Simpsons Emperor #2, in super badger -- review coming soon

[JeffE]

So this is a bit of departure for me. I haven't owned or purchased a newly made brush in over a year, as I have so many now that I've refinished and reknotted that it's hard to justify the price of a brush made by someone else. And that's not to mention the fact that I really have fallen for boar bristles. When I made myself a badger brush last -- just to give the animal one last shot -- I bought the most expensive badger knot that TGN has ever sold (a special 24 mm "UK" knot that supposedly comes from Vulfix, for OVER $50). And I really couldn't stand the brush, after just one use.

Of course, then I started reading (mostly here) about the Simpsons brushes, and you know how this story ends. Reading about the brushes turns into looking at pictures of the brushes turns into shopping theoretically for one of the brushes turns into actually purchasing one. And that's how I came to purchase this little beauty.

Anyway, I wanted to post some photos of this one fresh from the box, before actually trying it out on soap and cream. Naturally, I'm excited to own it, as it's definitely the most expensive brush that I've ever had the nerve to purchase, and so I'm expecting big things. And yet, as an unapologetic fan of boar, I'm also mildly expecting some disappointment, as I just don't know if badger, even in its most exalted form, is capable of giving the same traction as boar.

One initial observation, however -- I was kind of shocked at how damn SMALL this brush is!! Based on photos and measurements on the Internet, I was originally worried that the #2 would be too big. But when you see it next to one large, wood handled brush that I restored, you can see that the #2 is kind of shrimpy. Or maybe I've just gotten used to larger brushes over the past year or so. I don't know -- I thought from the name "Emperor" the brush was going to be some kind of monumental sized thing. Turns out the "Emperor" they were referring to is Napoleon! (Sorry, couldn't help myself there.)

So I will add onto this post with an actual review and some action shots, but in the meantime, enjoy the shots I have here.

 

[AJMiami]

what a hansome brush...hope it brings, everything you are hoping for

 

[beginish]

Nice looking brush, Jeff. I look forward to your thoughts on it.

 

[altshaver]

I am highly interested in this brush. I created a thread not to long ago about the E3 in Two-Band. You can find that thread here:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=173070&highlight=simpson+emperor

That E2 in three-band looks great. Could you provide the knot and handle dimensions? I am seriously considering getting either an E3 or E2 in Three-Band. Looking forward to reading your impressions on this brush. I hope you enjoy it.

 

[djh]

I love the Emperor and I'm looking forward to your impressions. Beautiful brush!

 

[JeffE]

I will bring my micrometer home and give you the exact dimensions tomorrow.

One other thing too -- I've probably living with boar for too long, but what is all of the talk about "two band" and "three band"? I know you're referring to the number of colors that appear on the knot, but when I ordered the brush (direct from Simpsons, no less), no one asked whether I wanted "two band" or "three band" badger, and I was under the impression that there was only one grade of knot available -- super badger. Is there any difference between two band and three band? Or is it more like the difference between "dark blue" and "light green" Eschers -- that is, more theoretical than actual. Thanks!

Whoops, and one more question too. I've read in other posts about people who use some clear nail polish to "fix" or "protect" the little Simpsons label on their brushes. Now the label on mine looks pretty secure and I wasn't planning on painting anything on top of it. Is that a mistake, or does no one do this with the newest incarnation of Simpsons brushes? Thanks.

 

[AJMiami]

the 2-band and 3-band super are like night and day and a personal preference...2-band hair has a lot more backbone...I like 3-band super better

 

[JeffE]

Well, I'm happy to have the three-band then -- but that does raise one question, should I have specified two-band or three-band when I ordered? Because I didn't know there was a choice in the matter and I'd be a little annoyed to find out there was. Thanks!

 

[altshaver]

I will bring my micrometer home and give you the exact dimensions tomorrow.

One other thing too -- I've probably living with boar for too long, but what is all of the talk about "two band" and "three band"? I know you're referring to the number of colors that appear on the knot, but when I ordered the brush (direct from Simpsons, no less), no one asked whether I wanted "two band" or "three band" badger, and I was under the impression that there was only one grade of knot available -- super badger. Is there any difference between two band and three band? Or is it more like the difference between "dark blue" and "light green" Eschers -- that is, more theoretical than actual. Thanks!

