Lather building time and asking for advice about synthetic brushes from Yaqi

[Quentin_Compson]

Hey, guys, my first post here... I was hoping you could you give some advice with regards to the following:

I own a Sagrada familia shaving brush from Yaqi, and I like its efficiency and the way it takes less product and time for me to make a good lather than when I use my boar brush (although, admittedly, it's likely the case that I still haven't figured out how to properly use a boar brush in order to achieve the same results).

I face lather exclusively, usually with shaving sticks (La toja, Arko, and I recently got a Palmolive stick, but haven’t tried it yet), and I’ve been shaving with a safety razor and shaving brushes for a year.

What bothers about the Sagrada familia brush is the fact that it’s too springy and hard to splay for my taste ( and I begin lathering with a very wet, dripping brush), and it takes quite an effort on my part to splay it and keep it splayed while building a lather.

Therefore, I would like to get a brush that has less backbone than the Sagrada familia brush and is easier to splay, but at the same time is not completely floppy.

Is there any other Yaqi brush you would recommend that I buy which would fit my preferences better than the Sagrada familia?

From lurking around the forum I've gathered that tuxedo knots from yaqi are in general more springy than other types of their knots, and that my best bet would be to go with the rainbow /pony/faux horse hair knot.

Am I correct? What are, in your opinion, other knots from Yaqi that I should consider?

I specifically mention only brushes from the Yaqi store, as it is closest to my country ( Russia) and consequently the shipping rates are cheaper than if I were to order from Europe/North America. A relatively low price of the brushes themselves is also an important consideration for me.

Please feel free to advise me to get a synthetic brush from other manufacturers if you think that there are no brushes made by Yaqi which would fit my requirements.

Also, on an unrelated note, another issue that I was hoping you could help me out with was how much time, in your experience, it takes you to build a slick lather? Does anyone build their lather in less than a minute?

For example, if you watched some of the SinatraLennon’s videos on YouTube, you could see that it takes him a little more than a minute to make lather and start shaving. Do you find his lather to be sufficiently slick? (This might be a dumb question, because it obviously works for him and he seems to have no problem shaving with it). On the other hand, some of the other shavers from YouTube like Michael Freedberg and Cris Madden take their time building lather.

I'm just wondering if I'm correct in my assumption that once I figure out the right ratio of soap and water I should then be able to create an appropriately slick lather in around a minute. I realize that there are probably other factors at play as well, like water hardness, so I’m sorry if I'm asking a question which can’t be answered in a satisfactory way.

It’s just that right now making lather takes me close to 3 minutes, and I'm really irritated about having to spend more time than is necessary on building lather.

I hope i wasn't too confusing.

Thank you!

 

[Finick]

I can’t speak to your brush specifically, but when I switched to my synthetic brush from my cheap $9 badger brush from Amazon I had to get used to the amount of effort it took to splay. At this point I don’t even notice it.

I use a Vikings Blade Dark Raven, and it seems adequate. Truth be told, with how much importance is placed on a quality brush being important for the shaving experience, I expected swapping to a nicer brush to be almost a transcendent experience.

Truth be told, other than it being synthetic it doesn’t feel much different other than being a much bigger knot.

I also shave exclusively with Arko. I’d say it takes maybe a minute to build up a serviceable lather, but I think that a number of people simply enjoy the process of building a lather and the shaving experience overall.

I personally want to go as quickly as possible without any irritation, as shaving is just something I have to do. I swapped to a safety razor some time ago mostly for the cost savings, not the ritualistic approach.

I find it’s easy to over use product with my synthetic brush, so it’s possible that might be contributing to you having to spend more time fiddling with how much water you have to add.

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

I really like the Tuxedo knot in the Segrada Familia, but if you want a softer knot then the Timber Wolf might be the way to go. I find it appreciably less resilient, although still with a bit off backbone.
I reckon I can build lather quicker with a synthetic brush than a badger or boar. It probably does take me just a minute, face lathering, but I've not timed it precisely.

