I had bought a SOC since it has always had rave reviews and that beautiful resin handle release left me no choice! I also always wanted a barberpole design and that Yaqi 2-band badger also just looked the part! So, they are now competing for my affection, but the Semogue is winning out!
Both are visually wonderful brushes. The Yaqi is big - very big and really dense. But, even with more swirls of soap, it just doesn't adequately transfer the soap from the tub nor excel at lathering. The Semogue has no trouble at all and after a short lather period (in the soap tub) creates a fantastic lather.
Although the Yaqi is not bad at all, it's no-where near the Semogue in creating a thicker on-face lather. The Yaqi does have more scritch though as the Semogue has broken in really soft.
Clearly, the size and density of the Yaqi might be the issue and I might need to swirl even longer at my soap. But even if I do this, there is just not enough lather creation. Interestingly, the Yaqi performs much better with creams and I will certainly use it more for that.
So, the Semogue SOC boar is the winner here - at least with my quality soaps like Grooming Dept, Tabac and Declaration Grooming.