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Best DE blades for a thick beard and sensitive skin

I have a thick coarse beard and am prone to ingrowns, mostly on my neck. I find Personna Lab Blue/barber/med prep are the best option for my skin. Treet Classic actually treat my face well, albeit not as sharp as personna's but they work.

I have more to try, but someday soon I will be ordering a 100 pack of Lab Blue, because they just work good for me, and I get 4 shaves out of them without issue.
 
I have a thick beard and relatively sensitive skin, and am also searching for the perfect blade. But I found the Derby's tore my face to pieces. Astra SP's seem to be okay. I get about 3 shaves with one blade. Going to try Feathers next.
 
I prefer Astra SP and Feather, with a slight edge to the Feather. Just bought 100 Astras for just under $10 (free shipping) on Amazon. Can't argue with the value, since the cheapest Feathers I have found still run about five times that.
 
I'm pretty new...I found Feathers in my Feather Razor best...Derby tore me up...Astras and Shark were ok....Everybody is diff. find your best blade and good luck.
 
So a month in, and really sticking to the same blade/razor/creams, I'm still getting slight irritation on my cheeks. The only time it's went away was for a few days when I used gargantuan amounts of product (TOBS Avocado -- love the stuff!). So I think I've narrowed it down to a prep issue perhaps.

I do have some Persona Labs coming, as well as some Gillette 7o'clocks. We'll see how they do.
 
So a month in, and really sticking to the same blade/razor/creams, I'm still getting slight irritation on my cheeks. The only time it's went away was for a few days when I used gargantuan amounts of product (TOBS Avocado -- love the stuff!). So I think I've narrowed it down to a prep issue perhaps.

I do have some Persona Labs coming, as well as some Gillette 7o'clocks. We'll see how they do.

Which 7 O'Clocks?
 
If you have a coarse beard and sensitive skin, there are generally only 2 rules that I live by.
Rule #1 - Use Astra SP's
Rule #2 - See rule #1
 
I has found that both razor and blade make a huge difference. I also has sensitive skin, heavy beard, and I am prone to ingrown hairs. The razors I has used are Merkur 43c, Gillette SS, and a Gillette NEW open comb. The best combo is either a Persona Lab Prep or Feather in the open comb. With that setup I get 3-5 shaves out of each blade. I have tried many combos with each razor, and that has been the best.
 

BigFoot

I wanna be sedated!
Staff member
It really is personnel preference. I like the Med-Preps, or Crystals. I can't stand the Astra-SP. :confused:
 
I have a thick beard and relatively sensitive skin, and am also searching for the perfect blade. But I found the Derby's tore my face to pieces. Astra SP's seem to be okay. I get about 3 shaves with one blade. Going to try Feathers next.

Same here. Astra SP in a R41 is the best combo until now.
 
Im new to shaving with a DE razor. I have sensitive skin and a thick beard. Any blade recomendations? Right now im using the Derby's that came with my razor. They work pretty well, however i want to see if theres something better.

Edwin Jagger de89

My $.02 - I've got sensitive skin too, and own the DE89. Great Razor. Yes, finding the right blade will help. I like Astra's, Feathers, Gillette Blacks in it. HOWEVER, I'd very much so recommend you look into a more aggressive razor. I was told "aggressive" is a bad description but that "efficient" is more appropriate. I have found this to be true! I do less passes with a more aggressive razor which leads to less irritation, etc. You may find this to be the same for you. If you want to stick with your DE89, your on the right path changing up the blade. Mild razor + sharp, smooth blade = better shave. Derby's tore my face up like a cheese grater.
 
My $.02 - I've got sensitive skin too, and own the DE89. Great Razor. Yes, finding the right blade will help. I like Astra's, Feathers, Gillette Blacks in it. HOWEVER, I'd very much so recommend you look into a more aggressive razor. I was told "aggressive" is a bad description but that "efficient" is more appropriate. I have found this to be true! I do less passes with a more aggressive razor which leads to less irritation, etc. You may find this to be the same for you. If you want to stick with your DE89, your on the right path changing up the blade. Mild razor + sharp, smooth blade = better shave. Derby's tore my face up like a cheese grater.

This works for me too. I have this razor in my rotation and find that I like the shave quality better with a sharp blade in the DE89. You can try Feathers, or 7 o"clock Blacks (last longer than the Feathers), 7o'clock yellows or blues. Because my skin is sensitive and my beard coarse, I find that sharp alone isn't rewarding. I need sharp and smooth which is where the Blacks seem to shine.
 
I am cursed with tough beard and tender skin as well. The blades that work best for me are Voskhod and Shark Super Chromes, with honorable mention to Personna Barbers.

Blades such as Derby and Merkur give me pulling, nicks and burn, while sharper blades like Astras, Feathers, the various Gillette 7 o'Clocks feel rough and give me razor burn.

Also, I agree with the posts about using enough razor. I run my Fatboy and Slim at 7 with good results, and my Hoffritz/Merkur slant, while a little rougher on my neck, gives a very nice shave. My best results are with my long-comb New Tuckaway. Very smooth shaver for me.
 
Feathers, KAI, or Personna Medical Prep blades (all sharp, Med Prep may be slightly "smoother" feeling on sensitive skin)
 
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