 

[samhain666]

I will not comment on brushes, I have NO usefull knowledge in that area. I will tell you something about lathering. Boars are notorious to be lather hogs. Bigger the know, more product you need. This is why your Sagrada takes less product. It's small brush.

Lathering time depends on your soap, brush, water, and also personal preference.

I have Palmolive stick grated into a puck. Loading and lathering that beast with synthetic brush can take literally 60seconds. Lather is rich, creamy and slick. It could be fastest lathering soap I have. Then there are soaps that take me a few minutes, but lather isn't as good as with Palmolive. For me one of those soaps is Arko. Maybe it dislikes my water. What I wan't to say is that lathering time isn't important. Iportant is that lather is as you wish it to be

 

[Quentin_Compson]

I can’t speak to your brush specifically, but when I switched to my synthetic brush from my cheap $9 badger brush from Amazon I had to get used to the amount of effort it took to splay. At this point I don’t even notice it.

I use a Vikings Blade Dark Raven, and it seems adequate. Truth be told, with how much importance is placed on a quality brush being important for the shaving experience, I expected swapping to a nicer brush to be almost a transcendent experience.

Truth be told, other than it being synthetic it doesn’t feel much different other than being a much bigger knot.

I also shave exclusively with Arko. I’d say it takes maybe a minute to build up a serviceable lather, but I think that a number of people simply enjoy the process of building a lather and the shaving experience overall.

I personally want to go as quickly as possible without any irritation, as shaving is just something I have to do. I swapped to a safety razor some time ago mostly for the cost savings, not the ritualistic approach.

I find it’s easy to over use product with my synthetic brush, so it’s possible that might be contributing to you having to spend more time fiddling with how much water you have to add.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post, i appreciate it a lot! Yes, unfortunately, similar to you, for me shaving is somewhat of a chore and when I have to shave I just want to get it over with as fast as I can and don’t derive any satisfaction from making lather (not that there’s anything wrong with people who take pleasure in the process).

I’m someone who usually shaves once a week, so a major consideration for me, when I was switching to safety razors/shavings brushes, was that using a razor would hopefully result in a much faster elimination of a week old stubble than using a cartridge razor, what with safety razors being less susceptible to clogging/easier to unclog than multi blade razors.

 

[Quentin_Compson]

I really like the Tuxedo knot in the Segrada Familia, but if you want a softer knot then the Timber Wolf might be the way to go. I find it appreciably less resilient, although still with a bit off backbone.
I reckon I can build lather quicker with a synthetic brush than a badger or boar. It probably does take me just a minute, face lathering, but I've not timed it precisely.

Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[Quentin_Compson]

I will not comment on brushes, I have NO usefull knowledge in that area. I will tell you something about lathering. Boars are notorious to be lather hogs. Bigger the know, more product you need. This is why your Sagrada takes less product. It's small brush.

Lathering time depends on your soap, brush, water, and also personal preference.

I have Palmolive stick grated into a puck. Loading and lathering that beast with synthetic brush can take literally 60seconds. Lather is rich, creamy and slick. It could be fastest lathering soap I have. Then there are soaps that take me a few minutes, but lather isn't as good as with Palmolive. For me one of those soaps is Arko. Maybe it dislikes my water. What I wan't to say is that lathering time isn't important. Iportant is that lather is as you wish it to be

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

 

[kingfisher]

Don't know anything about Yaqi brushes, but in my opinion, time spent building lather is generally well worth it. It usually takes me about 2 minutes to maybe two and a half minutes before I get the lather where I want it.

I will NOT shave until the lather is really good, even if it takes three minutes. Mind you, I bowl lather, though. Not a big fan of face lathering. I think shaving gives you more than enough exfoliation. I also feel that with a bowl I can see how the lather progresses from the beginning through the final product very clearly.

