Cumberbatch 100% natural mens shaving brush has a large knot 20mm and longer loft 64mm which offers a good middle ground between stiffness and softness experience. No awful smell and only has a very little shedding problem when first use. The densely filled black pure grade badger brush head is ideal for holding (water retention) and distributing rich lather. It's a great shaving brush set option to a beginning shaver who wants to learn shaving before moving on to higher quality and more expensive shave brush kit.