Rooney Heritage Stubby 2

J

jhclare

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517
Well, as many of you will have noticed, I have been steadily working my way through several brushes, trying to find the "one" that suits my face and style of lathering.

I am primarily a soap user, and face lather pretty much all the time. I dabbled with bowls and scuttles and found them to be too fiddly and time consuming.

So, to give you an idea of what I like and have been looking for in a brush, here are the brushes I've tried so far:

  • Taylors branded Vulfix - too floppy and moppy for face lathering soaps.
  • Rooney 3/1 Super, three copies(!) - great brush if you get a good one, but be aware of sample variations and differences in loft.
  • Chubby 1 Super - mean little brush. Incredibly dense and stiff, too much for my poor old face. Tiny handle. Tips not very soft!
  • Chubby 2 Best - a large, behemoth of a brush. My version started off stiff but loosened up over time. Too large for everyday use.
  • Chubby 2 Super - as above, more expensive, seems a bit stiffer than the Best grade I had, but again, be aware of variation in the hair grades.
  • Savile Row 3824 and 3122 - lovely, lovely soft brushes for bowl lathering creams. Not good for soaps or if you want a good old scrub.
  • Simpsons Duke 3 - A very "boring" brush. In that, it doesn't look anything special, or promise miracles. In use, it turns out to be a very nicely proportioned brush, like a slightly less dense Chubby 1 but with a more usable handle. A great all rounder, and would be my only badger brush if I hadn't stumbled across the Stubby 2. It has slightly prickly tips, but not unpleasantly so.
  • Rooney Heritage Alibaba 2 - like a more upmarket 3/1. Marvellous Heritage Hair, which is firm yet with soft tips. In terms of feel, reminds me of....
  • Simpsons Tulip 2 Super - Very nice brush, not soft, not scrubby, very comfortable handle, good flow-through, why did I sell mine again?
  • Semogue 1305, 620, 1520 and 2009 LE - all awesome boar brushes, and I will be keeping them and possibly getting more![/list:u]

    EDIT: All Simpsons brushes above are Vulfix made, the Duke 3 being newer with a shorter loft than Vulfix's first efforts.

    So, I acquired the Stubby 2 from Executive Shaving just before Xmas, and I've just been to the site and they seem to have sold out. The Stubby 2 was the only Heritage brush they carried, and I find the whole Rooney situation in the UK somewhat bewildering and very annoying. I won't go into that here...

    On to the brush. Its dimensions are:
    • Overall brush height: 96mm
      Handle height: 48mm
      Brush Loft: 48mm
      Knot diameter: 24mm [/list:u]

      I've complained in the past that Simpsons should have made a Chubby 1.5 as I found the 1 too small and the 2 too big. Well, enter the Stubby 2. It's very nicely proportioned and feels great in the hand. The knot is larger than I am used to (24mm) but since the loft is relatively short, it doesn't feel like a big brush.

      On to the hair - Rooney claim that the Super hair used in the Heritage line is different to their standard Super grade, and I believe it. The hair has a different feel to it, which is very hard to put my finger on. It's very, very dense, and very resilient and stiff. I was worried that it would be too much for my face, as the Chubby 1 Super was, but my concerns vanished after I used the brush for the first time.

      Its tips are simply wonderful - very, very soft without a hint of scritch. It's a wonderful combination of properties and I believe this can only be equalled (or perhaps bettered) by two-band hair.

      Many stiff and dense brushes can be hard on my face, particularly after the third or fourth pass during the occasional off-day. This brush feels gentle throughout, with not a hint of discomfort.

      So, this brush is highly recommended, and I urge any face lathers/soap users out there to beg, borrow or steal one. I won't be getting rid of mine anytime soon, so look out for my other brushes on the BST.

      John

      PS. Photo to follow!
 
so you've found THE brush at last then John :roll:

i echo what you say about the handles on the chubbies and that if you want a decent size you end up with a unwieldy knot.
i considered the Duke for that reason but ended up making my own, with help from antdad, using a 404 handle for one and a VS5 for the other fitting them with knots from Golden-Nib.

is the Stubby a lather hog like other dense brushes?
 
Excellent review, John. I've managed to stay out of the clutches of brush addiction (Brad?), but lately have found myself trawling through numerous review sections (oh dear).

If you had a 'desert island brush', would it be the Heritage stubby 2?
 
One of my most memorable sessions since starting this interest was looking through and handling a wide range of brushes in The Gentleman's Shop. There is no way I am going to buy a brush much above £80 without seeing and handling it. Or getting a guarantee that I can return a brush unused if I have any doubts about it. Does anyone know anyone who allows you to do this?

Great post John.
 
