, polished handle, a thick, lush bristle knot, and in general, feels much more luxurious and performs perfectly. Overall, if you're on a budget, this Semogue brush will give you good service and provide a good introduction to boar hair shaving brushes. Recommended!

After reading a lot about boar brushes, I decided on this Semogue because it was highly regarded on the shaving forums and I liked the look of the wood handle. On arrival I was anxious to see if it had a funky aroma that apparently some boar brushes have. Out of the box it had a very slight musty aroma, not bad at all. I lathered it up twice and let it sit with the lather on it for about an hour each time... rinsed it out, slapped it on my wrist a few times, swirled it on a towel a few times and set it on the counter for the next morning. The next morning it had only a nice soap aroma. I was very surprised how soft this brush felt on my face, it was not prickly at all. It is stiff enough to easily go under my nose with out putting lather up my nostril, but will splay out nicely when pushed against my neck and face. It easily whipped up tons of lather in my bowl (Proraso blue cream) and if it is true that these brushes get better in a month or so after breaking in, I can't see a reason to pay more for a brush. Money well spent!

Not sure what I am doing wrong with semogue brushes, but I have had to throw two away. I had a 620 and the knot broke, then I replaced it with a 1800 and the knot broke within a few short months of its life. When they aren't breaking they are fantastic brushes, but my Omega pro 48 just keeps on ticking. Symptoms that led up to the death of each of my semogues were shedding. The 620 at one point didn't shed a hair and worked great for a few months. The 1800 shed everyday, and I figured the death of the brush would surely come. I even tried taking more delicate care of my 1800 after the 620 broke. I loved the 620. I am a face latherer and it was the perfect tool. The 1800 wasn't far behind it in my opinion and worked great as well. The 1800 was a better lather maker, but the 620 really felt nice on my face.

This is my first boar hair brush. I'd say it works well for soap & mug shaving. I prefer face lathering with cream but this doesn't hold enough water or lather to guarantee a good experience.

I don't know why people say boar brushes are prickly or rough. After breaking this by soaking and lathering in 3-4 times, this is just almost as soft as a badger brush but has a nice exfoliating effect, but it is not scratchy whatsoever. And it doesn't hog the soap like denser badger brushes do. You barely have to work to get a lather going or to get the lather to flow out of the brush, unlike silvertip badger which I have tried. I wish I had got this brush as my first brush. It does everything you need from a shave brush at an incredible value. It may not be the prettiest thing, but it does its job very, very well.