Thread: B&B 2008 LE Silvertip Brush

…or the little brush that couldn’t

I guess I’m a sucker for group buys. I just can’t help myself. Some turn out to be really good deals and some are ok and some well I guess this brings us to the B&B 2008 LE.

This is going to get complicated and it has to be rated in several ways so follow closely.

The brush arrived in really nice packaging and I must say it was far superior to my Plisson HMW which came in a cardboard box for about 3 times the price. The overall construction of the brush was very good, and the ergonomics are great too with great classic (and I do mean classic) styling no problems there. In the time I’ve had it, it hasn’t lost a single hair. So far I would rate it a 9 out of 10.

Next is the performance issue. It’s a really small brush. The picture shows my 30mm custom which is admittedly a very large brush. Now to be fair I tell you my other daily use brushes are a Plisson HMW size 14, a Rooney medium finest and a Simpson Chubby 3 in super so the bar is very high here. The smallest brush I have ever used was a CM small-medium best which was my first brush and still larger than this one. Did I tell you this is a small brush?

Now there is no issue about floppy because it isn’t at all but that’s because the hair is trimmed way back. Grade wise it’s a standard silvertip. When I use the brush with soaps that aren’t exactly known for lather building I found the brush to be a disaster. For soap with normal or average lather building it provided an adequate amount of lather though I found I had to re lather the brush 1 or 2 times during the shave which is a deal killer for me with any brush. With a soap that lathers really well it provided sufficient lather to do a shave. With a cream like Castle Forbes once I finish shaving with any of my other brushes I have enough lather to shave a platoon with the B&B I had just enough to do the job. So for me it’s a great brush dedicated to CF use. However no matter the soap or cream when compared to my other brushes the lather was always weaker and thinner. (Did I tell you this is a really small brush?)

Now I’m not saying the brush doesn’t lather good (even though I did) because I think it’s more a question of the size of a brush. I’m afraid no matter how much of a quality brush it may be a small brush like that just can’t perform like a larger one. In this area if I was rating it based strictly on its performance I would rate it a 2 out of 10 but since I’m so fair minded I have to take into consideration the size and by the way I have the B&B 2006 LE which is a medium sized brush and more standard quality and it lathers as well as my other brushes so taking into consideration the size I would rate it a 7 out of 10.

Lastly the economics has to be factored in and to me this is where the brush really suffers. I would compare this brush to a Simpson Chubby 1 in standard grade and the last time I looked one of our vendors was selling that brush for about $115. Now he’s making a profit on that which the B&B guys supposedly weren’t and I’m sure if you asked the vender to source about 160 of them you would get a considerable discount so $140 plus 10 bucks shipping and another 3 or 4 bucks surcharge for this thing in my book equals one of the all time poorest deals. Now if it was a Plisson at least you could say you got the Rolls Royce of brushes but to me Kent does not merit any premium over other popular brands. In this area I would rate it a 1 out of 10 and I give it a one because I’ve never given anything a 0 and everything has some merits. (Did I tell you this is a really small brush?)

So if had to give it a total rating I couldn’t because of the above factors. I would just say I would not recommend it because there are simply too many other quality brushes out there either the same size or larger that can be had for much less money.

And just as a non related postscript you guys are really lucky mods can’t enter the reviews contest because if we could that gorgeous Ambyna Burl brush in the picture would be sitting in my shave cabinet…hey, wait a minute it is sitting in my shave cabinet, but not for long eh? You lucky dogs you.

It's TRIMMED??????

Oh man. That guy...he kills me. He really does.

I'm sorry to hear you got such a bad brush for your money.

After reading this I am really glad that I lost interest in it and sold my gift certificate.

I think the Simpson's Tulip 2 that SMF is working on is a much more enticing offer.

Nonetheless, I am happy with my brushes as they currently stand.

Simpson Tulip 4, Kent BK 8, Shavemac Pure, and a Kimson handled Penworks Knot home made custom.

But I would like to add a professional size Omega Boar.



Thanks a lot for the review!!

Originally Posted by ZethLent

After reading this I am really glad that I lost interest in it and sold my gift certificate.

+1

Originally Posted by ZethLent

I think the Simpson's Tulip 2 that SMF is working on is a much more enticing offer.

Those guys REALLY know their brushes.

Umm, if the only complaint is the size of the brush isn't that simply a case of caveat emptor?

I mean, when it was first introduced it was made clear what the brush's dimensions would be. It was clear to me at least that it was designed to be a short loft, small knot brush.

That sounded good to me, but I missed the deadline. I ended up instead geting a Rooney Heritage Alibaba, as it has very similar measurements.



If you buy an Armani suit, two sizes too small, it doesn't mean that the suit sucks, simply that you purchased the wrong size, right?

Primarily it seems to me his beef is with the price. Some people have a saying that, 'You get what you pay for', but in this case it seems, 'He didn't get what he paid for' so to speak. As in, it costs too much compared to other brushes with equal amounts of "brushiness"*.





*Brushiness is a word I made up, and is meant to embody the overall qualities that a person might use in order to compare a brush to another.

Originally Posted by Chady

Primarily it seems to me his beef is with the price. Some people have a saying that, 'You get what you pay for', but in this case it seems, 'He didn't get what he paid for' so to speak. As in, it costs too much compared to other brushes with equal amounts of "brushiness"*.





*Brushiness is a word I made up, and is meant to embody the overall qualities that a person might use in order to compare a brush to another.

And yet Plisson is also mentioned? Talk about cost to quality issues!

Just my opinion.

Its true the size was discussed but with all the harping with how great a quality the brush was and the fact I had never used a brush that small I had the feeling it would do more than it did. Also its true I feel the brush is simply not worth the price. Also yes Plisson is very expensive, not you bang for the buck category but also My size 14 HMW is the best brush I have performance wise so even if I paid a mint for it it does perform.

I don't mind paying as long as I get the performance.