What's new

Astra Superior Platinum Blade Review

awk_m4

awk_m4

On Christmas morning I completed my fifth shave with the Astra Superior Platinum Blade. This my third blade review her on Badger & Blade. I have what I refer to as DE Blade ADD so I typically shave with a different blade everyday. I've recently started to wonder that if I only had one blade then which one would I pick.
In order to answer this I consider the following:
1) Quality
2) Performance
3) Longevity
4) Cost

Cost is interesting in that DE Blades are so much cheaper when compared to cartridges. That said DE Blades vary in price. On the top end I've paid $50 cad for 100 Feathers while only $8 cad for the same amount of Rapira Super Stainless blades. If I use one blade per week then my total annual spend on blades would be approximately between $4.00 and $25.00. In this context even the most expensive DE Blades are a super cheap option when compared to cartridges.

Shaving Methodology:

Razor: Henson AL13 Mild
Face WTG-XTG-ATG I do use a DE razor to shave my throat and cheeks daily.
Head WTG:XTG-ATG


These blades were purchased with my Henson razor. I believe I paid $16.00 cad for 100 blades. Overall I'm happy with the results. All shaves let my skin feeling good with no nicks or irritation. All five shaves resulted in a BBS finish. I didn't find the fifth shave particularly comfortable (tugging) when shaving ATG on the back of my head. For me, the max would be four shaves with this blade.

Blades reviewed so far, starting with most recent:
Astra Superior Platinum
Wizamet
Feather

awk_m4
 
Brutus

Brutus

Astra Superior Platinums are among the best known and most widely availabe blades.

They are economical to buy, last for a reasonable time and provide me with comfortable and close shaves.
With the same prep as for a straight shave I can coax up to 12 shaves out of them, although I usually change blades out of convenience after one week of use (same day every week, which is easy to remember :thumbup1:).
They may be less sharp than the legendary Feather blades, which are often considered the pinnacle in this respect, but they get the job done efficiently and comfortably and last about 50% longer than Feathers, which at 1/9 the price of Feathers makes them quite a bargain in my book.
Some long-time shavers prefer Astra Superior Stainless blades, they cost about the same as the Astra Superior Platinums, but are harder to find and the difference between the two Astra blades is IMO fairly small, even though I do have at the moment a small preference for stainless steel Astras.
In subjective comparisons, some shavers claimed stainless steel Astras were sharper and some claimed Astra Platinums were smoother. If anything, there seemed to be a minute preference for the stainless steel Astras, but you be the judge…

There are some recenty anecdotal reports that newer Astra Superior Platinum blades may have had a drop in quality, but your post does unfortunately not mention whether the blade you used fell into this category.

Changing a blade after one day use is not for me. From straight shaving I know that an edge (straight or safety blade) reaches its best performance after two or three shaves. Even if a safety razor blade costs only pennies, to me it is still a waste to discard a blade after only one shave, before the blade has even reached optimum performance.

To be truly useful, a review of a safety razor blade will ideally also include longevity and for that the blade would have to be used until its performance begins to notably drop off. To give the reader a more complete picture, a review should IMO also mention the shave prep, as it has a significant effect on the longevity of the blade and the quality and comfort of the shave.

As a suggestion, maybe you could expand further reviews beyond the mere four lines in your post where you actually discussed Astra Superior Platinum blades, so readers may take home additional information from your reviews that they did not know yet.


B.
 
Last edited:
awk_m4

awk_m4

Brutus said:
Astra Superior Platinums are among the best known and most widely availabe blades.

They are economical to buy, last for a reasonable time and provide me with comfortable and close shaves.
With the same prep as for a straight shave I can coax up to 12 shaves out of them, although I usually change blades out of convenience after one week of use (same day every week, which is easy to remember :thumbup1:).
They may be less sharp than the legendary Feather blades, which are often considered the pinnacle in this respect, but they get the job done efficiently and comfortably and last about 50% longer than Feathers, which at 1/9 the price of Feathers makes them quite a bargain in my book.
Some long-time shavers prefer Astra Superior Stainless blades, they cost about the same as the Astra Superior Platinums, but are harder to find and the difference between the two Astra blades is IMO fairly small, even though I do have at the moment a small preference for stainless steel Astras.
In subjective comparisons, some shavers claimed stainless steel Astras were sharper and some claimed Astra Platinums were smoother. If anything, there seemed to be a minute preference for the stainless steel Astras, but you be the judge…

There are some recenty anecdotal reports that newer Astra Superior Platinum blades may have had a drop in quality, but your post does unfortunately not mention whether the blade you used fell into this category.

