Thread: Vie Long 2-band silvertip

There is a rumor circulating that Vie Long's two band silvertip hair is very close to, if not the same as Plisson's 2-band HMW. But for much less cost.

Vie Long is an old-time Spanish brushmaker, and it appears they source their badger hair from Europe, or more specifically, from Russia, same as Plisson does, rather than from China were all current Simpson 2-band hair is coming from.

This is why when Phil at Bullgooseshaving started to offer the 16726 (he had been carrying the regular silvertip, as well as horse and boar brushes until now), I picked one up to try.

CRAFTMANSHIP: This particular model is up at the top of the Vie Long line. And it shows. The handle is genuine olivewood, nicely shaped, and with a waterproof clearcoat. The loft is perfectly shaped and even. None of the lumps or pointiness seen with other popular brands, or exteme bulb shapes that make me think they just want to use every single bit of hair possible.

It comes with a largish but soft plain cardboard packaging. They do throw in a clear acrylic stand, which is a nice touch. The stand is of fairly good quality, not the cheap plastic that comes with some Omega brushes.

There is some badger funk, which I have not smelled with premium brushes, but that comes off after a few uses.

PRICE: This brush is priced at $70, which is an absolute steal for a brush of this quality. Genuine olivewood and 2-band super hair at this price?

LATHERMAKING ABILITY: The loft is 48-49mm, knot 21-22mm, overall height 88mm. I think it can be used for creams in a pinch, but this size is really for facelathering soap, which it does excellently.

TIP SOFTNESS: The tips are not as white as the new Simpsons' but equally soft IME, with no scritchiness.

BRISTLE STIFFNESS: The individual bristles are not as thick as Rooney's Finest, but on par with Simpson's. I think this, and the short loft, allow the brush to have backbone without needing to compensate by increasing density. More on this below.

KNOT DENSITY: This IMO is what sets this brush apart. I find a lot of the smaller 2-band vulfix Simpson's to be too stiff, overly packed, and with pointy bulb shape, can end up poking your face. The Vie Long's density is just right. I find it scrubby, but not too stiff. It has excellent flow through. And with the more fanlike loft, it all just comes together perfectly.

COMMENTS: Something that may be a negative for some may be that the handle is on the small side. For purposes of comparison, it is much smaller and thinner than a Chubby 1. Think more Rooney 1/1. That may make it more difficult to hold for someone with larger hands. With creams, the lather may tend to go to the handle, and difficult to use except with a very shallow bowl. If this is a concern, Vie Long does have a slightly larger model, the 16727, if I am not mistaken, and you may want to wait if Phil eventually carries this.

SUMMARY: This is a very well made brush, with excellent craftmanship, an exquisite olivewood handle, with a perfect (IMO) combination of knot density and loft shape, especially for facelathering. If you like smaller brushes, this one is hard to beat for the price.

What about the Plisson rumor? Well, I have never tried 2-band HMW hair, but it is an extremely good brush in its own right.

I have my 16726 from December 2009,...and I agree with RayG, it's an excellent brush. I have talked with the Sales manager of Vie-Long company and I said that all the badger hair is from Europe (Russia), he didn't talk about Plisson .


I am dissapointed with the stand, because I prefer a heavier stand, this stand is from thin plastic, but better to have a drip stand than to have nothing.

I use this brush with soaps, creams, bowl and facelathering (better use for this brush) , and I am very satisfied with the perfomance of this little Vie-Long. Not as denser as a Simpson knot, but sometimes less dense is an advantage, it gives air quickly to the soap and water to make lather as fast as I need. The tips are soft enough to me, but nos as soft as the Rooney superbadger for example.

About the price.....The Bullgoose price is excellent, I paid about 80€ for my brush, 70$ is an absolute bargain price. Congrats RayG good buy.

Hope it would be helpful

I picked up the 16726 from Bullgoose recently and have used it about a half dozen times.

Craftsmanship: 10 - The olive wood handle is a beauty. I was initially hesitant on getting wooden handles, but couldn't pass up how this one looked and am glad I went with it.

Price: 10 - Are you kidding me? $70 for two-band hair. Crazy cheap for a very high quality product.

Lather Making Ability: 9.5 - It is a smaller knot, but produces lather quite well. Has no problem producing enough lather for 3 passes while face lathering.

Tip Softness: 10 - The tips of this brush have broken in to be very soft. Very comfortable while face lathering.

Bristle Stiffness: 9.5 - Has plenty of backbone to pick up soaps.

Density: 9 - Dense enough, but definitely not near the density of simpson's. However, it makes up for that by releasing lather much easier.

Overall: Vie-Long is rumored to source their badger hair from the same place as Plisson. Having owned Simpson's 2-band brushes, I can definitely say that the 2-band from vie-long is very different. Never used a Plisson and will not pay that price for a brush, but the Vie-Long has made me a very happy customer. The only downside is the handle is on the smaller side and maybe the 16727 would be better (though not available from a US vendor). Overall this is one of my best brushes and for the price-point it really cannot be beat.