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Road Test: Muhle 21mm STF V2que vs. Simpson Berkeley (20mm) in Best

This afternoon I decided to lather one half of my face with the Muhle 31 K 252 STF V2 synthetic and the other side with the Simpson Berkeley 46B Best badger. The Berkeley is my favorite brush to date, and the Muhle is my newest brush. I have had great shaves using each brush and I wanted to see how my initial positive impressions of the Muhle would hold up in a direct comparison.

The Numbers
The Muhle synthetic knot is 21mm with a 52mm loft, while the Simpson badger knot is 20mm with 45mm loft. The Muhle handle is 47mm high by 35mm in diameter, while the Berkeley is 45mm high by 32mm in diameter. As you can see in the pictures below, the bloomed Simpson with smaller knot and shorter loft has about the same diameter as viewed from the top as the Muhle. They both have similarly hybrid fan/bulb knot shape. The Simpson was $51 plus shipping from West Coast Shaving and the Muhle was $42 plus shipping from Connaught. BTW, the shipping from the UK only cost $2 and took 12-13 days to Southern California. It probably would have been quicker, but I ordered it Dec 17, so I was in the midst of the holiday shippocalypse.

Ergonomics
I like this knot size and I like smaller handles. Both of these handles are very comfortable and there is little to choose between them for face lathering. Perhaps the combination of slightly longer handle and loft would make the Muhle easier to use for bowl lathering. The Simpson is a truly classic look, yet the Muhle faux horn is nicely done and I cannot fault the ergonomics at all.

Face Lathering
I used TOBS Coconut Cream as fuel. I already know that both of these brushes eat hard soap with no difficulty. For consistency, I loaded both brushes quite dry, then painted the cream onto my face working it into the tips of the brush, and finally dipped lightly to add water. The synthetic more or less requires this technique because it cannot hold on to water or lather until there is some product worked into the knot. With the badger, I would normally leave it a bit more wet and then I would only need to make minor water adjustments if any.

I experimented with painting, side to side scrubbing, and scrubbing with a swirling motion since it seems like different brushes like different motions to build lather, place lather, and smooth it out (as do different people). The Muhle builds lather a bit faster than the Simpson, but the badger retained much more heat than the synthetic knot and the feel of the Simpson was definitely nicer for this reason. The Muhle had more backbone than the Simpson with softer tips and zero scritch. The Berkeley has very mild scritch, which I do not mind since it adds to the sense of massage and "working the whiskers." Yet the added backbone of the Muhle gave a very nice massage as well. The synthetic knot seemed even more precise than the Berkeley and that has been one of my favorite features of the Berkeley. The Muhle synthetic did not have the elastic feel of my Whipped Dog (WD) synthetic knot. This allowed the Muhle knot to splay very gradually and predictably as I applied more pressure.

The quality of lather from both brushes was excellent--creamy and slick--and very similar in character with no foaminess or frothiness or stray liquid to be found anywhere in the knot. Both of these brushes have great flow, they know that the lather belongs on my face, not hiding deep in the knot. Both brushes hold enough lather for three passes plus touch up, but my qualitative sense based on what I squeezed out during clean up is that the Berkeley holds more lather. The way that it retained heat initially, even after being well squeezed out and shaken supports that.

Conclusion
I am truly surprised. The fact that a synthetic brush is in the ballpark of my favorite badger brush is amazing. OTH, I don't think about the Muhle in terms of how closely it imitates a badger brush. It is a different animal (sorry about that) and choosing between them is a matter of trade-offs between two excellent brushes. Muhle has the advantage of lower cost, better backbone, softer tips, ease of maintenance, and using less product. Simpson has the advantage of holding more heat, (water, lather), a slight scritch, and having less backbone. It is mostly a matter of which features are most important to you.

Both brushes feel like quality products and have excellent ergonomics, though there is definitely more variation in batches of badger than there is in batches of V2 fiber. Lathering ability is excellent for both, though I would give a very slight edge to Muhle for speed of lathering and perhaps more versatility with handle and loft. The Simpson Best badger is more luxurious with its superior water/heat retention and less backbone which gives it a more enveloping pillow-like feeling while lathering (don't read that as floppy, since the Berkeley has decent backbone, just not as much as the Muhle). The Muhle STF V2 with more backbone gives a better massage, though with very soft tips.

It will be interesting to see what I think about these two in a month or so once the thrill of the new is gone with the Muhle and I have been using both in rotation for a while. I will report back. But for now I can heartily recommend both of these brushes.

