Yaqi Lex: Five Shaves with a Stainless Open Comb

Hello, I’m Sig Solo. Welcome to my channel, and welcome to this shave.

Yaqi very kindly sent me a new razor, so thank you to Grace for that. It’s the Lex, a stainless steel open comb head, 316L polished. I have it mounted on a 78mm stainless 316 handle, also from Yaqi, that they sent me a good while back, but I hadn’t had the chance to use it yet. This is my fifth shave with the Lex. I have a Wizamet blade in there, first use. The whole setup weighs 67 grams in this configuration. The gap is 0.5mm. I haven’t measured the positive exposure.

The Soap

The soap is Yaqi Smoking Aces, also sent by Yaqi, and I’ve had it for close to two years at this point. Still an eight out of ten on scent strength. That’s a good soap.

This one is a wonderful dupe of the Carolina Herrera 212 VIP. Subtle, a little deep, very masculine. The kind of scent you’d wear in a short-sleeved open shirt sitting outside a cafe, looking out over the Mediterranean or the ocean somewhere. You know that type of man. White beard. No socks in the sandals. Watching the water, thinking big thoughts or no thoughts at all. That’s what this soap is. A distinguished man’s scent. I love it.

I have the matching aftershave splash as well. I’m working the soap up in the SIG SOLO white bowl with the Yaqi Italian Flag brush, cashmere knot, 24mm. A good combination.

The Shave

The Lex is an open comb, and you feel the blade. I wouldn’t call it aggressive, but the blade is there. You need the right angle. Put it to your skin too hard, and you’ll find out fast.

Which is what happened to me in this shave. I have small bumps and moles that give me trouble, and July and August are what I call the mole-cutting season. A little sun and everything rises just slightly, and that’s when the blade finds them. I caught my mole. That’s not on the razor. That’s on me for talking about the wedding instead of focusing on what I was doing.

The alum block came out. Sorry about the blood. That’s wet shaving when your mind is somewhere else. You know, but that’s what happens.

The Wedding

So many of you sent wonderful wishes, and I appreciate every one of them.

The wedding was outside, next to the ocean, with mountains in the background. My daughter chose that over a church because she loves nature, and that was the right call. She wore all white, the top made in the national costume style, silk, and the traditional elements, done her own way. That’s how she is.

We didn’t get sunshine. We didn’t get rain either. We got a gray sky, which turned out to be something in itself. When the sea and the sky are the same gray, they blur into each other in a mirror effect. The scenery was wonderful in a way sunshine wouldn’t have given us.

Many of you asked for pictures. My daughter isn’t comfortable having personal photos shared online, and I’m going to respect that completely. I’m sorry I can’t show you.

One more thing: she wanted the wedding to be alcohol-free. Her wedding, her decision, so that’s what we did. I don’t have a problem with that. I hardly ever drink anyway. When I do, I steer toward dark beer, a darker ale, something in that direction. But not at her wedding. Sparkling water with lemon and lime, sodas, juice. It was completely fine.

The Aftershave

The Smoking Aces aftershave is transparent in the bottle. Shake it, and it goes milky. It’s witch hazel and rosewater-based, so not much of a burn, which I needed given what the alum block had to deal with.

The scent matches the soap. That same calm, masculine depth, the 212 VIP character. The open shirt, the cafe, the ocean. Very good. I went back for another pass on the jaw, caught a spot, but that’s just the season.

Perfecto mundo. Like, subscribe, hit the bell, and share. You know why we do this. We are not obsessed. We are dedicated. Six Honor out.