Rapira Platinum Lux

I have many brands of blades and for me that’s the better for me...It’s sharp,effective and lasts a lot...at least for me ,that blade becomes better after the first shave...live a wrote on cons:the problem is the price in my country...outside this I recommend it for everyone to get your BBS shave without cuts and redness.

Double Edge Razor Blade Review

I started shaving with a DE Razor about a year ago. When trying to determine what blade to use by reading various blade reviews, on this site and others, I concluded that there were as many different opinions as there are blades. Very few reviewers indicated what type of razor they used, what their shaving technique was, or what type of beard they had which seemed to me to be critical when deciding what blade worked best for me. So, I decided to do my own testing so that I would conclusively know what blade, and razor combination, gave me the best shave possible. I wanted to know that at the end of my testing I would have the blade(s) that worked best for my beard and razor(s). Because of the consistency and number of blades tested this process took several months to complete.

EQUIPMENT USED:
- A Muhle R89 closed comb razor
- A Muhle R41 open comb razor
- A synthetic black “Satin Tip” The Purest shaving brush
- Van Der Hagen unscented shaving soap
- A soap dish to build lather
- A post-shave “Gentlemen Jon’s” alum block

BLADES TESTED: Merkur, Astra Superior Premium Platinum, Red Pack Persona Platinum, Gillette Wilkinson Sword, Crystal, Lord Platinum, Silver Blue Gillette, BIC Chrome Platinum, KAI, Rapira Platinum Lux, and Feather “New” Platinum Coated Blades. Obviously, there are many more blades on the market but this group seemed to provide a good cross-section of highly rated blades.

TECHNIQUE:
Before describing my technique I must explain my beard qualities. I have fairly coarse hair follicles and my beard, originally dark brown, is now mostly gray so that also adds to the coarseness. I can grow a full beard but not “duck dynasty” thick. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being blond, thin and sparse and 10 being black, dark and thick I would estimate my beard is about a 7. So, if your beard quality is between 5-9 this review may be very relevant and at least narrow down your possible choices of blades.

My technique was to wait until I had 3 days of beard growth for each blade tested. I would shave after taking a hot shower to insure my beard was soft. I did not use any pre-shave oils for my blade testing. Immediately after showering I would load my brush and then slowly build a rich lather in the soap-lathering dish. I would only add about 5 or 6 drops of water at a time when building lather to insure that I would end up with a rich consistent lather for each blade. I would make three passes with each blade. One pass down the face and neck, one pass up the neck and face, and one pass across the neck and face. Below my chin down to my Adam’s apple I typically did some minor follow up after the three passes because my beard grows in different directions in that area. When finished shaving I would rinse off the lather with warm water and then I would close the pores with cold water rinsing. I would then dip the alum block in cold water and rub over my face and neck. This would help close the pores, arrest any possible minor nicks and would give me a great indication of the amount of razor burn that might have occurred with that blade. This left my face baby-butt smooth and ready for a non-alcoholic post shave lotion. I followed this procedure with both the open combed Muhle R41 razor and the closed comb Muhle R89 head.

RESULTS:
My goal was to test all blades with both razors, and of the 11 blades tested to eliminate 7 or 8 blades, and then test the remaining blades against each other. I won’t bother giving you all the data on the blades eliminated but after my first run of all blades using both the R89 and the R41 I ended up with 4 blades making the final cut. They were: Astra Superior Premium Platinum, Silver Blue Gillette, Rapira Platinum Lux and Feather “New” Platinum Coated blades.

Keep in mind that the results apply to my face with my technique and may not apply to you, but given my considerable effort to eliminate as many variables as possible the empirical results of my testing may assist you in finding an appropriate blade. Also, my rating system is subjective. I rated the blades on a 1-10 scale. The final group of blades are all very good quality blades hence the ratings I gave them appear high. Several of the blades that didn’t make the finals were rated much lower.

RANKINGS with closed comb R89 Razor:

Feathers Platinum Coated received a 10.0 grade and a number 1 ranking. This blade is very sharp and provided a smooth close shave. I didn’t receive any nicks with just a little more razor burn than the Rapira Platinum Lux.

Rapira Platinum Lux received a 10.0 grade and a number 2 ranking. These blades were so close in quality with the R89 razor that either could be ranked 1 or 2. I gave the Feathers a #1 ranking because it was minimally smoother but the Rapira had a bit less razor burn, so it was virtually a toss-up.

