Well it's official, I have created a club for this fun razor. What i am enjoying most about this is seeing all the setups, since it's not a production model. Bring the pics!
Yaqi synthetics are just blowing my mind!!......
- Thread starter Neffarious
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I may have been the first on the Pearl-Yaqi train, my initial shave (February 13) convinced me this was a thing..but the SABI handle too heavy. I stick mostly with the stubby Pearl handle these days. Rock on.
Having fun currently with my new to me Karve and plate "D" razor so I've not tried it with the new base plate yet, but here she is waiting on me to test drive. Facon SS handle but seen others with a different name so may be a generic produced handle. Mine from Facon has the"F" on the bottom of it. By the way, Don on the bay at techichi_shave is "THE" source for the Pearl base plate
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Here’s mine
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Your post and @jmudrick post show no pic, just a red X. Wonder if because of Iphones and taptalk or what?Here’s mine
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
See it now
Here’s mine
First shave this morning, used it with a shark blade. But i didn’t dare to use a new razor and new soap, so i made a last minute swap, and used Godrej instead
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Hey all,
Several months ago, I got my first Yaqi synthetic brush and loved it from first use! The quality of the handles, the knot and the brush in use were all just perfect!!
Prior to that, I already had about 8 synthetic brushes so I knew what I liked and basically had experience with most of the synth knots on the market.
If you missed my previous review of Yaqi synth brushes, you can check it out here:
My review of 3 Yaqi brushes
I have since got a few more Yaqi synth brushes, and thought I'd post my thoughts on the characteristics and differences in the various knots.
I know how much you gents like your pics so why don't we start with those?...
The three brushes you see are:
- Moka Express w/Mew Brown 24mm knot
- Barberpole w/faux horse 22mm knot
- Chianti w/SilkSmoke 24mm knot
Density and Splay:
- The Moka Express is fairly dense due to the knot being set fairly deeply. The glue bump is present but not very large but I would have preferred the knot to be set with a loft of about 5mm higher. In use, it splays just fine once some water has been added into the mix. It's not the type of brush that will splay if you "dry load" your soap, you will have to add some water and loosen up the soap a little and then it splays just fine and performs really well.
This knot is basically what I would regard as a hybrid of the Tuxedo and Cashmere knots. The backbone is that of a tuxedo but the tips are very fine and feel like the ultra soft Cashmere knot. It's really the best of both worlds!
Just look at that handle! It's just so awesome! It literally looks like the coffee is moving through it due to the vacuum building up. It's just wonderful and mesmerising! It's also the most ergonomic handle I've ever used! No matter how soapy this handle gets, it's not going anywhere!
- Density of the Barberpole faux horse knot is not so much. It's not tightly packed like the other Yaqi knots but it performs really nicely! I gather this is basically a brown version of the black BOSS knot because even those are not overly dense but perform really great! I have 2 boss knot brushes and this one performs pretty much like those, except being a 22mm knot, it does lack in performance compared to the 25mm boss knots. However, in its own right as a 22mm knot, it performs very well and to the level I would expect.
It splays fairly easily as it's not very dense. The glue bump is about 5mm so the effective loft is a bit short, but it still splays just fine. The handle is very ergonomic and looks great.
- The Chianti with the SilkSmoke knot is very dense. Again, I would have liked an extra 5mm loft but this knot is great! There is no glue bump so the splay is just wonderful however, I would prefer the 5mm extra loft because I like a slightly looser splay, by no means floppy but just enough to envelope the face nicely.
The handle looks great! It's very ergonomic and the colour scheme is very striking! It's matte on one side and slightly pearlescent. It's very unique and definitely has that "artisan made" look to it. Very creative indeed!!
Softness:
All 3 knots are very soft and comfortable. The Mew brown knot is the softest knot by far, just like the cashmere but again, with the backbone of the tuxedo. There's not much more to say as all synthetic knots are very soft and there's really no question of scrtich or scratch or pokiness. It's just that they have varying degrees of softness. Definitely nothing like a pure badger to a soft, plush silvertip!!
Scrub:
Due to the inherent softness of synthetic brushes, especially the latest generation synthetic fibres, there's not really a "scrubby" feeling. Having said that, due to the nice density of the Mew brown and the SilkSmoke, there is a scrub in terms of face feel but not that of a boar or badger brush. I really don't regard this aspect as very important because it's the lather generation that i'm interested in the most. This is where synthetics really shine for me and why I have ~20 in my den now. The final lather is very rich and creamy and remains that way for the entire shave as the synthetic fibres don't absorb water out of the lather, nor do they hog the lather in any way. Flow through is fine with every synthetic I've ever used.
I definitely see more Yaqi brushes in my den, probably sooner than later!
I may try their badger brushes and see how they perform.