YMMV as to face lathering versus bowl lathering, and I know a lot of guys much prefer face lathering, but in either case I think any "benefits" gained by quicker lathering are soon lost because of poorer lather quality. As far as shave time goes, I would rather trim time off the actual shaving or off the clean-up than off the time I build my lather. To me it's the most important time of the shave. So my suggestion would be not to worry about how much time it takes to lather; just work the lather until you get the lather you want and need.

 

[Atlantic59]

I have the Sagrada Familia also. There is a trick to get it to start splaying, just start on the point of the chin. You don't have to press hard or mash the brush. If you press too hard, you get the excessive springiness.

Another Yaqi brush that is a bit less firm without being floppy is the Purple Haze / Mew Brown knot. This is similar to the SynBad knot you might have seen elsewhere.


As far as how long to build good lather, this depends on the soap, but I would say one minute to one-and-a-half minutes. If you use the same soap all the time, you will get faster with it.

 

[FacialDirt]

I second the notion of the Timberwolf knot. But the tips are the part of the brush that will make the lather happen. Best bet to speed up the process is to use creams or croaps instead of harder soaps. Just need to dab on a few spots on each side of the face and go to work with the brush. That shouldn’t take more than a minute in my humble opinion.


... I’d rather be shaving! [emoji631]

 

[Timeclo]

I'd go with the Timberwolf knot as well. Less backbone and less stiffer than the tuxedo.

Yaqi has 24mm and 26mm options available.

 

[Quentin_Compson]

Don't know anything about Yaqi brushes, but in my opinion, time spent building lather is generally well worth it. It usually takes me about 2 minutes to maybe two and a half minutes before I get the lather where I want it.

I will NOT shave until the lather is really good, even if it takes three minutes. Mind you, I bowl lather, though. Not a big fan of face lathering. I think shaving gives you more than enough exfoliation. I also feel that with a bowl I can see how the lather progresses from the beginning through the final product very clearly.

YMMV as to face lathering versus bowl lathering, and I know a lot of guys much prefer face lathering, but in either case I think any "benefits" gained by quicker lathering are soon lost because of poorer lather quality. As far as shave time goes, I would rather trim time off the actual shaving or off the clean-up than off the time I build my lather. To me it's the most important time of the shave. So my suggestion would be not to worry about how much time it takes to lather; just work the lather until you get the lather you want and need.

I appreciate your taking the time to respond to my post, thank you!

 

[Quentin_Compson]

I have the Sagrada Familia also. There is a trick to get it to start splaying, just start on the point of the chin. You don't have to press hard or mash the brush. If you press too hard, you get the excessive springiness.

Another Yaqi brush that is a bit less firm without being floppy is the Purple Haze / Mew Brown knot. This is similar to the SynBad knot you might have seen elsewhere.
View attachment 1132071

As far as how long to build good lather, this depends on the soap, but I would say one minute to one-and-a-half minutes. If you use the same soap all the time, you will get faster with it.

Thank you for the pointers and suggestions. I’ve actually already seen that advice about beginning at the chin area, but it hasn’t really worked out for me for some reason – It can take me multiple tries just to splay it at the chin, and then as I’m keeping it splayed and moving it from the cheek under the jawline the knot tries to revert itself to its original state (and sometimes does) and I have to start over at the chin. I must be doing something wrong, but I’ll figure it out.
As for the Mew brown brush, I’ve heard it mentioned many times, but I was under the impression that it was similar to the Sagrada familia In terms of the springiness, so i hasn't considered purchasing it …thank you for the suggestion, I’ll certainly keep that brush in mind. If I may ask – have you had any experience with the pony knot? How does it compare to the Mew brown brush?

 

[Quentin_Compson]

Mr. FacialDirt and Mr. Timeclo, thank you for the suggestions!

 

[emwolf]

I have the Sagrada Familia also. There is a trick to get it to start splaying, just start on the point of the chin. You don't have to press hard or mash the brush. If you press too hard, you get the excessive springiness.

