I took delivery of a Simpson Special from Superior Shave a couple of days ago, and I had my first shave with it yesterday. I thought I'd post some impressions here in the brush forum.
I chose this brush because of its low price point, and the fact that the size is just about what I like in a fan shaped knot. I find 18mm to 20mm to be a good knot diameter for me with a fan knot. This proved to be a good choice. The 18mm knot is very nice for face lathering.
The handle is very comfortable in my hands, and the overall brush size is similar to a Rooney 3/1 I used to have, but I find the handle on the Special to be more comfortable that it was on the Rooney. The biggest difference between the Rooney and this brush apart from knot diameter (the Rooney is 20mm) is the softness of the hair. Simpsons' Best hair is known for being a bit inconsistent. The Rooney 3/1 I had was very soft. My new Special has just a touch of scritch. I have two other Simpsons in Best, a Duke 2 and a Wee, and neither of those has any real scritch. But the Duke did start off very prickly and softened up noticeably after about a dozen or so uses. I don't normally like scritch in a brush, but I found this characteristic to be rather pleasant on my first shave with this brush. The scritch isn't pokey, prickly or scratchy. It just feels like the brush is really working the skin when face lathering. I wonder if it will soften up with use like the Duke did. If the scritch eventually goes away I won't be disappointed, but I won't mind if it stays either.
This brush has been test lathered a few times to de-funk it, and has one shave on it so far. It has lost only one hair. That's nice, because my Wee shed like a mangy dog when I first got it. It doesn't shed anymore, but it took a while for it to settle down.
The new Simpsons have a sticker that says "Made in Great Britain," but mine says "Made in England." It did come in the newer red box as opposed to the grey box that my other Simpsons came in.
There's my mini review. If someone is looking for a nice face lathering badger brush, this is one to consider. It's low cost and good quality. Let's face it, Simpsons make some really nice looking handles.
I chose this brush because of its low price point, and the fact that the size is just about what I like in a fan shaped knot. I find 18mm to 20mm to be a good knot diameter for me with a fan knot. This proved to be a good choice. The 18mm knot is very nice for face lathering.
The handle is very comfortable in my hands, and the overall brush size is similar to a Rooney 3/1 I used to have, but I find the handle on the Special to be more comfortable that it was on the Rooney. The biggest difference between the Rooney and this brush apart from knot diameter (the Rooney is 20mm) is the softness of the hair. Simpsons' Best hair is known for being a bit inconsistent. The Rooney 3/1 I had was very soft. My new Special has just a touch of scritch. I have two other Simpsons in Best, a Duke 2 and a Wee, and neither of those has any real scritch. But the Duke did start off very prickly and softened up noticeably after about a dozen or so uses. I don't normally like scritch in a brush, but I found this characteristic to be rather pleasant on my first shave with this brush. The scritch isn't pokey, prickly or scratchy. It just feels like the brush is really working the skin when face lathering. I wonder if it will soften up with use like the Duke did. If the scritch eventually goes away I won't be disappointed, but I won't mind if it stays either.
This brush has been test lathered a few times to de-funk it, and has one shave on it so far. It has lost only one hair. That's nice, because my Wee shed like a mangy dog when I first got it. It doesn't shed anymore, but it took a while for it to settle down.
The new Simpsons have a sticker that says "Made in Great Britain," but mine says "Made in England." It did come in the newer red box as opposed to the grey box that my other Simpsons came in.
There's my mini review. If someone is looking for a nice face lathering badger brush, this is one to consider. It's low cost and good quality. Let's face it, Simpsons make some really nice looking handles.
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but the Special is still on my "I want one" list. You know, I ended up selling the 46 so I could learn to use a boar ...... curse you and your boar-conversion attempts! 
I guess I'm too impatient to be a boar guy.
