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Budget Friendly Blades

doctordial

my brain goes "thonk"
I haven't shaved since summer of 2022. I'm thinking about taking of my beard and start shaving again. Does anyone have any thoughts on budget friendly blades? I think the last blade that left an impression was the Nacet blade.
 
DE blades are less expensive to use than any cartridge. One idea is to get a sampler and try some different blades. One tip, though, is to use a razor you're familiar with and use the same soap, prep, etc. in order to eliminate variables that may affect your perception of different blades.
 
I think all DE blades are budget except for maybe KAI, Feather and Personna Med Preps. Top quality DE blades are still mostly $10-20/100.

I use a blade 2x only and shave about 4x a week. 2 blades a week, so approx 100 a year. So I spend $10-20 a year for blades and the majority of shavers get many more uses out of a blade. I worry more about finding blades that work great in my razors than the cost (within reason).

My favourites are Personna Israeli Reds, Nacets, Wizamets, Dorco Primes, Silver Blues, Perma-Sharps, Astras, Ascos, etc. all under $20/100.
 
I concur with @nav basically 99.95% of available blades are dirt cheap, but perhaps we can help in following:
  1. How often you intent to continue shaving? Daily? Every couple-days? Weekly?
    • for daily use something from mild range might go well: Astra Green, Derby, Persona, Muhle, PermaSharp, Gillete Platinum (blue), Wilkinson German (black)... all around 1$ per 5pack or less
    • for heavy growth, thick beard, some sharper blades: PermaSharp, Persona, BIC, Gillete 7O'clock (yellow), some might go over 1$, close to 1.5$ but some come in 10pcs/pack so it's still a good deal, and some won't get dull quickly
  2. How sensitive your skin is? Can you shave too long with the same blade?
    • if you're planning to bin the blade per each use, I find Treet Classic (orange) dirt cheap, 0.7$ for 10 blades, they do rust after 4-5 shaves, but on first run - super sharp and smooth. If you want something to provide you nice, cheap shave and discard the blade after single use, this might be reasonable one to go with
    • I got Persona blue to last me up to 7 nice shaves, PermaSharp as well... so the overall cost is even better if you can reuse blade for lets say - a week of daily shaves (not sure and not recommend keeping the blade for a month). Wilkinson and Astra are for me also good, but perhaps the material is bit thicker, so it's hard to chip it in micron level during shaving and although not the sharpest out there, they won't cause any micro-damages to skin (like Feather - which I'll got back in text) they're quite consistent from first to last shave.
    • Derby is again, also mild, doesn't do much damage to skin, and in right razor (moderate to more exposed, open-combs, safety-bar with larger gap) they do get enough skip contact for BBS as well
  3. What sort of razors you use? Open-comb, closed-comb, slant, shavette?
    • for shavette - I'd go with sharper blades (Gillette 7 o'clock, BIC, PermaSharp, Persona...)
    • closed-combs - they can tolerate most of blade without issue. Beware of super-mild razors (R89, 34c, Henson AL13) as due to small blade gap and less exposure, it might take more time + inneficient blade - you'll be pushed to apply more pressure than needed.
    • open combs - as razor drives more blade to your skin, blade can be milder as well. For Fatip OC, Muhle R41, Rocca R94 i.e. I get nice shaves from mild to sharper blades, although for steep angle shaves, I found Rapira's and Derby bit tuggy. Otherwise, all worked well with me
  4. What didn't worked for me was - Feather!!!
    • I don't know if they are sharper than others or not, might be, but my experience is that they are thinner, and even if they are sharp in beggining, their blade edge deteriorate faster, like with each hair-cut they chip more and more. Even after single shave I did get a lot of micro-cuts, weapers and my aftershave splash felt like acid on the face. In ALL razors I've used (Fatip Piccolo SE, R89, R41, R94, Henson Al13, Wilkinson Classic).
    • besides that - they are horribly overpriced. I did hoped that they'll be longevity so that in use they will surpase initial cost, but for me just worked awful. I just get better shaves with "thicker", "stronger" steel blades that maintain their edge better thoughout shaves.
For record - I use mostly single pass WTG, occasionally paired with ATG/XTG on the neck and chin if needed, and I completely ignore DFS on one portion of right-below the jaw area where beard grows quite shallow and I don't even try to go BBS over there.

Sorry for long post, icons of referenced blades below:
 

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I think all DE blades are budget except for maybe KAI, Feather and Personna Med Preps. Top quality DE blades are still mostly $10-20/100.

I use a blade 2x only and shave about 4x a week. 2 blades a week, so approx 100 a year. So I spend $10-20 a year for blades and the majority of shavers get many more uses out of a blade. I worry more about finding blades that work great in my razors than the cost (within reason).

My favourites are Personna Israeli Reds, Nacets, Wizamets, Dorco Primes, Silver Blues, Perma-Sharps, Astras, Ascos, etc. all under $20/100.

Pretty much what I was thinking.
 
Lord Platinum blades are nice blades in the budget department, bought a cheap R89 type razor for the stainless handle, which came with 50 of them, and they're actually sharp and smooth feeling. Rapira Platinum Lux and Crystal Super+ are also great blades, which can be found fairly cheaply. Voskhod aren't bad, and good if you can get them under $8.00 for a 100 pack, although the Rapira Platinum Lux are both sharper and smoother feeling.

Up the pricing ladder slightly are the Gillette Nacet blades, if you can find them for $9.99 or less per 100.
 
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