The 10 Best Shaving Brushes
Special Honors
Plisson Horn handle & White HM This elegant, notably expensive offering from Plisson sports a genuine blond horn handle and pure high mountain white badger hair for the tuft. Crafted by hand at the Plisson factory in France, each piece is unique and particular. Thanks to the combination of softness and strength in the bristles, this brush is well suited to sensitive skin. plisson1808.com
The Art of Shaving Engraved Silvertip Boasting a handle with a stunning, teardrop-shaped pattern that's specifically designed to be elegant, durable, and comfortable to wield, the Silvertip Engraved Shaving Brush from Art of Shaving generates a rich lather by retaining warm water to help soften beard hair. It's handmade and features long, soft white tips and greater hair density than pure and fine shaving brushes. theartofshaving.com
Simpsons Centenary Edition Chubby 2 Manchurian This special edition piece from Simpsons is outfitted with a beautiful, atypically-colored handle in vibrant sunspot orange that's centered with a stainless steel disc. Its knot is hand-formed using the company's uniquely sourced, rare high mountain white Manchurian badger hair. The bristles have a two-band appearance, stiff shafts, soft tips, and superior flow-through qualities. simpsonshavingbrushes.com
Editor's Notes
October 17, 2019:
As traditional wet shaving sees a revival among men, having a quality shaving brush is an absolute necessity along with the right razor. Whether you're just beginning to wet shave and need a good starter brush (the Omega Professional is great for beginners), are vegan and require a synthetic option that doesn't harm animals (see the Fendrihan Personal and Haircut & Shave Co. Proven) or want a top of the line model that aficionados swear by (the Muhle Traditional and Simpsons Chubby 1 Super), you'll find what you need here.
While we wanted to include every type of option out there, we let go of the Vie-Long 12705 horsehair model to make way for the superior Muhle Traditional, which uses premium silvertip badger hair and is built to last for a very, very long time. The Vie-Long is still a compelling model, but sadly doesn't stack up against Muhle. We also scrapped the Escali Pure, our reasoning being that we feature a handful of badger bristle options and not enough quality synthetic ones, which is why we added the Fendrihan Personal in its place.