The Rooney 3/1 Experience

[huntingdan]

Here is my first attempt to go over my Rooney 3/1 experience, I would call it a review, but I only have one other brush and it is an EJ BBB medium. So I don't have a lot to compare to at this moment .

Anyways I ordered my brush over at Vintage Blades from Jim last weekend, it was shipped and arrived at my doorstep today. Well today was one of those days, even though it was a Friday. So when I saw the package on the doorstep I decided it was time for a nice, slow comfortable shave to top the night off.

Here is the brush I received:




After I washed it out with shampoo, took a nice shower to prep my face. I decided to give face lathering a go, so I could compare my experience to my EJ brush which is a "best" badger. Plus, it is the silver tip version of the Rooney, isn't that what it's made for?

So after the shower loaded the brush using Marco's method with RR King Louis! Chose the lavender since it was a night shave to calm my nerves from the day.


Brush loaded and ready to use:

Then face lathered and did a 3 pass shave with my red tip and personna med preps I also received in the mail today!

I will post the rest of the pics in the next post. The brush held plenty of lather, but the most important thing I noticed from this brush in comparison was it basically felt like a soft pillow of soap against my face with no scratch. This was the reason I was bowl lathering with my EJ brush, it really irritated my skin from the scratch, mostly at the neck line.

I love this brush It will definitely be earning the number 1 spot on my brush holder. It held enough lather for the 3 passes, and I only had to dip it a couple of times in the water on the third lather to get it going again. It was soft, even on the first test run not even broken in yet. I can only imagine how it is going to be once I get it broken in.

The only problem I found was it shed a lot of hairs. Atleast a dozen or so when shampooing it to begin with and about 3-4 once I started lathering. I don't know if that is a bad thing. I will keep my eye on it over the next month or so.

Anyways I will post the rest of the pics in the next post, which will include the lather on the face, and post first use bloom.

Enjoy!!!

Thanks Jim at Vintage Blades!

[huntingdan]

Also wanted to thank David at RB&M for offering the med and labs in small packages to try out! As always thanks for the extras of some personna reds and barbers. Until I give the meds and labs a decent shot, it is always good to have 5 more of my favorite (so far) Red IP's.


Sorry about the pic of my ugly mug!

[Brent]

I have one and it's still my favorite a year later and after acquiring other brushes. I have the EJ BBB and I think you did a good comparison.

Also got mine from VB. mine shed only about a dozen hairs the whole year I've had it. I wouldnt worry too much. They seem to be high quality.

Great review btw.

[njpaddy]

I recently rediscovered how great this brush is. After buying one several years back, I used it for a year, mostly bowl lathering creams. After I got into face lathering and hard soaps I decided that I wanted more backbone and smaller brushes and boxed up the Rooney while I cycled through a dozen or so other brushes. Early this March I had an itch for another new brush and remembered I still had the Rooney boxed up. I intended to sell it, but after using it once more I realized that I really like this brush. It offers a distinct change (more splay) from my favorite Rover, yet handles face lathering hard soaps like Harris and GFT quite well.

[huntingdan]

I will probably try bowl lathering tomorrow. Honestly th,e EJ BBB brush is awesome at bowl lathering, and I love using it for that. Just wasn't so keen on the face lathering properties of it, which is why I bought this brush. Also have a Semogue 2000 coming in the mail today or Monday to see if I like the BIG brush!

[arm017]

Very nice. I love the long handle. It makes bowl lathering a cinch!

[Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt]

I'm quickly becoming a Rooney fanboy. Love my 3/1. I think my next acquisition will be a Victorian, however, the M&F L7 has caught my eye.

[Oscroft]

Great to hear how much you like it.

I love the 3/1 size and shape so much I got it in pure, best and silvertip (and I'd love one in finest, but it seems unlikely I'll find one of those at any price, never mind an affordable one).

I reckon the 3/1 silvertip is the best brush I have.

[dpmtherrien]

Glad that you liked it. in my 5 brush rotation my Rooney is used often.

[lt114]

The 3/1 was the first brush I bought. It's a fantastic all-around brush, and it will always have a place in my rotation.

[MaxP]

A 3/1 was my first "real brush" several years ago. It was, and continues to be, a great performer.
Congrats. You chose well.

[Kaladin22]

Here is my first attempt to go over my Rooney 3/1 experience, I would call it a review, but I only have one other brush and it is an EJ BBB medium. So I don't have a lot to compare to at this moment .

Good post dan! I didn't have any shedding problems with my super 3/1, though. Has it started to mellow out yet?

[Oscroft]

On the subject of shedding, I've got the 3/1 in three grades, pure, best and silvertip. The best shed about a dozen hairs over the first few uses, and I've lost maybe 2 or 3 hairs out of each of the others - but they all settled down quickly and haven't shed at all since.

[kbuzbee]

3/1 is my travel brush:



Great little brush!

Ken