As we all know there's a plethora of blades to pick from. They range in performance, price and overall quality.
But! Some are cheap, really cheap. So cheap that your instincts to hoard kick in and you end up with a 100's of them with no idea if they are actually going to do the job without leaving your face looking like you fell through a window or simply with stubble still all over your chops.
So this thread is for the cheapest blades youve bought that work the best! Bargain deals on premium blades don't count and they must still be in production and/or readily available.
Why? Because I'm cheap.
Now, over the years I've used a dozen or so blades with varying success but lately have bought a few of the cheapest ones I can find online. And after a bit of testing them I think I can give my 2p worth on the topic of these cheap blades. Also for reference sake, I have a mildish beard and sensitive skin and usually shave with a finishing pass atg for a BBS finale, I do this every other day. Anyway..
Astra sp - 100 blades for around £7.50. Great blades as most people will testify, certainly good enough for me and setting the standard for cheap high performance. I can get a few great shaves from these with no drama.
Treet platinum - 100 blades for £5.60! I was really excited to try these as I had read good things especially the sharpness consistency findings on refinedshave. However they felt blunt, really blunt. To get a BBS shave I had to go fully atg twice, which lead to some irritation but not much. I also had to use more pressure than usual. The second use of the blade was even more blunt! I had to use more pressure and dial the angle more just to cut the hair, still got a BBS shave but it was the shortest lasting one I've had.
Derby extra (horizontal label) - 100 blades for £6! I know the newer version has the vertical label and have changed but you can still get these ones. These have mixed reviews, most negative but to my surprise they felt pretty sharp! Sharp and smooth tbh, I had an easy BBS shave first and second use of the blade. I'll be looking for more of these and I hear the newer ones are also smooth but sharper, I'll be trying these sometime too.
The last truly budget priced blade I've tried lately was the worst..
Shark super stainless - 100 blades for £6. Sharper than treet platinum (hardly surprising to me) and seeming ok for the first pass, not a particularly close pass and no need use too much pressure. Anyway this blade is not smooth. It's harsh. When going against the grain I could feel the blade clicking over hairs and not cutting them, some stinging, I got loads of nicks and have razor burn. I got a BBS shave but paid the price and for that I tossed the blade rather than try it again!
I've got more premium blade brands than I do super cheap ones so I won't be adding to the list to try until I do some shopping tonight online (I can get 200 treet classics for £7 atm!!) But for those of you who buy really cheap ones and have given them a good go please give us a run down on your experiences (and beard type). Let's try to keep the per100 blades cost to under £10/$10/€10 (hopefully much less) so we get an idea roughly what we can get for our minimal spendings.
Cheers
But! Some are cheap, really cheap. So cheap that your instincts to hoard kick in and you end up with a 100's of them with no idea if they are actually going to do the job without leaving your face looking like you fell through a window or simply with stubble still all over your chops.
So this thread is for the cheapest blades youve bought that work the best! Bargain deals on premium blades don't count and they must still be in production and/or readily available.
Why? Because I'm cheap.
Now, over the years I've used a dozen or so blades with varying success but lately have bought a few of the cheapest ones I can find online. And after a bit of testing them I think I can give my 2p worth on the topic of these cheap blades. Also for reference sake, I have a mildish beard and sensitive skin and usually shave with a finishing pass atg for a BBS finale, I do this every other day. Anyway..
Astra sp - 100 blades for around £7.50. Great blades as most people will testify, certainly good enough for me and setting the standard for cheap high performance. I can get a few great shaves from these with no drama.
Treet platinum - 100 blades for £5.60! I was really excited to try these as I had read good things especially the sharpness consistency findings on refinedshave. However they felt blunt, really blunt. To get a BBS shave I had to go fully atg twice, which lead to some irritation but not much. I also had to use more pressure than usual. The second use of the blade was even more blunt! I had to use more pressure and dial the angle more just to cut the hair, still got a BBS shave but it was the shortest lasting one I've had.
Derby extra (horizontal label) - 100 blades for £6! I know the newer version has the vertical label and have changed but you can still get these ones. These have mixed reviews, most negative but to my surprise they felt pretty sharp! Sharp and smooth tbh, I had an easy BBS shave first and second use of the blade. I'll be looking for more of these and I hear the newer ones are also smooth but sharper, I'll be trying these sometime too.
The last truly budget priced blade I've tried lately was the worst..
Shark super stainless - 100 blades for £6. Sharper than treet platinum (hardly surprising to me) and seeming ok for the first pass, not a particularly close pass and no need use too much pressure. Anyway this blade is not smooth. It's harsh. When going against the grain I could feel the blade clicking over hairs and not cutting them, some stinging, I got loads of nicks and have razor burn. I got a BBS shave but paid the price and for that I tossed the blade rather than try it again!
I've got more premium blade brands than I do super cheap ones so I won't be adding to the list to try until I do some shopping tonight online (I can get 200 treet classics for £7 atm!!) But for those of you who buy really cheap ones and have given them a good go please give us a run down on your experiences (and beard type). Let's try to keep the per100 blades cost to under £10/$10/€10 (hopefully much less) so we get an idea roughly what we can get for our minimal spendings.
Cheers
