What's new

A Few More Yaqi Badger Brushes For Me To Enjoy :)

Intro:

A few more Yaqi badger brushes arrived in my den from a recent order via aliexpress. The order arrived in 15 days, fully tracked.

I’ve had these brushes for several weeks but haven’t had the chance to write a review as I’ve been very busy with my baby daughter.

This review is for the badger brushes, silvertip and two band finest. For the synthetics, please check out my other review I'll post shortly.

Pics:

Let’s begin with some pics of the brushes…

THE GANG:

proxy.php


proxy.php


THE SILVERTIPS:

proxy.php


proxy.php


proxy.php


proxy.php


THE TWO BANDS:

proxy.php


proxy.php


proxy.php


Shedding and Smell:

None of the brushes had or have any shedding issues. Not just these three brushes but none of the brushes I’ve ordered from Yaqi.

The silvertip had no smell that I could pick up. The two bands had a very faint smell which dissipated after about 4 lathers.

I suspect there will always be “batch variances” where some brushes have a slightly stronger smell than others, but it tends to dissipate after a few uses in any case.

Pre-bloom softness:

As expected, the silvertip was fairly soft even before touching any water. The two bands do have a noticeable scritch when brand new.

Break-in:

The silvertips were hand lathered just once and was ready for use!! They all bloomed out beautifully.

The two bands do require several uses before they open up and break-in. All two bands have a scritch for the first several uses. I hand lathered both the two bands about 3 times before using them to face lather.

Again, batch variance meant that there were differences in tip softness and break-in time.

Contrary to one school of thought out there, badger brushes definitely to have a break-in period. It’s not as long as boar brushes, but there definitely is a break-in period.

The mysterious space fan and bulb silvertips were basically ready to go after the initial soaking! They were ultra soft and plush. The red/black swirl two band on the other hand took a while to break-in (nearly a dozen shaves). The end result of softness etc is about the same, it’s just some take longer than others.

That’s why I always advise not to make any decisions about any natural hair brush until about a dozen uses because it just may be that the batch you get is the one that requires a longer break-in!

Softness:

The silvertips are very plush, very soft on the face. Very luxurious indeed! I absolutely love the feeling of a soft silvertip, especially in the winter times when I use warm water to soak my brushes.

The two bands lose their scritch after at least 6 uses. Then they become soft but not a silvertip soft. They retain a scrub that is not at all scratchy. It’s very comfortable, no skin irritation but the scrub is what makes two bands great!

Splay:

I love the splay on all my Yaqi badger brushes, not just these ones in particular.

Their silvertips have an excellent splay without any flop! I am able to push down on the brush while face lathering and the brush doesn’t “flop” at all.

The two bands have an excellent splay but since the hair is a bit more resilient than the silvertip, it takes a bit more pushing to splay it out more, but I generally don’t find I need to splay it out that much in any case.

Backbone/Density:

I am so impressed with the brush density. The knots are so well packed that there’s never any feeling of floppiness, even when pushed down to splay the knot. The backbone is what I classify as goldilocks since it’s dense enough not to be at all floppy but not so dense that it hogs my lather (which I find very irritating).

The silvertip and the two bands have the perfect amount of backbone and density. The two bands of course do have some more backbone than the silvertip but not necessarily more density, it’s just due to the thicker hair.

Handle:

The handles on Yaqi brushes are just awesome! I have really enjoyed each and every one that I’ve ordered from them!

You can see the design and quality in the photos. The quality and heft can definitely be felt in the hand. I regard Yaqi as having by far the best handles of all the non-custom brush makers!

The best part is that what I see on their web-store is not as good as the real thing! So it’s always great when I receive an order from Yaqi and see that all the handles look even nicer than shows on the web-store.
 
Last edited:
Great brushes mate! I got couple of the brushes you got there and they're all lovely to use. I especially enjoy the purple handle fan badger. It's got a good splay with enough backbone and it releases the water so well throughout the shave. Yaqi is a great brush maker and I'm glad to have so many quality choices.
 
Thanks for the pic and reviews. I too love the Yaqi handles. They are really well designed and made.
I have a two-band, but am partial to their synthetics.
Always look forward to your posts
 
Nice post, i am in the market for a good "reasonable price/quality" Badger Brush, and i keep finding good comments about Yaqi, so maybe this 24mm silvertip could be the one for me:
2019-06-05.jpg
 
Great report! I’d have been hesitant to consider a Yaqi badger before seeing this, but I do love my Sagrada Familia synth.

Do you have any non-Yaqi silvertips to compare to? Are we talking good for the money, punching well above their class, enough to quell my desire for a “higher end” silvertip?
 
Intro:

A few more Yaqi badger brushes arrived in my den from a recent order via aliexpress. The order arrived in 15 days, fully tracked.

I’ve had these brushes for several weeks but haven’t had the chance to write a review as I’ve been very busy with my baby daughter.

This review is for the badger brushes, silvertip and two band finest. For the synthetics, please check out my other review I'll post shortly.

