Item Description
Price: the cheapest retail blade that I know of; you can spend less but you'll have to buy blades by the hundreds.
Quality: the blades all looked very good, the finish level is on par with much more expensive blades and much better than the crappy look of some other popular brands. Having used only one blade, I can't really comment on consistency of performance across different blades or packages.
Sharpness: at least as sharp, and maybe a little sharper, than a Swedish G. I have tried most of the popular blades with the notable exception of the Feather. During the second shave sharpness went down a little but retained a remarkable cutting ability.
Longevity: I've been walking my way through a pretty large sampler kit of blades, and most of them start dragging painfully by the end of the second shave. The BIC gave me two comfortable shaves, and only started dragging by the end of the third shave. In the past however, some (admittedly less sharp) blades reached 4 shaves.
Smoothness: while being sharp, the BICs retain exemplary smoothness, IMO these are smoother than Swedish Gs, which are often praised for being a remarkably smooth shave for the sharpness.
Packaging: very basic. Just a little cardboard box containing 5 blades, each wrapped in a little paper envelope.Unpacking the blades is very easy and quick, unlike some other brands which come wrapped in two envelopes. I don't really like plastic magazines, mainly because of their limited usefulness (they only make a difference while travelling) and their potential for damaging the environment. This packaging gets the work done, that is keeping the blades in good working condition until you take them home, so I rate it as good.
Nota Bene: other BIC-branded blades might be available, such as those made by BIC Iberia or the Astor-labeled BICs. These are likely to perform differently from the Greek-made Chrome Platinum that I reviewed.
Quality: the blades all looked very good, the finish level is on par with much more expensive blades and much better than the crappy look of some other popular brands. Having used only one blade, I can't really comment on consistency of performance across different blades or packages.
Sharpness: at least as sharp, and maybe a little sharper, than a Swedish G. I have tried most of the popular blades with the notable exception of the Feather. During the second shave sharpness went down a little but retained a remarkable cutting ability.
Longevity: I've been walking my way through a pretty large sampler kit of blades, and most of them start dragging painfully by the end of the second shave. The BIC gave me two comfortable shaves, and only started dragging by the end of the third shave. In the past however, some (admittedly less sharp) blades reached 4 shaves.
Smoothness: while being sharp, the BICs retain exemplary smoothness, IMO these are smoother than Swedish Gs, which are often praised for being a remarkably smooth shave for the sharpness.
Packaging: very basic. Just a little cardboard box containing 5 blades, each wrapped in a little paper envelope.Unpacking the blades is very easy and quick, unlike some other brands which come wrapped in two envelopes. I don't really like plastic magazines, mainly because of their limited usefulness (they only make a difference while travelling) and their potential for damaging the environment. This packaging gets the work done, that is keeping the blades in good working condition until you take them home, so I rate it as good.
Nota Bene: other BIC-branded blades might be available, such as those made by BIC Iberia or the Astor-labeled BICs. These are likely to perform differently from the Greek-made Chrome Platinum that I reviewed.
I wasted my money on these, but maybe my review can save you yours.
