Synthetic vs Boar vs Badger vs Horse (2025)

I prefer badger. Maybe because I used prickly board for forty years. Maybe it’s because my father always wanted a badger when they were hard to find. I finally was able to order one from a barber for him in 1977!

Between the two I like the badger because its softness feels great and it holds water better without being too wet. As a side here, I have a Semogue 830 boar coming today, because I want to try boar with a brush in good condition, because, frankly, I have forgotten what a boar is like.

I just got a RazoRock Snowman. It’s fun, but keeping a synthetic dry enough is a real challenge. It’s either too dry or too wet. Maybe I’ll get the hang of it, but it seems like unnecessary maintenance.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have examples of all it the horse hair, and to be honest, the one I grab depends on what soap or cream I plan to use. They all lather differently to a degree, and they all hit their sweet spot with different techniques.

I find a properly broken in boar can be as soft and efficient as a nice badger brush and work well with hard soaps. The Badgers work best for me with softer soaps and creams, and the synthetics I have sit somewhere in between those extremes.

I do reach for the synthetics less than the naturals though. I like the feel of real hair ony beard and face.

Atinofpeas said:

Animal brushes are a dead tech. Synths are better and are getting better.

Click to expand...

I suspect that is a matter of opinion and not fact. I have great examples of Plisson and Tuxedo knots. Among others. They have not made by animal brushes obsolete. Quite the contrary in my personal case, but everyone is different and has different preferences.

Badger or boar depending on my mood or the soap. I have quite a few synthetics and none compare with natural hair. Badger and boar are dynamic; they are each a little different with each use. They each hold water and temperature really well and there is a lot of variety within each category. There's not much variety with synthetics, though they are very carefree and do a respectable job. I don't dislike them, they're just not high on my list.

Can't say anything about horse.

Atinofpeas said:

Animal brushes are a dead tech. Synths are better and are getting better.

Click to expand...

Atinofpeas: Love the name!

Wouldn't synthetic be tech, definable, consistent, tweaked in a lab, made in a factory? Hair seems more like artistry or craftsmanship since it isn't an engineered product. Not knocking man made brushes at all, your comment just made me ponder a bit.

old_school said:

Atinofpeas: Love the name!

Wouldn't synthetic be tech, definable, consistent, tweaked in a lab, made in a factory? Hair seems more like artistry or craftsmanship since it isn't an engineered product. Not knocking man made brushes at all, your comment just made me ponder a bit.

Click to expand...

Well it is just my opinion lol. (This is an opinion board)

If I may elaborate:

Animal may very well pip synthetic in a few categories but you need some seriously expensive animal brushes and you need to do the whole breaking in/shedding/soaking thing to get them on a competitive level with synthetics. And then it wears out.....

Granted, you don't get the cache' or kudos shaving with a $10 buck Chinese synth that you do shaving with a $300 lesser spotted pink tipped Simpson badger with diamond honed handle and silver carry case but the synth will actually work better, quicker and last longer and be easier to care for (ie you Don't).

Badger,boar,horse, two of each. Different face feel, enjoy them all.

I have all but horse. I usually use one of the boar brushes - SOC or Thater. Soft tips and plenty of backbone.

I have a couple of nice badgers - both considerably over $100 - and enjoy the Kent BK8 on occasion. I do have an SOC badger for my occasional face lather.

I have 4 synthetics. I don't use them at home, but they make great travel brushes. The latest is a cheap, big brush that works well, but the handle is a little ugly and is so big it won't fit in my travel case (tube).

Honestly, I could use any of the three daily and be happy.

My first brush was an Omega 10005 24mm boar. My second a 24mm Yaqi Silvertip badger. My third a 22mm Maggard synthetic.

My Omega is a fantastic boar. Well broken in, lots of backbone and scrub with very soft tips. It loads hard soaps very quickly.

My Silvertip is a very nice brush. Super soft, good backbone with a light scrub. It doesnt like loading harder soaps such as Tabac or Stirling by comparison to the Omega, and I'm not sure I'd call Tabac or Stirling 'hard soaps'. It also needs a longer load time because its so dense. I need to load a lot of soap or cream to get a usable lather with it.

My Maggard synthetic, made by Yaqi, is a powerhouse. Its incredibly soft and has virtually no scrub at all by comparison to either of the above. Its loads Tabac or Stirling soaps at least twice as quickly as my Omega, needs very little product to make a comparable lather, hogs absolutely no lather, rinses almost instantly and dries in minutes. Whats not too like.

I've used both my Silvertip and boar once since I got my synthetic. The Maggard is beating them both.

I have a hard soap in the mail to me, PdP 63. I'll try them all again with it, but I think it will be the same story.

Short answer is synthetics are the best for me.

Long answer, I started wet shaving 10 years ago and went through the process of badger brushes and then switched to boars as the badger knots were hogging my lather and it was the most annoying part of the shave. I couldn't complain about the brands either...Simpson, shavemac, TGN etc.

I used boars exclusively from 2011 to 2016. I tried a synthetic and hated it!! Came back to it and stuck at it. Once I figured it out, I was hooked as the lather was so superior!

Now, I have 20 synthetics but I have recently been getting back into badger brushes but this time around, I'm not going for the overly short lofts, too much density or scrub. I want them to splay and contour my face naturally.

So far I've got the Simpson Commodore X2, WSP Silvertip, Yaqi 2 band finest, TGN 2 band finest (my old DIY brush). These are all performing great as they are dense but splay well and release lather onto my face, no lather hogging at all.

I've got a couple on the way from Frank Shaving and I'll perhaps get a couple more from Yaqi.