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Simpson, I hate you #SBAD #BAD #MAD

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The Instigator
... already have Chubby 2's in Best and in Super that spend most of the year sitting on the shelf mocking me. I have to be in the mood for the big brush. But when I am in that mood there's nothing like it.

🤔 I let the weather decide when CH2 Super gets used - sunny and windy days. Because I want that large, dense brush to dry properly, it goes on a sunny windowsill with the window open a crack. Whistling wind dries it before day's end.

Because it is so, so good at face lathering with stick soaps, it gets used probably 2x week. 🧐 Weather depending.


AA
 

Ad Astra

The Instigator
Same here, I would say around 30 lathering cycles and these first uses are PAINFUL! No splay, lots of scritch, and the lather disappears like magic. No other Badger comes close. I see many gents complaining about Simpsons Manchurian, talking about Marketing gimmick and a lower grade of hair, but I’m sure they haven’t passed the break in period.


one can never have too many Chubbies (or Classics, their close cousins). That’s all I’ve kept - every other Simpsons model I tried did not provide the same experience. Once you get used to the Chubby lifestyle, every other Badger brush becomes dull

CH1 is epic, CH2 is legendary, CH3 is transcendental

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That is a breathtaking photo for a Simpson fan! 🤣 Thanks.

"CH1 is epic, CH2 is legendary, CH3 is transcendental." Ought to be a custom title... 🤔

AA
 
My experience is that the Duke 1 and 2 are different enough from the Classic, Berkeley and Chubby that they're worth trying on their own merits.

Could you please elaborate?
The knots are nearly identical and the Classic/Chubby are the densest, so I am pretty sure the Dukes won’t make me happier
 
i agree the Chubby 1 Manchurian is a face lathering dream brush. It starts quite pointy and stiff, but after breaking in it is wonderful! Also a great traveling brush as the Manchurian brushes dry much faster due to the thickness of the hairs

I still put it behind the Chubby 1 Super because the Manchurian hair makes the perceived knot smaller than reality, while Super Badger does exactly the opposite. That’s why I’ve HAD to buy a CH2 Manchurian, which has just the right face feel for me, and does not feel as as big as the cousins in Best and Super

Someday I will add a CH3 in Manchurian, waiting for @A.E. Simpson 1919 To list some on the website soon

Though I feel that the fan-shape of the Manchurian adds superb volume and don't miss any with it, I get the idea. But I have a Chubby 2 Manchurian also, so I can rock that plus-size-model anytime. It's the decisiveness of the Manchurians that I adore. And their flow. But I'm a total Chubby guy anyway and love me some real solid backbone. That's why I appreciate my Chubby 2 Silvertip with it's bulb-shape.

When I go cloud I go mega-cloud - Chubby 3 Super. And that Chubby is "transcendental" as you worded it so nicely. Heck I even ordered a Butterscotch one as a back up after I broke the handle of my Ivory copy.

Ah, a Chubby 3 Manchurian! Yeah! Every now and then I think I want one. This brush is probably the crown of creation.

Once you get used to the Chubby lifestyle, every other Badger brush becomes dull

CH1 is epic, CH2 is legendary, CH3 is transcendental

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If I weren't so romantic, this would be a top-candidate for my epitaph. :laugh:

Awesome Chubby parade there! 🤘

The knots are nearly identical and the Classic/Chubby are the densest, so I am pretty sure the Dukes won’t make me happier

The Duke is an awesome allrounder, but less dense than Chubby & Classic, yep.
 
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Owen Bawn

Garden party cupcake scented
Owen, the Vulfix #18 Pure is the very first brush I purchased from the Isle of Man. It was about 25 years ago and I got it from Mark's father, Mr Philip.

For the money Vulfix Old Original brushes are fantastic hand-made pieces. Though, very much different from Simpsons because of the less dense knots, longer lofts and bigger handles. Nevertheless, they are capable of producing an outstanding lather. The brushes in Pure give a nice scrubby feeling, very much appreciated by wet shaver purists. I'm sure Mark @A.E. Simpson 1919 can easily confirm all I've written here.

