Sometime last week I said I’d do a side-by-side comparison of RazoRock’s new angel-hair synthetic and the Plisson angel-hair synthetic.
The soap today is Maggard Razors Lilac, which has a wonderful fragrance and makes a fine lather but is sold in containers that are half empty (or, if you’re an optimist, half full). Though some like having empty space in the container, I prefer to get containers that are full (like Martin de Candre’s shaving soaps, to name one example).
Be that as it may, I loaded both brushes easily—the Maggard soaps are quite good and easy to lather—and lathered my beard using the brushes alternately. I don’t think I would notice any significant difference between the two if I used them separately, but when juxtaposed in the same shave, the differences were evident.
As you can see in the photo, the RazoRock knot (the brush on the left) is somewhat larger: the knot a slightly greater diameter than the Plisson’s, though the lofts seem to be the same. I thus expected it to feel larger on my face. However, the brushes felt much the same size and, if anything, the Plisson felt a tad larger—and certainly felt softer. (I think the Plisson’s greater softness is what made it feel larger.)
As I say, I doubt that I would notice the difference had I used the brushes separately, on different days, but using them side by side, the Plisson’s greater softness was obvious. On the whole, the Plisson felt better, but note that the RazoRock will sell for $15 when it is again available and that Plisson costs €34.80 ($39.20), more than twice as much—in fact, more than 2.5 times as much. So it’s no surprise that the quality is somewhat greater.
That said, the RazoRock is quite good, and at $15 is a great bargain. Since I now have both, though, I myself prefer the feel of the Plisson. Both brushes perform admirably in terms of creating lather, so there’s no difference there.
Once lathered, I shaved, using the British equivalent of the Super Speed, the Gillette Rocket, an altogether more skookum razor. Here’s the Super Speed and the Rocket side by side, with the Super Speed in front, and you can see the difference. In terms of weight, the Super Speed shown is 55g and the Rocket is 72g.
Three passes to a BBS result with no problems encountered. Altogether a fine shave. I finished with a final splash of Esbjerg Sensitive aftershave gel, and again I really like the fragrance, feel, and effect of this aftershave. I may have to get a bottle.
I should note that my preference for the feel of the Plisson is just that: a personal preference. I can readily imagine that some will probably prefer the RazoRock’s feel, and talk about how it has more “backbone,” a characteristic not important (or impressive) to me: I like invertebrate brushes because I like a brush that feels soft on my face. That’s part of the YMMV of shaving. And no matter how much we talk about YMMV, some will always believe that their own experience is the “true” experience, and any experience that differs is some sort of error.
Filed under: Shaving 
