Thread: Simpsons Pure or Best

Having used a boar for half a year I recently got a Simpsons Berkeley in Best. This is a wonderful brush for me (travel and face lathering friendly). It feels very soft compared to the 'scrub' a boar gives, even well broken in.

My question: Does a Simpsons brush in Pure give more "scrub and backbone" then the softer Best?? Or is it just a lower quality grade of softness?

I've not had a Simpson pure, but I do have a Shavemac Pure, as well as one of their badgers, and the pure is scritchy to the max. A friend has a Plisson in pure that he describes as being the same. So I'd bet the pure would be that way with the Simpson as well. Main thing is a short loft if you want backbone and scritch. Something in the 48 to 50mm range. IMHO.

Had a simpson Duke in pure for a few months. Really scrubby. I now have best and super badger models and the difference is not huge. The step from pure to best is huge in terms of softness.

Pure is the cheapest and the poorest part of the badger from a shaving perspective. The hairs are very prickly, no matter the maker you can't turn lead into gold. Best is the next grade up and is probably the best bang for the buck in brushes.

So it's mainly a softness difference? No difference in backbone or splay, this is only really related to loft height right? Shorter loft is stiffer… makes sense

The lower grades are not just prickly they tend to be stiff all around so you'll not get a pure badger that is floppy.

In general a shorter loft means more backbone but some types of hair are less likely to be floppy to begin with and some more so. often times shortening the loft is a way to correct a high degree of floppiness.

Pure is a great choice if you like heavy exfoliation. Best still has a more gentle exfoliation.

Have both and prefer Best or softer.