Simpson's Duke 2 review

[DoubleE]

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.

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=1366

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!

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=1419

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.

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=1420

How does it perform you ask? Well, here's a picture after 15 or so swirls on top of the L'Occitane hard soap.

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=1421


After a few swirls in the mixing bowl. Not a bad lather starting to appear.

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=1422

A few more swirls and a bowl of rich, thick lather blossoms.

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=1423

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!:mad:
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.

[Austin]

Great review and beautiful brushes.

[rtaylor61]

Jerry,

Thanks for taking the time to put this together. Do you still have the sticker that fell off? Re-apply with a little clear nail polish? Just a thought. Great write-up!

Randy

[DoubleE]

Jerry,

Thanks for taking the time to put this together. Do you still have the sticker that fell off? Re-apply with a little clear nail polish? Just a thought. Great write-up!

Randy

Randy:

I trashed the sticker. I'd read that nail polish might work but the engraving on the handle looks cool in itself.
thanks
Jerry

[Scotto]

Nice little brush, Jerry!

[rschul2]

Randy:

I trashed the sticker. I'd read that nail polish might work but the engraving on the handle looks cool in itself.
thanks
Jerry
Jerry, Be careful with the ink in the engraving. The ink from Chubby 1 has already started to come off. It is the one complaint about the brush. Other than that, I can't say anything negative about the brush I own.

[DoubleE]

Jerry, Be careful with the ink in the engraving. The ink from Chubby 1 has already started to come off. It is the one complaint about the brush. Other than that, I can't say anything negative about the brush I own.

Randy:

Based on the quality of their inks and stickers, it's a good thing they make a darned fine brush!

Jerry

[rschul2]

Randy:

Based on the quality of their inks and stickers, it's a good thing they make a darned fine brush!

Jerry
No doubt!

[Nick]

Thanks for the review Jerry. With the current prices of Simpsons, it's hard to resist the temptation.

-Nick

[Scotto]

I just couldn't resist pulling the trigger on one of these bad boys. I should have it in a day or so.

I ordered from Lee at Leesrazors (http://www.leesrazors.com/) (CARs price was good, but I try to not give him my business out of personal preference). Funny thing was that as we were chatting about New York, he mentioned that his brother was an attorney in a nearby town. Turns out the brother acted as my attorney on a house closing in the past. Small world!:smile:

[Rik]

Well now you went and done it. All this talk about Simpson brushes made me finally break down and order the PJ2 Silver Tip. :biggrin:

[DoubleE]

Well now you went and done it. All this talk about Simpson brushes made me finally break down and order the PJ2 Silver Tip. :biggrin:

Rik:

I knew I could push you over the edge! :biggrin: I've looked at the PJs, and I'll be curious to hear your opinion.

Jerry

[Rik]

Rik:

I knew I could push you over the edge! :biggrin: I've looked at the PJs, and I'll be curious to hear your opinion.

Jerry
Ah Ha! I knew it. Most effective! :biggrin:

[Scotto]

I have been using my Duke #2 for a week now, and I have to post a dissenting opinion. While it is an OK brush, I am kind of disappointed in it, and now I wish I had bought one of the Savile Row silvertips (which was my other option) instead.

The handle is very small and uncomfortable. Also, the bristle loft is the shortest among all my brushes. This makes it a very messy little brush. I have never had a brush where so much lather wanted to run down my hand, fly across the bathroom, etc. instead of winding up on my face. While it makes decent lather, I find it uncomfortable and annoying to use.

I do like the bristle characteristics, though - soft tips, not as stiff as Shavemac, but stiffer than Vulfix, etc. With the short bristles, though, I don't find it that it feels that great on my face. This one might wind up at the Shaving Mall if it doesn't shape up.

[madmedic]

Scotto....I am almost inclined to agree. It was my first quality brush so perhaps my expectations were a little too high. because it wasn't "all singing and all dancing" I ended up ordering the SMFII as well. I have a men-u Premiere which lathers absolutely everything. The D2 is disappointing with my Taylors creams, and good with all my lower end creams and soaps. The lather is not so profuse as that obtained with my men-u, but Ihave less work with water adjustment. This may be due to the water holding capacity which is much greater. Perhaps the hair density may be something to do with this. The best badger feels great on my face and I get great shaves. I will perservere as the brush is probably not yet broken in properly.

I don't regret buying it....but I suspect that part of the pleasure may be the name on the side.