The Trumper's shops in London, I've not done it but I understand that they are accommodating if you phone ahead with what you may want to handle.
 
hando said:
so you've found THE brush at last then John :roll:
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We'll see! I like the idea of having just one brush, but then boar or badger? I think one of each will suffice. I would like to try the Stubby 1 though....

is the Stubby a lather hog like other dense brushes?
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Yes... but I don't see why some folks see this as a problem. You have to use more product and alter your water ratio accordingly. A quick squeeze at the base releases lots of rich lather which can then be used as normal.
 
Very interesting review John. As much as we have all had a giggle at the number of brushes you have been through, we have also been very eager to learn from your experience.

A couple of requests:

1. I would be interested to know how you found the difference in performance specifically between a Rooney 3/1 super, a Duke 3 and the Stubby you are in love with.

2. 2-band hair does seem to match the characteristics you describe of the Heritage (backbone with soft tips). One disadvantage I have found though is that the tips are so soft that it is actually quite hard to pick up a decent amount of soap from a puck. When I use a shaving stick on my face though, the lather from a 2-band is exceptional. Have you had this issue at all with the Heritage hair?

And finally, just one observation. Like Fido, I have found it takes quite some time to learn how to use some brushes. This seems particularly true with the more dense brushes.

Once again, thanks for the review. I have a feeling there are going to be lots of questions for you on this thread ...
 
chicken neck said:
2. 2-band hair does seem to match the characteristics you describe of the Heritage (backbone with soft tips). One disadvantage I have found though is that the tips are so soft that it is actually quite hard to pick up a decent amount of soap from a puck. When I use a shaving stick on my face though, the lather from a 2-band is exceptional. Have you had this issue at all with the Heritage hair?
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That's very true CN, I also found that the very size of the CH2 to be a hindrance when picking up soap but I do as you do and it's not a problem.
It's a big brush it need a lot of soap.
 
chicken neck said:
1. I would be interested to know how you found the difference in performance specifically between a Rooney 3/1 super, a Duke 3 and the Stubby you are in love with.
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This one is hard to answer, as the three 3/1s I've had have all been quite different!

One was dense, soft, but a shedder, the next was not as dense and more prickly, and my current one has a taller loft than most and feels very soft floppy, more of a cream brush!

The Stubby is denser than all three, and has a slightly bigger knot. The bigger knot is still more than manageable however, due to the brush being so damn dense and firm it doesn't splay or bloom much. It feels a lot smaller than the Chubby 2. The Duke is the smallest of the three and is really nice to hold (similar handle to the Stubby, but the Stubby has the edge IMO). I find the tips of the Duke to be a bit prickly though. The Stubby holds more lather than the Duke.

So, this is why I'm so enthusiastic about this brush - it has addressed many niggles I had with other brushes, and seems to be a combination of all the best bits!

To re-iterate - you WILL notice a difference with the Heritage hair to other Super/Silvertip hair you may have tried. At £109 it wasn't cheap, but I believe it's a worthy investment.

Did I mention that it hasn't shed a single hair? Not one.

2. 2-band hair does seem to match the characteristics you describe of the Heritage (backbone with soft tips). One disadvantage I have found though is that the tips are so soft that it is actually quite hard to pick up a decent amount of soap from a puck. When I use a shaving stick on my face though, the lather from a 2-band is exceptional. Have you had this issue at all with the Heritage hair?
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No I haven't - not even with the Alibaba, which is less dense and firm than the Stubby. Hmmm... now I'm not so sure about the two-band hair! :)

I don't want to keep banging on, but this brush really is special, more than the sum of its parts. The combination of the size, handle, density, backbone, soft tips are just wonderful, and I'm so glad I pulled the trigger on this one (I almost didn't).

John
 
You may find this an interesting read too:

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Yes, it's long gone. And, I bought another! Which I then sold again (it had a crazy bloom for some reason). I'm weird that way! :D

The Stubby 2/Chubby 2 are frustrating brushes to me - they're just a little too big. It's only slight, but enough to bug me.

Perhaps even more frustrating is that the size 1s of these brushes are too small for me. We need more 1.5 brushes!

The three-band Heritage hair was amazing though.

John

PS. I haven't been on here for a while - hello again! I trust you've all been looking after the place while I've been away?
 
Antdad what did you like/not like about it?

jhclare said:
Yes, it's long gone. And, I bought another! Which I then sold again (it had a crazy bloom for some reason). I'm weird that way! :D

The Stubby 2/Chubby 2 are frustrating brushes to me - they're just a little too big. It's only slight, but enough to bug me.

Perhaps even more frustrating is that the size 1s of these brushes are too small for me. We need more 1.5 brushes!

The three-band Heritage hair was amazing though.

John

PS. I haven't been on here for a while - hello again! I trust you've all been looking after the place while I've been away?
Click to expand...

It's hard to keep up with what brushes you have John I remember you had quite a few Boars and then sold them along with Badgers.

Sold the LE. It was too dense most use out of it was test lather. I like a dense brush but there's got to be balance.

So what's your go-to Boar and Badger nowadays?
 
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