Which synthetic (Edwin Jagger or Simpsons)?

[MatH]

I'm looking at taking the plunge and buying a synthetic brush - I currently use a Simpsons Commodore 2 but for one reason and another have decided to move over to a synthetic brush. I did have it narrowed down to the Edwin Jagger synthetic Silvertip and the weirdly inexpensive Simpsons Trafalgar. Or at least I thought I did until I started looking at the Simpsons synthetic chubby 2.

So, does anybody out there with experience of any of the above feel like giving their two cents worth? The chubby does cost between 2 and 3 times as much as the other two, so would be particularly interested if any chubby owners out there felt their investment had been worthwhile.

In terms of how I use my brush, I'm a face latherer, if that should affect my choice.

Many thanks

 

[Dave-the-rave]

The Trafalgar look and feel like cheaper brushes but they are great at doing the job. I have the T1. Quite dense with soft fibres and tips. The T1 is a great face latherer. T2 an T3 are also well liked here. T3 is huge

Edwin Jagger are also great. I have the 21mm. Great face latherer. Less dense and higher loft than the Trafalgar so splay easier. Feels like a more expensive brush. 25mm is huge.

The Chubbies are...well I have a few so maybe I'm biased. They look and feel like high end luxury products. Rightly so for the price. The Chubby 2 should be huge with it's 27mm knot but I'd call it a big brush not huge. If that makes sense. Chubby 2 is dense and soft. Great face latherer. Not a face masher but can be used in a scrubby fashion and circular motion like I do. I was so blown away by them i bought...a few.

Chubby 1 and Duke 3 are also awesome. If you have never tried a synthetic I'd tentatively suggest trying a Trafalgar first because they are cheaper . If you dig the synthetic thing then maybe move on from there, although as I say they are a great brush and you might not feel the need to buy another.

TLDR They are all great brushes with their own personalities.

 

[MatH]

Many thanks for the feedback. I'm leaning towards the EJ, although I'm certainly feeling the gravitational pull of the chubby. Could go either way.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I agree with everything said above, the Chubby 2 synthetic is superb for face lathering. The 27mm knot feels and performs very much smaller than a 27mm Chubby 2 in best or super grade. In my opinion if you only want one or two synthetic brushes then Simpson is the way to go.

 

[Rhody]

Just know that Simpson chubby 2 is very tight and very stiff. And imo not easy to use and is a lather hog. i read multiple reviews indicating its good for face lathering that doesn't mean its close to soft or even splays much at all. Im in the minority but i wish i saw this perspective in doing my research. Per the mfg instructions its meant only for a painting stroke. Im not a fan of that and at my level i have difficulty making a face lather painting.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

Just know that Simpson chubby 2 is very tight and very stiff. And imo not easy to use and is a lather hog. i read multiple reviews indicating its good for face lathering that doesn't mean its close to soft or even splays much at all. Im in the minority but i wish i saw this perspective in doing my research. Per the mfg instructions its meant only for a painting stroke. Im not a fan of that and at my level i have difficulty making a face lather painting.

In fairness the painting stroke recommendation is part of the standard instruction leaflet included with every Simpson brush, synthetic or natural. Mark from Simpson has stated on this forum that this is advisory only and that circular motions are acceptable with Simpson brushes if they are not 'over zealous' and the bristles are not mashed. I agree that the Chubby 2 synthetic is not an easy brush to splay but I manage it by starting the splay on the point of my chin. I swirl and mash mine and it works very well, and feels great. YMMV.

 

[J-MN]

I have all three sized of the Simpson Trafalgar brushes, a Chubby 2 Synthetic, and used to have an EJ STF (23mm size). Out of these, and every other synthetic I've used, the Chubby 2 is my favorite.

The Chubby has the softest & most luxurious feeling hair out of any synthetic I've used. It can be hard to justify a $100 synthetic brush, but given that's it's my favorite brush, it's worth it to me. Probably not a great choice if you want it to splay, though.

The Trafalgar brushes offer a lot of value and I like them all quite a bit, especially the T1. IMO, the hair in the Trafalgar brushes isn't really any better/softer than many other synthetics at it's price or lower, but what sets them apart is the diameter to loft ratio, which I prefer over most of the other synthetics. The knot size in the T1 and T2 are close in size and feel almost identical in size on your face, but the T1 seems more dense. As Dave said above, the T3 is much bigger. The handles are really nice on these, too.

