Vie-Long Beehive LE Super Silvertip Photos Added

I looked to see if there was a thread already started for this brush but did not see one so here goes. Unless you were napping with Rip Van Winkle you know this brush as one of the Beehive LE brushes that was part of a custom order brush made by Vie-Long sold through BullGooseShaving. My hands are large and this brush is a good weight and size. It feels good in my hands and is easy to grip. The Super Silvertip has a very generous dense knot of badger. The tips of the Super Silvertip are as soft as you will find on the market. I chose to let the brush soak in warm water with about 60% of the badger covered by water. The brush soaked for about an hour and then I poured out the water which was slightly discolored and the brush had the typical new badger funk. A couple of washes with a small (half of an english pea) drop of dawn for each wash then it was time to go to the La Toja Manantiales Shaving Soap for the shave today. I gave the brush a couple of gentle shakes to remove the water and then began loading the brush. After loading the brush the first lather was accomplished with face lathering. Good backbone and the soft tips made the circular and paint motions a pleasure as the lather began to build on my face. The second pass was done with adding a little bit of water to the bowl and letting the brush loose with circular passes in the bowl. In short order I had a good lather to apply to my face. I chose a two pass shave today but could have easily had my usual three pass shave with the amount of soap on the brush. This soft tipped brush can eat up the soap and take care of business. Very decent backbone to this brush and good flow through.



Check out the density of the brush in the photo below







Here's the dimensions of the Super Silvertip taken from BullGooseShaving:

Approximate Dimensions:

Knot Diameter: 25mm

Loft: 50mm

Handle Height: 55mm

Overall Height 105mm

I do not know how many of these Phil has left in stock but if you did not get one and are considering another badger for the den then don't miss out on a FANTASTIC brush. A great price point for this brush - IMHO.

It seems to be a great brush.I have a Vie Long silvertip and its the most luxurious,velvety soft shaving brush that I own.
I wanna see pics of this one!!!

You will soon see one up close and personal Teiste.

I agree this is a really nice brush for all the reasons stated here.

Heres mine after 10 lathers.



Oh And a measure of the loft is 45mm's . Very nice brush. I am glad I bought it for sure.

More brush makers ought to consider engraving the bottom of the handle like the Semogue LE2011 .

Big nod to that idea.

Good review of a very nice looking brush.

Thanks for posting the photos.

I'd not seen one of these until now and they look to be a very impressive brush.

Gorgeous brush! Oh boy!

Vie Long really packed those silvertip brushes really well!!!
Im waiting to get the foroafeitado Fathers day Edition shaving brush of Vie Long,but in this case the knot is a 21mm and the hair is two band badger.
Well done for Vie Long and for Bullgooseshaving.

That's a beautiful brush and it looks super dense.

Just got this brush recently and love it. Have the natural horse version as well but that needs more time to soften up for me.

Teiste took a few pictures for me and I would like to share them.

           

I must have been napping... Call me Rip Van Winkle. I didn't even know this brush existed. But wowsa!

I'm really impress with this shaving brush and its craftsmanship.I haven't tried it (shave with it) but I was capable to see that the brush its fully loaded with quality silvertip hair and the handle its well made and kind of heavy.This is a 25mm knot brush and for 130 bucks its a bargain,specially if I compare it to other brushes more expensive like the Thater ones.Maybe not the brush for me,since it has a knot bigger than 23mm,but I can see this brush getting a lot of love out there.
Well done for Vie Long and good idea,Phil!

Thank you Teiste. I am really happy with how they turned out. Maybe down the road a bit I will come out with a smaller beehive (22 or 23mm).

Oddly enough, it didn't feel that big on my face when using it. The size is good. Not too big or mop-like at all, and I prefer 22ish mm brushes myself most of the time. On deck again for tomorrow.

The more I use this brush, the more I like it. Good backbone, excellent flow through and it feels like a cloud on your face.

(04-02-2012, 05:46 PM)bullgoose Wrote: Thank you Teiste. I am really happy with how they turned out. Maybe down the road a bit I will come out with a smaller beehive (22 or 23mm).

Are you a particular fan of the beehives?

I really like the sound of the 25mm knot to a 50mm loft. Usually a 50 mm loft is on a much smaller knot so this has to have serious backbone.

(04-04-2012, 08:38 PM)Brent Wrote: Are you a particular fan of the beehives?

I do really like the beehive as a handle shape. In my personal collection, I currently have 5 different beehives and have owned several others.

(04-04-2012, 08:47 PM)bullgoose Wrote:

(04-04-2012, 08:38 PM)Brent Wrote: Are you a particular fan of the beehives?

I do really like the beehive as a handle shape. In my personal collection, I currently have 5 different beehives and have owned several others.

Wow! For a less common handle style, that's quite a collection. What different makers do you have/had brushes from?

Being less experienced in wetshaving I've only seen this as the second beehive (Rooney being the other) so I'm curious.

I have owned the Rooney Beehive in two sizes but sold them. Right now I have two Rudy Vey Beehives with Shavemac D01 knots and three of the Vie-Longs (a natural horse prototype which is a bit different from the production model and one each of the silvertip and the horse/badger mix). I will likely also adopt a dyed horse version of the Vie-Long beehive.

(04-04-2012, 09:08 PM)bullgoose Wrote: I have owned the Rooney Beehive in two sizes but sold them. Right now I have two Rudy Vey Beehives with Shavemac D01 knots and three of the Vie-Longs (a natural horse prototype which is a bit different from the production model and one each of the silvertip and the horse/badger mix). I will likely also adopt a dyed horse version of the Vie-Long beehive.

Thanks for the info. Since the RVs would most likely be custom maybe they are more uncommon than I thought. With all the semogue family pictures it would be nice to see the beehive family shot if you ever get the time!