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Favorite Small Brush

It depends what you mean by a “small” brush. To me, it means one that fits in my small Simpsons travel tube.

My favorites of these are a Simpsons Case in Best (soft tips but dense with backbone) and a Shavemac 19mm Pure badger knot on a Rudy Vey beehive handle (gentle exfoliating tips and tall loft that lathers in its core).

Another one that almost qualifies as small (just a bit too tall for the top to screw on the tube) is a Plisson No. 8 with a High Mountain White knot. This one is unique—soft tips and a body, but it could lather steel from an ingot.
 
I love my Simpsons Berkeley 46 and my Semogue 610, but for me both of those are in the mid size category. Among what I consider small, the Simpsons Case reigns supreme. I also like the Omega Bigger Bambino and the Wee Scott.
 
Shavemac 18/44 Silvertip D01 2-Band :001_wub:

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Probably my favorite truly small brush (which I'd define as <20mm) is the Simpson's Major in Best. It's not exactly the smartest purchase, as travel brushes go...a Case with the corresponding case is probably a better buy, especially considering that you're more likely to lose a travel brush and the Major's pretty darned expensive. But I just love mine...it's a wonderful little brush, and always does a bang-up job when I travel. (Though of course it hasn't gotten much use in the past year or so.) Plus, I just love how the handle fits together so nicely...there's just something satisfying about a quirky hand-turned turnback-style brush.
 

Owen Bawn

Garden party cupcake scented
I have a bunch of little brushes, many of which are the usual suspects- a Duke 2, a Classic 1, an Eagle G2, et cetera... but today I used this little fella. Probably at least a 30 year old brush that I bought new about 12 years ago, a typical Rooney that would have been available for short money in every High St chemist's shop in Old Blighty back in the day. Cheap plastic handle. I put nail polish on the label years ago and it's certainly preserved it nicely. I think it's an 18 or 19mm knot in a quality Pure badger that you just don't see anymore.

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Some years back when I was really into small brushes, I had Rudy make me a 16mm with a low loft. I eventually sold my small brushes and these days prefer 24-26mm.
 
Left to right, For scale - Yaqi Sagrada Familia (24mm x 53mm) for scale, Tweezerman pure badger (approx. 20mm x 48mm) Wet Shaving Products Monarch silvertip (22mm x 50mm).

The Tweezerman was my first brush, purchased in May 2009. It was made of pure badger hair with the ends of the knot clipped with scissors to form the knot. In those early years, my face softened those clipped hairs.

The WSP silvertip was purchased soon after Lee began offering brushes. Aside from the nice looking Kent knockoff handle, it has a wonderful knot with a great face feel.

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