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Astra SS or SP?

I recently used both back to back in my Henson AL13. The SP was more comfortable. The SS felt good, but it wasn't as smooth.

I prefer the SS in my Fatip Piccolo OC.

They're both great blades in the right razor.
 
I used Astra SP's for so long early on...and never realized that my skin just never liked them that much. I got a tuck of the Astra SS blades a while back in a sampler and was very impressed with the results. I would chose the SS over the SP.
The Astra SP was the second razor blade I tried and it just felt rough to me. About a month ago I revisited the blade again and my opinion is the same. I have tried at least 10 blades that I enjoy more. Blades are so YMMV.
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
The Astra SP was the second razor blade I tried and it just felt rough to me. About a month ago I revisited the blade again and my opinion is the same. I have tried at least 10 blades that I enjoy more. Blades are so YMMV.

Sharpness isn't everything in a blade, other factors weigh in also, but if you compare Astra SP to Astra SS just from a sharpness perspective, the SS destroys the SP. Really appreciated your post. I did the same exact thing about six months ago, grabbed a tuck of Astra SP's and popped one in to give it another try...still not much too like for me personally. But I do recall that I ended up with a tuck of Astra SS blades and used two and liked them very much. I may add them to my stable, but will have to wait until 2022 as I'm in the Shave Trek sabbatical this year.
 
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Sharpness isn't everything in a blade, other factors weigh in also, but if you compare Astra SP to Astra SS just from a sharpness perspective, the SS destroys the SP. Really appreciated your post. I did the same exact thing about six months ago, grabbed a tuck of Astra SP's and popped one in to give it another try...still not much too like for me personally. But I do recall that I ended up with a tuck of Astra SS blades and used two and liked them very much. I may add them to my stable, but will have to wait until 2022 as I'm in the Shave Trek sabbatical this year.
I have a tuck of the Astra SS blades that I haven't sampled yet, probably because I am not impressed with the SPs. I will try to keep an open mind when I do get around to sampling them.
 
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JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
Some like both, I do. But I'd never pay for SP's.

I pif'ed about 60-70 Astra SP's to a B&B member a couple of months ago along with an assortment of some other blades I had left over from a sampler pack. I'm glad to be able to get stuff like that to someone who can use and appreciate it. This year, I'll be pif'ing some more things to reduce the shave den profile some.
 
I have and like both but if I had to pick one it would be the SS blades. They give me a slightly better shave than the SPs
 
Astra SP was my first favorite blade when I started de shaving. I often use sp's in new razors I get. The SP Is reliable and a quite forgiving blade.

However the SP does tug slightly on my stubble on the first shave. With the Astra SS they are that slight bit sharper so good from out of the packet.

So I prefer SS now, but if I had to use an SP it wouldn't bother me much.
 
I got both, recently used SS after few months unused. They are sharper than SP. Both are smooth but in a efficient razor I find SP smoother. I have been trying lot of different blades in last months and Astra are in the rare blades Im sure to get 3 good shaves. Astra SS was still strong after 3 but didn't push it farder. My top Blade is Bic chrome platinum but like Jcarr I'll have to wait in December restock period to order some.
 
I really enjoy using the SPs. I think I have tried the SS blades but I don’t remember them. If I find I still have a tuck I’ll try one next. On a side note my wife wanted to try shaving with one of my razors. I chose the SP blade for her and she liked it. I may need to get some more SPs now but I already have hundreds so I’m well stocked. I guess that counts as two votes for SPs from this household. 😀
 
I go SP and use them as my test blade on any new de razors I purchase since i have the most experience with them. SS wasnt as smooth for me
 
I've only been at this for about 15 mos. but SP was the first of my sample pack blades with which I had a comfortable shave...probably as much a reflection of slightly better skill as anything. I ended up buying 100 when the lockdowns started as I wasn't sure what might happen to supply/suppliers and I was not finding other good blades in the dwindling sample. I think I've used 2 tucks since but it is still a sentimental favorite. I disliked the SS at first but tried it again after several months and found it much better. So I guess that's a split decision!
 
My goto blade is the Astra Superior Platinum, which works well in every razor I own. Having read the posts comparing them to the Superior Stainless, I decided to give them a try.

After 2 shaves with a SS blade in the same Gillette Tech razor that I have been using with the SP blades, I am not sure I can tell the difference.

Considering Gillette produces so many de blades in their St. Petersburg factory in Russia, I wonder if there really is anything other than a cosmetic or branding difference between all of them. The main difference may just be in the packaging or printing on the blades.

In the automobile industry this is called "badge engineering," where the same car has different trim and paint, and given another model name.

I feel I could happily use either blade, and will make future purchase decisions based on price and availability.
 
SP.

I have noticed the last few don't seem to last quite as long as previous batches.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
I've been using SS's for several shaves and I'm pleasantly pleased, and I went thru 100 SP's and several other blades.
I might have to buy a 100 pack of SS's.
 
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