These two band badger brushes are best bang for buck in the market today and read many are still sitting over fence about ordering either of these. So I just wanted to give a quick rundown on each of these if that helps anyone to make up their mind.
Size Comparison: A picture is more than thousand words! I am posting a picture as a reference that shows the height of my (Left to Right) Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger 24MM, Yaqi Moka 26MM 2Band Badger, D S Cosmetics 26MM 2Band Badger and Omega 20102 27MM Boar Brush. As you can see DS is shade taller than Omega but handle is longer than Omega. Yaqi feels much shorter standing next to DS.
Funky Smell: I am not very sensitive to odd smells but the Yaqi had almost no animal smell in the knot and I could use the brush right off the bat after just a rinse in shampoo and vinegar. DC had a strong smell and it took me 4 rinses in shampoo/vinegar over two days before I was able to use it.
Shave Feel: Both Yaqi and DS have common head shape. I have shaved with them twice but DS looks a bit bloomed because I have essentially packed away the Yaqi after second shave and just took it out for this review. Both lathered up on MWF in almost similar time and well, they both did felt a little rougher than a Silvertip but not so much to make me jump. Unlike a Synthetic both Badgers had very enjoyable splay and released lather on demand for 3 passes shave. There were no blunt end stray hair in the knot and I never needed to reach out for tweezers like I often do on boars.
The Knot: Although I could be splitting hair but I will say for whatever it is worth. Not a deal breaker for me but as seen from the base to top, DS knot is 1 or 2 mm taller than Yaqi. However one thing that I immediately noticed was that Yaqi packs more hair than DS and the difference can be felt while squeezing and twirling the knots between thumb and forefinger. On that note, DS loads the soap a tiny bit quicker and feels easy to dial in with water soap ratio. Yaqi on the other hand is shade slower to pick up soap and lather up but also holds more than required lather for 3 passes.
The Handle: The shape, design and colour are a matter of personal preference so I will leave you the picture on that but for me things panned out differently. I liked Yaqi handle design over DS and bought it for $32.80 shipped but when DS offered me a coupon + flash sale code how could I pass it for $17.50 shipped? So that’s how I got both within a week of each other.
But still I have packed away the Yaqi and plan to use DS for now. I have normal size hand but Yaqi handle is HUGE not in terms of size perhaps but the way handle is designed itself. The lower part of mocha pot flares up progressively towards the bottom end. It makes the handle feel bigger and holding the brush feels does not feel natural to me. I am constantly reminded how big the part that I am holding between finger and thumb is. In contrast the DS handle feels at home and I feel very natural when using this brush even though I do not like bulbous shapes in general.
While Lathering: DS with slimmer profile is easy to swirl in my soap mug but Yaqi brush with Octagon shape has protrusions that keep knocking inside the mug and it is hard to follow a seamless swirling motion. As a bigger 26MM knot and handle design, this problem is greatly enhanced. [I may also point out here that Yaqi also have similar handle in synthetic brush known as mew brown with a 24mm knot and same handle is Hexagon shape and smaller footprint/material than 26mm 2Band badger].
Nope, I haven’t forgotten the Glue Bump: Yaqi has a very manageable blue bump but the bump is not as flushed as in my 24mm Silvertip. But then my Silvertip was almost $45. DS is really worse off with a very pronounced glue bump at the base of knot and I would say it was so prominent that I had to raise arbitration for a resolution at Ali exprs. Because of glue bump I do actually not like DS by a wide margin over Yaqi brush.
You get what you pay for. Happy Shaving.
Size Comparison: A picture is more than thousand words! I am posting a picture as a reference that shows the height of my (Left to Right) Frank Shaving Silvertip Badger 24MM, Yaqi Moka 26MM 2Band Badger, D S Cosmetics 26MM 2Band Badger and Omega 20102 27MM Boar Brush. As you can see DS is shade taller than Omega but handle is longer than Omega. Yaqi feels much shorter standing next to DS.
Funky Smell: I am not very sensitive to odd smells but the Yaqi had almost no animal smell in the knot and I could use the brush right off the bat after just a rinse in shampoo and vinegar. DC had a strong smell and it took me 4 rinses in shampoo/vinegar over two days before I was able to use it.
Shave Feel: Both Yaqi and DS have common head shape. I have shaved with them twice but DS looks a bit bloomed because I have essentially packed away the Yaqi after second shave and just took it out for this review. Both lathered up on MWF in almost similar time and well, they both did felt a little rougher than a Silvertip but not so much to make me jump. Unlike a Synthetic both Badgers had very enjoyable splay and released lather on demand for 3 passes shave. There were no blunt end stray hair in the knot and I never needed to reach out for tweezers like I often do on boars.
The Knot: Although I could be splitting hair but I will say for whatever it is worth. Not a deal breaker for me but as seen from the base to top, DS knot is 1 or 2 mm taller than Yaqi. However one thing that I immediately noticed was that Yaqi packs more hair than DS and the difference can be felt while squeezing and twirling the knots between thumb and forefinger. On that note, DS loads the soap a tiny bit quicker and feels easy to dial in with water soap ratio. Yaqi on the other hand is shade slower to pick up soap and lather up but also holds more than required lather for 3 passes.
The Handle: The shape, design and colour are a matter of personal preference so I will leave you the picture on that but for me things panned out differently. I liked Yaqi handle design over DS and bought it for $32.80 shipped but when DS offered me a coupon + flash sale code how could I pass it for $17.50 shipped? So that’s how I got both within a week of each other.
But still I have packed away the Yaqi and plan to use DS for now. I have normal size hand but Yaqi handle is HUGE not in terms of size perhaps but the way handle is designed itself. The lower part of mocha pot flares up progressively towards the bottom end. It makes the handle feel bigger and holding the brush feels does not feel natural to me. I am constantly reminded how big the part that I am holding between finger and thumb is. In contrast the DS handle feels at home and I feel very natural when using this brush even though I do not like bulbous shapes in general.
While Lathering: DS with slimmer profile is easy to swirl in my soap mug but Yaqi brush with Octagon shape has protrusions that keep knocking inside the mug and it is hard to follow a seamless swirling motion. As a bigger 26MM knot and handle design, this problem is greatly enhanced. [I may also point out here that Yaqi also have similar handle in synthetic brush known as mew brown with a 24mm knot and same handle is Hexagon shape and smaller footprint/material than 26mm 2Band badger].
Nope, I haven’t forgotten the Glue Bump: Yaqi has a very manageable blue bump but the bump is not as flushed as in my 24mm Silvertip. But then my Silvertip was almost $45. DS is really worse off with a very pronounced glue bump at the base of knot and I would say it was so prominent that I had to raise arbitration for a resolution at Ali exprs. Because of glue bump I do actually not like DS by a wide margin over Yaqi brush.
You get what you pay for. Happy Shaving.