Luxury Shaving Brush for Men by VIKINGS BLADE, Ultra Heavy Acrylic & 316L Steel Handle, Super Strong Knot Backbone, Minimal Shedding, Fast Lather, Extremely Smooth & Plush on Skin (Dark Stallion)

I used to have some AOS brushes, but they never quite sat right. Overly soft, didn't lather as well as I would like, to be fair it was their lowest tier badger. When I discovered the practices of Chinese made brushes (the badger is killed) and I couldn't reliably trace the origin of most my brushes, I decided I wanted something that was Synthetic, Cruelty Free, From the US or an Ally, and lastly one that performs well. I took a gamble on this brush, and it worked out well. The brush is synthetic (nylon) and cruelty free, made in Australia, and the one thing I couldn't research, performance. It is as soft as a typical silver tip badger, looks just like one, and performs better in my opinion. The water retention is better than badger as the water retention is very consistent. The brush loads well, lathers well, and applies well. The brush isn't the cheapest out there, but its also a fraction of the cost of silver tipped badger, and in my opinion of equal quality.The handle has some real weight to it. I was shocked at how heavy. Its not cumbersome in any way, but there is no doubt as to how substantial this thing is. The white knight is faux Ivory, so it looks nice, but is also cruelty free. The handle is proudly stamped as Australian made. Ivory trimmed with a chrome like finish. Fits in my brush stand, so thats a plus.A note on travel, the brush does come in a tube (and may be stamped made in china, but thats just the tube). The tube while it CAN be used for travel, it does not appear to be the original intent. So you may need to carefully add your own holes for ventilation and drainage. I have heard some of the tubes could be a heavy cardboard, mine was a lovely acryllic.I intend to buy the capsule style for travel when needed as it is a travel brush.FYI, The Dark Stallion is Badger, the white knight, dark raven and fire mare to my knowledge are all cruelty free. I can verify matter of factually the white knight is a synthetic brush, and quite a good one at that.

Caution! Long review ahead. If you're in a hurry, look for the summaries marked by ***TL;DR.I am very new to wet shaving. I have been using a safety razor only about two weeks. This is my first brush. With that understanding, though, I hope my review will be helpful in deciding one way or another.First of all, I bought this full price, based on the description and reviews. I actually decided on this brush, and then when I was trying to choose the soap to go with it the price went up. I almost got a different brush after that, but eventually went with this one.***TL;DR: I'm no expert, but I did pay for the brush myself.First impressions: before using it, the box that it comes in is cool. It has a good weight to it, which is one of the reasons I chose this brush. I had looked at other, less expensive brushes, but they had wood handles, and I felt like a handle with a little more heft would be good. The black and silver look nice, but the logo is printed in such a way that it's upside down if you hang it, which is recommended to extend the life of the brush. The bristles are cut, which from what I have read indicates that it is a cheaper brush, but at less than $30 that is to be expected. The cut bristles are stiffer at the ends, so it makes the brush not feel as soft, but it is still not super coarse, and is softer than the brand available at my local Walmart.Right out of the box it does smell a bit like new leather. After getting it wet it smells a little like a billy goat, for those of you familiar with that smell, though much fainter. I saw in my research someone suggested washing it in some dish soap and warm water to get rid of the smell faster, so I did that. Having nothing to compare it to, I don't know if it made a difference, but it seemed like it would help in theory.***TL;DR: Looks and feels nice, smells like an animal.First shave went well. It didn't seem to lather as well as I had seen in videos, but I think that is more because of the soap and the inexperienced user. It lost about a bristle and a half, and it tinted the soap brown a little bit. It may have just been the soap though, since I have never used it before. I guess I'll find out in a week or two. I got a nice shave from it, in spite of some odd coloring, and that one bristle that didn't want me to shave. Overall I'm happy with it, and would recommend it with the qualification that I am not an expert. If you can afford it I'm sure that the $100 silvertip brushes could be better, but this is very usable, and far more affordable. Especially for us twenty-somethings working retail.EDIT: Second day the soap wasn't tinted as much, so it's the brush washing out, and I'm okay with that. Also, the lather problem wasn't the brush, soap, or the user. It's the hard water here. Looks like I'll be shaving with distilled.***TL;DR: This newbie wet shaver likes it decently well. I don't have anything to compare it to, but it gets an easy five stars.