Brocha de Afeitar Semogue Hereditas 2010

Although badger brushes can be an expensive investment, there are some great quality brush makers that make affordable badger brushes alongside their premium range. One such company is Portuguese brush maker, Semogue. Alongside their premium Silvertip brushes, they offer affordable badger brushes. For review, I have the Semogue 2010. Sporting a Pure badger 22mm knot with 54mm loft, set in an Oak wood handle with the signature metal ring around the knot, Semogue’s top-notch quality is certainly present in this model. The Portuguese Factory has the 2010 model priced the lowest I have seen it, making it a very affordable entry into the badger brush market. The oak wood handle has a comfortable feel to it, and looks nice with its open grain. This badger brush had a bit of a ‘funk’ smell (which is common), but from the start it was only very mild, and with every lather the smell dissipated more and more. Boar brushes are known to require a good level of break-in time in order to perform at their peak, however I noticed that with this Pure Badger brush the performance was well in play pretty much from the start! It created a rich and creamy lather very easily, whether in a bowl or on the face. I would say the knot is of medium density, not super dense, but perfectly sufficient for the task. This brush gives up/releases lather easily, so it’s not an effort to re-lather between passes – it’s not a lather hog. I always like a brush that feels comfortable building lather on the face, since I nearly exclusively face lather. I own a different brand ‘Best’ badger grade brush that has always been a bit scratchy for my liking. I don’t really like scritchy brushes – some scrub is nice, but I don’t like the prickly feeling a scritchy brush has (I know some people particularly like that feel, and want that in a brush). Even though ‘pure’ badger is technically a lower grade to ‘best’ badger, this Pure badger 2010 felt much better than my more expensive ‘other brand’ best badger! I have enjoyed this brush a lot, and I know I will continue using it for years to come.