Shaving brushes

are those cool little decorative handle brushes used for whipping up the lather from your favorite shaving soap or cream.

Brushes can be traced back to the 18th century where handles were made from regular materials such as wood and very expensive materials such as gold.

The hair in the brush usually comes from a few different animals.  Boar hair for the less expensive brushes and Badger hair for the more expensive ones.  When you first get a brush you need to spend some time cleaning it out because it will not smell very plesant.

Do you really need one is the question, well if you are going to shave with canned shaving cream then no.  However, if you plan to shave with a traditional shaving soap or cream then the answer is yes.

Traditional shaving soaps and creams are typically in solid form, similar to a bar of soap.  The shaving brush is soaked in water to hydrate the bristles and after rinsing the excess liquid the brush goes to work on the soap to start building a later.

Once the lather is built the brush is used to transfer the lather to your face or head, depending on what you are shaving.  The brush helps evenly spread the lathered cream on your skin prior to your shave.

This is far from a complete how to use a shaving brush, but more of an introduction on what it is and who needs one.  The short answer is if you plan to get into wet shaving and using traditional shaving soaps and creams then you need to invest in a shaving brush.

The best shaving brush for a beginner can be purchased for less than $15 bucks

If you don’t have a safety razor yet, now it’s time to get one.  You are turning into a wet shaving enthusiast.