Parker Pure Badger Shaving Brush with Black & Chrome Handle + Stand | 22mm Knot for Cream or Soap | Handcrafted Wet Shaving Brush for Men | Premium Grooming Tool | Iconic Brand

UPDATE:After nearly 4 months of use, this brush has continued to impress me. The bloom continued to open up and is as wide and pretty as any Simpson or Rooney brush I've seen, without being floppy in use. Shedding stopped completely within the first week of use, outside of a random hair here and there (maybe one a week). The tips have continued to soften as they have split and are completely scratch-free.I have also experimented with some harder soaps like Arko Stick, Tabac, and Truefitt and Hill. These types of soap take awhile for the brush to charge (pick up enough product) but lather just as well as creams once properly charged. Letting some warm water sit on top of the soap to soften a thin layer helps drastically, as does holding the brush by the base of the knot to add a bit more backbone.In terms of build quality, this brush has continued to hold up extremely well. The black resin handle has stayed mainly scratch free, other than a few small scratches from traveling in my luggage alongside a DE razor (they go in seperate compartments now). A bit of acetone on a cloth smoothed these scrathes over almost completely.I can't say enough about this brush and would reccomend it to almost anyone as their second brush. Everyone's first brush should be something cheap enough that they won't be disapointed if they give up wet shaving early on, but can still be used for travel if they upgrade later on.Four months later, still an exuberant 5 STARS!END UPDATE:Coming from a basic board brush (Shaving Factory (XS) Boar Brush), this Parker is a huge step up. Handle size and weight are both excellent, fitting my average size hand perfectly with a confidence inspiring heft. The resin used for the black portion of the handle also feels firm and does not seem scratch-prone like softer/cheaper plastics. The Parker logo did start to wear during just the first lather, but a bit of rubbing alcohol on a wash cloth took it off completely and gave the brush a clean logo free look.The hair of this brush is extremely soft. The tips are untrimmed and have a natural white tip. Based on Badger & Blade grading, this brush seems MUCH closer to a "Best" rating than the lower "Pure" rating it is marketed under. You won't find a "Best" brush on Amazon for less than $45, and you won't find a "Best" with a handle as nice as this Parker for less than $60. The Parker may seem floppy to those, like me, coming from stiff inexpensive boar brushes. The knot is large, fairly dense, and blooms nicely right out of the packaging. After the first night of break-in the bloom opened up maybe another 5%, but I don't expect much more. The brush is soft on the face, not prickly at all, but does lose its shape a bit and could possibly use a bit more backbone (if we're being picky).I'm a cream guy more than a soap guy, and this thing demolishes creams. It whipped Proraso Cream into a fluffy whipped cream like lather that my boar never could approach, and did so in record time. I usually lathered for 30-45 seconds or more with the boar, but I can get a far superior lather in 15-30 seconds with the Parker. It can do just as well with soft soaps, like Proraso Shaving Soap, but hard soaps (especially Tallow based) seem to require a bit more effort. I don't have a shave stick on hand and I've never face-lathered, so I can't comment directly on those.I've only lathered with the parker twice so far... once during the break-in process and once while shaving this morning. The brush lost 3-4 hairs during the first break-in lather, and another 2 during this morning's shave. Both could have been loose to begin with. I won't make a judgment one way or the other on shedding for at least a week or two, though my Shaving Factory XS Boar was still shedding 1-2 hairs per shave after 3 weeks of use. Also, "badger funk" was minimal but present out of the box, but eliminated by the overnight break-in process. By contrast, my boar took 3 nights of break-in just to minimize the funk and another 2 weeks of use to eliminate it (though even then still present with a deep close whiff).The one minor low-point of this brush was the free included stand. It's a universal stand and not custom-made to match this brush. It's tall enough but not really deep enough to let the brush dry with a full, unhindered, bloom. The weight of the handle does, however, lend to a solution. By tilting the handle towards the back of the stand it settles at a roughly 30 degree angle from vertical, allowing the brush to dry in full bloom. I likely won't use this stand for long as I have a chrome brush/razor stand on the way, but it is a nice bonus and is perfectly useful with this brush using the above positioning.Overall, I don't think you'll do much better than this brush for around $30. You'll have to spend close to $45 to match it in knot quality and around $60 to match it in overall quality. This is indeed an excellent value for those looking to move from a boar to a badger inexpensively, especially those who mainly use creams. A well earned 5 stars and excellent value.

This is an awesome brush for the price. I see comparable brushes that run for fifty dollars and over. I've only lost a few bristles on it. The stand is fine for what its meant to be used for-to mount on the wall. It lathers up great and feels good on the face. Some have complained its coarse. That is not such a bad thing. A course brush helps exfoliates the face and loosens up that dead skin. The brush retains water really well. Its solid and has a nice heft weight to it. The chrome base can unscrew but you could always crazy glue on permanently if it really bothers you. Its really not that coarse and you can soften it by using softening conditioner. Its beats out a boars head brush by a mile.Now about the smell. Some have complained about the smell of the shaving brush. Most new shaving brushes smell nasty. This is animal hair. Badger hair to be precise. Badgers and other critters in the wild don't take bathes with and shampoo themselves. Duh. The smell will eventually go away and their are several methods to lessen and get rid of the smell. Check out Mantic59 an others on youtube have several videos on how to get the smell out of the brush or lessen it. I used Pantine shampoo in combination with some of the Col Conks almond shaving soap to knock the smell out. The smell eventually went away completely within 3-4 weeks if even that. I wasn't really paying attention. Please do everyone a solid and stop knocking down the reviews because of the smell of the shaving brush. They are not going to smell like roses out of the box. Deal with it, man up and quit complaining about the smell. All shaving brushes with animal hair are going to smell out of the box.Great brush. I'm loving it. Good price if your looking for a good shaving brush, don't mind some minor coarseness or some out of the box animal hair smell.

I bought this brush on the basis of the good Amazon reviews. I am not disappointed. It is well made and looks good in black and silver. Bristles are long, soft, and do a good job of producing, then holding, then distributing lather onto the face.It has not dropped a bristle as far as I know, and I have been using it about a monthThis was my first venture back into the world of DE razors, and using a good brush and good shaving cream is a big help in minimizing the bloodshed. (I exaggerate slightly - a few small nicks only due to my own learning curve with the new razor (Merkur Progress), and trying out different razor blades in the razor (Personna "hospital", Bluebird, Personna "lab blues" and Gillette Silver blue . However I suspect the carnage would have been much worse without the brush and a good shaving cream (current favorites: Gillette Silver Blue blades, TOBS Jermyn St / Trufitt&Hill 1805 shaving creams).I am not back to using the DE razor every day - I have also found that using the brush /shaving cream with my Gillette fusion 4 blader using the proscribed "three direction shave" (with the grain/ accross the grain/ against the grain) and re-lathering between directions gives me a much better shave than I ever got with the aerosol stuff. The brush stays charged up with the lather in the bowl, so it makes it very easy and quick to do the relathering process.I think at the price this brush is a very good buy. It makes the shaving chore a little more fun than it was. My neck and chin thank you..

Makes shaving a ritual.Even if you’re in a hurry with a good soap you can get a great lather in just a few minutes.Highly recommend