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Brushes loft correct measure theory

Hi everyone,
I’m new in this site and this is my first post. I am a DE wet shaver since 2017 (I was 16 then) and over these years I have experimented with several brushes. I found myself hooked on Simpsons brushes as many of you are. In particular, I love their care for detail and their fun way of classifying their brushes. No other brand that I know of has come close to their universal appeal of names, badger quality and sizes. If I said to you “Chubby 1 super” anyone here would know exactly what I’m talking about. No other brand has such a widespread instant recognition, think about it.

In today post, however, I want to focus on a specific topic which is size. I’m from Italy, most italian brands don’t give much information, both online and in stores, about knot loft and diameter. They sometimes give you just the handle and/or overrall height and leave you to do the math, as if size didn’t really matter. This might be because italian brushes are produced with a barbershop use in mind: barbers put two fingers in the tuft, so an excessive loft of the knot is not a real problem but it is even desireable as it allowes the barber not to touch directly onto the client’s skin.
So you can imagine the surprise and the joy of seeing for the first time some years ago that Simpsons sold brushes in numerous sizes.

The first question that popped into my head was: which size do I choose? Which size is right for me? Since a have a medium/small face I decided that I should opt for the smaller sizes and then buy bigger brushes if I would have so needed. I should have said before, but I still can say it now, that my everyday brush before any Simpson purchase was (and I still use it) an Omega 6753 in super (loft 55 diameter 23).
So my Simpson collection began, with a Duke 1 in best. After using it for the first time I realised how much more comfortable was the handling a smaller brush compared to the Omega. In that moment (may 2020) I had an idea: what if there was a “scientific” way to find the perfectly sized brush? Over the years I bought other Simpson brushes and now I’m ready to state with reasonable confidence what I found.

First of all the perfect size is really more of a personal preference based on experience and taste, but I did find that both much larger brushes and much smaller ones (compared to one’s face) are impractical to use. In particular I discoved that a good guideline for size is the distance between the corner of the mouth and the earlobe.
For example in my case the distance is 10 cm. The 55 therefore is my ideal size brush: loft 42mm, diameter 17mm, if you add double the loft (as when you push the brush open onto your cheek) to the diameter you’ll find 10,1 cm, which is close to my cheek measurement. Of course this is not set in stone and moreover it does not mean that you should only get brushes is this exact size, but this formula offers a clear measure of a sweet spot from which you can add or subtract 5 mm to the loft and find you ideal range (+/- 1 cm from the cheek measurement I explained before). More or less than that and you’ll begin to feel that the brush may not be made for you. If you think about it, it does make sense: my ideal range goes from the Major M1 to the Chubby 1.

I want to know if anyone here agrees with me or if anyone has a very different view than mine, either way I’m very happy to hear from all of you.
 
Welcome to the forum
You may be on to something but it's a little too scientific for me. I just make the lather and brush it on like a paint brush. All different directions until I've made sure I'm all lathered up.
That's just me though. I'm sure others will chime in.
Have a great day and again, Welcome.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
Welcome to the forum, we're glad you're here.

I think you are correct - it's all about personal preference. While an interesting theory, I'm not at all sure the size of one's face is necessarily much of a factor. Personally, I don't care for small brushes, but we have plenty of members who do.
 
I very much like and appreciate this train of thought - but it is hard for me to think of a "perfect" brush existing for me! I have come to realize that variety is what I find most rewarding... I enjoy my Wee Scot and my CH2 just as much, and I am not sure I would ever give up any of my Vielong horses (RIP) or my Semogue boars (or my Zenith).

To each their own I guess!
 

Rudy Vey

Shaving baby skin and turkey necks
This really makes no sense at all. Don't fall for such a post. The person signed up here mid January, made this one post and was never seen again.....shilling for a certain company.
Use the brush that you like, either small or large, short loft or long, what matters is that it is right for you.
 
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