Beard, nails and the whole ritual: shaving brushes, clippers, scissors and cased sets in nappa leather. Instruments that are meant to be kept, not replaced.
Badger or synthetic
Badger holds more water and builds a softer, warmer lather; synthetic dries faster, costs less, does not shed and does not smell when new. For a first brush synthetic is the sensible answer — the difference is real, but smaller than the price gap suggests, and a good synthetic beats a cheap badger comfortably.
Nails and beard are different instruments
Beard and moustache scissors have longer blades and blunter tips than nail scissors, because they cut hair on a curve and must not be pointed at skin. Using nail scissors on a beard works badly and dulls the edge for its actual job. If you are buying one thing, buy for the job you do more often.
Why sets appear here
A cased set is the most common purchase in this section, and usually a gift. What separates one that gets used from one that stays in a drawer is the case: stitched leather that opens flat, instruments held in place rather than rattling, and enough pieces to be complete without being a display. Four or five is the practical size.
What lasts
Forged steel and a hand-set edge, in this section as in every other. The test is the same: hold the instrument to a window, close it slowly, and watch whether the blades meet along their whole length or leave daylight at the ends. Everything about how long it stays sharp follows from that one thing.