Pics:

Let’s begin with some pics of the brushes…

THE GANG:

proxy.php


proxy.php


THE SILVERTIPS:

proxy.php


proxy.php


proxy.php


proxy.php


THE TWO BANDS:

proxy.php


proxy.php


proxy.php


Shedding and Smell:

None of the brushes had or have any shedding issues. Not just these three brushes but none of the brushes I’ve ordered from Yaqi.

The silvertip had no smell that I could pick up. The two bands had a very faint smell which dissipated after about 4 lathers.

I suspect there will always be “batch variances” where some brushes have a slightly stronger smell than others, but it tends to dissipate after a few uses in any case.

Pre-bloom softness:

As expected, the silvertip was fairly soft even before touching any water. The two bands do have a noticeable scritch when brand new.

Break-in:

The silvertips were hand lathered just once and was ready for use!! They all bloomed out beautifully.

The two bands do require several uses before they open up and break-in. All two bands have a scritch for the first several uses. I hand lathered both the two bands about 3 times before using them to face lather.

Again, batch variance meant that there were differences in tip softness and break-in time.

Contrary to one school of thought out there, badger brushes definitely to have a break-in period. It’s not as long as boar brushes, but there definitely is a break-in period.

The mysterious space fan and bulb silvertips were basically ready to go after the initial soaking! They were ultra soft and plush. The red/black swirl two band on the other hand took a while to break-in (nearly a dozen shaves). The end result of softness etc is about the same, it’s just some take longer than others.

That’s why I always advise not to make any decisions about any natural hair brush until about a dozen uses because it just may be that the batch you get is the one that requires a longer break-in!

Softness:

The silvertips are very plush, very soft on the face. Very luxurious indeed! I absolutely love the feeling of a soft silvertip, especially in the winter times when I use warm water to soak my brushes.

The two bands lose their scritch after at least 6 uses. Then they become soft but not a silvertip soft. They retain a scrub that is not at all scratchy. It’s very comfortable, no skin irritation but the scrub is what makes two bands great!

Splay:

I love the splay on all my Yaqi badger brushes, not just these ones in particular.

Their silvertips have an excellent splay without any flop! I am able to push down on the brush while face lathering and the brush doesn’t “flop” at all.

The two bands have an excellent splay but since the hair is a bit more resilient than the silvertip, it takes a bit more pushing to splay it out more, but I generally don’t find I need to splay it out that much in any case.

Backbone/Density:

I am so impressed with the brush density. The knots are so well packed that there’s never any feeling of floppiness, even when pushed down to splay the knot. The backbone is what I classify as goldilocks since it’s dense enough not to be at all floppy but not so dense that it hogs my lather (which I find very irritating).

The silvertip and the two bands have the perfect amount of backbone and density. The two bands of course do have some more backbone than the silvertip but not necessarily more density, it’s just due to the thicker hair.

Handle:

The handles on Yaqi brushes are just awesome! I have really enjoyed each and every one that I’ve ordered from them!

You can see the design and quality in the photos. The quality and heft can definitely be felt in the hand. I regard Yaqi as having by far the best handles of all the non-custom brush makers!

The best part is that what I see on their web-store is not as good as the real thing! So it’s always great when I receive an order from Yaqi and see that all the handles look even nicer than shows on the web-store.

Nav buddy,

Always good to read one of your great reviews. There are some variances between batches as the first bunch I received stunk but, a couple of lathers with arko killed most of the funk.

It's very true these guys aren't floppy, they're not omega strong backbone but not once did I feel they were mop like.

Nice post, i am in the market for a good "reasonable price/quality" Badger Brush, and i keep finding good comments about Yaqi, so maybe this 24mm silvertip could be the one for me:
View attachment 987810

Great report! I’d have been hesitant to consider a Yaqi badger before seeing this, but I do love my Sagrada Familia synth.

Do you have any non-Yaqi silvertips to compare to? Are we talking good for the money, punching well above their class, enough to quell my desire for a “higher end” silvertip?

I got a few during a recent sale, they punch way above their weight and here's my take on them:

Yaqi Triplets.

I'm so impressed by them I'll be buying a bunch more.

Cheers and happy shaves guys,

Mawashi
 
Nav buddy,

Always good to read one of your great reviews. There are some variances between batches as the first bunch I received stunk but, a couple of lathers with arko killed most of the funk.

It's very true these guys aren't floppy, they're not omega strong backbone but not once did I feel they were mop like.





I got a few during a recent sale, they punch way above their weight and here's my take on them:

Yaqi Triplets.

I'm so impressed by them I'll be buying a bunch more.

Cheers and happy shaves guys,

Mawashi
Thanks for the link. Looks like another happy customer!
 
Thanks for the link. Looks like another happy customer!

Hi GearNoir,

I don't think you'll find a better deal especially during their sale.

I'm not saying that cos the brushes are cheap but they are really excellent brushes.

Happy shaves,

Mawashi
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
I also enjoy your reports nav fantastic
Your collection must circle the globe by now ;)
 
Your well-written reviews are always a pleasure to read. Thank you for your time in making the reviews informative.
 
Great brushes mate! I got couple of the brushes you got there and they're all lovely to use. I especially enjoy the purple handle fan badger. It's got a good splay with enough backbone and it releases the water so well throughout the shave. Yaqi is a great brush maker and I'm glad to have so many quality choices.

