Went to West Coast Shaving to peruse their selection of Yaqi synth brushes holy moly have prices gone up.

A brush that cost around $12 is now $20+

Pubes are about to get out of control.

I tell my wife I saw this all coming and show her how much money I saved "prepping for the shavepocalypse."

Really I just went fuckin nuts and came to my senses with enough shave shit to depilate half my fuckin county for the next decade.

Explain the late 70s without saying anything specific

My Taylor of Old Bond Street super badger brush is pretty thin these days so I looked into getting a new one… I don’t remember what it cost me 10+ years ago but they’re $150+ now

I definitely would consider getting a custom knot put in your existing handle instead of buying a new one at those prices.  I got a Strike Gold Shave custom knot put into a handle I bought and it’s been a phenomenal brush for me.  I have not babied it at all, been using it at least 3x per week since October of 2021 and so far I haven’t lost a hair.  I haven’t tried any other vendors, but I’m sure they’re good too.  Frank’s prices start around $100 for his custom knot and install, but he puts them on sale fairly often.  Price goes WAAAY down if you want synthetic or something besides badger.

I am not really a collector (my only other brush I use is a travel synthetic from Alpha), but I do like nice things.  Up to you if it’s worth it.  I’d rather have one really nice shaving brush that I use every day instead of 10-100 random ones, but shaving isn’t really a hobby for me like it is for some people.  Not judging people who are into it, it’s just not my thing.

I’ll check it out. I shave 5 days a week and only have 2 brushes (my nice badger that’s not holding up super well and a cheapo boar hair that I started off with and now use for travel). I think getting my main one replaced/fixed up would make my daily shave a lot better.

About 5 years ago I got 4 of the Dovo ebony handle badger brushes for $8 each off of Amazon.  Also got the the Dovo straight razor kit and dopp bag for $120 and sold the razor that came with it for $150.

Twelve arko sticks is still $20.

Amazon?

Yep!

Last week I bought a new Cremo brand beard brush and some Beard Guyz balm.  The brush price was about 40% higher than the last one I bought, and the balm was closer to 80% higher than the last can (2 years ago).  Worse than the price increases is availability. I'm rationing my Organic 25 beard oil, because I hate supporting Amazon and its vaporware locally now.

Both of my shaving brushes are vintage/hand me down Ever-Ready. Are new ones just not built as durable?

Yeah, I'm not seeing it. Even my "modern" brush is over a decade old and only loses one or two bristles on occasion. I have shaved daily with Proraso soap, and have a small stand that allows the bristles to hang down straight to dry. Maybe it's something in the way I treat it.