For the last couple of months I have been testing some blades made in India. My impressions are below. Keep in mind that this is based on using two of each blade. I have seen significant variation in blades from the same manufacturer before, so your experience with these blades may be different from mine.
Background: I shave nearly every day with a 3 pass shave. My daily driver for several years now with few exceptions has been the Personna Lab Blue. I typically get 14 shaves per blade. I was getting 21 shaves per blade with a previous 100 pack, but this pack is different. I think the blades are slightly wider than the previous pack, since they feel much more aggressive, and I get closer shaves with any razor than I did before. Whereas I used the Lupo 72 and 95 fairly often before, I don't with this current pack of blades because they feel too aggressive in that razor, and the GC .84 gives close enough shaves whereas before it was not quite as close as I wanted. I face lather pretty much exclusively.
Razors used:
Gillette post war tech (NDC)
Gillette Super Speed (1958, 1965, black handled 1966)
Razorock Gamechanger .84 SB
Razorock Lupo 95 SB
Merkur Progress
Soaps used:
Old AOS tallow (Valobra), Palmolive stick (grated into bowl), RR Santa Maria Del Fiore, Proraso red (cream in tube), Saponificio Varesino (Desert Vetiver), Stirling, Arko stick (sliced up and mashed in a bowl), tallow Tabac, Cella (from a brick)
Blades used, in order of how I rate them (lowest to highest):
Zorrick
Vi John super platinum
VI John super stainless
Gillette 365
Astra
The tests:
I used the blades in my normal rotation of daily 3-pass shaves. All blades were used in multiple razors, though not all blades were used in all of the razors. All blades saw various of the soaps mentioned above.
Summary:
Zorrick – the first blade was dull. It tugged enough that I tossed it before finishing the first shave. The second blade was much better, though it was still not as sharp as I like. It lasted maybe 5 shaves, maybe fewer. In the end I think it is similar to the VI John blades, but not quite as good.
VI-John super platinum – OK sharpness and smoothness, but nothing to write home about – not as sharp as I like. About 5 -7 shaves each.
VI-John super stainless – OK sharpness and smoothness, but nothing to write home about – not as sharp as I like. About 5 -7 shaves each. While these were nearly indistinguishable from the super platinum, I thought the blades I tried were slightly better. Maybe this opinion would change if I used more of each blade.
Gillette 365 – very sharp blade while also being smooth. I can get maybe a dozen shaves out of each blade, maybe more (this was the most I used one). There was noticeably more blade feel with these, so I think they are slightly wider. IT was also the most prone to nicks and weepers. I tried it with all the razors listed, and especially with the Lupo 95 and Progress I could feel my face for hours. The Gillette Tech finally tamed it (the only blade I used in the Tech), but that razor does not give me as close a shave as I like.
Astra – sharp and smooth. These are nice blades, the only one of these I tested that I would buy again. In fact, if I did not already have a significant stash of blades I would stock up with them. I could get at least a dozen shaves from each blade (again, the most I used one of these), maybe more. Good shaves, smooth, comfortable, and clean.
A number of years ago I tried some Russian Astras, and I did not understand the love they were getting on the forum. They were mediocre at best. These Astra made in India are far better, at least the tucks of the two respective blades I have tried.
Background: I shave nearly every day with a 3 pass shave. My daily driver for several years now with few exceptions has been the Personna Lab Blue. I typically get 14 shaves per blade. I was getting 21 shaves per blade with a previous 100 pack, but this pack is different. I think the blades are slightly wider than the previous pack, since they feel much more aggressive, and I get closer shaves with any razor than I did before. Whereas I used the Lupo 72 and 95 fairly often before, I don't with this current pack of blades because they feel too aggressive in that razor, and the GC .84 gives close enough shaves whereas before it was not quite as close as I wanted. I face lather pretty much exclusively.
Razors used:
Gillette post war tech (NDC)
Gillette Super Speed (1958, 1965, black handled 1966)
Razorock Gamechanger .84 SB
Razorock Lupo 95 SB
Merkur Progress
Soaps used:
Old AOS tallow (Valobra), Palmolive stick (grated into bowl), RR Santa Maria Del Fiore, Proraso red (cream in tube), Saponificio Varesino (Desert Vetiver), Stirling, Arko stick (sliced up and mashed in a bowl), tallow Tabac, Cella (from a brick)
Blades used, in order of how I rate them (lowest to highest):
Zorrick
Vi John super platinum
VI John super stainless
Gillette 365
Astra
The tests:
I used the blades in my normal rotation of daily 3-pass shaves. All blades were used in multiple razors, though not all blades were used in all of the razors. All blades saw various of the soaps mentioned above.
Summary:
Zorrick – the first blade was dull. It tugged enough that I tossed it before finishing the first shave. The second blade was much better, though it was still not as sharp as I like. It lasted maybe 5 shaves, maybe fewer. In the end I think it is similar to the VI John blades, but not quite as good.
VI-John super platinum – OK sharpness and smoothness, but nothing to write home about – not as sharp as I like. About 5 -7 shaves each.
VI-John super stainless – OK sharpness and smoothness, but nothing to write home about – not as sharp as I like. About 5 -7 shaves each. While these were nearly indistinguishable from the super platinum, I thought the blades I tried were slightly better. Maybe this opinion would change if I used more of each blade.
Gillette 365 – very sharp blade while also being smooth. I can get maybe a dozen shaves out of each blade, maybe more (this was the most I used one). There was noticeably more blade feel with these, so I think they are slightly wider. IT was also the most prone to nicks and weepers. I tried it with all the razors listed, and especially with the Lupo 95 and Progress I could feel my face for hours. The Gillette Tech finally tamed it (the only blade I used in the Tech), but that razor does not give me as close a shave as I like.
Astra – sharp and smooth. These are nice blades, the only one of these I tested that I would buy again. In fact, if I did not already have a significant stash of blades I would stock up with them. I could get at least a dozen shaves from each blade (again, the most I used one of these), maybe more. Good shaves, smooth, comfortable, and clean.
A number of years ago I tried some Russian Astras, and I did not understand the love they were getting on the forum. They were mediocre at best. These Astra made in India are far better, at least the tucks of the two respective blades I have tried.
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