WetShaving
This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
New subscribers welcome!
Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.
Check out these alternative front-ends for this server:
https://gem.wetshaving.social - a nice modern interface
https://old.wetshaving.social - designed to look like old.reddit.com
Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social.
Community Rules
Rule 1 - Behaviour and Etiquette
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Be Respectful. Do not bully, flame, or harass others.
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Malicious comments are not allowed but heated discussion and salty banter is okay.
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Low effort replies and complaints about content will be removed.
Rule 2 - Content Guidelines
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Mail Calls, Simple Questions, and SOTD posts belong in the recurring weekly threads.
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Posts must have sufficient content to generate a meaningful discussion.
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Images, links, or videos must include additional text that summarizes the topic.
Rule 3 - Reviews and Disclosure
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Use [First Impressions] in the title if your experience with the product is limited.
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Use the [Review] in the title if you can provide comprehensive details with enough familiarity to answer follow-up questions.
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Disclose how the product being reviewed was acquired (e.g., PIF, loan, or purchase). If the product was provided to you directly by the maker or vendor free of charge or at a discount, you must disclose this fact even if the item will later be returned to the maker or vendor.
Rule 4 - Advertising
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Vendors are to keep marketing within the biweekly Deals/New Products threads.
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Non-vendors may post topics about products if it will foster a compelling discussion.
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Do not solicit donations or share fundraisers without mod approval.
Rule 5 - Inappropriate Content
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All NSFW/L content must request mod approval and be flaired appropriately.
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Non-shaving related NSFW/L content is not allowed.
Rule 10 - Moderator Discretion
- The rules may not apply perfectly to every situation. The mods have final discretion.
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I rather like the Zenith horse, but I prefer my Semogue...
First: there are two types of Zenith horse brushes: the extra-soft (XS) and the normal ones. I have the XS. The XS is extremely soft (zero scritch) and has a total lack of backbone. If you like this kind of brush, go for it! I haven't tested the normal horse (yet?), but I slightly regret having taken the XS. The Semogue has a slight scratch, and a bit of backbone - which I prefer. It gives me the slight impression of exfoliation...
Concerning break-in behavior, it is extremely slow and basically unnoticeable. They're usable out of the box, but in the Semogue, there is noticeable bristle-splitting going on (starting after around 1 year of use, and still continuing). I would assume that the brush is softer now than in the beginning, but the change is too slow for me to notice (nothing like a boar brush). I haven't seen any splitting on the Zenith, but I use it more rarely, and have had it for less time - maybe it will still come.
Back on reddit, I did the statistics, and I use horse brushes most of the time - so I really enjoy them! If I had to choose one type of hair for my brushes, I surely would take horse.
Thanks for the detailed response! I think you just have me horse thrill.
I'm shocked to realise that I've been glancing at your SOTD posts all this time and never noticed that you mostly use horse π
Horse brushes are the best! π
@PorkButtsNTaters666
This amuses me, in all my time in this hobby (only 3 years, but still) I've only ever heard bad things about horse brushes, and the only one I've tried personally was a shitty cheap vie-long one, so I completely bought the antihype.
Looking forward to trying a Zenith one after #AustereAugust
I also heard bad things about Vielong horse brushes - though if I remember well @[email protected] uses them from time to time.
As for the antihype: several wettubers (well, at least 2) sometimes use Zenith horse brushes, and have nice things to say about them: our own @[email protected], and also Johann from Shave and Butcher.
@PorkButtsNTaters666
I'm sold π
I love my horses...
They are scratchier than badger though, so be warned.
Yeah, I really like my Zenith XS horse brush. I could use it every day and be really happy.
Unlike PorkTater, I wouldn't say it has a "total lack of backbone", but yeah the tips can be though of that way. I think the core/bottom of the knot has more support than some super soft badgers, like silvertips.
The reason you only hear bad things about them is because 95% of them are bad, scratchy garbage that you can only love if you think you're saving animals from abuse. So that opinion is fairly obtained, at least.
The XS from Zenith is a different ... ahem... animal, though. I think the mane hair is softer, but has more flop. And the tail hair is what has that stiffness and scratch. It could be the opposite. But they change the brushes feel, for different models, by varying the percentages of where they take the hair. I don't know what magic LSD-fueled unicorn they pluck the hairs from for the XS, but I love it.
If my own XS was getting as much love as it deserved, I'd offer to buy Pork's XS from him, but I just have too many brushes.
@sgrdddy
Thanks, good to hear your take as well. I completely neglected the premium house brush discussion on the sub and here, apparently.
I've now ordered a non-xs Zenith horse, and it's 50 % horse mane, 50 % pony tail. I may have to try an xs too, later onπ