Item Description
Price: $290-$330 I found EM's place had the best deal in the US, but check around.
Quality: This is a hand made brush using the best quality resins, and badger hair available. The brush feels heavy and well made, with the only complaints I have being that the "Sterilized" sticker falls off after a couple of uses. The logo stamping is also a bit simple looking and not quite as fancy as one sees on machine stamped handles, but it's 100% hand made, and this mark of imperfection is what makes a Simpson, a Simpson. I'm told a lot of labor and man hours goes into the making of brush with such a dense knob, and while I don't know what a craftsman in the UK earns, I'm sure that for the amount of time, labor and materials that goes into one of these, $300 is well worth the quality.
Density: You are hard pressed to find a denser knot than on the chubby.. and the 3 being the biggest (I think it's 27mm), is among biggest brushes out there. The bristle stands firm, but soft and the hair stays quite neat and dressed after use. It's almost too dense in that there is little play in the bulb when you apply it to your face, but the fact that it's so soft makes up for the lack of "bounce". The picture taken below is of a brush that was just used just an hour or so before, and even when still damp, it holds together quite well. I've not lost a single hair in the two weeks or so I've had it.
Stiffness and Softness: As I said above, the brush is both quite stiff and soft, which gives it a great feeling on your face, but it doesn't flop around like brushes that are less dense. It stays together quite well and when you want the bristles to yield, they'll yield without losing the form of the bulb.
Ergonomic: This ares is the only area where the brush falls a bit short of the perfection that one expects of a brush in this price range. For my hands (and I'm 6' tall and 200lbs), I find the handle a bit thick, or massive. I don't know if it's due to the large diameter knot, or if it's more of a design issue, but I would like if the handle was maybe 3-4mm smaller in diameter. With that said, you quality adapt to the handle and find that you're able to apply lather quite precisely, large handle not withstanding.
Latherability: Here is an area where this brush is king once again. I can tell you that with just one almond sized dab of shave cream, and what water the brush holds in after a couple of shakes into the sink, I'm able to get quite a bit of lather built up into this thing. Enough so that I can do 3 passes or more, and still have a lot left over. The bristles seem to have an unlimited capacity to hold and create more lather. The best of the 3 fine brushes I own in this department, for sure.
A size comparison to the R.A. Rooney Style 1, Medium brush, and a German made Dachs, horn handle "Silvertip" brush from EM's place.
Quality: This is a hand made brush using the best quality resins, and badger hair available. The brush feels heavy and well made, with the only complaints I have being that the "Sterilized" sticker falls off after a couple of uses. The logo stamping is also a bit simple looking and not quite as fancy as one sees on machine stamped handles, but it's 100% hand made, and this mark of imperfection is what makes a Simpson, a Simpson. I'm told a lot of labor and man hours goes into the making of brush with such a dense knob, and while I don't know what a craftsman in the UK earns, I'm sure that for the amount of time, labor and materials that goes into one of these, $300 is well worth the quality.
Density: You are hard pressed to find a denser knot than on the chubby.. and the 3 being the biggest (I think it's 27mm), is among biggest brushes out there. The bristle stands firm, but soft and the hair stays quite neat and dressed after use. It's almost too dense in that there is little play in the bulb when you apply it to your face, but the fact that it's so soft makes up for the lack of "bounce". The picture taken below is of a brush that was just used just an hour or so before, and even when still damp, it holds together quite well. I've not lost a single hair in the two weeks or so I've had it.
Stiffness and Softness: As I said above, the brush is both quite stiff and soft, which gives it a great feeling on your face, but it doesn't flop around like brushes that are less dense. It stays together quite well and when you want the bristles to yield, they'll yield without losing the form of the bulb.
Ergonomic: This ares is the only area where the brush falls a bit short of the perfection that one expects of a brush in this price range. For my hands (and I'm 6' tall and 200lbs), I find the handle a bit thick, or massive. I don't know if it's due to the large diameter knot, or if it's more of a design issue, but I would like if the handle was maybe 3-4mm smaller in diameter. With that said, you quality adapt to the handle and find that you're able to apply lather quite precisely, large handle not withstanding.
Latherability: Here is an area where this brush is king once again. I can tell you that with just one almond sized dab of shave cream, and what water the brush holds in after a couple of shakes into the sink, I'm able to get quite a bit of lather built up into this thing. Enough so that I can do 3 passes or more, and still have a lot left over. The bristles seem to have an unlimited capacity to hold and create more lather. The best of the 3 fine brushes I own in this department, for sure.

A size comparison to the R.A. Rooney Style 1, Medium brush, and a German made Dachs, horn handle "Silvertip" brush from EM's place.