It's been a few years since I had my EJ STF, but I did like it. I thought it was a great brush, but was a bit bigger than I wanted at the time and that's the only reason I sold it. From what I remember, the hair felt softer than the Trafalgar brushes, but not as soft as the Chubby. It's totally different in the diameter to loft ratio from the Simpson brushes, so it doesn't feel as dense. I'd like to try another one at some point, probably in the 21mm size.

If you want a brush that splays, I'd say to try the EJ or the Trafalgar T2 (less dense than the T1). If you use painting strokes to lather, they all work great.

 

[TiffanyGT]

I'd like you to give a chance to Yaqi Synthetic Brushes

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Just know that Simpson chubby 2 is very tight and very stiff. And imo not easy to use and is a lather hog. i read multiple reviews indicating its good for face lathering that doesn't mean its close to soft or even splays much at all. Im in the minority but i wish i saw this perspective in doing my research. Per the mfg instructions its meant only for a painting stroke. Im not a fan of that and at my level i have difficulty making a face lather painting.

I wouldn't be a fan if they were only good for painting. The current Chubby 2's are slightly less dense than the first versions. Mine open up well. They will never splay like an Edwin Jagger but I find them excellent for face lathering. I was on the fence for a while having read so much controversial reviews on them. I bought the Chubby 1 which had no reviews at all. I've only ever seen another on Simpsons Face Book page so I know there's others out there. Then I bought the Duke 3 based on a few reviews.

What swung me on trying the Chubby 2 was all the positive reviews coming over time, and a post somewhere from Mark claiming they had been tweeking them to get them right. They are still very dense with a lot of back bone but not so much that they don't budge. When the dropped the loft from the prototypes to 50mm many complained they were too stiff, so it seems they settled on a 50mm loft with slightly less filling, to compensate.

 

[never-stop-learning]

I'm looking at taking the plunge and buying a synthetic brush - I currently use a Simpsons Commodore 2 but for one reason and another have decided to move over to a synthetic brush. I did have it narrowed down to the Edwin Jagger synthetic Silvertip and the weirdly inexpensive Simpsons Trafalgar. Or at least I thought I did until I started looking at the Simpsons synthetic chubby 2.

So, does anybody out there with experience of any of the above feel like giving their two cents worth? The chubby does cost between 2 and 3 times as much as the other two, so would be particularly interested if any chubby owners out there felt their investment had been worthwhile.

In terms of how I use my brush, I'm a face latherer, if that should affect my choice.

Many thanks

Personally, I bowl lather or face lather as the mood strikes.

I have the EJ 25mm STF (also have the Mühle 19mm STF and 25mm STF), the Simpsons Chubby 2 Synthetic and the Simpsons Trafalgar 2.

The T2 is a great buy. The Chubby 2 is a Superb brush.

But I use my STF brushes more - especially the EJ.

Just my opinion and YMMV.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

Interesting, my

I wouldn't be a fan if they were only good for painting. The current Chubby 2's are slightly less dense than the first versions. Mine open up well. They will never splay like an Edwin Jagger but I find them excellent for face lathering. I was on the fence for a while having read so much controversial reviews on them. I bought the Chubby 1 which had no reviews at all. I've only ever seen another on Simpsons Face Book page so I know there's others out there. Then I bought the Duke 3 based on a few reviews.

What swung me on trying the Chubby 2 was all the positive reviews coming over time, and a post somewhere from Mark claiming they had been tweeking them to get them right. They are still very dense with a lot of back bone but not so much that they don't budge. When the dropped the loft from the prototypes to 50mm many complained they were too stiff, so it seems they settled on a 50mm loft with slightly less filling, to compensate.

Interesting, my butterscotch Chubby 2 synth is labelled 'Synthetic Badger' not 'Bristle'. It is very dense and has a loft of at least 52mm. Does this mean that it is an earlier example? I wonder how it differs and if the fibres are identical to the current version.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Interesting, my

Interesting, my butterscotch Chubby 2 synth is labelled 'Synthetic Badger' not 'Bristle'. It is very dense and has a loft of at least 52mm. Does this mean that it is an earlier example? I wonder how it differs and if the fibres are identical to the current version.

