What a terrific shave. My Rooney Finest is such a great brush. This morning as I used it I had an impulse to shed all my other brushes. This one has just the right resilience, a great feel on the face, ferocious efficiency in creating superb lathers, and a very classy appearance, at least to my eye.
And the Strop Shoppe Lemon Eucalyptus, which I stumbled across on my crowded shelf of shaving soaps, is wonderful. This is my new favorite lemon-fragranced shaving soap. Strop Shoppe soaps make stellar lathers, so the whole prep took a step up. (I had first washed my beard with MR GLO, of course.)
The Eclipse Red Ring is a very good razor—it would fall into the “very comfortable, very efficient” category in a chart like this. (That chart, however, is for razors in current production.) Three passes to a BBS result with no nicks and no drama. Blade was a Personna Lab Blue.
A good splash of Fine’s Clean Vetiver, and I’m ready for the day.
I was moved to use the Rooney after using the Brushguy.com brush yesterday and posting this photo comparing the lofts of the brushes:
As you see, the Rooney’s loft is substantially greater, and that translates to a softer knot, greater capacity, and more lathering power—that is, the Rooney loads more quickly and works up a lather more quickly.
I did contact Brushguy to see if I could get one of his brushes with a greater loft—I do love the handles, but that knot is too stubby—but he said he can only provide the knot shown, which unfortunately has limited capacity and lacks the soft feel that I enjoy.
I though a close-up would better show the differences.
Filed under: Shaving
