Birthday Brush Bonanza Bonkers

[Drubbing]

So it was my birthday last week, and I thought I'd buy a brush, seeing as how I hadn't bothered for, oh…a month or so. In a crazy turn of events, I'm ending up with two. Well three, if you count the 830 replacement Vintage scent are gifting me.

But it's ok. I don't have a problem; I can quit anytime I want, in fact I have quit. Lots of times. I go through a very simple rationalisation. I don't buy razors or stockpile blades, I'm right for soaps and creams, and brushes aren't 'consumables' they're hardware, so they're not going to run out. And they're often saleable. Either I'm getting too picky, too fickle, or my hairy postie is starting to look cute…

So, I've already found the two Semogues I like, and I really have developed a thing for Simpsons, and again, I'll probably narrow it down to two keepers. I like the Berk and the Chubb, but fancied something in between, the Chubby is too good to sell, and the Berk would probably be offloaded. I don't want too many brushes - that would just be silly.

So I contacted Mark @ Simmo's. I wanted to take the guesswork out of it, so I let him know what I was after. I kept it brief, as I didn't want to provide a shopping list of specific criteria. Not only did I think he had better things to do, but I didn't want to come across as one of those sad brush bastards on the Internet. That's not me at all, not a bit. In hindsight I should have just been one of those sad brush bastards on the Internet.

He recommended the Commodore X2, so I went with that. He posted it on Tuesday and I got it the next Monday. But I was quickly disappointed, it wasn't what I was after, it was too big. Beautifully soft though, usual Simmo's quality blah blah. Long story short, we fubar'd the communication somewhere along the way, the X2 is bigger than the Chubby. Not as dense, but what is? I wanted something in between the two I already have. Unfortunately, as I'd already used the X2, I couldn't return it. Mark felt bad that things went wonky, so made me an offer I couldn't refuse. After getting a clear idea on how we'd misunderstood each other, and what I wanted, he offered me a special deal on a Duke 1. With postage thrown in. And a freebie (not a brush).

Well, I was going to sell the X2 first (yes, I have a X2 for sale, where o where might I offer up this fine piece…?) and take things from there, but I couldn't refuse the deal. He picked one out for me and even emailed a photo to get the nod.

So that's it for me. I'll see which are my keepers from here. Expensive way to do it, but that happens when you can't pop in a shop. Yep, no more brushes, no way no how. I've already got more than one for every day of the week. So that it. No more. I quit.

 

[Mark1966]

Happy Birthday!

Glad to hear you are quitting with the brushes too. I believe that the Government is going to mandate that they come in plain packaging soon with mandated financial health warnings......

 

[Monsta_AU]

So that's it for me. I'll see which are my keepers from here. Expensive way to do it, but that happens when you can't pop in a shop. Yep, no more brushes, no way no how. I've already got more than one for every day of the week. So that it. No more. I quit.

Can someone get Dr. Drew in here right now? It's time for an intervention!

 

[Pjotr]

That is the most confusing thread of yours I've ever read. Let me see.....You like the Berk and the Chubby but you'll probably sell the Berk anyhow so you went and got another one, an X2 which was too big (I could have told you that!) and then you went and got another one which was a good deal and you're going to sell the X2 but you don't know where. And then you got a freebie but you're not telling us what it is. Stop smokin' that stuff!

And in amongst that incomprehensible ramble, not a word about the only steady, reliable brush you've got: The Dribbling Drooler from Rosa Brook.

 

[Drubbing]

Apart from the fact the drooling banjo boar has dropped more hair than the cast of Priscilla, Queen of the desert, you've otherwise got a good handle on my badger situation.

 

[pablo_h]

Selleys Aquadhere, that's what I used in the kent boar. Sheds 2-3 hairs a shave now rather than 8+ after I dropped only a tiny bit in. A couple more ashley and martin treatments and it should be golden.

You owe it to everyone to keep that brush for prosperity and minimise shedding anyway.

 

[JugV2]

BTW Happy Birthday old fella.

 

[Drubbing]

You owe it to everyone to keep that brush for prosperity and minimise shedding anyway.

Thanks for the opportunity to be a grammar nazi. Posterity is the words you're after. This thing will never prosper. Unless is goes on a banjo tour, so you can all enjoy it's hairless drooling...

 

[Pjotr]

Thanks for the opportunity to be a grammar nazi. Posterity is the words you're after. This thing will never prosper. Unless is goes on a banjo tour, so you can all enjoy it's hairless drooling...

I disagree. Prosperity is the correct word. What a bargain! What a brush! Being a hairless drooler is regal, just look at Prince Willy and six preceeding generations.

 

[Drubbing]

OK. I'm back with more Simmo's pics.

