Astra Superior Stainless (Russia), BBS

[VampyreWolf]

Either lightening off on my pressure a little bit made a huge difference, or these babies just passed Derby in my books.

pre-shave of St Ives with Vitamin E & Aloe, while I lathered up the Proraso (white). 4 pass shave (WTG, N-S, ear-nose, S-N), and touchup on a couple spots.
Minor weepers from touchup, no irritation, no tight feeling... and didn't miss anything (about 5min post shave, and can't catch anything).

Gonna try again next time with The Body Shop Maca Root cream to see if that makes any difference (1/2 way through the tub of Maca Root, and only my 3rd or 4th time using the Proraso). Omega 10005 boar brush.

I may have just found my combo. Certainly have a higher standard for reference on the last couple blades to try in the Lord Tech DE (while I wait for the early Gillette Tech).

 

[DFrancis]

They are a fantastic blade, my favorite, just ordered 100 of them.

 

[VampyreWolf]

I'm seriously eyeballin the 300 pack from Turkey, but I'm waiting for my insurance company to send me a check in the next couple weeks before I can do that.

 

[talibeard]

Of the Astra's I tried (keramik, SP and SS) I like the superior stainless the most. It will never become my go-to blade but I could certainly live with those if needed.

 

[Augustiner]

I'm seriously eyeballin the 300 pack from Turkey, but I'm waiting for my insurance company to send me a check in the next couple weeks before I can do that.

Astra SP. It's my go to blade and, how bought this...a while back I bought a 1,000 pack off ebay. That should last me a decade.

Daily, close, irritation free shaves

 

[RichGem]

If you like the SS, you'll like the SP (superior platinum) even more, imho. To me, the SP are just a touch smoother. and they're available from board members thirdeye (via his gentelmensbest website) and letterk (via his site: westcoastshaving.com) for very good prices. I believe both ship to Canada too.

 

[DE Shaver]

Both the Astra Superior Stainless and Astra Superior Platinum both shave very well and are close to each other in performance. IMO, the Astra SS is a little more sharper and the Astra SP is a little smoother but are still close in shave feel.

 

[barneyb]

+ 1 for the SP's. I liked them so much I went for the 400 pack via Turkey. Great blades, smooth and consistent.

 

[faster_than_u]

I love astra's. Bought 800 sp's from ebay waiting for them to come in still. I only have 4 blades left.

 

[VampyreWolf]

Just ordered 10 of both superior stainless and superior platinum from Fendrihan, figured I might as well give it a good effort before stocking up.

Got my fat handled gillette tech in the mail today, so now I'll have 2 DEs to test in.

 

[torero]

I should be interested in the Astra SP, but I'd like to know about the longevity of them.

Has any of you tried Iridiums so far to be able to compare them in terms of longevity? Or even Derbys?

Thank you!

 

[RichGem]

I should be interested in the Astra SP, but I'd like to know about the longevity of them.

Has any of you tried Iridiums so far to be able to compare them in terms of longevity? Or even Derbys?

Thank you!

Derbys I'd get 3 or 4 shaves out of tops. Astra SP= 1 week.

 

[Mr. Imperial]

Has any of you tried Iridiums so far to be able to compare them in terms of longevity? Or even Derbys?

I find them pretty similar as far as longevity goes, but I think the Iridiums are a bit smoother (at least in my red tip). I can get four fantastic three-pass shaves out of each.

I'm one of the minority who doesn't really like Derbys; I could only ever get a couple good shaves out of them.

 

[barneyb]

I use the SP' for three shaves, sometimes two. For the price that is what I choose. Overall I enjoy the Astra SP over the Iridiums. The Iridiums are good though.

 

[VampyreWolf]

I get 2 good shaves on a blade, the 3rd leaves more irritation. Compared to 1 good shave on a cartridge (already pulls on the 2nd).

I haven't tried pushing to see if I can get a 4th shave, only because I don't want to look like I lost a fight with the belt sander

My fat handled Gillette Tech came with a 5 pack of Red IP's, so I'll be trying one of them for the weekend shave.


Once I have stocked up on blades I'll try pushing a couple to see what kind of longevity I can get. I mean, a 1000 pack with 2 shaves to a blade (and shaving every 2 days) will still last 11 years I easily spent the same amount of cartridges in the last year

 

[Augustiner]

I go with 4 shaves with each blade. I can also do 5 no problem, but at the price I don't worry about wasting that extra shave.

I find the Astra SPs to be probably the smoothest blades I have tried. When sampling blades I was down to these, Gillette Yellow and Iridiums. Astra SP got the edge. They blow Derby's out of the water.

 

[Sir Ronald]

Tried Astra platinums today and I'm very impressed. They're slightly less sharp as a Feather but are much smoother. Zero razor burn. I'm definitely going to stock up on these.

 

[rm71]

Both the SP & SS are excellent blades.

 

[David in Boston]

Tried Astra platinums today and I'm very impressed. They're slightly less sharp as a Feather but are much smoother.,,

It is now my go to blade.

Feathers are just too sharp and they only last for two shaves.

Astras are sharp, smooth and I can get four shaves out of them.

Plus I can get them for $9/100 pack locally.

 

[duderdo]

I just received 100 SP's from ebay. Using them in my slant is a smooth shave I could only dream of years ago.