Vie-Long horsehair brush - kudos to Juan at Gifts and Care

MandoBear

MandoBear

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A few months ago I ordered a Vie-Long 13061 horsehair brush from Juan at Gifts & Care - very helpfully Juan is able to supply custom versions of Vie-Long brushes (ordered directly from the factory). Taking advantage of this, I ordered my brush with a shorter loft and with natural (unbleached) hair. Communication with Juan was excellent thoughout.

In due course the brush arrived and it performed very well - firm backbone, but very smooth and "glossy" feeling on the skin, but after a few weeks, it started shedding quite badly. I contacted Juan about this and said I would keep with it for a few weeks to see if it settled down - sadly it didn't and continued to shed (about 20 hairs per use), and I contacted Juan again, and he naturally obtained another brush of the same specification from Vie-Long and sent it off in the mail to me. It arrived a couple of days ago, and is working very nicely.

Not a very dramatic tale, I know, but throughout Juan has been excellent to deal with, and has since come back to me with an answer from Vie-Long as to what the cause was (a defective batch of glue apparently).

I just wanted to report back on what a lovely brush the 13061 is to use (everyone should try at least one horsehair brush) and what a great guy Juan is to deal with - I always think the test of a good vendor is how well they sort things out in the event of a problem. Gifts and Care are first class.
 
Because you can!! I have two horse hair from turkey. Very plain.very natural. The stiffness works well with very hard soaps and amazingly with MWF. On the face you definitely know it's there but nothing offensive.
You know that you're using something different.
 
I bought two Vie-Long's from G&C recently as well. One is pure horsehair, the other a boar/horse mix. Both with a very long loft, but narrowish knot. Very impressed with the service, and the prices are competitive as well.

Dr Rick, I read that horse used to be very common as a choice of brush, until about a hundred years ago, during (I believe) the first world war, when horsehair brushes were partly blamed for the proliferation of a very nasty outbreak of anthrax. After this, they fell out of popularity, and never really recovered.

Nonetheless, horsehair whips well, has good backbone, and is perfectly gentle on the face, unlike some would have you think. I bought mine because I thought they would be useful for whipping in my EJ mug, which is quite deep and my thicker-handled, shorter-lofted brushes clang against the inside edges. The results thus far have been great.

The only compaint I'd have about the V-L's is that the finish on the handles is pretty mediocre. One of the two looked pretty beat up straight out of the wrapping, in fact. I might ask Juan for a refund or exchange...
 
My experience with horsehair (from Vie-Long at least) is that it gives a firm but springy backbone, but that the tips of the hairs are quite soft and flexible. Somehow, the hair seems to glide more smoothly over my skin - compared to best or even silvertip badger. It's a subtle thing, but the feel is quite unlike either bristle or badger hair.

Ken, I agree that the finishing QC on Vie-Longs isn't all it might be (based on my experience of 2). My first brush had a handle which was OK, but could've been better - but my new brush has a handle which is superbly finished. It might be worth dropping Juan a line about it.
 
MandoBear said:
Ken, I agree that the finishing QC on Vie-Longs isn't all it might be (based on my experience of 2). My first brush had a handle which was OK, but could've been better - but my new brush has a handle which is superbly finished. It might be worth dropping Juan a line about it.
Click to expand...

Mando, I got the following back from Lorena @ G&C today, after I emailed yesterday evening:

"La virola ( la pieza metálica que lleva el mango) llega sin pulir, es decir todas traen marcas... Dejaron de pulirlas porque le daban un aspecto "used" que gustaba a los usuarios."

Which roughly translates to:

"The turning (metal casing around the top of the handle) is left unpolished, which is to say that all [the brushes in the Barber line] carry some markings... They stopped polishing them to give a "used" finish which buyers seemed to enjoy."

I'll be getting a replacement for one, and the other I am swapping out for some cream and soap.

Very pleasing brushes, nonetheless. The one I'm sticking with is the below, which is actually softer than the horse/boar mix!

http://www.giftsandcare.com/en/catalog/the-pleasure-of-shaving/barber-shaving-brushes/professional-brush-no2-brown-horse-hair-extra.html
 
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