Regards
Brian

[guenron]

I have been using my Duke #2 for a week now, and I have to post a dissenting opinion. While it is an OK brush, I am kind of disappointed in it, and now I wish I had bought one of the Savile Row silvertips (which was my other option) instead.

The handle is very small and uncomfortable. Also, the bristle loft is the shortest among all my brushes. This makes it a very messy little brush. I have never had a brush where so much lather wanted to run down my hand, fly across the bathroom, etc. instead of winding up on my face. While it makes decent lather, I find it uncomfortable and annoying to use.

I do like the bristle characteristics, though - soft tips, not as stiff as Shavemac, but stiffer than Vulfix, etc. With the short bristles, though, I don't find it that it feels that great on my face. This one might wind up at the Shaving Mall if it doesn't shape up.
I don''t want to say, "I told you so" BUT....

[DoubleE]

Well, I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or right with the brush but I get great lather from my soaps with it and still enjoy it. You're whipping up some mean lather Scotto if you have it flying across the room! :biggrin: I'm an admitted shaving junkie and I like and use all differnt types of brushes ( up to 12 brushes now). Is it my favorite brush, nope! Do I like it, yep! The handle's the same height as the beloved C&E best, it's just a larger diameter.

I will say this brush is so dense and the loft so short, it almost feels like a solid surface instead of a brush. The best analogy I could give would be the difference between a paint brush and a paint pad. That's probably why I find it works better with a painting motion than a circular motion. You get no splay from the hair and I think that's what feels different than every other brush I own and may be a negative feature to some.

As we all know, personal preferences are such a large part of what we do, it's amost impossible to know if you'll like something until you try it yourself. If everyone liked the same things, they'd probably always be out of stock anyway (and we'd have no need for the Shaving Mall). :001_smile 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!

[bluemoon]

I've been using the the Duke #2 for a couple of weeks now and overall I like it a lot. The handle's size is great for me. I thought the small loft would be a problem, but it's not. I am using a painting motion with this, as it does seem to work much better.

The biggest problem I'm having is leaving the correct amount water in the brush. It is a little touchy in my opinion and holds a lot due to the density. I no longer pre-mositen my soaps with this brush.

The quality of the brush is great but it is small and if you think that will be a problem, you might be better off with a #3. I am pleased with my purchase and will stick with this brush for the time being.

[DoubleE]

Welcome to the forum Bluemoon! Great to have you here!

[Kyle]

bluemoon,

Welcome to B&B. I'm glad your enjoying your Duke. What else makes up your shave kit?

[bluemoon]

What's in my shaving kit? Listed in order of preference.

Brushes:

Simpson Duke #2 Best Badger
Vulfix 2235 Bristle & Badger
Saville Row Pure Badger travel


Razors:

Gillette President ('53)
Gillette TTO (England)
Merkur HD
Gillette '40's Superspeed
Gillette Adjustable Fat Boy ('60)
Merkur mustache razor

Soaps/oils:

Pacific Shaving pre-oil
Classic Shaving Bay Rum
Will G's Shea Butter Patchouli
T&H hard soap in the bowl

Aftershaves:

Jason's 6 in 1
Aloe Vera 80
Aubrey Organics Ginseng Mint
Burt's Bees Bay Rum

A couple of straights that I don use. A few more Gillette's. That pretty much covers it. I didn't realize I hadn't posted here previously!

Randy

[Kyle]

Very nice collection!

[halwilson]

Hi DoubleE,

Thanks for your review. I'm sold on Simpsons brushes. I used a Simpsons Major Best Badger while traveling for the last couple of months. As you may know, that brush is very small indeed. I have a large Shavemac SMF I, Vulfixs and a couple of Kents, but I now prefer to use this Simpsons travel brush. All the others I have seem too floppy (save for the shavemac SMF which is better in this regard; however I now find it just too big). This Duke #2 seems just the ticket. Thanks for reminding me about the discount at Enchante. I have just ordered one from them. If it is anything like this little work of art, the Simpsons Major turnback, I'm sure to be more than satisfied.:thumbup1:

Hal

[HlSheppard]

Hal, I'm with ya.

After having / lusting after all these huge brushes, I've started to settle on smaller "soap-oriented" brushes. I still have a couple of larger Shavemacs and a Vulfix 41. I use those for creams, and if each one of those gets used once a month I'd be surprised...

My Duke #2, Chubby #1 and Polo 8 (all in best) are my go-to brushes these days. If I want a larger brush that still works well with soaps, I'll use my CAR Shavemaster (or whatever we call it, these days), which seems to do very well with just about everything.