What are Gel Tips?

Howdy guys, happy Friday!

I'm going to buy a SImpson 2 Chubby and have been reading up a lot on different hair types. I was leaning towards Manchurian, but am now second guessing that. In my reading, the term "Gel Tip" keeps coming up and I'm just not sure what that means. Can someone explain it to me? Thanks very much!

I'm not sure how everyone defines the term but my understanding of gel tips are when individual hair fibers start to hook (like an upside down J) and these hooks grab the fiber next to it and the end result is a brush that the tips don't touch your face this the feel is softer.  (That is the theory).  ALL the gel tip brushes I have are treated or bleached and all the gel tips are very soft on my face.  My knots with very white tips seem to have been bleached.  That said, I don't cotton to the importance of gel tipped brushes and think it's used perhaps a bit too often.  My favorites have many untreated badger hair knots among them.  Below is a pic of wet knots.  White tipped gel on left.  Untreated two band on right.  I love them both and don't spend my time looking for gel as much as seeking quality hair.  Hope that helps and I'll look forward to others ideas of what GEL means to them

The post above is a good description of gel tips. That said, some people like gel tips and some people don't. Really jelly tips can feel almost like mush. You lose some of the feel of the brush. I think some of the best knots fall in between. I enjoy a knot with very soft tips with no scritch but not a gelled mess. It's nice to maintain some brush feel. BTW, I have just such a brush posted on the BST right now. It is a Simpson Chubby 2 in two band Silver Tip hair.

Thanks so much for the awesome answer! This makes total sense. So it's not so much that the tips are super soft, but that they are hooked around and not hitting your skin. I'm a big fan of soft brushes and will happily sacrifice backbone in the name of a softer bristle. I will have to look at some of my current brushes under magnification to see if any of them have this. Right now my best brush is a Rudy Vey with a Silvertip Shavemac knot. It's a wonderful brush, but I would not mind something even softer yet.

Thanks again for the awesome info! I really appreciate it guys!

Thanks NJDJ . I saw your brush and was very tempted, but I kind of have my heart set on the ivory color handle

Buy a nice Varlet and you’ll be set for life.

I would try. Bob Quinn of Elite Razors. His. 2 band & Silver tip brushes typically have that J hook or gel feel. Great quality brushes.

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For me, gel tips feel very slippery and uhhh...gel-like when wet. 
They tend to exhibit pronounced clumping when you first wet them,
as shown in the picture below.
These days I'm not so into them....prefer ultra soft tips with some backbone.
I've never heard Simpsons Manchurian described as 'gel tips'. In fact 
the one I tried felt a bit scrubby and made me wonder what was so special about it.

For me, gel tips feel very slippery and uhhh...gel-like when wet. 
They tend to exhibit pronounced clumping when you first wet them,
as shown in the picture below.
These days I'm not so into them....prefer ultra soft tips with some backbone.
I've never heard Simpsons Manchurian described as 'gel tips'. In fact 
the one I tried felt a bit scrubby and made me wonder what was so special about it.

Yep. That is exactly what the 'gel tips' look like.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

So it turns out that I actually have a brush that does this. It's my absolute worst brush by miles and it was the first one I bought. I think I paid like $19 for it new. It's genuinely absolute rubbish, but I actually do like its face feel. It's just floppy as a wet blanket. I broke it out this morning just to check it out., and it made me appreciate my other brushes all over again.

Anyhow, Tester28, I think what you describe is what I'm looking for. Soft tips with good backbone. I'm quite fond of the Simpson chubby handle and I like the fact that they have extremely dense knots. My Simpson #1 classic has convinced me about its quality, and to be honest, it makes for a great display on my shelf. I'm sure over time I'll buy many brushes, but for now, I'm out for a Chubby #2. Based on all the excellent advice I will look for an ivory handle #2 with silver tip. Thanks again everyone!