NOTE: First Update in Post #14
I grabbed one of these when I saw them come up at Vintageblades. There have been some questions in other posts on these Rooney brushes and how they compare with the Rooney Finest brushes that are no longer being produced. As such, I will post some initial thoughts on the Heritage bristles and do a quick comparison with the Finest knots. I will supplement this thread in the coming week as I use the Emillion 1 and my, soon to arrive, Stubby 1XL.
First the comparison pics with a couple of my Rooney Finest brushes:
Rooney 3/1 Finest, Rooney Emillion 1 (pre-bloom), Rooney Alibaba 1 Finest
A view from the top:
Rooney 3/1 Finest, Rooney Emillion 1 (pre-bloom), Rooney Alibaba 1 Finest
The same three, but after test-lathering the Rooney Emillion 1
The trio from the top after the test-lathering
Now some thoughts on the Emillion 1. Please note, I have test-lathered this brush a couple of times, but not used it for a shave yet. I will update this thread with additional thoughts after I use the brush some this week.
In my test-latherings, I used Al's "The Bomb" shaving cream. Basically, this is just to help remove the badger smell before taking the brush to my face. I don't particularly like to start my day off with the "wet-dog" smell new badgers brushes have. The Emillion 1 had no problem in quickly producing a wonderful lather. The brush seems to have excellent flow-through and quickly whipped up some very nice lather both times.
What stood out during these test latherings is how soft the bristle tips are to the touch. They have a very luxurious feel to them. The knot does seem to have a bit more flex in it than expected from a brush with this loft. I was expecting little flexibility in the bristle knot, but it seems to have a fair amount of flex. I don't think it is floppy by any means, but am interested in how it works when I use it for face lathering.
The brush has not lost any hairs in my initial test-latherings and the construction and finish are very good. The knot is fan-shaped which is nice in today's bulb-shaped two-band market.
As you can see from the pictures, the density of the knot is good, but not to the level of the Rooney Finest bristle. For those who have used a Rooney Finest, that bristle is really something special and deserves its "Finest" title.
I will say that the softness of the Emillion 1's tips, prompted me to order the Stubby 1XL. One of my favorite brushes for face lathering is my Simpson Chubby1 two-band. It appears that the Stubby 1XL has very similar knot, loft and handle dimensions as the Chubby1. The very soft tips of my Emillion1 coupled with the 25mm knot and short loft in the Stubby 1XL, may be ideal for a face-lathering, soap user. As that one is in route, I will update my thoughts on it, as well as the Emillion 1, later in the week.
I grabbed one of these when I saw them come up at Vintageblades. There have been some questions in other posts on these Rooney brushes and how they compare with the Rooney Finest brushes that are no longer being produced. As such, I will post some initial thoughts on the Heritage bristles and do a quick comparison with the Finest knots. I will supplement this thread in the coming week as I use the Emillion 1 and my, soon to arrive, Stubby 1XL.
First the comparison pics with a couple of my Rooney Finest brushes:
Rooney 3/1 Finest, Rooney Emillion 1 (pre-bloom), Rooney Alibaba 1 Finest
A view from the top:
Rooney 3/1 Finest, Rooney Emillion 1 (pre-bloom), Rooney Alibaba 1 Finest
The same three, but after test-lathering the Rooney Emillion 1
The trio from the top after the test-lathering
Now some thoughts on the Emillion 1. Please note, I have test-lathered this brush a couple of times, but not used it for a shave yet. I will update this thread with additional thoughts after I use the brush some this week.
In my test-latherings, I used Al's "The Bomb" shaving cream. Basically, this is just to help remove the badger smell before taking the brush to my face. I don't particularly like to start my day off with the "wet-dog" smell new badgers brushes have. The Emillion 1 had no problem in quickly producing a wonderful lather. The brush seems to have excellent flow-through and quickly whipped up some very nice lather both times.
What stood out during these test latherings is how soft the bristle tips are to the touch. They have a very luxurious feel to them. The knot does seem to have a bit more flex in it than expected from a brush with this loft. I was expecting little flexibility in the bristle knot, but it seems to have a fair amount of flex. I don't think it is floppy by any means, but am interested in how it works when I use it for face lathering.
The brush has not lost any hairs in my initial test-latherings and the construction and finish are very good. The knot is fan-shaped which is nice in today's bulb-shaped two-band market.
As you can see from the pictures, the density of the knot is good, but not to the level of the Rooney Finest bristle. For those who have used a Rooney Finest, that bristle is really something special and deserves its "Finest" title.
I will say that the softness of the Emillion 1's tips, prompted me to order the Stubby 1XL. One of my favorite brushes for face lathering is my Simpson Chubby1 two-band. It appears that the Stubby 1XL has very similar knot, loft and handle dimensions as the Chubby1. The very soft tips of my Emillion1 coupled with the 25mm knot and short loft in the Stubby 1XL, may be ideal for a face-lathering, soap user. As that one is in route, I will update my thoughts on it, as well as the Emillion 1, later in the week.
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