Thread: Kent BK8

The Kent BK8...

This was the third brush I bought; the first being a Shavemac silvertip and the second being a Plisson black. The shear size of it was just what I was looking for. I got it and used it for a couple of months and then I got a Simpson Tulip 4 (two band) and then it sat for 6 months or so with little or no use.

The Kent BK8 is not the biggest of the Kent BK brushes, the 12 tops that list and even though I have not used a BK12, I do not think it could be a daily brush like the BK8 is. Don't ask me what size the knot is because I don't know. It is just big enough not to be too big.

I got my BK8 from The Gentleman's shop, and I immediately peeled off the BK8 sticker off the bottom of the brush (I hate stickers).

The quality of the brush was just fantastic. Completely top rate.

When I first put it in a cup of hot water to soak, it took a couple of minutes to lose the compact shape and fill with water. Even though I thought it would be bigger (looking at it dry out of the box/tube), when full of water it is very full and very big/dense.

The hair/bristle used in Kent Brushes is very very nice. It is a soft thin gauged hair that is pillowy soft on one's face. Because of how much hair there is in this brush, there is a certain stiffness to the brush. I have to admit that I don't smush a shaving brush into my face so that I am lathering with the middle of the brush, but I consciously use only the tips and try not to have the brush 'open up' on me when lathering (both face lathering and bowl).

I am quite a picky person and when I face lather as described above, with my BK8 I do notice some prickles. I inspected my brush further and found that when closely looking at the tips of the brush there are the odd black/dark brown tips intermingled with the creamy white of the silvertip. I think these are hairs that were too long after the shaping of the brush was complete and were cut with scissors to make the top of the brush uniform. I haven't counted how many there are, that would be stupid. But there are enough to change the feeling of the tips when face lathering to have a little prickle to them.
The handle of the brush is shaped very nicely, any smaller and it would be too small for me (I prefer the massiveness of my T4). It works great when lathering in a bowl or directly on the face.

I was told and had read that a Kent could make lather out of stones, even though it is a slight exaggeration I do know that I have been able to easily create a perfect lather with this brush in as little as 10 seconds (cream and bowl). For hard triple milled soaps it takes a few more swirls on the cake of soap but has no trouble in the long run.

So there you have it. The Kent BK8, in all of its Royal Warranted Glory.


Kent BK8, Simpson T4, and Shavemac for size comparison. All in full bloom.