Decided to treat myself to a little overindulgence and ordered a Simpsons QE II Jubilee Manchurian brush which I got today. First, Kudos to the postal system in both countries and customs here for allowing the delivery time to account for 1 week including a weekend. I think that is first class service.

The bigger Kudos I'll give to Simpsons for producing a very well crafted brush with great eye appeal. Simpsons also included a complimentary tube of their AS balm. There was a barely detectable amount of badger funk, nothing offensive. Immediately after unwrapping it I dunked it into cold water, gave it a couple of shakes, loaded it up with some MWF and face lathered up a storm. Not a hair was shed in the process.

The tips of the manchurian badger hair feel softer than my SOC 2 band badger did when it was new. The Simpson also has less scritch/scratch than when the SOC was new. The SOC has broken in well and is my favourite brush now having soft tips and decent backbone but without being too harsh. I suspect the Simpsons will be that and more once properly broken in. In other words a very well balanced brush eminently suitable for face lathering.

Would I order another brush from Simpsons? You bet I would but I might have to wait awhile till SWMBO gets over the shock of this one.

Bob