Another Yaqi brush that is a bit less firm without being floppy is the Purple Haze / Mew Brown knot. This is similar to the SynBad knot you might have seen elsewhere.
View attachment 1132071

As far as how long to build good lather, this depends on the soap, but I would say one minute to one-and-a-half minutes. If you use the same soap all the time, you will get faster with it.

I'll second the Mew knot. I have the Yaqi Moka handle with a Mew knot and it's soft with a lot more give than some other synthetics I've tried. My biggest beef with the early synthetics were how stiff they were.

 

[abershaver]

I haven’t got any advice on knots etc. However, I have a Yaqi Sagrada Familia brush and it takes me slightly longer to lather MWF compared to my old Omega boar brush. Around 2 or 3 minutes maybe. I need to add a little more water whilst lathering. But the face feel of the Yaqi is much better.

 

[FacialDirt]

Maggard Razors sells a bunch of synthetic options, including the Timberwolf. Yaqi, I’m sure would have the ability to get any knot you wanted. Here are some knot specifications that may help you in your search for what works best for you. If it’s less backbone you’re after, check out the Plisson, too. Too much splay isn’t always the answer though. The tips will build the lather much better than any other part of the brush. I “paint” the other on before I splay and push the lather under the hairs. As long as you hydrate the skin and hairs before lathering, you ought to be good either way. If it’s just personal preference to have more splay, you may want to look at a bigger knot, like a 28-30mm. I love my 28mm Timberwolf but I have recently gotten into the SilkSmoke from APShave Co. They are based in Canada and have an Etsy shop. The knots are pretty cheap, but fairly priced for Synthetic knots. (I cannot speak as to how accurate this chart is, but it’s been pretty spot on with the few I’ve tried, in my humble opinion.) disregard all the info above and below. The Daily Lather has been a pretty good source of info on knots for me. Hope this helps.

... I’d rather be shaving! [emoji631]

 

[Quentin_Compson]

Maggard Razors sells a bunch of synthetic options, including the Timberwolf. Yaqi, I’m sure would have the ability to get any knot you wanted. Here are some knot specifications that may help you in your search for what works best for you. If it’s less backbone you’re after, check out the Plisson, too. Too much splay isn’t always the answer though. The tips will build the lather much better than any other part of the brush. I “paint” the other on before I splay and push the lather under the hairs. As long as you hydrate the skin and hairs before lathering, you ought to be good either way. If it’s just personal preference to have more splay, you may want to look at a bigger knot, like a 28-30mm. I love my 28mm Timberwolf but I have recently gotten into the SilkSmoke from APShave Co. They are based in Canada and have an Etsy shop. The knots are pretty cheap, but fairly priced for Synthetic knots. (I cannot speak as to how accurate this chart is, but it’s been pretty spot on with the few I’ve tried, in my humble opinion.) disregard all the info above and below. The Daily Lather has been a pretty good source of info on knots for me. Hope this helps.

... I’d rather be shaving! [emoji631]

Thank you, Mr.FacialDirt, for taking some of your valuable time to write that comment and provide with so much information; it was very considerate of you! You've given much to think about, i really appreciate it!

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I face lather exclusively, not to exfoliate which is nonsense in my view, and not because it makes better lather, because it does not. Bowl lathering most likely produces better lather. I face lather because it feels great. I can make a suitable lather in about one minute, but I have no interest in bubble free, creamy yogurt lather; as long as I can shave with it then I am happy. I normally take longer when lathering because..... it feels great. I cannot comment on synthetic brushes other than to say that a Simpson would probably not splay enough for you. Good luck.

 

[TiffanyGT]

I almost always do bowl lathering and as a synthetic brush I have the Yaqi Timberwolf, I got it for a very very reasonable price, just around $7-8, I also think and experienced that with this brush I make a good, creamy lather a lot faster than a boar or badger brush.