Yeah I believe it's an earlier version with the badger inlay. The fibres are the same on all of them. All of mine are very dense. I'm nor suggesting they made any which weren't dense just that I believe they put a few less hairs in so they wouldn't be so stubborn.

 

[nav]

Just know that Simpson chubby 2 is very tight and very stiff. And imo not easy to use and is a lather hog. i read multiple reviews indicating its good for face lathering that doesn't mean its close to soft or even splays much at all. Im in the minority but i wish i saw this perspective in doing my research. Per the mfg instructions its meant only for a painting stroke. Im not a fan of that and at my level i have difficulty making a face lather painting.

+1
This is the exact characteristic I noticed in majority of the reviews which prevented me from taking any interest in the Simpson synthetic.

The muhle/EJ is synthetic perfectionism!!

 

[MatH]

+1
This is the exact characteristic I noticed in majority of the reviews which prevented me from taking any interest in the Simpson synthetic.

The muhle/EJ is synthetic perfectionism!!

I do like a little bit of splay, so the EJ may well be the way I go

 

[vadim]

I definitely found the Chubby 2 synthetic too scrubby and difficult to splay. The Chubby 2 has a 50mm loft, which I think it too low for my taste. The EJ STF XL has a significantly higher loft (~57mm) which allows it to splay a lot easier and it's softer and has better flow through. The EJ STF XL is my favorite brush.

 

[Rhody]

Its a ymmv thing again. I thought that a face lathering brush is one that splays and one that isn't recommended for a painting stroke. Seems counterintuitive to me. Doing my public service in putting the contrary view out because again i wish i saw that doing my initial research.
I think the true answer for the op is buy both

 

[BigJ]

The Trafalgar look and feel like cheaper brushes but they are great at doing the job. I have the T1. Quite dense with soft fibres and tips. The T1 is a great face latherer. T2 an T3 are also well liked here. T3 is huge

Edwin Jagger are also great. I have the 21mm. Great face latherer. Less dense and higher loft than the Trafalgar so splay easier. Feels like a more expensive brush. 25mm is huge.

The Chubbies are...well I have a few so maybe I'm biased. They look and feel like high end luxury products. Rightly so for the price. The Chubby 2 should be huge with it's 27mm knot but I'd call it a big brush not huge. If that makes sense. Chubby 2 is dense and soft. Great face latherer. Not a face masher but can be used in a scrubby fashion and circular motion like I do. I was so blown away by them i bought...a few.

View attachment 1110276

Chubby 1 and Duke 3 are also awesome. If you have never tried a synthetic I'd tentatively suggest trying a Trafalgar first because they are cheaper . If you dig the synthetic thing then maybe move on from there, although as I say they are a great brush and you might not feel the need to buy another.

TLDR They are all great brushes with their own personalities.

LOVELY!!

 

[andromeda673]

I own the Simpson Trafalgar T1 and let me tell you, it's a great brush, and great in the sense of it's been my daily driver since I picked it up a few months ago. I also have a Maggards synthetic and that shouldn't be over looked either for the price. Both are great performers, and you can't go wrong with the Simpson. I'm slowly becoming a synthetic guy, and have learned to love them, they lather anything, easy going, and dry fast, one thing that I truly like is the drying time.

I have no experience with the other brand in question, but I have yet to ever read anything bad about any simpson synthetic brush. So take that for what's it worth you know.

 

[Acmemfg]

The Trafalgar T2 is a really nice brush, especially for the price. I will say though that the Muhle STF still gets best of show

 

[EclipseRedRing]

Its a ymmv thing again. I thought that a face lathering brush is one that splays and one that isn't recommended for a painting stroke. Seems counterintuitive to me. Doing my public service in putting the contrary view out because again i wish i saw that doing my initial research.
I think the true answer for the op is buy both

Are you suggesting a bowl lathering brush is one that does not splay and is recommended for painting strokes? If a face lathering brush is one that is not recommended for painting strokes, then many brushes would be excluded, since many manufacturers specifically recommend painting strokes. I cannot think of any brush where the maker advises against painting strokes. I face lather with circular strokes and for me a lot of splay is very undesirable although some is essential. I am so confused I don't even understand what I have just written - not for the first time.