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New Chubby - 1st impressions & more to follow

Well I struggled mightily on this given many experienced reviewers' concerns about Simpsons quality & variability but I got to a place where I simply HAD to check out a Chubby for face lathering of soaps. There were enough posts from folks who indicated they weren't having problems that allowed me to rationalize this purchase despite the risks. There is a lot of great information about Simpsons on the boards - I read it all and took it all very seriously. I ordered through Lee and he was a pleasure to deal with. He included some complimentary Conk soap to try out the new brush with.

My initial thoughts with more to follow:

Simpsons Chubby 1 in Super

  • Hair type: Tough to say - I didn't specify on order and it looks like this is a "two banded" variety. For about a third of the length of the brush (from the top towards the handle), the hairs are very white followed by a dark color that is a "blackish brown". At the base of the knot/handle it looks like some of the hairs lighten up again but you have to look really close to see this. I'll try to get a pic posted. 2 band or 3 - you decide. I didn't try specify as I have no point of reference on what the different hairs were going to feel like so I just went with Super and decided to see what I got. If SBAD continues and I like Simpson's I'll further triangulate from here now that I have a reference point.

  • Pre-bloom: Dense, dese, dense - just what I was looking for. Man this thing is dense. Oh, did I say this was dense? The head is more bulbish than fan shaped (again pre-bloom).

  • Handle: The Simpson's handles are touted as being top notch, hand turned, etc. It's a nice handle but I think the B&B handle is nicer (not even taking into account the personalized metal base!). I like the heft of the B&B. The B&B finish looks better & feels smoother. The Simpson's helped reinforce my thoughts of how nice the B&B brush is, especially for the price we got it for (nice job Joel, John & others!). I didn't buy a brush based on handle quality but I do notice the details.

  • Handle size: I was going back & forth in deciding between size 1 and 2. I have big hands (6foot3 bass player) and was worried about a CH1 handle being too small. I also wanted to get a brush big enough to fill up with enough lather for three passes plus touch up. I ended up going with a CH1 because lack of lather hasn't come up in any reviews for the CH1's and I also wanted to go smaller to have something that would work nicely with the wooden bowl soaps & QED tubs. That put me into the zone of being concerned about handle size. The CH1 handle size isn't going to be a problem. The Chubby fits fine in my hand and I like the grip it provides. What can I say - I'm a leftie and I've been living in "righty's" world my whole life, dealing with all sorts of ergonomic challenges. Compared to using a right handed scissors in my left hand, this thing is luxuriously comfortable. :biggrin:

  • The label: No obcessing here. I simply pulled it off right out of the box. It peeled away easily. I didn't want the dissapearing label to disctract me from my first shave and I didn't want to mess with nail polish to keep it in place. A more permanent, colored label on these these things would be nice.

  • Smell: It smells like an animal but it's not too bad. It hasn't gotten wet yet, we'll see tomorrow!
 
Here is "the Chubster" after a borax soak and one shave.

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To Be continued.....
 
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Looks great in your bathroom... something about white tile and a classic style shaving brush that just looks... clean and comforting. :w00t:
 
Nice review. The Chubby 1 in super is probabely one of the densest brushes out there. For lathering soap on the face, there is no better IMO.
 
Great looking brush Dave!! How did it perform for you?
I need to get some flight time on this thing. The Chubby performed to the best extent it could with a new operator behind the wheel. :blush:

Here are some notes on my first Chubby (let's try keep this thread clean folks) :wink:

  • The brush picked up soap off the Trumpers Violet really well - not surprising.

  • The brush felt very scrubby, but not so scrubby that I would hesitate to use this every day. Scrub was what I was looking for and I get it in this brush big time.

  • This will be a nice change from the much larger and more luxurious feel of the B&B brushes I'm currently using.

  • I'll be using this daily for many weeks to break it in as quickly as possible. It feels like there will be a significant break-in period with this one.

  • I definitely need to play around with the water mix and how I use the brush to generate and apply lather on my face. As other reviewes have stated, the brush wants to hold onto the lather.

  • The layer of lather that I put on my face each pass was effective but very thin. I had plenty for three passes plus touch up. The shave was good and the lather was good (not watery, nor did it dry out on my face). Again, the best way I can explain it was that it went on evenly but very "thin".

  • The brush and the operator need breaking in. I found it hard to do a circular scrubbing on my face to generate lather. I did a lot of whisking and "painting". It wasn't that circular was uncomfortable it was just tricky to do - the brush seemed to get stuck or hung up a bit when going circular. Again, the operator needs practice! This most likely explains the thin lather (oh, maybe the water mix, probalby not enough soap, etc,etc,etc).

  • I quickly and easily found a great way to grip the brush that was comfortable and offered lots of control. I'll take a pick of this. I think how someone holds a Chubby is going to be very different based on the combination of their hand size and what size Chubby (1, 2 or 3) they are using - probably much more so than most other brushes.

  • Lastly, I lucked out on the smell with this one. After borax soak and one shave it's there but not bad at all. (YMMV)

  • Overall I'm very psyched I bought this brush and am excited to get to learn how to make it sing. :thumbup:
 
Excellent, Thanks Dave....

I have the same brush on the way to me now from Lee, can't wait to try it out. Thanks for the insight.
 
Folks,
Here is how I am holding the Chubby (er, should I rephrase that?). It feels pretty comfortable for me. The brush is small but I found getting three fingers in the groove as such is all I need for great support and control. This works great for me (YMMV).

I don't need this brush to be any bigger (that's what the CH2 is for :biggrin: - couldn't even comprehend a CH3 :eek: ).

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