Yaqi brushes...the review series continues!!

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It's me…I'm back to bring you another review of Yaqi brushes. This has become a costly hobby but hey, I've come this far, may as well try to get ‘em all!!

Ordered from aliexpress, the parcel arrived in 12 days to India. No hassles as usual.

My order of 6 brushes arrived with 5 synthetics and 1 two band badger in an all metal handle.

Here are some pics of the brushes:













Shedding:

No brush has shed at all. Not one! It seems the construction quality just keeps improving! This is the first time where I haven't had even one fibre (or badger hair) shed even when the brush is brand new.

Softness:

OK, lets face it…synthetics are basically at a point where we can't really say one is soft and another is not soft, or is prickly, or scritchy etc. They are all luxuriously soft!

However, there is a relative difference where there is a perceptible difference in the extent of softness.

My rankings of the 5 synthetics from the most soft to the least:

- Purple haze mew brown knot

- Tall green handle with “faded” knot

- Red nebulae handle with timberwolf knot

- Yellow handle with tuxedo knot

- Mysterious space handle with tuxedo knot

Again, each and every Yaqi synthetic is soft! However, some are softer than others and (that's) all I'm trying to illustrate here. I could use the mysterious space tuxedo even on irritated skin and it'll still feel feather soft!

The two band finest in metal handle, being a badger brush, is not included in the above ranking. This one, like my other Yaqi two bands, is scritchy for the first 6 or so uses and then the tips soften up like crazy! From that point onwards, it's just pure luxury!

You still get a scrub which you really can't get from any synthetic, just due to the nature of the badger hair. This soft yet scrubby face feel is what keeps me coming back to my badgers despite my overall preference for synthetic brushes.

The brush is what I would regard as upper-density (not crazy dense but enough for me to say “densely packed”). The knot to loft proportion is perfect so there is no lather hogging. Also, once the two bands break in, they never eat the lather in between passes either. But in the first half dozen uses, they do eat lather and this is an annoyance but well worth it because after the break in period, I just adore the two bands!

Splay/Backbone (Glue bump):

With synthetics, I've come to learn that due to the softness of the tips, they are going to perform wonderfully and still feel good on the face no matter how deep the knot is set or how big the glue bump is.

However, I must say that in my recent Yaqi orders, including this one, the presence of glue bumps is really not an issue as they are 5mm or less. At 5mm, it doesn't impact the splay of the knot. It's the 10mm+ glue bumps that really do impact the face feel of the brush.

The Mysterious space tuxedo is the only one with a 10mm glue bump but for whatever reason, it still splays out nicely so meh…I'm not one bit bothered!

The mew brown has the most amazing splay of the brushes. I find it really balances splay with backbone very nicely and I can push down gently and get it to splay out but at the same time, have decent backbone which gives me an automatic control on the amount of splay.

The small tuxedo knot on the yellow handle also surprised me a lot! The loft is fairly short and it's also densely packed with fibres (as are all Yaqi synthetics) so I thought it would have issues with splay but to my surprise, it splayed out beautifully! I really enjoyed this brush a lot!

The timberwolf and faded knot were both similar in splay. They both splay out nicely and have less backbone than the mew brown but more than cashmere knots (I'm referring to the Yaqi version, not APShaveCo or TurnNShave. These two are just totally floppy with zero backbone. Which is not a bad thing, just not the comparison I'm going for here).

The two band has wonderful backbone. As most of you who have used synthetics and badgers would understand that backbone and splay are totally different feelings between the two types of brushes.

The two band has wonderful backbone and the splay is just gorgeous! A slight push down and it contours the face beautifully! I know I keep saying it, but I just love the Yaqi two bands!!

Drying time:

This section has become redundant but I'll leave it in for anyone who hasn't read my previous reviews…

The synthetics take about 2 hours to dry out completely (I mean from deep within the knot, not just the top half of the brush). The timberwolf knot for whatever reason takes a little longer.

The two band takes about 6-8 hours to dry out mostly and about 10-12 hours for deep within the knot.

Handles:

These brushes are some of the most beautiful I've got!! I mean, these are just gorgeous! The purple haze and the red nebulae just blew me away!! The yellow and green handles are both transparent at the bottom half and just amazing! I've got a couple of other mysterious space handled brushes so that'll always remain a favourite of mine.

Overall:

Those that have followed my review serious would know that I've used pretty much every synthetic brush on the market and let me give my overall impression so far of the synthetic brush market:

I feel that Yaqi is by far the leader of the pack! Their fibres are different from the others as I find them to be thicker (giving more body and substance to the knot), have “rounder” tips, giving ultra comfort on the face and their handles to me are like a semi-custom!

For overall value for money, quality, awesome handles and sheer performance…my recommendation is Yaqi overall.
Which Yaqi?...well, you can read all my reviews to figure that out!
 
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I feel that Yaqi is by far the leader of the pack! !


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Hi Nav:

Looks like you have been very busy - testing 6 Yaqi brushes, 6 DS brushes and a few Frank Shaving brushes. If reading correctly, sounds like Yaqi would be your favorite. Any comparisons to other synthetic brushes (they are getting more common and better quality now).

Thanks
 
Hi Nav:

Looks like you have been very busy - testing 6 Yaqi brushes, 6 DS brushes and a few Frank Shaving brushes. If reading correctly, sounds like Yaqi would be your favorite. Any comparisons to other synthetic brushes (they are getting more common and better quality now).

Thanks

I'm so pleased with the synthetic knots available these days and the nice handle designs that I enjoy trying as many as I can.
The decision to post reviews is so my experience can hopefully help others choose the best brush for them.

I would definitely say Yaqi are the best!
There's no two ways about it. I have tried enough to come to this conclusion. Their handles are also by far the best.

I also have muhle/EJ silvertip fibre brushes in v1 and v2. The v2 is the exact same fibre used by Frank Shaving in their pur-tech line, which is also wonderful (you can read my review about this one).

Then there are the Frank Shaving G4 and DS cosmetic extra soft which basically replicate the feel and function of the muhle STF v2 but at a fraction of the cost.

I would have no issues recommending the Frank Shaving pur-tech or G4, the DS synthetics to anyone as they are all excellent! The DS flat top brushes are unique and perform wonderfully also. They are all staying in my den for me to enjoy :)

For overall synthetic fibre/knot development and handle design, my top pick would be Yaqi.
 
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