A Rooney Finest fan?

And you thought you were a brush enthusiast! Click on the photo for the complete picture.

Nivea Balm

On offer at £3.33 in a local supermarket. What's a chap supposed to do?

And I still have my vintage Kent brushes. The real ivory on the right is now used in my rotation. But I have still resisted the Kent V16. Still unused.

I'd forgotten I still had this Trumpers real buffalo horn. A lovely soft silvertip.

And I decided to keep this one for my occasional travels.

A bit more about it here.

Simpsons Duke 3 Best Badger

Another one of my keepers - perhaps the most popular Simpsons brush. 

This is the famous High Mountain White for which you pay a premium price. £189 for a 20mm knot brush - six times the price of a New Forest brush of similar size. The Plisson logo and the tiny ring around the top of the handle are very distinctive. And the hair? It is softer than most silvertips but only marginally. But it is a Plisson and it's staying. And it is a delight to use. With its 51mm loft the brush is a very practical size.

Plisson High Mountain White

Simpsons Astor

The best Simpsons Two Band hair that I found in this limited edition brush made to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Simpsons brand. Still in my cupboard and used regularly.

Simpsons Astor Super

Keepers

I bought a lot of brushes to include in my Fido's Shaving Brush Blog. I used them all to ensure I was able to give each one a fair assessment. Some I passed on or sold but I kept quite a few until fairly recently. I'm reaching the time of life now when it's perhaps time to enjoy passing on some of the things that I have accumulated through the years. Collections of bells, radios, telephones have all now been substantially reduced. But I always keep a few special favourites. Someone asked me recently which brushes I have kept. So I'll now start to list them. In no particular order, this is one that's still with me:

Rooney 1/2 Finest

Rooney these days continues to be shrouded in mystery. No longer available in the Uk but a few brushes still sold on a couple of websites in the USA. The Rooney Finest is no longer available anywhere. It is a unique brush with hair like no other currently on the market. I wasn't over impressed when I first got it. But it is now one of my favourites that I've decided to keep.

Razor Emporium

Some really interesting information here for vintage razor fans:

Razor Emporium

Spotted on a shaving forum. Someone decided to create a new handle for an old brush. There's some clever folks out there.

New Forest 2223 High Mountain Badger

After a pleasant August break it's time for more action! Here is the latest High Mountain Badger brush from the New Forest:

All the details can be seen here:

New Forest 2223 High Mountain Badger