Simpsons brush questions?

[Malley81]

Hi All -

I have been reading the B&B for a little over a year and shaving with a de razor and medium Edwin jagger brush in best. I recently acquired a couple new brushes: a Simpsons 55 and a Simpsons Tulip T1. The 55 is not my cup of tea and I am looking to sell it because I just prefer a brush with more backbone. I find the Tulip to bethe perfect mix of backbone and soft tips. I got both brushes from the BST and the tulip was about a year old but not used much according to seller. Here are my questions: the first couple times I used it, it lost 1 or 2 hairs but when I used it this morning it lost 6 hairs. Is this normal or should I be concerned? Also, I bowl lather with creams and because the brush is so dense, I have to apply a good bit of pressure when creating lather to get the lather really in to the brush. If I don't do that, it justs sits on the end of the brush and does not turn in lathery goodness. Has anybody else experienced and do you have any tips on how to create lather on such a dense burgh? Thanks in advance!!

 

[john parker]

The "good bit of pressure" does not sound like something to do; it could be at least part of them problem with loosing hair, though don't think you are loosing an alarming amount at the moment. To create your lather be sure you have dampened the top of the soap for a bit, swirl but not so hard, add more water to the tip of your brush, and continue swirling until you have what you need. That is what I do when I fear I am overdoing the pressure. And I face lather, so I am not looking for a mound of lather on the brush until after I complete the process on my face.

 

[Malley81]

The "good bit of pressure" does not sound like something to do; it could be at least part of them problem with loosing hair, though don't think you are loosing an alarming amount at the moment. To create your lather be sure you have dampened the top of the soap for a bit, swirl but not so hard, add more water to the tip of your brush, and continue swirling until you have what you need. That is what I do when I fear I am overdoing the pressure. And I face lather, so I am not looking for a mound of lather on the brush until after I complete the process on my face.

I use cream and a scuttle. I place my brush in the scuttle with water while I shower. After my shower I dump out the water and out some cream in the scuttle and start mixing up the cream. Except with this brush the cream just seems to sit on the ends of the bristles and does not create foamy lather until I use extra pressure to spread the bristles out some.

 

[celestino]

Have you ever considered face-lathering?
With bowl lathering, i find it requires much more work. However, you could use more soap/cream and add water little by little while creating the lather, but don't mash the brush as you will damage the hair.
Good luck.

 

[Malley81]

Have you ever considered face-lathering?
With bowl lathering, i find it requires much more work. However, you could use more soap/cream and add water little by little while creating the lather, but don't mash the brush as you will damage the hair.
Good luck.

I do face lather sometimes but by the second pass the lather is cold. That is why I use a scuttle and bowl lather...I love the warm lather.

 

[kcenorez]

I have a simpsons duke 3 in best and i pretty much only bowl lather with creams. I sit the brush in some cold water while i shower, and then dump the water out - squeeze out the brush like 75 percent, and then load up the cream on the brush or drop an almond sized bit of cream into the bowl. then I add a few drops of water and build lather by going in circles with the brush - fast but not vigorous, applying very little pressure on the brush (so it doesnt fan out).

So I think there's 2 main things you might be encountering:
1. Simpsons best badger brushes are pretty dense - it could be that you just need more product and maybe more water to get the lather to explode with little pressure and
2. Maybe the brush just needs to break in a bit and it'll absorb more water more easily.

 

[Malley81]

Thanks everybody for your replies! This morning, I used a little more product (AOS lemon scented cream) and I started with more water and I got a much better result! I also did not lose any hairs today. I lost about a dozen yesterday so I hope it is done with that now. I attached a pic of my result! I love the 2-Band hair on this tulip!

 

[Face&Head]

I share John Parker's concern about the pressure. Here's what you might try: after you soak the brush shake out most of the water then dip the tips into your cream so the you've picked up enough product to make a generous 3-pass lather. Add a small amount of warm water to your scuttle and start to build your lather using a light hand. Add a few drops of water if & when needed.

 

[brucered]

I had a D3 a while back, now gone, and had no issues making lather in a bowl/scuttle...see here

not much pressure needed to pick up the cream. a few lost hairs over the first few uses, is nothing to worry about. even the odd one down the road is not an issue. if it looses them daily, you may have issues.

 

[Invicta]

I bowl lather with a silvertip Lijun 25mm knot and have no problem at all. That is a fairly dense brush. However, I don't load the brush on the cream {currently TOBS Jermyn St but have used Proraso} but spoon a large snurdle (large almond size) into the lathering bowl. Just light pressure and working the tips of the brush seems to get a good lather. For the final pass of 4, I just gentle squeeze out the brush and it is amazing how much lather the brush holds.
You will be amazed at how the lather works up deep into the brush knot.
I use the came technique with a Commodore X3 and Vulfix 2235S. I find these brushes bring up the lather quicker. The hard water in my area is no help.