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3 brushes, 5 razors, and a soap - my reviews

It had been a while since I was wondering about what razors/brushes/other shaving stuff was coming out; the last several months have been considerably more active. I ended up trying out a variety of new razors, some new brushes, and a soap that I thought were worth mentioning.

The brushes, from left to right: APShaveCo's Cashmere 24mm with the Blue Lagoon handle, APShaveCo's SynBad 30mm with the Faux Marble handle, Yaqi's silvertip badger 24mm with the Mysterious Space handle, and my old Semogue Owner's Club boar for size comparison

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I've always enjoyed my Semogue, but I never really liked my Muhle STF synthetic (the horn handle is nice, but I found the bristles to be very springy and hard to splay; I also found that it would release water when face lathering so I'd get this dribble of water down my face which was annoying). I have a ShaveMac badger brush, but it's on the smaller side, and I prefer larger brushes.

So . . . I went looking for a larger badger (silvertip; ended up with the Yaqi), and after that turned out well I thought about retrying synthetics (which also turned out well.

Yaqi silvertip bagder, Mysterious Space handle: it feels like a pretty darn big badger brush. When bloomed, it's bigger than my 30mm synthetic SynBad. It has soft tips, nice backbone, splays easily and doesn't "dribble", and is overall an excellent brush. I don't have any negatives about it. I do wonder what a 30mm silvertip badger would feel like, but as far as I am aware Yaqi doesn't make 30mm silvertip badgers. I may try a Maseto 30mm in horn in the future; that was what I was planning until trying the synthetics.

APShaveCo Cashmere 24mm: for its size, it's a great brush. Very soft tips, splays very easily, and when I lather it on the puck with spaying I don't get any dribbling of water. It has what I think is the ideal amout of backbone - enough that it works well as a brush, but I would judge it to be low on the backbone scale of brushes. I've found it to lather very quickly and to make a denser lather with less foam than my badger or boar brushes. Excellent overall, and a much better brush than I had anticipated. As I like big brushes, I do wish that I'd started with the 30mm as synthetics don't bloom.

APShaveCo SynBad 30mm: another excellent brush. Very soft tips, splays easily but maintains noticeably more backbone than the Cashmere. It's still a lot easier to splay than the Muhle STF, and overall behaves well. Also makes a very dense lather quickly. Aesthetically, it looks better than the Cashmere, but I prefer the Cashmere because it has a little less backbone and splays with even less effort.

I will throw in a comment that all 3 have comfortable, attractive handles. The Blue Lagoon handle is dark blue, but is (to use another member's comment) chatoyant and has some light reflection/depth that really isn't visible easily on the photo.

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Razors, from left to right: RazoRock's Mamba 70 on a Matador handle, RazoRock's Game Changer 0.68 on RazoRock's barber pole handle, Gem's G-Bar (vintage), Gillette's flare tip (vintage), and Baili's 178 rose gold razor (silver color is 176) with a Parker's rose gold slant handle

RazoRock Mamba 70: stainless razor, covered blade tabs, excellent construction. Shaves closely and easily, very friendly (likelihood to nick feels very low). Big draw: it feels very smooth when shaving; blade feel is also low. A little finicky on blade angle, which I'm still working on (but not enough of an issue to prevent me from reaching for it repeatedly in the weeks that I have had it). Excellent overall (and one of my top razors).

RazoRock Game Changer 0.68: stainless razor, covered blade tabs, excellent construction. Shaves closely and easily, very friendly. Intuitive from shave 1. If I had to pick a razor as a modern Gillette Tech in stainless with covered blade tabs, this would be it. Excellent (and one of my top, if not the top, razor).

Gem G-Bar: very sturdy construction, elegant design, takes SE razor blades (I use GEM PTFE coated ones). Smooth and shaves closely, but not nearly as intuitive as my mild DE razors - I attribute this to my technique and not a problem with the razor. Feels more friendly than my 1912 Damaskeene. Very good.

Baili 178: about as cheap as a decent razor gets ($12 on some websites), looks and feels like a Tech clone (but with covered blade tabs!). Minimal to nonexistent blade feel but still shaves efficiently and is very friendly. I'd consider this an excellent beginner razor as well, given the cost. The handle isn't very grippy, so I used that as an excuse to try Parker's slant. Very good to excellent.

Lastly . . .

GrimBlade's Smolder shaving soap: it kind of smells like toasted marshmallows. Feels slick and protective. Made by Maria Arman of Through The Fire Fine Craft/Maggard soap fame. Expensive as the small tin you get is, well, small, but a great soap.

Hope this is helpful for anyone looking for reviews on the above.
 

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Nice review! That SOC Bristles are looking extra yellow though.

As for the Baili 178, I've had a different experience. It had low blade exposure but high blade gap. It had a fair bit of blade feel and did not cut well. It looked beautiful but I did not enjoy the shaves with it. YMMV but I would not give that razor a recommend.
 
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