Rooney "Special" 3/1 Super Silvertip

I purchased the Rooney 3/2 in best badger two years ago and it has been my daily brush since then. Well, until I bought a shavemac off Ebay recently anyway.I love the Rooney. Scritchy enough that the skin is worked a little, but not anywhere near irritating.Makes a great lather, especially with creams. I use Truefitt & Hill, Castle Forbes and Queen Charlotte creams and a Truefitt & Hill soap.I do need to be careful about shaking out most of the extra water before lathering. I can always (and I usually do) add another dollop of water when starting the lather. If I forget to shake out the excess water, and I sometimes do, when I start lathering the face, the pressure pushes water from the heart of the brush out and it runs down my chest.It shed a few hairs during the first few months of use and since then rarely loses one.

I got one of these off the BST.

And, at that price point ($75 new, I paid $65 used), this is the densest and most luxurious brush I've had.

It lathers extremely well, holds a great deal of water, feels fantastic on the face.

Super Dense...I have a Kent 2009 B&B LE and it is far less dense, though both are super soft and great with both soaps and creams, the difference is visible and tangible.

I've been using a Rooney 3/1 Super for almost a year. 99% of the time I use it to bowl lather creams. Like this brush so much I PIF'd the Omega I started with and sold an 830 I used less than 10 times. I consider the 3/1 my best DE related purchase.

Price - Only $75 at Vintage Blades

Quality - Fantastic! This brush rarely sheds any hair and I do not baby my brushes. The handle is solid and has a nice heft to it. A true workhorse!

Density - This is a very dense brush by my estimation. I know there are more dense brushes out there, but this has plenty of hair.

Stiffness of Tips - Not super stiff, but there is plenty of backbone here. No problems mashing a puck of soap. Definitely for face lathering.

Softness of Tips - This brush won't caress your face like a Shavemac, but it won't irritate your skin either. A very nice comfortable scrubby feeling! Not scritchy at all.

Ergonomic - Maybe the most comfortable handle I've ever used. Very easy on your hands.

Latherability - Whips up great big gobs of lather with both soaps and creams alike.

Overall, I find this brush very enjoyable to use and at it's price point it's highly recommended for newbies looking for their first quality badger brush.

This is one of my best brush. Great lather and the stiff soft brush makes great brush.

A very nice brush I've been using daily for the past year. I only have experience with a boar and kent cheap badger. The tips are soft and once and let me tell you this brush is a lather bomb. The softness of the tips are what really set it apart as well as density and small size. A great value and probably the best buy out there except for possibly a quality boar. I will most likely upgrade eventually but at the time I like working on my other AD's and this brush has been reliable for me and never gets tiring.

I have a Rooney 3/2 Super with a faux ivory handle, and the thing is a beauty. I have used it with soaps and creams, in bowls and scuttles, and I love it. There is no secret or steep learning curve to generating lots of lather, no critical H2O threshold. It is soft without being floppy, it holds its own with triple-milled soaps, and has performed well in every situation I have thrown it into. I have never lost a hair from this knot. I have seen greater density, you can find cheaper, there are fancier brushes, but in my estimation when it comes to quality this Rooney is a solid 10.

+1 on both comments. I have the same brush (except mine is ebony handle) and I purchased from Jim at Vintagebladesllc.com as well. This brush is just about perfect. I have never used, or even seen one any better, and I strongly agree that it is a great brush for both creams and soaps.

Just 1 further comment. You should quit your day job. You have real talent as a photographer!

MrPiper

I've been meaning to make the jump from a cheap boar hair omega brush I have to a proper badger one for awhile. I wanted a brush with a finish other than ivory/ebony at a decent price and that lead me to this brush. I checked on this review and decided to take a chance on it.

I have not been disappointed. This brush has changed my shaving experience completely. I had never been able to make a thick rich lather so quickly. I love the finish as well, it looks great in person.

Photos of my first use.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Cryogenics/ShaveKit#

I purchased this brush from Classicshaving and absolutely love it. Works great with what ever you throw at it. I use it 50/50 with soaps and cremes. It has a very good backbone which makes it good with soaps. The density is amazing with the 3/1. I did a lot of research before I pulled the trigger on this one and have no regrets what so ever. Pretty much perfect!

Good review.

I have the standard 3/1. I find it so dense, that it doesn't hold much lather. The lather ends up all on my face before first pass. I think I prefer less dense brushes who have more room for lather for subsequent passes (I face lather).

Thanks for the review, Justin!

So the brush finally arrived yesterday after great anticipation. I ordered it from Vintagebladesllc which was a great experience in itself. Definitely going to shop from there in the future. They have great prices. Especially on this Rooney.

Rooney "Special" 3/1 Super Silvertip in Imitation Tortoise Shell
Overall Brush Height: 97mm
Handle Height: 50mm
Brush Loft: 47mm
Knot Diameter: 22mm

Price: For 75 dollars, I believe this is a very competitively priced silvertip. The only brush I've really used before was a C&E BBB. It's a great brush, but for 75 bucks, this Rooney is so much more spectacular. It was definitely money well spent.

This is an extremely well crafted brush. The quality of the imitation tortoise shell is simply beautiful and the handle has very classy and elegant lines. It's very pleasing to the eyes. Even though this is my first silvertip, as soon as it touched my cheeks, covered in lather, I knew this was a darn good brush!

This brush is so dense, if it were a guy, he'd be an idiot! Compared to my C&E BBB, this is really thick and dense. I've been told by several that there are many brushes with denser knots, but for 75 dollars, I couldn't ask for more.

The brush is so soft. The knot is nice and dense, giving it great stiffness for soaps and not floppy at all. But the tips, WOW. I couldn't describe how it felt at first. I told SWMBO that it felt like doves flew past my face with their wings covered in lather. She said that didn't sound all too great. So now it's angels! Angel wings!

The brush feels great in the hand. I love the 22mm knot size. I've never tried the big brushes, so I can't honestly compare. But I think the medium knots are perfect. And it sounds like many others agree. The handle is very comfortable. It has a nice weight, a little heavier than the BBB, which I think is great! Can't fault it as far as ergonomics are concerned.

This thing lathers amazingly! The lather is nice and cushiony. And after 3 passes, I still had plenty of lather left. I look forward to the next shave with this brush. So far I've only used it with DR Harris Cream, but I'll try it with the Tabac next. I'm more of a soap guy so I'm looking really forward to that!

Okay, enough of the chit chat. After all, I know what you guys want are the pics!

Here it is compared to the BBB pre-bloom



Nice and dense


A little soak
View attachment 52877

A bit of D.R. Harris on the tips
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After a bit of bowl lathering
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After 3 passes
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Post-bloom
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