A while ago I reviewed two Turkish brushes – the imaginatively named No6 and No7 – and was in general pleased with the result. Sometime after I had bought the two brushes however, the No6 was ‘upgraded’ by the manufacturer:

Please note, this product has been revised according to customer requirements.
Now, more quality, and aesthetics

Seeing as how I PIFed my original No6 away, I just had to get a new one… well, so I told myself at least.

The handle sits somewhat better in my hand than the original No6 did, due to the slightly more bulbous shape. The knot is very similar to the original, but the mounting of it is now done with a slightly better looking plastic ring.

In use the new No6 is more or less indistinguishable as the original No6 – good backbone, good flow, very little scratching. It’ll make lather just as good as a more expensive brush, but you’ll find it’ll hold less of it – more than enough for two passes though.

There is – as it was with the original No6 and the No7 – some discussion online as to the nature of the knot – horse or pig. Personally I suspect it’s a case of ‘whatever we can find’, but since Turkey is a predominately Muslim country I lean towards horse. Or at least partly horse – my original No6 certainly smelled rather strongly of stables, but a few hand lathers fixed that.

There is also a lot of indications that the quality control can be at best spotty – some users reports their brushes developing a ‘crater’ in the middle after a while. But for a brush costing about the same as a cup of coffee, can you expect perfection?

To repeat what I said in my original review; the No6 would be an excellent first brush for a newbie not wanting to spend much money on a new hobby. It’ll would also be a good “first horse” for more experienced shavers who wants to try something new. Or you could simply get one just for the fun of it – letting you get one more brush in your rotation without laying out more money than you would for a cup of coffee.

Can you afford not to try one?