I have a question about the ever famous Crabtree & Evelyn Best Badger Brush. This used to be (from what I can tell) one of the more highly recommended starter brushes for newbies. It is, after all, simply a rebranded Edwin and Jagger. So, that said, I finally decided to move away from my synthetic Body Shoppe brush (will probably use it for travel...synthetic seems to dry faster) and was looking for the BBB...as you probably know, no longer seems to be carried by C&E (at least not on their site). Well, around Christmas time I was in a mall and browsing through the C&E and saw what was labeled as the Best Badger brush...for about $20. I asked the salesperson if this was a clearance sale on the stock or something, and she informed me that no, this was brand new in stock for the season. Huh? I am confused here...anyone else know why the web-site would no longer carry this, but apparently the stores have them as "new"? Is this not the same brush? Did I get hoodwinked? Please help...after all, I haven't debuted it yet, and would love to switch to something other than my freebie synthetic. Thanks.
They're probably NOS 09's... I was told by a C&E district manager that, they only had whats in the store, there is a new redesign of the entire brush line due, till then they only carry stock on hand.
I figured...I wanted to check, though to make sure it was the original one so highly spoken of, and not something of a lesser grade. I mean, since it does have "Best" on it, I can only assume, right? I almost got the ebony handled one, which was on sale for $25 or so, but didn't like the feel of the handle...I figured with soap and water that thing would squirt right out of my hand and smack me in the eye or something. Sigh...I can see myself developing Brush Adquisition Disorder sometime in the near future...
The C&E BBB is certainly a good quality brush. It's not very dense, but you might like that. It might not be as nice as a Simpson or Rooney, but for the price it's a great deal. At $20 I'd even call it a great bargain. On the "Best" part, it's a badger grade that while quite good, ironically isn't the best grade. The highest grade badger is silvertip based on how most companies grade even though not everyone prefers it. If you're really into spending money and wanted the rarest (notice I didn't say best) hairs, you can break the bank on something called "high mountain white". If you do, let me know if it's any good
Oh, I knew that there were the grades, and that best was better than pure, but under the silvertip...I guess my original question was about whether this really WAS the original "best" or if it was merely say a "Pure" rebranded or something. It seemed too good to be true to get a BBB for that price, but as was explained with the restructuring, it seems I did get a good deal. Yeah, my next brush will probably be a good Rooney or something with a nice long handle, slightly scrubby, yet thick and soft at the same time (in my head you CAN have soft and scrubby at the same time...no laughing!)
If you mean soft tips on a scrubby knot, certainly you can. If that's what you like, also consider trying a good boar brush (Omega, Vulfix, or Semogue). They do take a few weeks to break in and never hold as much lather as a badger, but they are scrubby, have very soft tips when broken in, and cost much less than a Rooney, Simpson, or similar.
I received that exact brush for a gift a year ago December and I liked it so much that I bought the original Edwin Jagger version when it was on sale. It is a firm brush but not overly "scritchy" and does a nice job with creams and soaps. I have no problem whatsoever with the handle and it is not slippery at all. I had a "superbadger" brush that I eventually sold because I felt it was too floppy. As with everything, YMMV.