I've been using the Duke 1 for a while and it's a nice one. As soon as I used it I knew the X2 was going up FS. I put it up here, not expecting it to gather interest, but it was posted for all of 5 mins before Pablo pounced on it like a rat out of an aqua duct.

So I'm back to 3 - the Duke, Berk and Chub. Here's some comparos for anyone interested.



Specs again for my brushes are:
Berk 19/41
Duke 21/45
Chub 23/45

If you check around, you'll see differences in spec to mine, that's going to happen with Simmo's. Mark picked out the Duke and provided the numbers on it.

The Duke looks smaller than the Berk, but there's a bit of a difference in handle height. The knot basically performs as a slightly larger Berk, which is what I was after. Well, I was hoping for more density and it probably is a little, but then offset by the higher loft, so I don't think I'll get a lot more at the price range. But then, Mark sold me this at the price of one of their entry level brushes, so I can't complain.

Mark won't give out any Coke formulas on weights of hair used (and I'm not that nerdy to want to know), but I think its safe to say if you've two very similarly, or identically specced Simmo's, and one is twice the price, it'll probably be twice as stuffed. The Chubby's are one proof of that. Also, it's not jsut the bigger knot that makes the Chubby chubby, it's how much they get in there. If you check out the X2, it's specs are 22/47 and yet it dwarfs all 3 here for bloom.

When you pack these brushes, you get less splay and more badger on face action. Not the sort usually reserved for "Special Interest" magazines, of course. That's one thing you can't really appreciate from pics, the Chubby really does have a different feel to the others.

In other news, PJ lent me a couple of others to play with; a Vulfix Bodger, and some hideous looking frankenbrsuh fitted with a Finest knot he bought. The Vulfix reminds me of nasty ol boars of old. There's no Semogue bristle finesse here, the badger is just in there to deflect the filament-like daggers of boar. Get plenty of soap on it and it's a good scrubber, but us Princesses have delicate complexions to look after.



The Frankenbrush is a curio. It's quite a small knot, but very dense feeling, yet it has no feel at all. It's like you're just directly lathering soap onto your face, with nothing but magic air. It's works very well, but I can't get past the eerie feeling of not feeling any hair. I do like to feel some brush. For those that want something ridiculously soft that doesn't flop, these are probably the knots for you.

 

[Pjotr]

.......In other news, PJ lent me a couple of others to play with; a Vulfix Bodger, and some hideous looking frankenbrsuh fitted with a Finest knot he bought. The Vulfix reminds me of nasty ol boars of old. There's no Semogue bristle finesse here, the badger is just in there to deflect the filament-like daggers of boar. Get plenty of soap on it and it's a good scrubber, but us Princesses have delicate complexions to look after.

View attachment 131View attachment 132

The Frankenbrush is a curio. It's quite a small knot, but very dense feeling, yet it has no feel at all. It's like you're just directly lathering soap onto your face, with nothing but magic air. It's works very well, but I can't get past the eerie feeling of not feeling any hair. I do like to feel some brush. For those that want something ridiculously soft that doesn't flop, these are probably the knots for you.

I'm the king of old boar brushes and this isn't really like one. I think the daggers you're feeling is in actual fact the pure badger content. The boar hairs are stained I'm afraid. In this case, given that it is a mix of both, I'm not too unhappy about the staining. I like this brush a lot. It's got a great boar backbone and also has some of the lathering qualities of a badger brush. A bit of scritchyness is good. Wakes your skin up. Try a pure badger brush if you want daggers.

The Frankenbrush is an odd one. Got it as a first restore job and quite frankly, aside from really old Simpson or similar solid handle jobs, I like the plethora of Ever Readys, Made Rite, you name it brushes out there even less. It looks odd but is really nice to hold and use and the knot is, as Drubbing points out, like a big soft Q-tip with a lot of backbone. The handle fell to pieces and I had strip virtually the whole thing to completely rebuild it inside and out. Was a good excersize with an odd end result. It's got character if nothing else.

 

[Drubbing]

Susan Boyle's got character too. She got an uglier sister. But even she would look like a supermodel next to the Frankenbrush. Only pure Evil could have put that together.

Works but.

 

[pablo_h]

I've been using the Duke 1 for a while and it's a nice one. As soon as I used it I knew the X2 was going up FS. I put it up here, not expecting it to gather interest, but it was posted for all of 5 mins before Pablo pounced on it like a rat out of an aqua duct.

All I know is if you don't something, I probably will...
See: slim adjustable, SE razors, SOC brush, MWF soap etc.
edit: Oh and just checking, do you like Cella? Never mind, I just checked, you do. Well I don't