New Forest 2221 - first impressions

Flew in from Chicago (a warm 10 degrees) late last night and found the 2221 arrived safely. Shaved with the LE 2010 using my first tub of Cella which was also in the mail. Wow, nice stuff that cream is. Will run out the 2221 with same tonight. No taint like the LE. I usually wash a new brush with "Yankee Williams" prior to shaving. I’m going to try something different this time. I'm going to place this brush in a glass, fill to below the handle with hot water and after a good soak I'll just get on with it by face lathering. The knot is very soft to touch and I look forward to tonight’s bout.

Sir Prize once wrote to me to be careful what you write and say what you mean as I was participating in discussion on a British forum; I took note. So, as a Yank, "BOWEL WALLOPING" alarmed me when I first read it. This after discovering what Spotted Dick was as well as sucking a fag and of course knocking something up with a shaving brush . Sometimes it's better to be thought of as naive than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. All the best to you guys --- stay warm, Robert
 

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I had a PM asking how the 2221 compared to my other two New Forest brushes, so I've posted a photo which I hope will help.

L > R: 2201 - 2211 - 2221

NewForestBrushes002EDIT.jpg


L > R: 2201 - 2211 - 2221

NewForestBrushes006EDIT.jpg
 
It's simple really!

First two digits is knot size. That's 22 for example.

I use three grades of hair, So 0 is Two Band, 1 is Finest Silvertip and 2 is High Mountain.

That is the third number, so a 2 for the latest brush.The fourth number is the number of the specific brush in the category.

So far it's been the 2201, 2211 and now the 2221.

I'm using this method for brushes made locally in the New Forest. So I had a 2202 for a Tambootie handle Two band for example.

Hope this makes sense - it does to me. I will add a name occasionally - like a "Tubby" which is coming soon. So I will be having a 2601 - 26mm knot, two band, and the first one will be in ebony. I'll use a different number for other materials.

I never have figured out other numbering systems used by the likes of Omega and Semogue.
 
Fido said:
It's simple really!

First two digits is knot size. That's 22 for example.

I use three grades of hair, So 0 is Two Band, 1 is Finest Silvertip and 2 is High Mountain.

That is the third number, so a 2 for the latest brush.The fourth number is the number of the specific brush in the category.

So far it's been the 2201, 2211 and now the 2221.

I'm using this method for brushes made locally in the New Forest. So I had a 2202 for a Tambootie handle Two band for example.

Hope this makes sense - it does to me. I will add a name occasionally - like a "Tubby" which is coming soon. So I will be having a 2601 - 26mm knot, two band, and the first one will be in ebony. I'll use a different number for other materials.

I never have figured out other numbering systems used by the likes of Omega and Semogue.
Click to expand...


Fido,

I might be the only one that wonders, but can you please put your described hair grades into a scale together with:

-Pure
-Best
-Silvertip
-Super
-Finest

I understand that many manufacturers use the last three descriptions for Silvertip, but with different treatments.

How does your three grades relate to this scale?

Thanks.

/Max
 
This illustrates the variations in descriptions of badger grades:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Shave_Brush_Hair_Grades" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.ph ... air_Grades</a><!-- m -->

I'm using three types of hair in my New Forest Brushes which I am now describing as:

Super Badger Two Band - this looks and feels like the type of hair described as Super Badger Two band by Simpsons, and the same type of hair used in the Rooney Two Band grade of Super Silvertip Badger - these are the terms they use in their adverts.

Finest Silvertip - this is silvertip that has been redressed and resorted to remove twisted hairs to increase the feeling of softness. This is quite a common term used to describe the top grade of most manufacturers.

High Mountain Badger - this is from a rare species of badger found only in remote mountain areas in China. It is the softest of all badger hair, and the most expensive due to it's rarity. Rooney used to describe it's rare hair as "Finest" but no longer uses it. Plisson have a "High Mountain White" I have been told that most manufacturers are not willing to pay for the added "rarity" factor.

So as far as your direct question goes - I'd put New Forest grades at the top two to three grades in any list. I'm not intending to use anything less. Having said that, the differences are marginal, but they are there. I have examples of all the top grades in my collection so I am able to make the comparisons myself.
 
Received my NF2221 brush today and I am absolutely delighted with it :D

I followed the prep instructions included with the brush to the letter and it has bloomed wonderfully. Lathers beautifully and is oh so soft :mrgreen: Amazing craftsmanship and quality and a bargain price.

I was getting some post shave irritation following the use of my previous synthetic brush (body shop) and although it had felt prickly, I hadn't realised just how harsh it was (plus the lather is sooooooo much better with the new brush)! No irritation at all now and this evening I had my best shave to date :D

What a difference a day makes? No - what a difference a quality brush makes!

So glad I discovered this forum and Fido's (New Forest) brushes.

Looking forward to the next shave,
Jason
 
Good lesson early on there Jason, I am a bit slow sometimes so it took me a while to realise this.

It is not that uncommon for some of the irritation to come from an overactive scrub with a prickly brush; especially in the early stages. I bought a nice soft tipped but tightly packed brush when I was having a "face lathering is king" obsession a few years back. I found that even this can cause irritation, all it takes is for you have a little bit of trouble lathering and you add more water then scrub, oops overdone it add more soap and scrub again. By the time you get the lather right you have been scrubbing away at the sensitive skin of your neck area for a few minutes and this can lead to a kind of all over redness, feels like slightly raw skin rather than the weepers from crap soap mix or blunt blade/poor technique.

Once or twice I blamed the new blade I was trying and wrote it off my list, later revisiting them with better lather some of the crap blades are not as crap as I thought. I then realised that it was the lather that was the issue, I had spent so much of my time and attention watching the angle, using no pressure and the technical elements and hadn't paid attention to making lather. It was like cooking with cheap ingredients, it just fails and no matter how perfect the rest of the stuff is if the lather ain't right it is going to be a poor shave regardless.

For some face lathering and prickly brushes are not a problem and indeed your skin will become used to it; for me it was the one thing that took longest to get consistently right; and is one of the reasons why I would always recommend bowl lathering till you master making shaving grade lather. There is far more control over the lather in a bowl and if it goes Pete Tong you just wash it out and start again as a last resort, but your face has been saved from your attempts to make shit lather into good lather.

The 2221 is just as happy face or bowl lathering and it will certainly be more kind to your face than the Body Shop synthetic, pound for pound they are the best brush in the price range bar none (in my opinion). Anyway wasn't trying to lecture or anything, I have no idea where you are in the journey of shaving with DE's but your post about the noticeable difference a brush makes reminded me of this period when the light bulb suddenly light up for me and the sudden dawning that half the shave quality is down to preparation. Good lather with a good brush and soap are vital ingredients to achieving the goal of a irritation free shave.

Enjoy the brush and happy shaving.
 
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