A week ago I had the pleasure of shopping for shave supplies in Pasteur's pharmacy in NYC (I went to the 34th street location). I did notice that they had a good number of Simpson's brushes, though I do not believe they had the entire line of brushes. I went through about 15 brushes looking for one I was happy with, and did in fact buy a Simpson S-1 Special in Best Badger (their cheapest best badger brush at US$40). One thing that did baffle me is that price did not, at least to me, have any indication as to brush quality, knot size or how finely formed/made the handle was. I actually liked the Special more than most of the $100-200 brushes in both super badger and best badger. Even many of the brushes in the $200-300 range left me underwhelmed though at least a couple of them had a bigger knot than the Special. They had two copies of the Special and I did show a preference for one of them, with a taller loft (I like a taller loft) and more bloom (I again regard that as a positive). I don't remember every brush I looked at but they included a Harvard, Tulip, Chubby (1 I believe), Major, Persian Jar and a few others
Can anybody explain the hierarchy of Simpsons brushes well? Also why are some brushes with seemingly the same knot in the same badger grade in similar sized handles warrant a 50% price premium?
I am impressed with the brand overall and will probably buy another brush in either Best or Super, but may try to do so in a brick and mortar store where I can examine what I am buying. It is not an issue with sticker shock. It is just that the hierarchy seemed almost arbitrary. I liked my $40 brush more than several $200 brushes that I saw that day. Having used the brush the last week or so confirms my liking of it. Soft, comfortable, little or no scritch, and has shed only 1 hair in a week of use.
I face lather. I do have a few Whipped Dog brushes including my previous workhorse, a 22 mm silvertip (very soft and floppy - pluses in my book), a 30 mm silvertip with the handle drilled down to 20 mm which I do not like as much but have only used it a couple of times, it is not broken in yet, a Whipped Dog 24 mm black badger with too much scritch. The Simpsons Special has a hair more scritch than my broken in 22 mm Whipped Dog Silvertip but they seem very close in feel and performance. My 30 mm WD Silvertip has a lot more Scritch and backbone, both not something I like, but it is not broken in. I also have a WD synthetic and a couple of Razorock Plissoft synthetics. Surprisingly I also like an Omega Pro 48 in boar, even though it is far from broken in. I think the tall loft of the Omega 48 allows it to splay a bit.
You may have noticed that I tend to like a high loft and a somewhat floppy brush much more so than many of the face latherers on this forum, so this may color my view. I like a soft luxurious brush for face lathering. Surprisingly however I do like my Omega 48 boar despite it not being broken in.
Enough rambling, and back to my original question: What is the hierarchy of Simpsons brushes and what is the reasoning behind it?
Simpsons Brush Hierarchy?
شارك عبر الماسنجر