Alan

$Muhle Berkeley.JPG
Berkeley and Muhle in foreground, with Simpson Colonel to the left behind Berkeley and WD Synthetic to the right behind Muhle. In the background are my boar triplets: Omega 10275 and Pro49, and Semogue 1250 (sorry about the lighting, it really does not show off the beauty of the faux horn Muhle handle, but you can get a sense in the picture below taken from the Connaught site.)

$Muhle 31k252.jpg
Muhle 31 K 252

$Muhle Berkeley Top.JPG
Top view of Berkeley and Muhle at the bottom. Colonel and WD above.
 
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It is about six weeks later and after a flare of BAD, the Muhle STF V2 is still one of my favorites. Three brushes have come in (Simpson Classic 1 in Best, VB Finest 2-band, Whipped Dog Silvertip) and two have left the den (Simpson Classic 1 and Simpson Colonel). Another two are pretty much in storage and slated for PIF (WD Synthetic and Omega 10275).

The Muhle is a very steady performer and I have even switched to it mid-shave when I was not happy with my lather using another brush. I think the flow is the best of any brush I have and I really like that. It also has the most backbone, which is good for massage, but if I could dial it down just slightly I would prefer that. OTH, without that backbone I might find the brush less precise as the loft is a bit longer than most of my brushes, who knows. It lacks the warm enveloping feeling of a denser badger brush or a large boar brush, but it has many other fine qualities (durability, ergonomics, workmanship, lathering ability, ease of care especially when travelling). Of course the face feel of a brush is very much a matter of personal preference, but a month later, I still really like this brush.
 
ailevin, thanks for the detailed report. I have tried three synthetic brushes (HIS, Frank Shaving, and Kent), none of which I found satisfactory. They all feel too stiff to me, and do not hold water well. I took one on a two month vacation as my only brush, and I hated shaving with it. It felt stiff and the water just dripped down my arm. I have since learned that you don't need to soak synthetics, so I guess that part was my fault.

My favorite brushes include a couple of badgers (Simpson Colonel and Duke 3), a couple of boars (Semogue 1305 and SOC), and one mixed-type (RazoRock Amici). I don't mind a bit of scritch, and I like some backbone in a brush, but I don't like a too-stiff brush. I have a Badger & Blade Omega that I don't love, because it seems stiff and won't splay. Do you think there is a synthetic brush that would work for me, or should I sticky to what I have?
 
Quigg,

Thanks for the comments and the bump to this thread, it is time for an update.

Since my last post in this thread I purchased a Plisson synthetic brush. I was skeptical of some of the reviews, but somewhat to my surprise, it improves on the Muhle in the two areas I mentioned earlier in my review: The Plisson is denser and holds water better, and it also has a little less backbone (splays more easily). I have both the Muhle and Plisson in my regular rotation, and I'm enjoying both brushes.

I have not tried the specific synthetic brushes you mention, so I can't make direct comparisons. However, with an earlier generation Whipped Dog synthetic, I noticed that once it was lathered up, it became very springy and was difficult to splay for face lathering. Also, it would splay very suddenly going from a stiff massage to no massage. This could be part of the trouble you are having. Neither the Muhle or the Plisson has this problem.

Apologies for going into a tutorial mode, but another possibility is related to how you are loading the brush. The synthetics don't hold water the same way that natural bristles/hairs hold water, and the water retention of synthetics changes dramatically once there is some soapy water in the knot. There is a sort of catch-22 that they can't hold water or soap until there is some water and soap in them. Because of this, I do what I call the synthetic two-step. Whether I use a stick or a puck, I start with the synthetic squeeze out and load a bit of soap into the tips and work it into the brush a bit. After that, I dip the brush to pick up a little water and continue loading or face lathering with small additions of water until I get the lather I want in the brush. You may want to see if using this technique helps with your current brushes.

Based on what you have described, I'd suggest looking into the Plisson synthetic. There is a recent thread here and there are other review threads around. I can also recommend the Muhle to someone who wants more backbone, but I do prefer the Plisson and I think it is closer to what you are asking for.
 
Thanks for clarifying things, ailevin. I think it may be time to revisit synthetics again. First, I will try your method with the brushes I already own. That addresses the water issue. Then, I may buy a Plisson, since it sounds like the fibers and the knot aren't as stiff as the earlier generations of synthetics. Thanks again!
 
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