10 Blade Adventure

[Thu'umhammer]

Thanks to Cameraflier's generous postcards for blades offer I have nine new blades to try out, and I thought it would be cool if I reviewed them all on here as I tried them. It will probably take about a month, since I will be shaving with them regularly, and may take longer if I need to use my standard(and favourite) Astra's for a few days in between if I have a particularly bad blade.

The blades are:

Gillette Dark Blue 5/10
Blue Personna
Red Personna
Dorco Platinum
Dorco Stainless
Lord
Barber
Merkur
Gillette Super Thin

My shave setup: EJ DE89, Cella Crema Sapone, Omega Boar Brush, and Nivea Sensitive or Proraso Green AS.

I will post as I review them, and update the blades up here with a score. Of course this is an extreme case of YMMV, and since I only have one of each blade there is a chance one of them is faulty, or that I'm just not shaving with them properly since I'm not used to them. So as always, take my reviews with a grain of salt. Feel free to comment, give your own reviews, or suggest blades for me to try later.

 

[Thu'umhammer]

Alright so first review, the Gillette Dark Blue. My first impression of this blade is that it's well manufactured, and has similar number markings to my beloved Astra's. I plug it into my EJ and start shaving. As soon as I begin my first pass on my cheek I notice something is very different, the blade tugs and pulls incredibly, and appears to have no sharpness at all. After a few more stroke I'm forced to take it out and check with one of my Astra's, to ensure that my lather isn't somehow inferior. The Astra glides over the lather and cuts efficiently, as usual. I put the Gillette Dark Blue back in, and after a complete WTG pass, it isn't getting any better. Shaving with this reminds me of when I used to use a cartridge, the blade is so dull that I get the classic tug and pull feeling we all associate with cartridges. I can't see myself shaving with this again, as I sensed a lot more irritation than usual, and my shave wasn't as close as when I use an Astra. I may stick with it for tomorrow though, in the name of science.

Overall Rating: 5/10
Sharpness: 3/10
Smoothness: 5/10
Blade Construction: 9/10
Would I use again? No.

 

[skydivemd]

Do you only have a single example of each blade?... i.e. can you toss the dark platinum that is in there and replace it with a new one? I honestly do not know how common "dud" blades are, but everyone (including PPI) can have an off day.

IMHO, you should try a new Gillette dark platinum - or - decide to eliminate the very difficult to find dark platinum from your trial alltogether and replace it with one of the gillette 7 O'clock varieties

 

[Thu'umhammer]

I only have one of each, as that was the nature of the package I got. The point of this thread is more entertainment than scientific review.

 

[Reevers]

Thanks for the starting this thread. I'm going to follow this one as I have a DE89 also. To help with the YMMV issue can you describe your skin / beard combo? Non sensitive vs sensitive skin, course beard vs light? Thanks again!

 

[Thu'umhammer]

I have slightly sensitive skin and fairly heavy growth. As for coarseness of beard I'm not exactly sure how to rank it, although I'd say it's decently coarse.

 

[Thu'umhammer]

I tried out the Red Personna's today, and I was greatly impressed. They feel similar to Astra's to me, except sharper. They are still incredibly smooth however, and while my shave was not quite as good as when I use an Astra, I blame this more on inexperience with Personna's than the blade itself. I will conduct a couple more shaves with this wonderful blade before rating it.

 

[derjoachim]

I agree. Red Personnas have the same sharpness as Astra SP, but are a lot more forgiving. In my modest DE shaving career, I may have to find a better blade than the Red Personnas. Mind you, I have a Muhle R89, which have the same head as a DE89.

 

[ArNav]

Red Personna are great and my overall favorite.

 

[Thu'umhammer]

Tried the Red Personna again, probably the best shave I've ever had. The Astra's definitely have competition