SOTD
Pre Proraso White
Henson AL13 Medium and Yaqi Tile with Alpha Sure Grip handle both loaded with a Perma Sharp blade.
Yaqi Aqua Badger 26mm brush
Razorock Blue Barbershop soap
Aqua Velva splash
RS balm.
So today's shave was a head to head between the Henson medium and the Yaqi Tile.
A little on quality before I get to the shave.
Upon inspection the Yaqi Tile has much poorer quality fitment than the Henson but that was to be expected due to the Hensons production at an aerospace manufacturing facility. The head cap on the Tile is slightly off and a little loose compared to the Henson. I tried the top cap of the Henson on the Tile base plate and it was perfect but that defeats the object. The blade alignment is perfect on the Henson and the Tile needs a little jiggery pokery to get it just right as the top cap is a little misshapen, but don't let that put you off.
The obvious.
The weight difference between the two set ups is significant and has to be taken into account regardless of the result. The Henson weighs in at about 37g and the Yaqi Tile on the Sure Grip is about 100g.
Onto the shave.
I prepped my face with a hot wash and applied the Proraso white pre shave. The already soaked brush was loaded with the Razorock soap for fifteen seconds and applied straight to the face for a good lathering. This brush is excellent, the scent of the soap filled the bathroom and it produced a delightful lather with a consistency of a supermarket branded yogurt. These razors by design seem to prefer a wetter lather.
I warmed the Henson for the first pass with the grain on the left hand side of my face and proceeded to shave off two days growth which It had no trouble dealing with whilst having minimal blade feel and lightweight in the hand. On to the right side with the Yaqi Tile and I could feel the difference in both weight of the razor and feel of the blade and I deliberately used different hands so I wouldn't need to adjust muscle memory. A quick rinse and feel and there was no noticable difference.
I lathered up and started on the left again for the across the grain pass which on my face is straight up. This time the Henson felt even smoother with even less blade feel than before even on my chin which i find notoriously difficult to get smooth. On to the right side with the Yaqi and I could still feel the blade, not uncomfortably though. Pass completed with a rinse and a feel. The Henson had edged out in front with both comfort and growth reduction.
I eagerly lathered for a third pass against the grain which for me is west to east and this was the money pass. I started on the right as I naturally do this time with the Yaqi Tile and this pass felt a little uncomfortable to me, similar to the Lupo 0.95 razor for blade feel. Over to the Henson for the left side and no such discomfort was felt, indeed almost no blade feel. A rinse, a check and I needed a pick up pass, although more on the right side with the Tile.
So still determined to use both razors for this pass I cleaned up the very few areas I normally have on the jaw line and neck. The Henson still audible with what it found but no blade feel at all and the Yaqi was the same as it had been throughout the shave. Job done!
Thoughts.
Now I like a heavier razor and I must admit the Henson took a couple of shaves to get it down but once accustomed no problems. The Henson is a quality razor worthy of its price tag although I won't be buying the aggressive in grade 5 titanium for $249!
The Yaqi Tile is what it is, a Chinese copy. But don't let that put you off, it does the job quite nicely and although it reminded me of the Lupo at one point did a much better job than said razor.
So who won?
For me it was the Henson all day long, better engineering, nicer blade feel and better finish to the shave by a small margin.
These are my opinions only and the ramblings of an old idiot. Your mileage may vary!
Happy Shaving ☺