I hope you enjoyed my reviews and that the information has helped in some way!
Several months ago, I got my first Yaqi synthetic brush and loved it from first use! The quality of the handles, the knot and the brush in use were all just perfect!!
Prior to that, I already had about 8 synthetic brushes so I knew what I liked and basically had experience with most of the synth knots on the market.
If you missed my previous review of Yaqi synth brushes, you can check it out here:
My review of 3 Yaqi brushes
I have since got a few more Yaqi synth brushes, and thought I'd post my thoughts on the characteristics and differences in the various knots.
I know how much you gents like your pics so why don't we start with those?...
The three brushes you see are:
- Moka Express w/Mew Brown 24mm knot
- Barberpole w/faux horse 22mm knot
- Chianti w/SilkSmoke 24mm knot
Density and Splay:
- The Moka Express is fairly dense due to the knot being set fairly deeply. The glue bump is present but not very large but I would have preferred the knot to be set with a loft of about 5mm higher. In use, it splays just fine once some water has been added into the mix. It's not the type of brush that will splay if you "dry load" your soap, you will have to add some water and loosen up the soap a little and then it splays just fine and performs really well.
This knot is basically what I would regard as a hybrid of the Tuxedo and Cashmere knots. The backbone is that of a tuxedo but the tips are very fine and feel like the ultra soft Cashmere knot. It's really the best of both worlds!
Just look at that handle! It's just so awesome! It literally looks like the coffee is moving through it due to the vacuum building up. It's just wonderful and mesmerising! It's also the most ergonomic handle I've ever used! No matter how soapy this handle gets, it's not going anywhere!
- Density of the Barberpole faux horse knot is not so much. It's not tightly packed like the other Yaqi knots but it performs really nicely! I gather this is basically a brown version of the black BOSS knot because even those are not overly dense but perform really great! I have 2 boss knot brushes and this one performs pretty much like those, except being a 22mm knot, it does lack in performance compared to the 25mm boss knots. However, in its own right as a 22mm knot, it performs very well and to the level I would expect.
It splays fairly easily as it's not very dense. The glue bump is about 5mm so the effective loft is a bit short, but it still splays just fine. The handle is very ergonomic and looks great.
- The Chianti with the SilkSmoke knot is very dense. Again, I would have liked an extra 5mm loft but this knot is great! There is no glue bump so the splay is just wonderful however, I would prefer the 5mm extra loft because I like a slightly looser splay, by no means floppy but just enough to envelope the face nicely.
The handle looks great! It's very ergonomic and the colour scheme is very striking! It's matte on one side and slightly pearlescent. It's very unique and definitely has that "artisan made" look to it. Very creative indeed!!
Softness:
All 3 knots are very soft and comfortable. The Mew brown knot is the softest knot by far, just like the cashmere but again, with the backbone of the tuxedo. There's not much more to say as all synthetic knots are very soft and there's really no question of scrtich or scratch or pokiness. It's just that they have varying degrees of softness. Definitely nothing like a pure badger to a soft, plush silvertip!!
Scrub:
Due to the inherent softness of synthetic brushes, especially the latest generation synthetic fibres, there's not really a "scrubby" feeling. Having said that, due to the nice density of the Mew brown and the SilkSmoke, there is a scrub in terms of face feel but not that of a boar or badger brush. I really don't regard this aspect as very important because it's the lather generation that i'm interested in the most. This is where synthetics really shine for me and why I have ~20 in my den now. The final lather is very rich and creamy and remains that way for the entire shave as the synthetic fibres don't absorb water out of the lather, nor do they hog the lather in any way. Flow through is fine with every synthetic I've ever used.
I definitely see more Yaqi brushes in my den, probably sooner than later!
I may try their badger brushes and see how they perform.
I hope you enjoyed my reviews and that the information has helped in some way!
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That Moka express is something else!
Still a made in china brush. Can these things even last?
Im a big fan of Yaqi.
So should I get this over an omega boar?
Ive yet to have any of mine shed more than a few hairs. At the end of the day, the business end of any brush is from China, so basically the only difference is the handle.
People need to get over the outdated notion that everything made in China is cheap junk.
Id say it depends which handles you like. Yaqi has some pretty cool handles but some people like a more traditional look. Ive had both and Id say its six in one, half dozen in the other as far as the knot goes.
It's gorgeous right?!
I wanted it just due to the handle but that knot has already turned out to be fantastic!
None of my "Made in China" synthetic brushes have shed fibres after the initial handful, which are basically just the "loose" ones remaining in the knot.
I Absolutely agree! They are not cheap junk and in fact, the quality is top-tier!
I have just one Yaqi brush (28 mm Tuxedo) and I am happy with it.
Those have caught my attention ... unfortunately!
AA
AA
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