Blade Wars: Gillette 7 O'clock Super Platinum (black) vs. Personna Lab Blue
- Thread starter cw62803
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- Thread starter
- #42
Shave 10
Face lathered with good ol' Arko
blue=right, silver=left
On the first pass, blue had less resistance than silver. The second pass was a draw.
Slight advantage: blue
Face lathered with good ol' Arko
blue=right, silver=left
On the first pass, blue had less resistance than silver. The second pass was a draw.
Slight advantage: blue
WOW!! Tough competition!!
I’m not surprised we’re going into the late rounds on this one. Both are top 5 blades for me, although the Black just makes it at #5. Personna is a top 3, and I’d be happy with any of the Top 3 for life. Heck, if I had to use Black for life I’d be just fine. Funny thing, when I first started traditional shaving I didn’t think much of Black. After some time and developing good technique I found it to be a great blade in the same razor I originally tried it with. I think some of it had to do with being able to make a good lather on a consistent basis too.
- Thread starter
- #45
Shave 11
Face lathered with a Cella shave stick. I broke off and pushed pieces of Cella into a plastic twist-up tube I purchased at WCS. Some people don't like using a shave stick. I guess they find it inelegant or unrefined. Me, I love it. After rubbing the stick over my face, then wetting the brush... I love how the lather appears like magic! It leaves plenty of soap in the the brush for three passes, too.
Silver=right, blue=left
Pass 1: This was silver's smoothest 1st pass yet. Blue's was smooth too, but had a little more drag than silver.
Pass 2: Silver was fairly smooth. I could feel some resistance. Blue was super smooth; it glided right along.
Pass 3: Silver was like shaving with angel wings. Absolutely smooth. Blue was mostly smooth, but had slight resistance.
Really good shave today. Advantage: Silver
Face lathered with a Cella shave stick. I broke off and pushed pieces of Cella into a plastic twist-up tube I purchased at WCS. Some people don't like using a shave stick. I guess they find it inelegant or unrefined. Me, I love it. After rubbing the stick over my face, then wetting the brush... I love how the lather appears like magic! It leaves plenty of soap in the the brush for three passes, too.
Silver=right, blue=left
Pass 1: This was silver's smoothest 1st pass yet. Blue's was smooth too, but had a little more drag than silver.
Pass 2: Silver was fairly smooth. I could feel some resistance. Blue was super smooth; it glided right along.
Pass 3: Silver was like shaving with angel wings. Absolutely smooth. Blue was mostly smooth, but had slight resistance.
Really good shave today. Advantage: Silver
So far my experience with shave sticks is that they are great! Next time I'm getting a soap that is available in that format I'm getting it that way.
Tough match!! Shave sticks are my preferred travel option (and Cella is excellent for me also)!
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- #49
I originally picked up a couple of twist-up tubes for travel, too. They're neat and clean and don't take up a great deal of space. Also, I find if I have a stick of Arko and a stick of Cella, no matter where I go and what the water is like, I can get a great lather. Now, I've picked up a couple other soaps that come in tubes - Valobra, LaToja - and have made a couple DIY tubes with Soap Commander and the like. I still enjoy lathering on the puck, but the tubes are an enjoyable change of pace and a great container for samples and soaps that don't come in their own tub.
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- #50
I don't hear much about Valobra shave sticks, but a fellow B&Ber sent me a stick and it is wonderful...one of my favorite soaps I've ever tried.
The only one I've use so far is the Wilkinson's sword stick and it makes me wonder why I have trouble with the tub. Stick works great, tub is awful.
Speick shave stick is quite possibly my favorite soap. I was going to try some others but figured “Why bother?”. I still like other soaps & creams but if I had to pick one for life it would be tough to beat. Great war so far @cw62803
- Thread starter
- #53
Shave 12
Face lathered with a Valobra stick. This is a great soap. The scent is mild and soapy, the lather is thick and luxurious.
blue=right, silver=left
Blue was super smooth on the first pass. It slowed down a little on the tough hairs near my chin, but glided right along everywhere else. Silver was smooth, too - but had a little resistance throughout.
Blues second pass wasn't quite as smooth as its first. Silver's was great. Slight resistance - but a satisfying whisker-clipping feeling.
Tie.
Face lathered with a Valobra stick. This is a great soap. The scent is mild and soapy, the lather is thick and luxurious.
blue=right, silver=left
Blue was super smooth on the first pass. It slowed down a little on the tough hairs near my chin, but glided right along everywhere else. Silver was smooth, too - but had a little resistance throughout.