Silver Gillette Blue received a 9.25 grade and a number 3 ranking. These are quality blades that I think anyone would be happy with. There were no nicks, no pulling and it produced a smooth shave. The razor burn was mild to moderate. It’s not quite as sharp as the Feather or Rapira but if you have a beard quality of 1-7 I think you’d be very happy with this blade.

Astra Superior Premium Platinum received a 9.0 grade and a number 4 ranking. These blades also provided a smooth shave with no tugging and no nicks. There might have been just slightly more pulling that the other blades but the difference was subtle. It had minor to moderate razor burn, probably in part to the fact that these blades are a little less sharp than the others so it required a few more passes to finish the touch-up areas on my neck.

RANKINGS with the open comb R41 razor:

Rapira Platinum Lux received a 10.0 grade and number 1 ranking. I can’t say enough about these blades. With the R41 razor there was no pulling, no nicks and very smooth shave with the added benefit that it gave me the least razor burn of any other blade regardless of which razor I used. This will be my go-to blade when using the R41 razor.

Feather “New” Platinum Coated blades received a 10.0 grade and a number 2 ranking. Obviously, these are sharp, quality blades and they performed similarly to the Rapira’s with the exception that they gave me just slightly more irritation and razor burn with the R41 than the Rapiras. If I didn’t like the Rapiras so much this would be my go-to blade with the R41.

Silver Blue Gillettes received a 9.5 grade and a number 3 ranking. These blades gave me a smooth quality shave with just a little pulling on the first pass. There were no nicks and just minimal to moderate razor burn. I think with just one or two days of beard growth these blades would perform on an almost equal footing with Feather or Rapira. Great quality blades.

Astra Superior Premium Platinums received a 9.25 grade and a number 4 ranking. The Astra’s and the Gillettes were virtually tied when using the R41 razor. Considering it’s not quite as sharp as the other blades it was very smooth. Like the Gillette it had a little more pulling on the first pass but the difference was virtually indistinguishable. It had a little more razor burn than the Rapira but still fairly minor. Another good quality blade.

TESTING OBSERVATIONS:

All four of the finalist blades that I tested are high-quality blades that gave me a great shave. I’m guessing that anyone with an above average to thick beard would get the best shave from the Feather or Rapira. Men with a mild to average beard might prefer the Gillette or Astra as they might provide fewer nicks and less razor burn. It’s all personal so get some sample packs and try them out for yourself. For me, I’m going to use the Rapira Platinum Lux as my go-to blade for both the R41 and R89 razor. I will also keep some Feathers on hand to use with my R89 from time to time and may also keep some Gillettes to periodically use with my R41. I did not test for longevity because I tested so many blades with 3 days of beard growth and two different razors so, it would have taken much longer to complete the testing.

Many DE shaving aficionados say to hold the razor at a 30-degree angle to the face. I found that, for me, I got a closer shave with less nicks and razor burn if I hold the razor at an angle closer to 40 degrees.

Initially when I started my testing I thought I’d end up using the R89 exclusively because it is a more “forgiving” razor but, while the open comb R41 razor took a little while to use properly, without getting nicks and excessive razor burn, I found that once I mastered a good technique with the R41 it gave me the smoothest and closest shave possible. And, as an added bonus, when used with the Rapira blades it gave me the least amount of razor burn. I can’t match the shave quality with the R89. A caveat to this is that if you are in a hurry and can’t take the time to do a proper shave I would suggest using a closed comb razor because it’s easy to get nicks and razor burn with the open comb razor if you’re not careful, especially with the Feather’s blades.

While I have a badger brush and expensive soaps I found that the inexpensive brush and soap that I used worked very well. If you’re on a budget don’t feel that you have to have expensive brushes, soaps or creams to get a quality shave.

While my testing took several months and considerable discipline I learned a great deal from the experience and now know what razor and what blade(s) work best for me. It also enabled me to acquire a good technique for both of the razors that I own. While few people will take the time and effort to go through this much testing I would suggest getting several different blades and testing them with your razor. You might find that you will discover a different blade that gives you a better quality shave and isn’t that the goal!

I was impressed with this blade , did not think it was very good, these Russian blades almost all of great quality.