Yaqi Tile Ex: My Frankenstein Shave in Stainless Steel
Hello, I’m SIG SOLO. Welcome to my channel and today’s Frankenstein shave.
This razor took three shipments to get here. The first one was returned to sender. The second never made it past Holland. The third one arrived in Greenland. Months of waiting, two failed attempts, and finally this.
The Razor
The Yaqi Tile Ex is the new and updated Tile head. Put it next to the Henson AL13+++ in titanium and they look identical. The cap, the profile, the whole geometry. They look the same.
The handle is the Henson stainless steel handle, the one Henson had available in their Amazon shop for a couple of months. My friend Matthew ordered it for me because they don’t ship here. He went to the post office, got it, packaged it, sent it. Matthew, if you’re watching: thank you, and I hope you’re recovering well after your operation. I haven’t seen you in what feels like two billion years.
So the full setup is: Yaqi Tile Ex head in 316L stainless steel, Henson stainless steel handle. That’s why I’m calling this a Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein built his monster from parts of different people. Same idea. And that’s also why I’m using the Franken Scent soap. The theme holds.
Weight is nothing like the titanium Henson. The AL13+++ in titanium runs 62.5 grams. This full stainless combination? 108 grams. You’ll know it.
Franken Scent 2.0
The soap, brush, and bowl were all sent by Grace and the team at Yaqi, same as the razor head. I was saving the Franken Scent for when the Tile Ex arrived. Frankenstein razor, Franken Scent soap. You see what I did there.
The concept behind Franken Scent is a blend of the greatest fragrances in the world, with extra tobacco and extra vanilla added on top. Tobacco and vanilla in the style of Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille, then a posh cologne overlay sitting above that. On paper, it reads warm and complex. Fantastic scent. The soap itself was very soft on load, like freshly melted fudge.
The brush is the Yaqi Caramel Cat’s Whiskers, 26mm. Caramel brush for a fudge-soft soap. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. And the white plastic bowl. Both from Yaqi, both part of the kit Grace sent over.
The Shave
Blade is a Wizamet, first use.
The Tile Ex lists its gap at 1.0 mm. Exposure is not listed on the Yaqi page. Going in, my guess was it would feel roughly the same as the Henson with maybe a little less blade feel. After the first pass, it feels slightly positive to me. Could be the weight of the razor making sure you feel the blade. Hard to know for certain on a first shave.
Easy to get under the nose. There’s a sit above the lip that I fully expect to cut myself on at some point. Not a complaint. Just the truth.
Now, the Tile Ex looks like a Henson. Really looks like one. The first Tile head was an homage. The Tile Ex is further than that. It’s a copy. I always get some comments about Yaqi using other makers’ designs, and I understand it. In this case, Henson does not make a stainless steel head. Yaqi does now. I’m glad they did. Plenty of well-regarded companies have been inspired by the Henson. The TTO, the Razorock Everyday, people say the Winning Razor too. Plenty of companies made copies of the Mühle R89. Good geometry gets borrowed. This is a winner for me.
The Aftershave
The Franken Scent 2.0 aftershave was in the kit, still had the plastic wrap on it when I got to it. Brown bottle, but the liquid is transparent until you shake it.
On the face: less tobacco and vanilla than the soap. It goes more cologne. Faint compared to the soap, too. Maybe I didn’t shake it enough. There’s a nice scent underneath it all. That’s a win.
Thanks to Grace and Yaqi for everything, and for the patience it took to get the Tile Ex here across three attempts. Perfecto mundo. Like, subscribe, hit the bell, and share. We are not obsessed. We are dedicated.