Whoops, and one more question too. I've read in other posts about people who use some clear nail polish to "fix" or "protect" the little Simpsons label on their brushes. Now the label on mine looks pretty secure and I wasn't planning on painting anything on top of it. Is that a mistake, or does no one do this with the newest incarnation of Simpsons brushes? Thanks.

Two-Band hair has a lot of backbone, especially compared to the Three-Band hair. Personally, after having owned a few Two-Band brushes, I am interested in the Three-Band brushes now. I have to say that your brush looks really nice. I think I need to get rid of some of my brushes to fund a purchase.

Thanks for taking measurements for us!

Edit: The Simpson stickers stay on most of the brushes. The Eagle brush seems to have had some problems holding on to the stickers given its shape. I doubt your sticker will fall off. If it does, Vulfix will send you some for free, as has been reported on the boards in the past. I own 4 Simpson brushes, and the stickers have not fallen off. If you get them wet, like I have with my Chubby 2, the paint may fade somewhat. Clear-coating won't hurt the brush, but I don't think it is absolutely necessary. If I had a Somerset brush, I would clear-coat the sticker very carefully.

 

[altshaver]

Well, I'm happy to have the three-band then -- but that does raise one question, should I have specified two-band or three-band when I ordered? Because I didn't know there was a choice in the matter and I'd be a little annoyed to find out there was. Thanks!

Vulfix doesn't advertise the Two-Band brushes on their website. Two-Band hair comes in so sporadically that neither Vulix nor the old Simpson company bothered to give it its own grade, hence the dual listing for Super Badger. You probably could have asked them for the Two-Band hair, but they just don't advertise it. I think a lot of the vendors are getting fed up with the Two-Band brush delays as well. If you want a Two-Band version of the Emperor, there are a few retailers that have them. I would go with the E2 based on my experience of temporarily owning an E3 Two-Band brush.

 

[xriley]

I absolutely love my emperor 2 in 2 band. I am curious to see how you like the super badger.

 

[Darjeeling Express]

The brush looks gorgeous. Enjoy it and we are all looking forward to your impressions.

 

[johnniegold]

The Emperor (of which I have the E3) is one of my favorite handles both aesthetically and ergonomically. Enjoy it.

 

[altshaver]

JeffE, did you get a chance to measure out the brush?

 

[JeffE]

Yes, sorry for the delay.

The knot measures almost exactly 22mm if you don't push the micrometer arms together. If you push the arms together and crush the knot a little, it's more like 20 mm.

The handle is about 58 mm high and the distance from the base of the knot to the top of the center is about 45 mm.

As soon as the kids go to sleep I will post some comparison photos of the E2 vs a typical boar brush working on a Mama Bear soap.

 

[AJMiami]

I just tried a Emperor 1 in 3-band super and it is a great brush...luxuriously soft.

you are in for a treat

 

[altshaver]

JeffE, thanks a lot for your measurements. I really appreciate the feedback. Given those measurements, I think the E2 or E3 would work well for me. How hard did you have to crush the knot to get the 20mm reading on the knot diameter? Most of my Simpson knots are very dense at the base and would resist that kind of pressure pretty well I would imagine. Thanks again!

Edit: I have been on a journey to find a nice badger brush with a long and comfortable handle. I want the brush to work extremely well with shaving creams, as I believe that boar brushes work best with soaps and badger brushes work better it creams. I have also wanted a brush to be somewhat economical with shaving cream while providing enough lather for 3 passes. My criteria also require that the brush be a Simpson brush. So you could probably understand my interest in this brush.

 

[JeffE]

I'll have some photos posted tonight, but here's the basic process I went through.

I took both the E2 and one of my homemade boar brushes (with a 22 mm Vulfix boar knot) and soaked them both for equal times. I then flicked the water off and ran both brushes over the same tub of Mama Bear shaving soap, which is not a very hard or challenging soap to work with. I then scraped off the soap into my lather bowl and whipped the slurry into lather. I took photos of each step and then shaved with the lather from the E2 (the other brush is something I already know from many, many days of use).

The bottom line is that the E2 is really an amazing brush. I was primarily concerned about two things which I've come to dislike in other badger brushes. But neither one of them is an issue with the E2, or at least as far as I can tell now.

