First time with the Rooney

[igasho]

I'll be honest, bit nervous using such an expensive brush for the first time but extremely excited to see what its like at the same time!
I used the Trufit&Hill ultimate comfort shaving cream, face lathered. I found this brush holds a huge amount of water compared to my Omega boar hair so my first lather was a bit wet, but the 2nd and 3rd were both extremely silky and smooth like medium peaks on whipped cream. After using this brush for the first time I now completely understand what people mean by a brush being floppy, at least compared to my Omega. The bristles were very soft and felt smooth as I was lathering up, no scritchyness at all. I painted on the 2nd lather and swirled the third just to see how the brush did each way, and it excells with laying out a nice layer either way. I am excitedly looking forward to the next shave! Oh, and now it gets a little picture heavy. I am more than happy to hear any critiques on my lathering abilities as I am very much new to all of this and have noone in person to compare notes with and/or learn from/with.

As you can see, I can barely grow facial hair as it is. This is 2 days without shaving.
1st lather2nd lather

 

[igasho]

the brush after first lather
View attachment 331900SOTD

 

[Useless shaver]

Nice brush!

In my opinion, the first lather seems to me a bit dry and not very cushiony. I'd load more product and then drops of water until getting to the sweet spot of that cream (I'm a soap guy). Wether you prefer yogurt or meringue is down to your preference, but remember that here more is ... MORE!

 

[ChiefBroom]

In my opinion, the first lather seems to me a bit dry and not very cushiony. I'd load more product and then drops of water until getting to the sweet spot of that cream (I'm a soap guy). Wether you prefer yogurt or meringue is down to your preference, but remember that here more is ... MORE!

+1. I prefer meringue.

I'll leave it to others to comment on your lather. I know it when I have it, but I'm not sure how well I can judge from photos. My first pass lather tends to go on a little thicker. But I usually combine a hard soap with a cream (e.g., today was P.160 tipo duro that has lost its scent along with a dab of 1805). I probably do combos at least 9 out of 10 shaves. That practice allows me to use more product, and as Juan rightly observed, "more is ... MORE!"

Thanks for posting. Well done!

 

[TXFirefighter10]

+1. I prefer meringue.

I'll leave it to others to comment on your lather. I know it when I have it, but I'm not sure how well I can judge from photos. My first pass lather tends to go on a little thicker. But I usually combine a hard soap with a cream (e.g., today was P.160 tipo duro that has lost its scent along with a dab of 1805). I probably do combos at least 9 out of 10 shaves. That practice allows me to use more product, and as Juan rightly observed, "more is ... MORE!"

Thanks for posting. Well done!

+1

 

[celestino]

Congratulations on the new brush. As the others have stated, you could use more water in the lather. Good luck.

 

[Useless shaver]

I too prefer meringue!

 

[igasho]

I will try more water next time, I kept thinking I didnt have enough because it was almost runny like partially cooked egg whites

 

[igasho]

double post

 

[Brooksie967]

If you're face lathering, soak brush, shake out excess water, load product, apply to face. Keep a small bowl of water or use the lid to your soap cream so you can dip the brush in the water and continue lather production on face until you've got that lemon or coconut cream pie meringue look to the lather

 

[njpaddy]

Whatever works for you is the right way. A lot may depend on the softness/hardness of your water. With my well water, I get better results with a drier lather, although not as dry as yours. Your brush after the first pass looks like it needs more product or maybe more water or both. After the first pass, my brushes have lather throughout. I do a 4 pass shave and only get 2 shaves out of a T&H sample. Good choice of brush. A Rooney was my first good brush after a floppy Omega. Currently 3 of my top 5 brushes are Rooneys.

 

[igasho]

ok, so i tried again tonight, but this time with my La Toja stick. I do see what you mean by adding more water, but I hit the point where it ran down my front lol. As I added more soap it got thick thick!

 

[Merkur25]

Nothing is like a nice sloppy thick lather

I like the brush too by the way!

 

[igasho]

ok, tried again tonight, T&H Grafton cream. I think it was much thicker than the last couple tries. Now that I know I was doing something wrong, I can only fix it Thank you guys.

 

[ChiefBroom]

ok, tried again tonight, T&H Grafton cream. I think it was much thicker than the last couple tries. Now that I know I was doing something wrong, I can only fix it Thank you guys.

That looks much, much better to me!

 

[.soap.]

That looks much, much better to me!

+1 much better! Now have fun dialing your lather in and experimenting!

PS if you haven't used it yet, save your trafalgar sample for a special day. That's one of the best scents in shavedom

 

[redrako]

You're on the right track. What a difference in your second photo from the first?

As .soap said, it's fun dialing in what a lather should be. You have a fine brush in the Rooney and a great cream.

 

[igasho]

I have not used it yet, and I will save it now that special day will be the day I get to use the adjustable slim I have on the way.

+1 much better! Now have fun dialing your lather in and experimenting!

PS if you haven't used it yet, save your trafalgar sample for a special day. That's one of the best scents in shavedom

 

[ChiefBroom]

After using this brush for the first time I now completely understand what people mean by a brush being floppy, at least compared to my Omega.

I meant to comment on this earlier, but didn't have time to find another thread I wanted to link.

While your 3/1 doesn't have a ton of backbone, I also wouldn't say it's very floppy. I can't remember the knot dimensions of the one you have, but the published specs are 22mm x 48mm. I have an old Century brush that was restored with a TGN 3-band Silvertip knot, and it has considerably more flop than the 3/1. Note that I never soaked your brush for very long (just wetted and shook it out a bit), and I found I could build nice, moist lather with it without sopping up a lot of water in the knot. (Recently, I have started soaking the tips of my brushes for a few minutes before lathering, and it definitely makes a difference.)

The brush shown here is what I'd call floppy. I think you'd have to get yours pretty soggy before it would lay over like that. I could be mis-remembering. But it's definitely on the soft side. I wouldn't quite call it plush, though.

 

[igasho]

Comparatively its extremely floppy when held next to my omega boar. That definitely looks SUPER floppy!