Yah, the violet handle two band is wonderful!
It was actually my first Yaqi badger brush and it's what triggered my Yaqi badger brush collection!
I loved it from the first use!
I take it along on travels too, along with a synthetic.

Thanks for the pic and reviews. I too love the Yaqi handles. They are really well designed and made.
I have a two-band, but am partial to their synthetics.
Always look forward to your posts

Thanks!
I also prefer synthetics for their rapid performance! The feel of a badger is just something else though :)

Great thread man - thanks.

Cheers!!

Awesome badger posse! :badger::badger::badger::badger:
Thanks for taking the time to write down your impressions. The enabling rocks! :a50:

Happy to enable...I mean review!

Nice post, i am in the market for a good "reasonable price/quality" Badger Brush, and i keep finding good comments about Yaqi, so maybe this 24mm silvertip could be the one for me:
View attachment 987810

I have that silvertip and it's just wonderful!
The short metal handles are just lovely, in looks and use.
If you prefer a resin handle, the "mysterious space" silvertip (fan or bulb) would be my pick.

Great posse of brushes. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you!

Great report! I’d have been hesitant to consider a Yaqi badger before seeing this, but I do love my Sagrada Familia synth.

Do you have any non-Yaqi silvertips to compare to? Are we talking good for the money, punching well above their class, enough to quell my desire for a “higher end” silvertip?

Hey Chris.
Yaqi punch way above their weight.
At the moment, I have WSP silvertip, Frank Shaving silvertip and Simpson X2 Best.

I have in the past had Kent, Shavemac (silvertip and finest), a bunch of Simpson, and a few others.

Now I have the above mentioned brushes and about 20 Yaqi!! I just love them all. The value for money is beyond basically anything on the shave market!
It's like the "Stirling soaps of brushes!"

Nav buddy,

Always good to read one of your great reviews. There are some variances between batches as the first bunch I received stunk but, a couple of lathers with arko killed most of the funk.

It's very true these guys aren't floppy, they're not omega strong backbone but not once did I feel they were mop like.

I got a few during a recent sale, they punch way above their weight and here's my take on them:

Yaqi Triplets.

I'm so impressed by them I'll be buying a bunch more.

Cheers and happy shaves guys,

Mawashi

Hehe
Probably a good thing the badger brushes don't have the backbone of an omega boar.

One of the two bands took ages to lose the funk and to break in. It also dries a little "pokey" but no difference after soaking.
I suspect this batch variance is what may be leading to the progressive batches that artisan brush makers bring out because even the supplier may not have such control over these micro-nuance. Just a theory though.

Nice pictures. I enjoy my Yaqi Silvertip Badger.

View attachment 987959

I love that high mountain brush! It's just pure luxury!! A facial massage from an angel :)

I also enjoy your reports nav fantastic
Your collection must circle the globe by now ;)

Thanks!

Hmmm...only about half way so far :D

Your well-written reviews are always a pleasure to read. Thank you for your time in making the reviews informative.

Thanks for the kind words!
 
I'm curious if you've tried any of the dscosmetic silvertips & how they compare to the Yaqi silvertips? I've got the High Mountain & am quite happy with it. I'm wondering if dscosmetic is comparable, or not. Pricing is less than Yaqi, but they aren't as well known yet. Comments?
 
I'm curious if you've tried any of the dscosmetic silvertips & how they compare to the Yaqi silvertips? I've got the High Mountain & am quite happy with it. I'm wondering if dscosmetic is comparable, or not. Pricing is less than Yaqi, but they aren't as well known yet. Comments?

I have the ds cosmetic silvertip.
No doubt, it's a good brush for the price but compared to Yaqi, it just can't compete!

First off, Yaqi handles are better. The hair feels higher quality and the knots are much more dense!

I like having the ds cosmetic in my rotation however, if I had to choose, Yaqi would be a fair way ahead!
 
I have the ds cosmetic silvertip.
No doubt, it's a good brush for the price but compared to Yaqi, it just can't compete!

First off, Yaqi handles are better. The hair feels higher quality and the knots are much more dense!

I like having the ds cosmetic in my rotation however, if I had to choose, Yaqi would be a fair way ahead!
Thank you for the info. If they were comparable, I would consider adding some. I enjoy quality brushes, not cheap brushes. My Yaqi is a value priced quality brush. I don’t think I’ll be adding a dscosmetic brush to my den.
 
Thank you for the info. If they were comparable, I would consider adding some. I enjoy quality brushes, not cheap brushes. My Yaqi is a value priced quality brush. I don’t think I’ll be adding a dscosmetic brush to my den.

If you can grab the ds on one of their huge sales, it may be worth it just to experience it. It's not in any way a "bad" brush but just not as good as a Yaqi.
 
If you can grab the ds on one of their huge sales, it may be worth it just to experience it. It's not in any way a "bad" brush but just not as good as a Yaqi.
Well then, I’ll be watching their site for a sale. If it’s cheap enough, I’ll buy one. If I don’t like it, I’ll give it away.
 
Top Bottom