Blues second pass wasn't quite as smooth as its first. Silver's was great. Slight resistance - but a satisfying whisker-clipping feeling.
Tie.
- Thread starter
- #54
Shave 13
Face lathered with DR Harris Windsor
silver=right, blue=left
I did a cold-water evening shave. Both razors had some resistance on the first pass. The drag was about the same for both. Blue's second pass was divine, silver's was good. Blue was absolutely smooth and resistance-free. Blue's third pass had slightly less than silver's.
Slight advantage: blue
Face lathered with DR Harris Windsor
silver=right, blue=left
I did a cold-water evening shave. Both razors had some resistance on the first pass. The drag was about the same for both. Blue's second pass was divine, silver's was good. Blue was absolutely smooth and resistance-free. Blue's third pass had slightly less than silver's.
Slight advantage: blue
We’ve got a couple real fighters here, neither one wants to quit. It reminds me of these guys:
- Thread starter
- #56
I was wondering when one of @CigarSmoka's famous clips was going to make its way to this blade war!
Shave 14
blue=right, left=silver
Face lathered with Proraso Red. I can see a spot of red on the bottom of my tub. I've got another full one to take it's place when I'm through with this one. I love that soap!
A two-pass shave tonight. On both, blue was a little smoother than silver.
slight advantage: blue
Shave 14
blue=right, left=silver
Face lathered with Proraso Red. I can see a spot of red on the bottom of my tub. I've got another full one to take it's place when I'm through with this one. I love that soap!
A two-pass shave tonight. On both, blue was a little smoother than silver.
slight advantage: blue
It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? This one is going longer than I expected. I never pushed the Black, opting to swap it out weekly. I knew the Personna had the cardio to get to the late rounds but no idea if the Black did. It does appear as though blue may be starting to gain the advantage... I sense a champion being crowned within a couple more shaves.
Wow!! Never though this one would go so long!! 
- Thread starter
- #59
Shave 15
silver=right, blue=left
Face lathered with DR Harris Windsor
On the first two passes, blue was smoother than silver. On the third pass, silver glided right along while blue had more drag.
Tie.
silver=right, blue=left
Face lathered with DR Harris Windsor
On the first two passes, blue was smoother than silver. On the third pass, silver glided right along while blue had more drag.
Tie.
- Thread starter
- #60
Shave 16
Face lathered with Stirling Arkadia
blue=right, silver=left
Pass 1: Blue offered some resistance throughout and some tugging near my chin. Silver feels sharper than silver even though it pretty much had the same amount of resistance.
Pass 2: Blue was a little rough, silver was very smooth.
Pass 3: Both razors had similar, slight resistance.
Slight advantage: Silver
At this point, silver feels sharper and blue is pretty much done. (It's still better than a brand-new Derby, in my opinion.) This concludes the blade war. This is a tough one to call. My personal preference is for BLUE. For me the perfect blade is very smooth and plenty sharp. I value smoothness over extraordinary sharpness. Blades like Gillette Silver Blue and Perma-Sharp work best for me. Silver has consistently felt slightly sharper than blue and it gets the nod for longevity, as it is in better shape after 16 half-face shaves than blue. But for my face, with my DE89s and January in New England shaving conditions, the nod goes to blue. It gave me smoother shaves, and for me, that's enough to carry the day. I'll open the razors when I get home from work and let you know which was which.
Face lathered with Stirling Arkadia
blue=right, silver=left
Pass 1: Blue offered some resistance throughout and some tugging near my chin. Silver feels sharper than silver even though it pretty much had the same amount of resistance.
Pass 2: Blue was a little rough, silver was very smooth.
Pass 3: Both razors had similar, slight resistance.
Slight advantage: Silver
At this point, silver feels sharper and blue is pretty much done. (It's still better than a brand-new Derby, in my opinion.) This concludes the blade war. This is a tough one to call. My personal preference is for BLUE. For me the perfect blade is very smooth and plenty sharp. I value smoothness over extraordinary sharpness. Blades like Gillette Silver Blue and Perma-Sharp work best for me. Silver has consistently felt slightly sharper than blue and it gets the nod for longevity, as it is in better shape after 16 half-face shaves than blue. But for my face, with my DE89s and January in New England shaving conditions, the nod goes to blue. It gave me smoother shaves, and for me, that's enough to carry the day. I'll open the razors when I get home from work and let you know which was which.
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