Get one Sir, it's absolutely worth having it.
Grazie, Marco. 'La tua parola è una lampana al mio piè...'
 
Could you please elaborate?
The knots are nearly identical and the Classic/Chubby are the densest, so I am pretty sure the Dukes won’t make me happier


If density is your main goal, then you'll likely be disappointed with the D1 and D2 (though, they're typical Simpson knots, which means they're dense compared to many others), however both the smaller Dukes (I've only tried the D3 in synthetic) are excellent face lathering tools and I much prefer their handle profile over the Chubby... As with all Simpson natural bristle brushes, each model has it's own feel, for example the Duke 2 and 56 have virtually identical knots dimensionally and my examples look as if they may have been made from the same batch of bristle, but they have different face feel and I find I prefer the Duke, despite liking the 56 handle more in concept.

Interestingly for someone who also favors dense brushes, I find the Classic 1 (haven't sprung for a Classic 2 yet and I'm not likely to) to be too dense for its loft height, the knot just feels kinda dead to me.
 
The Duke has a higher loft to knot ratio than the chubbies. This makes for different face feel imho.


The truth is that loft ratios are different on a per model basis, take the Emperors as an example: the E1 is actually quite short, but E2 and E3 are significantly taller. Not having used a Chubby in best, I can't be certain, but my hunch is that both density and loft ratio play into the differences, as will hair length, Simpson definitely sorts hair by length, so shorter knots get finer hair than taller ones (absolute length, not ratio this time).
 
Warning: The following picture contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing!

This is why I have two Chubby 3 Super. You should view this full size to fully appreciate the details. 🤡

210113_13807-broken_Chubby3SUIV.jpg


In honour of Simpson I have to add that the handle is truly solid. This Chubby escaped my slippy hands on a bad morning with too little coffee while shaking the water out of the wet monster, so effectively I totally smashed in onto the hard floor. I was expecting to pick it up in hundred pieces and couldn't believe my eyes when I found the Chubby still complete and had to inspect it so see the cracks.

To @A.E. Simpson 1919: Mark, I have not forgotten that I owe you beer for the Butterscotch Chubby 3 Super you made for me! 🍻🌞
 
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I hope, I didn't send some of you into a coma with my previous, heartbreaking picture. :wink2:

Here's a happy end: I decided, that the Butterscotch giant is just too spectacular in every way as that I could have sit it unused as a back up any longer. So I finally took it out for a shave yesterday. Here it is in it's first bloom:

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🌞
 
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linty1

My wallet cries.
Kinda wish I had gotten the Chubby 2 in Super... the best is a little skritchy. My Duke 3 in best is wonderful, no skritch at all.

That butterscotch handle is really nice!
 
That butterscotch handle is really nice!

Thank you! 👊

I'm a fan of traditional, classic looks so it's almost always Ivory and Butterscotch for me. And though many of their special edition colours are not for me, I always find that Simpson picks really special types of a kind. For example their choices of Amber are amongst the nicest I have ever seen, pictures of Emerald releases always kick me and also the Tortoiseshell Simpsons are eminently beautiful. Here's yesterdays shave with my Faux Tortoiseshell Chubby 2:

210513_14242-Above-The-Tie-Windsor_Simpson_Chubby2-Manchurian-FT.jpg
 

Owen Bawn

Garden party cupcake scented
Duke 3 arrived this morning

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I own eleventy-hundred-and-six Simpsons in every grade of hair they offer; I own a half dozen Paladins and a similar number of Rooneys; I also own brushes by Brad Sears and several other quality brushmakers. But after all is said and done, a well made Simpson Duke 3 in Best is as close as any one shaving brush can come to perfection. I hope that your experience of this legendary brush is like mine has been!
 
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