The same brush with a different personality · Real Men Real Style Community

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The same brush with a different personality

My latest addition to the traditional wet-shaving collection — another Simpson Chubby 3, this time in Manchurian Badger.

And yes… I already own a Chubby 3. 😂

My original is a Silvertip, and I absolutely LOVE that brush. In fact, that’s really why I bought another Chubby 3 rather than going looking for something completely different.

Sometimes when you find something that simply works, there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel.

What interested me this time was experiencing the same iconic Simpson brush with a very different knot.

Simpson has been making shaving brushes since 1919, and the Chubby has become perhaps its most recognizable design. It is big, incredibly dense and unapologetically substantial. My original Silvertip has that wonderfully soft, plush feel that makes building and applying a lather almost ridiculously luxurious.

The Manchurian, however, is a different animal.

It has the distinctive two-band appearance you can see in the picture, but more importantly Simpson's Manchurian hair has noticeably stiffer shafts and greater backbone while still having exceptionally soft tips.

So even though these are essentially two versions of the same Chubby 3, they should behave quite differently.

My thought is to initially use the Manchurian primarily with my shaving soaps, where that additional backbone should be wonderful for loading the brush and working a harder soap, while keeping my original Silvertip primarily for creams.

Not because either brush can't do both — they absolutely can.

It's simply another little opportunity to enjoy the differences.

There's also a practical side to having two. A natural badger brush should be thoroughly rinsed and allowed to dry completely after every shave. Alternating between them gives each brush plenty of time to dry and spreads the use between two brushes that, properly cared for, I hope I'll be using for a very long time.

And that probably gets to the part of this hobby I enjoy most.

I don't really collect shaving equipment just to accumulate more things. I enjoy the ritual.

Choosing a razor. Choosing a blade. Deciding on a soap or cream. Building the lather. Taking a few extra minutes in the morning to do something intentionally rather than simply rushing through another task.

I already knew I loved the Chubby 3.

Now I get to find out whether I prefer the luxurious softness of the Silvertip, the extra backbone of the Manchurian…

…or, as I suspect, whether I'll simply find a reason to love both. 😎

The Manchurian gets its first shave tomorrow morning.

Let the experiment begin. 😂

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The same brush with a different personality