I wanted to start on a positive note. The craftsmanship that went into this brush is excellent. It is beautifully crafted, fits the shape of my hand perfectly, and is just gorgeous to the eye. This is my 3rd Kent brush in 12 years and my first handmade brush… with that said this is by far the stiffest of boar bristle I have ever received. It’s really rough on the skin and scalp. The others were stiff, don’t get me wrong, but this is on a different level and don’t fancy brushing with it at all. I thought this was the same white bristle cut used in the other brushes… maybe something changed in the last decade? I don’t know? But if I would of known then what I know now, I would have purchased the MHS18S. I soaked the bristles in a hot beard oil and water mix for 15 minutes and let dry trying to soften the bristles. It did work some, but the bristles in my opinion are still too hard to what I’m accustomed to. So with that note said, if you’ve used their white bristle brushes before and you want something a bit stiffer, I would go with this purchase. If you want something of similar stiffness to what you are accustomed to I would say try the MHS18S first. I hope this helps everyone who is on edge of which to get without knowing either or… Thanks for reading.