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Which synthetic (Edwin Jagger or Simpsons)?

I am one of the folks who found the Chubby synthetic to be much too difficult to splay. Perhaps if I had kept it the knot might have softened a bit, but that hasn't been my experience with other synthetic shaving brushes. I have had and sold several others and now have 2 synthetics: a Simpson's T2 and a Yaqi Rainbow Brown. The T2 I find to be a bit prickly but it splays much more easily than did the Chubby. For the money I find it a good brush, but the Yaqi is overall a better performer. I am awaiting a Yaqi Mink brush; I'm hoping that it addresses the one shortfall of the Rainbow, which is a bit less backbone that I find optimal. I'm also still considering the Evo.
 
I bought the EJ synthetic as a treat. At $79 CAD it was a tad expensive, but as I said it was a treat . Truth is, it is a good brush, but so is the Razozrock Plissoft at $12. In a blind test I would be hard pressed to tell the difference. As with many things in life we pay a premium for name brands. I won't spend big on synths ever again. I have 5 synths and IMO they are very similar.
The feel might be similar ,
but mashing the cheap plissoft knot will eventually lead to the formation of a doughnut hole and/or wear of the fibres
(loft is shortened by usage ).
On the contrary the STF knot will accept the same kind of use
-or abuse whatsoever- without the slightest sign of wear .
I used to have 5 or 6 cheap plissoft brushes that did not last more than a year or two in my hands .I also have 4-5 STFs ( Muhle &
EJ ) that look like new ,after 7-8 years of use .One of them has been used for over
2000 shaves and still looks like brand new ,without any sign of
doughnut hole forming .

So,while the soft feel might be a quite common feature amongst
modern synthetic shaving brushes ,durability-wise the
difference can be quite big.
Myself I will never buy again
cheap synthetics .On the long run they tend to be quite expensive pieces of hardware.

Just my 2 cents...
 
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