First, badgers tend to slurp up so much water that making any kind of lather is a chore, as you are always trying to flick off the excess water and then, when things are still too wet, adding more cream or soap to the mixture you already have. The E2, on the other hand, "drops" its water when you want it to with just a quick flick, and what's left is similar to boar -- moist, flexible hairs, but not sodden or waterlogged with water. To me, this makes the brush an excellent choice for either soaps or creams, and I think you'll see from the photos that I was able to get very, very nice results with the E2 on soap that are basically identical to any high quality boar brush.

The second problem I've noticed with badger is that it tends to be super floppy and "boneless" so that you can kind of slap the lather onto your face with the brush, but you don't ever get the feeling of "pressing" the lather into and between the whiskers, like you do with a boar brush. Well, the E2 seems to have the answer to that problem too. The E2 is definitely softer than a boar brush, but not too soft to fall apart when you are pressing the lather into the skin. Instead, you feel a fine-haired, springy structure underneath the lather that isn't the same as the scratchy feeling of boar, but still very pleasant to use. Of course you can still just use the brush like a paintbrush to lay on a thick layer of lather, but to me, that's not much of a challenge for any shaving brush. The E2 also succeeds where lots of other badger brushes seem to fall down.

Anyway, I know it's hard to be objective, and I've only used the brush once, but I'd have to rate the whole purchase as exceptionally good -- a 9.5 out of 10. The minor complaints I have are:

1. I'm new to these Simpson brushes, but I'm not very impressed with the use of stickers on the handle for the Simpson logo. I understand that the stickers are traditional and that, if one comes off, Simpson will supply a replacement. But people, it's almost 2011!! There are many different ways to emboss or print a very nice logo directly onto a resin shave brush handle. If someone gave you a new straight razor with a logo sticker on the scales, you'd think that the razor was some cheap blade made in China. So why is this ok for the best shaving brushes in the world?

2. I like the softness and yet springiness of the E2, but after hearing that there is a slightly stiffer model of "two band" hair, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get a chance to buy this model rather than the "three band." I like stiffer brushes in general, and I'm very happy with the stiffness of the three band E2, so if this is the only version available, I am keeping what I bought. On the other hand, learning about the "two band" version here after purchasing the "three band" version direct from Simpson is a bit of a surprise, and it would have been better hearing about these different versions from Simpson itself.

Photos to be posted this evening. And thanks for your interest!

 

[JeffE]

JeffE, thanks a lot for your measurements. I really appreciate the feedback. Given those measurements, I think the E2 or E3 would work well for me. How hard did you have to crush the knot to get the 20mm reading on the knot diameter? Most of my Simpson knots are very dense at the base and would resist that kind of pressure pretty well I would imagine. Thanks again!

Edit: I have been on a journey to find a nice badger brush with a long and comfortable handle. I want the brush to work extremely well with shaving creams, as I believe that boar brushes work best with soaps and badger brushes work better it creams. I have also wanted a brush to be somewhat economical with shaving while providing enough lather for 3 passes. My criteria also require that the brush be a Simpson brush. So you could probably understand my interest in this brush.

Alt, I pressed the micrometer scales together with a medium amount of force, like what you would use to squeeze a piece of clay. The knot is somewhat dense and fits nicely into the handle, but there is definitely some small amount of give to the diameter of the knot too. The amount of compression is pretty darn small -- in the range of 1-2 mm -- so please don't read too much into it. I just wanted you to know that different people measure knot diameters differently, and for this one, you get a 22 mm diameter if you measure without putting any pressure at all on the micrometer.

As for the other question, the E2 handle is long, but I'm used to classic, long handled boar brushes that are almost like paintbrushes. Compared to them, the E2 handle is kind of short, and looking at it now, I'd probably choose the E3 for more length. When it comes to being "economical", I'm assuming that you want a brush that works efficiently with creams and soaps, and like I said above, I find the key to this is the brush's ability to shed water when you are ready to make the lather. The E2 definitely meets this test, at least as far as I could tell from one use.

Please let me know if there's anything else I can tell you, and I will post more photos tonight.

 

[AJMiami]

Jeff,
Keep in mind that on the same brush model, comparing 2-band and 3-band super hair...the difference are not subtle...An E2 in 2-band hair would feel very different.

On the handle, my recommendation would be to find a comfortable vintage handle and do a restore using TGN knots. It would be difficult to find a commercially available badger brush with a handle that looks similar to the boar brush on the picture you posted.