Well, having used my Simpson's Duke 2 best badger for a weeks worth of shaves, it's time for a few comments on it.
First of all, it is one nice brush. It's on the small side and although I can get great lather from any of my brushes using soap or cream, I ordered this one to be used primarily with hard soaps. (Graduate of the Lathermeister's school of hard soap lathering). First impression was that it was a very nice looking , well made brush. Here is a comparison picture with the Edwin Jagger for C&E best badger on the left, the Duke 2 in the middle, and my Vulfix 2235 on the right. It's kind of like the EJ on steroids with a 23 to 24mm knot!
Feeling the brush head gives a sensation of a very densly packed knot. After using it for several shaves, I can say it is the most densly packed brush I own, surpassing my Shavemac and Savile Row. Very firm, yet very soft to the face. No scritchy factor on this brush.
A view from the top: Simpson's on left, Vulfix on right. You can tell the Simpson's has a lot more hair in it.
How does it perform you ask? Well, here's a picture after 15 or so swirls on top of the L'Occitane hard soap.
After a few swirls in the mixing bowl. Not a bad lather starting to appear.
A few more swirls and a bowl of rich, thick lather blossoms.
I will say that it seems to take just a little more work to generate the lather with this or any short handled bush (at least for me) but it's very capable lather producer.
The Simpson's sticker fell off the very first time I used it!
I've read that they typically don't stay on long but I expected longer than the first use. It is stamped however so not a big deal!
Simpson's instruction sheet says it's best to use the brush in a painting motion instead of a circular motion. I normally use the latter but this brush is so dense, it did work better for me with the painting motion.
When I think of this brush, the floppy, moppy descriptives don't even come to mind. This is your brush if you want a relatively small, very firm, very dense brush to use with your soaps (or creams for that matter)! It's a pretty decent value I think at $86.00. Enchente is closing out their Simpsons and had several in stock a couple of weeks ago.
I would say the Duke 2 is my current favorite brush to use on hard soaps and my Savile Row 3126 is my favorite for creams. Variety man, variety!
Jerry
In search of the perfect brush.
First of all, it is one nice brush. It's on the small side and although I can get great lather from any of my brushes using soap or cream, I ordered this one to be used primarily with hard soaps. (Graduate of the Lathermeister's school of hard soap lathering). First impression was that it was a very nice looking , well made brush. Here is a comparison picture with the Edwin Jagger for C&E best badger on the left, the Duke 2 in the middle, and my Vulfix 2235 on the right. It's kind of like the EJ on steroids with a 23 to 24mm knot!
Feeling the brush head gives a sensation of a very densly packed knot. After using it for several shaves, I can say it is the most densly packed brush I own, surpassing my Shavemac and Savile Row. Very firm, yet very soft to the face. No scritchy factor on this brush.
A view from the top: Simpson's on left, Vulfix on right. You can tell the Simpson's has a lot more hair in it.
How does it perform you ask? Well, here's a picture after 15 or so swirls on top of the L'Occitane hard soap.
After a few swirls in the mixing bowl. Not a bad lather starting to appear.
A few more swirls and a bowl of rich, thick lather blossoms.
I will say that it seems to take just a little more work to generate the lather with this or any short handled bush (at least for me) but it's very capable lather producer.
The Simpson's sticker fell off the very first time I used it!
I've read that they typically don't stay on long but I expected longer than the first use. It is stamped however so not a big deal!
Simpson's instruction sheet says it's best to use the brush in a painting motion instead of a circular motion. I normally use the latter but this brush is so dense, it did work better for me with the painting motion.
When I think of this brush, the floppy, moppy descriptives don't even come to mind. This is your brush if you want a relatively small, very firm, very dense brush to use with your soaps (or creams for that matter)! It's a pretty decent value I think at $86.00. Enchente is closing out their Simpsons and had several in stock a couple of weeks ago.
I would say the Duke 2 is my current favorite brush to use on hard soaps and my Savile Row 3126 is my favorite for creams. Variety man, variety!
Jerry
In search of the perfect brush.
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Many guys like Proraso green, I can't stand it. Lots hate the Vision for its size and weight, I love it, etc, etc, etc. It's what makes the shaving world go round!
