I enjoyed the Pro 48 so much earlier this week that I decided to bring it out again. (The Omega model number is 10048, thus “Pro 48.”) I loaded it easily with Strop Shoppe’s excellent Vivace shaving soap (now a vintage soap, Strop Shoppe having closed its doors). The routine is easy: wet knot thoroughly under the hot-water tap, let brush stand sopping wet while I shower. Then at the lavatory sink I was my stubble with a high-glycerin soap — currently a bar of Pears Transparent Soap I bought as an experiment. (It works fine, but I prefer MR GLO.)
I rewet the brush to heat it up, then give it a couple of good shakes and brush the soap vigorously and at some length: The brush has a big knot, so it requires a fair amount of soap = a thorough loading. Brush rapidly with firm pressure for 15 seconds or so does the job.
Then I bring the loaded brush to my face, and the feel is excellent. The lather is quite good already (thanks in no small part to the soap), but I work it up a bit more, mostly by brushing briskly on and around my chin, then spread it over my stubble and brush it in.
The secret, I think, is the the Pro 48 has very resilient bristles, but because it also has a high loft, it is not at all scrubby. And because of its resilience, it’s also not floppy. It’s a unique sensation that I don’t encounter in many other brushes because it depends on those two things: high resilience and high loft. The Omega 20102 is close, but the loft of the Pro 48 is just a bit more.
It does help, of course, that the brush is well broken in, but since I have so many brushes, it hasn’t had all that much use — were I to use it daily, the amount I’ve used it is probably at most 3-4 months. Maybe even less.
It’s a brush that deserves consideration. As I’ve noted, if you get one, for the first week just load the brush (after soaking), make lather in your cupped palm, and rinse brush — with hot water until water runs clear and the brush is free of soap, then with cold water. Then give it a couple of shakes and stand it on the base to air dry. This will clean the brush of the lather-killing compounds that new boar knots seem to have.
With the wonderful lather, the shave was excellent. The Merkur Progress is an excellent adjustable, and three passes left my face totally smooth. Then a good splash of Alt-Innsbruck, and the weekend begins.
Update: The comments on another SOTD post suggest why it took me so long to grasp the excellence of the Pro 48.