Changing a blade after one day use is not for me. From straight shaving I know that an edge (straight or safety blade) reaches its best performance after two or three shaves. Even if a safety razor blade costs only pennies, to me it is still a waste to discard a blade after only one shave, before the blade has even reached optimum performance.

To be truly useful, a review of a safety razor blade will ideally also include longevity and for that the blade would have to be used until its performance begins to notably drop off. To give the reader a more complete picture, a review should IMO also mention the shave prep, as it has a significant effect on the longevity of the blade and the quality and comfort of the shave.

As a suggestion, maybe you could expand further reviews beyond the mere four lines in your post where you actually discussed Astra Superior Platinum blades, so readers may take home additional information from your reviews that they did not know yet.


B.
Click to expand...
Those are good suggestions B. Thank you. All prep starts with a warm shower. I agree that using the same soap/cream for each shave makes sense. Using a blade more than once is a relatively new concept for me. The arbiter for me in terms of performance is when I start feeling an uncomfortable tug when shaving the against the grain. I found the fourth shave uncomfortable in that regard so I decided to end it there.
The last two shaves were with a Nacet and right out of the gate they're looking really promising. My next review will take place when the AS-D2 arrives in the mail. I'm hoping to have that one in my den by the end of the year.

awk_m4
 
Mr Menthol

Mr Menthol

Thank you for the review. This blade has never really worked for me. Some people swear by it but I have found that any Gillette blade is better
 
NCJack

NCJack

I routinely get 10+ shaves, two-pass-& touchup, BBS, with Astra SP, and they don't get rough, just less efficient.
FWIW, I use either a Merkur 37c or a Parker Semi-Slant. Both hold the blade very tightly, which I suspect cuts down on "chatter" as it moves over the face, thereby avoiding drag and resultant nicks.
 
R

RayClem

DE razor blades are highly dependent upon the coarseness of the beard, the sensitivity of the skin, and the efficiency of the razor in which they are used.

I have a coarse beard and sensitive skin.

I do not like Astra SP blades as I do not find them to be sharp enough for a comfortable shave due to my coarse beard. They are certainly sharper than some blades, but I like even sharper ones.

Feather blades are known to be some of the sharpest blades available, at least out of the wrapper. However, because they are so sharp, they deteriorate rapidly. After two shaves, they start to feel rough on my face.

I have never tried the Wizamet branded blades, but I have used the Polsilver Iridium, which I believe are similar. These blades almost have a cult following. For me they are reasonably sharp and reasonably smooth, but there are blades I prefer.
 
J

JoeG

I just rediscovered them with my Parker 6S. I think a lot of people here consider it for the none expert but they cut through my coarse beard with no tugging or cuts. It's one of the smoothest I ever tried. I can do four 4 shaves with it which is normal for me with most blades.

I better stop talking about them and order some. I'm down to my last 8 blades.
 
awk_m4

awk_m4

Really happy with my blade choice for today.

IMG_8666.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Luc
Luc DE Blades Review Project
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
Luc
Luc
YarTheTechnician
Shavers Revúe: Tiger Platinum D.E. safety blade
Replies
10
Views
1K
squank
squank
Luc
Top blades
2
Replies
35
Views
5K
Quaznoid
Quaznoid
ivan_101
Astra Superior Stainless PPI vs India
2
Replies
21
Views
3K
Umma2gumma
Umma2gumma
Luc
Best Selling/recommended razor blades (2024-Q1 edition)
Replies
15
Views
2K
Salty_Shaver
Salty_Shaver
Top Bottom