Dear fellow shavers,
As many of you may know, I’m getting my brother and parents into more traditional shaving products. My brother has gotten a Wilkinson Sword classic (plastic) razor I got him, and all three have soaps and brushes I’ve gotten them, but I figured that they could all use some well built safety razors. So, as some of you also probably know from other reviews I’ve done, I’ve had a LOT of success with Yaqi, so I figured that with the new, really nice looking razors they’ve got, I’d check them out and then gift them to the three of them. So I got these razors and have tested each of them out to make sure I was giving good stuff to them. All three of these razors have the same head, so they all shave the same, but I used each one 4 times just to make sure everything is right.
First, I’ll give you the links for the razors in case you want to check out the specs or whatever.
US $21.88 | Yaqi Blue Color Brass Heavy Handle Wet Safety Razor
US $25.86 | Yaqi Chrome And Black Color Brass Heavy Handle Wet Safety Razor
US $25.86 | Yaqi Chrome Color Brass Heavy Handle Wet Safety Razor
Now in terms of performance. They’re fantastic!!! They’re mid-moderate aggression, they really cut right through my coarse hair, but I’ve not gotten any sort of irritation out of any of the shaves (except for one shave where I had a bum blade, which I had to change out, but that wasn’t due to the razor obviously). Each are really solid (I don’t want to say heavy, the brass razor I reviewed in the winter is heavier, but these are definitely on the solid side), the pieces fit together really well, the finish is flawless, there’s never any play in the blade, they haven’t loosened mid-shave in any of the shaves, blade alignment has been perfect each and every time, etc. Basically, what I’m saying is that the finish and the performance of them as great, just as good as my Merkur 33C in terms of finish but actually work better for my beard since these are a bit more aggressive. And that’s not to mention that I find these to be aesthetically very pleasing.
In terms of aggression, I would say that they’re essentially halfway between the new Wilkinson sword classic (metal) and my Yuma and Rapira Platinum Lux razors, and also more aggressive than the 33C, but not quite halfway between that and the Yuma (it would be like 1/3 the way from the 33C to the Yuma, being closer to the 33C). Hopefully that gives you an idea of the aggressiveness. Though I should say that for my skin, they’re exceptionally smooth shavers, but as always YMMV.
One thing that I want to single out though is the “flow through ports” on the baseplate. If any of you know what these are actually called, let me know, but for the interim I’ll call them this. Anyway, you’ll see what I mean, it’s the slots in the baseplate for soap/hair to go through. The DOC Yaqi razor I have is fantastic, but it didn’t have these ports, which was essentially my only issue with the razor (in case you don’t remember that review, it wasn’t really an issue, but with longer hair it did have a tendency to accumulate a bit). These ports work excellent, which was tested on the hair on the back of my neck, which only gets shaved once a week, so it’s always a bit longer when it gets cut. Anyway, it went right through when rinsing under the sink, no problem. This will definitely be good for my brother, who as a high school senior is a VERY infrequent/inconsistent shaver, and therefore will likely be shaving somewhat lengthy hair with the razor on occasion.
Well, I’ve blathered on long enough, so now I’ll just post some pictures (which I’m sure is what you all wanted anyway). Please ignore the residue on the head of the pictures with the blade loaded, I just shaved with Proraso green cream, which always leaves me this residue behind. XD
Overall, they definitely get my seal of approval, they’ve given me consistently excellent shaves! Hopefully the family members will similarly have a great experience with them!
Also, if you haven’t checked out their brushes, they’re my fav too!
As many of you may know, I’m getting my brother and parents into more traditional shaving products. My brother has gotten a Wilkinson Sword classic (plastic) razor I got him, and all three have soaps and brushes I’ve gotten them, but I figured that they could all use some well built safety razors. So, as some of you also probably know from other reviews I’ve done, I’ve had a LOT of success with Yaqi, so I figured that with the new, really nice looking razors they’ve got, I’d check them out and then gift them to the three of them. So I got these razors and have tested each of them out to make sure I was giving good stuff to them. All three of these razors have the same head, so they all shave the same, but I used each one 4 times just to make sure everything is right.
First, I’ll give you the links for the razors in case you want to check out the specs or whatever.
US $21.88 | Yaqi Blue Color Brass Heavy Handle Wet Safety Razor
US $25.86 | Yaqi Chrome And Black Color Brass Heavy Handle Wet Safety Razor
US $25.86 | Yaqi Chrome Color Brass Heavy Handle Wet Safety Razor
Now in terms of performance. They’re fantastic!!! They’re mid-moderate aggression, they really cut right through my coarse hair, but I’ve not gotten any sort of irritation out of any of the shaves (except for one shave where I had a bum blade, which I had to change out, but that wasn’t due to the razor obviously). Each are really solid (I don’t want to say heavy, the brass razor I reviewed in the winter is heavier, but these are definitely on the solid side), the pieces fit together really well, the finish is flawless, there’s never any play in the blade, they haven’t loosened mid-shave in any of the shaves, blade alignment has been perfect each and every time, etc. Basically, what I’m saying is that the finish and the performance of them as great, just as good as my Merkur 33C in terms of finish but actually work better for my beard since these are a bit more aggressive. And that’s not to mention that I find these to be aesthetically very pleasing.
In terms of aggression, I would say that they’re essentially halfway between the new Wilkinson sword classic (metal) and my Yuma and Rapira Platinum Lux razors, and also more aggressive than the 33C, but not quite halfway between that and the Yuma (it would be like 1/3 the way from the 33C to the Yuma, being closer to the 33C). Hopefully that gives you an idea of the aggressiveness. Though I should say that for my skin, they’re exceptionally smooth shavers, but as always YMMV.
One thing that I want to single out though is the “flow through ports” on the baseplate. If any of you know what these are actually called, let me know, but for the interim I’ll call them this. Anyway, you’ll see what I mean, it’s the slots in the baseplate for soap/hair to go through. The DOC Yaqi razor I have is fantastic, but it didn’t have these ports, which was essentially my only issue with the razor (in case you don’t remember that review, it wasn’t really an issue, but with longer hair it did have a tendency to accumulate a bit). These ports work excellent, which was tested on the hair on the back of my neck, which only gets shaved once a week, so it’s always a bit longer when it gets cut. Anyway, it went right through when rinsing under the sink, no problem. This will definitely be good for my brother, who as a high school senior is a VERY infrequent/inconsistent shaver, and therefore will likely be shaving somewhat lengthy hair with the razor on occasion.
Well, I’ve blathered on long enough, so now I’ll just post some pictures (which I’m sure is what you all wanted anyway). Please ignore the residue on the head of the pictures with the blade loaded, I just shaved with Proraso green cream, which always leaves me this residue behind. XD
Overall, they definitely get my seal of approval, they’ve given me consistently excellent shaves! Hopefully the family members will similarly have a great experience with them!
Also, if you haven’t checked out their brushes, they’re my fav too!