Vie-Long Gonzalo boar/horse mix

Discussion in 'The Brush' started by Etoyoc, Jun 21, 2011.

  1. Etoyoc

    Etoyoc Backwards

    I received my Vie-Long Gonzalo yesterday and I told some that I would post some feedback on what I thought about the brush. This is a mixed boar/horse hair brush.

    I love that the brushes have names. It is so much better than recalling numbers. However, I keep forgetting Gongalo... er Gonzalo. So far it has been called Gorgon, Gorgonzola, and Gonzo. I will get it yet. So if at any time in the next week you see me post about some odd Vie-Long Godzilla brush... I really mean this one.

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    The two things that struck me when getting the box out of the brush was 1) the proportions and 2) the thin hairs.

    I am used to using a brush that is of stockier proportions. The Gonzalo is taller than my other brushes, it has more loft than my other brushes, and it is thinner than most of my other brushes. It feels odd (not bad, just different) when using because I am not used to holding the brush so far back from soap, cream etc..

    When I first picked up the brush, I thought the hairs were thin, rather soft feeling, and being so long would not have much backbone. I compared it with my Vie Long Bombito which also has those thinner boar hairs. However, the Bombito has less loft, so again, I didn't expect much backbone. I was WRONG. I made four practice lathers last night. In each case I was awarded with thick, creamy lather that would have been excellent for shaving from Williams, Tabac, TSD Iced Subzero, and D'Men cream. In each case the brush held lots of lather and made the lather very easily.

    Now, today was the first shave with the new brush. Yeah, it certainly has lots of backbone and isn't anywhere near as soft as I expected it to be. Wow, talk about wrong first impressions. I had to go back to the puck to make more lather, but then again, I was shaving three passes on my face and 2 on my head. If the Bombito is any gauge, this thing will hold tons of lather when broken in. I look forward to the next several shaves and will update as I am struck with further impressions.
     
  2. mwleach58

    mwleach58 Active Member

    I've also had my eye on one or two of the Vie-Long brushes. I'm assuming that you purchased yours online. How long did it take from placing your order to receiving the brush? I'm in Canada, and we're in the midst of a postal strike at the moment, so I won't order until that business is settled, but I'm definitely in the market for a horsehair brush with some backbone and attitude.
     
  3. Etoyoc

    Etoyoc Backwards

    I received mine extremely fast. I ordered it from Bullgoose on Saturday and it arrived on Monday. That was just plain shockingly fast.
     
  4. Williams Warrior

    Williams Warrior Well-Known Member

    He is lightning fast on getting the product shipped. When I order something it is usually here in 48 hours, unreal when shipping from California to Florida. The USPS deserves a shout out as well, they make it happen.
     
  5. Etoyoc

    Etoyoc Backwards

    Very true.. between Phil and USPS the package was to me before a lot of vendors would have had the package in the mail.
     
  6. Regan

    Regan Well-Known Member

    That is pretty amazing. It took me over 3 weeks to get one package from California to Ontario. The only person who I get extremely fast shipping from is Italian Barber but that is because no border crossing and is only about a hr or so drive away.

    BullGoose does get the package out fast. Just too far to have fast shipping.


    That brush is pretty neat looking. The 404 that I bought brought on the same feeling. It felt like the loft was too high. As my other brush is a lot stockier. However as you said they can still have a good backbone and perform well.

    I also really like the look of that handle.
     
  7. JAWilliams

    JAWilliams Member

    Sweet brush, today is my birthday and Katie wanted me to pick something out. Might be a new brush.
     
  8. NUMCKS

    NUMCKS Well-Known Member

    I got mine a couple of weeks ago and was also very surprised at the stiffness and back bone given the small knot/high loft combo. I do find it rather harsh and scritchy so far for face lathering - more like an unbroken in boar than the other Vie-long horses I have. I am hoping it will break in like boar. My jury is still out on this one.
     

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