As many of you know, there's a new batch of Rooney XLs available. I ordered the butterscotch one in the pictures below on Saturday and received it today. I think it's fair to say that the XL line is legendary for its über-soft "gel" like tips combined with a density that gives it great backbone. It has often called the perfect brush. But it also must be said that many did not think later generations of XLs lived up to the standards of the "greatest generation". They're not being bashful about pricing these brushes so I thought I'd offer some impressions from a first shave. This is of course just one shave from one brush and reflects my preferences which are likely to be widely different than many others. While badger does not go through the metamorphosis of a boar, it will change as it's used. I wasn't thrilled with my Simpson GYLE-M7 when I got it but it's one of my favorite brushes now.
First let me say that I made a mistake when ordering. I saw the posting on VB's facebook page and hit the link and ordered. My bad. I didn't realize that in addition to the butterscotch it came in ivory & faux tortoise as well. I knew from a previous brush I got from Lee (the M&F size 1 below) that their "butterscotch" was closer to a school bus in color than anything resembling butterscotch. The Duke is not perfect but closer to the right color. Plus I got to pay an extra $20 for the color. Interestingly, the listed specs for the butterscotch are 28-50 while the others are 28-48. My brush is 29.4-50. My early 2XL is 28.3-47.
So, again based on one quick lather, no gel tips but an altogether excellent brush. It has all the density of the earlier models and the hair is clearly superior to my later generation 3XL. I am really scritch adverse and could find none in this brush. It is really hard to hide scritchy hair in a brush this dense and I man-handled it during the shave by really scrubbing it into my face. Even with the taller loft there was no real splay so it felt medium (for me) in size on my face. In the "bloomed" picture below the brush is damp straight from the shave.
Bottom line is that I'm delighted with the brush but would have preferred the ivory or tortoise.
First let me say that I made a mistake when ordering. I saw the posting on VB's facebook page and hit the link and ordered. My bad. I didn't realize that in addition to the butterscotch it came in ivory & faux tortoise as well. I knew from a previous brush I got from Lee (the M&F size 1 below) that their "butterscotch" was closer to a school bus in color than anything resembling butterscotch. The Duke is not perfect but closer to the right color. Plus I got to pay an extra $20 for the color. Interestingly, the listed specs for the butterscotch are 28-50 while the others are 28-48. My brush is 29.4-50. My early 2XL is 28.3-47.
So, again based on one quick lather, no gel tips but an altogether excellent brush. It has all the density of the earlier models and the hair is clearly superior to my later generation 3XL. I am really scritch adverse and could find none in this brush. It is really hard to hide scritchy hair in a brush this dense and I man-handled it during the shave by really scrubbing it into my face. Even with the taller loft there was no real splay so it felt medium (for me) in size on my face. In the "bloomed" picture below the brush is damp straight from the shave.
Bottom line is that I'm delighted with the brush but would have preferred the ivory or tortoise.
