Week two of my shaves using my favorite razors and the blades they shipped with.
Today’s SOTD (May 25, 2025):
- Razor: Henson AL-13 Mild
- Blade: RK Stainless Steel
- Pre-Shave: Razor Emporium Pre-Shave Shaving Soap
- Soap: Nivea Sensitive Shave Gel
- Alum: Stirling Soap Co. Alum Block
- Post Shave: Nivea Sensitive Soothing Post Shave Balm
- Beard Oil: Stirling Soap Co. Unscented Beard & Pre-Shave Oil
As I’ve said before, it stands to reason that blades that ship with a razors are at least specifically matched to the razor by the manufacturer. And when you think about it, it becomes obvious that if a razor manufacturer has their own branded blade, it’s made either by them or specifically for them. But when I opened the wrapper on this morning’s blade, I was surprised by what was printed right on it:
“Specifically designed for the Henson AL13.” There it was, explicit confirmation that, at least in this case, this blade was made just for this razor. Though, to be fair, Henson makes 3 other razors–a medium aggressiveness AL-13, aggressive AL-13, and their Ti22 titanium razor. So the question is this: did they just make one blade for all of the flavors of Henson razor, and if so, were there some compromises made to they’d work well with each design?
Their own website talks about the blade, saying it was made specifically for the AL-13…oh, and it’ll work in the Ti22 as well. But it was made “specifically for the dimensions “specifically to the dimensions of the Henson AL13.” So any mildness or aggressiveness of the blade is secondary to making it fit?
Razor Emporium rates the aggressiveness of this blade as a 4–higher than last week’s Rockwell blade, but obviously lower than the Feather or Perma-Sharp. So maybe that should inform the result of today’s shave.
This shave wasn’t as close as I’ve had with other blades in the Henson (most recently, the Feather). Normally, a couple of extra passes can clean things up a bit, but this shave just didn’t get as close as I know it can with this razor, which tells me that the blade is probably not aggressive enough for the razor it was specifically designed for. Though when I originally wrote this, about 2 hours after the shave, it felt less close than it does now–the balm on my face seems to need a couple of hours to fully soak in and smooth out the shave. I don’t understand it, but 2-4 hours after the shave it when it feels the best, so I should stop writing about it so soon after. It won’t change my rating, though, because there’s still a little more stubble feel than I’d like on my neck.
The problem is that this result makes me want a Henson AL-13 medium a little bit more so I could try the blade there. I’m thinking it would be pretty good.
I switched up my normal Sunday shave from Proraso to Nivea. I have no particular reason for that, just a change for a Sunday. The Nivea products work extremely well for me, as well or just slightly worse than the Proraso setup, but have a stronger fragrance. I’ll hit the Proraso combo on Tuesday this week, so we’ll see if that performs any better for me, but usually, I get my closest shaves on Sunday since I’ve got an extra day’s growth on my face.
The Rating
Shave #125. Generally, I’m disappointed. The Henson always provides a very comfortable shave, but this one was not as close as I’ve had with other blades. For a blade that was made specifically for the razor, I think it could provide some people who are new to DE shaving with a disappointing result.
Comfort: 4.75 out of 5
Quality/Closeness: 4.5 out of 5
Overall: 4.63 out of 5
