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Blade Wars: Gillette 7 O'clock Super Platinum (black) vs. Personna Lab Blue

Blade Wars: Black and Blue edition

Happy New Year's, B&Bers! I'd like to start 2019 by pitting two great blades against each other. The Personna Lab Blue is still made in America and the 7 O'clock black is made in India. I have used both blades for years and am fond of both.

My tools for the blade war will be two Edwin Jagger DE89s, one marked with a blue Sharpie so I can tell them apart. I won't know which blade is in which razor. I'll shave half of my face with each razor and report on what I experience.

I've found both of these blades to be smooth, plenty sharp, and long lasting. I'm interested to see how this plays out. If you have experience with these blades, predictions, or a side road you can bring us down during the blade war, please feel free to comment.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
Now that will be a interesting tug of wars between two titan blades. I really enjoy both brand names.
 
My money is on Gillette Black, from 2nd shave onward this one is going to really smooth sail till about 7 shaves and then hit the wall like a dud. Lets see If Personna can keep the steam.
 
I'm not going to try to guess the outcome, but I will be following.

Long-time Personna user here. My only 100-blade purchase were Personna Lab Blues. And I'll probably be rooting for them.

However, I am nine shaves into my very first Gillette 7 O'clock Super Platinum and I am impressed. A tie wouldn't surprise me.
 
Yesterday I got my 14th shave with a Personna Lab. No other blades (other than the Personna Medical Prep blades) have given me as many good shaves.
 
Shave 1
Face lathered with Stirling Arkadia
blue razor=right side of my face, silver razor=left side of my face
Two or three days growth. I have a fairly heavy beard - think John Belushi.

I usually do two passes, but I figured I'd end 2018 with a proper three-pass shave.

Pass 1: Both razors plowed through the growth well. Blue was smooth, but not particularly sharp feeling. Silver feels a little bit sharper.

Pass 2: Blue feels very smooth. I could feel the blade clipping my whiskers, which is very pleasant. Silver was also smooth.

Pass 3: Blue was super smooth and resistance-free. Not so much with silver which had a prickly drag throughout.

Advantage: Blue
 
Shave 2
Face lathered with Cella
silver razor=right side of face, blue=left

During the first pass, silver worked right along, with a little bit of prickle. Blue worked through the whiskers with just about the same amount of drag as silver. The resistance is not prickly at all, it feels "rounder."

Silver's second pass was effective. I could feel the blade snipping my whiskers. Blue didn't feel as sharp as silver, but it is very smooth.

Advantage: tie
 
Shave 3
Face lathered with Soap Commander Endurance
blue=right, silver=left

Pass 1: Blue was very smooth. Silver was smooth with a little sharp-blade prickle.

Sharp Blade Prickle might be a good name for a band.

Pass 2: Both razors were smooth and effective.

Another tie.
 
Great to see another Blade War c-dub. I’m late to the party but I’m posting this before reading any of the thread beyond your first post. The 7 OC Black is my favorite currently made blade from that line, but it’s taking on a titan of an opponent. I’ve never used a lab blue but assuming it’s the same blade as the med prep (an elite favorite of mine) without the special wash/coating as many suspect, it’s going to have a tough fight. I say it hangs for at least the first 5 shaves, maybe even up to 8, but the iconic Personna will reign supreme in the end. The black is a fine blade, but it’s a black belt and the Personna is a master sensei!
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
Gillette 7oClock will come out of the gate the sharp and smoothest for a nice shave and Personna Blue will hang a licking on it on around the 4 or 5 shave IMO. But who knows, I like both of these blades and it is going to a tough call.:a17:
 
I have both of these blades in use right now, 12 shaves on the Personna and 89 on the 7 O'Clock. May or may not get 100 shaves out of the 7 O'Clock, and the Personna feels new.

I've used Personna blades quite a bit in the past in my injector razor, always got good life out of them although I don't remember how many shaves -- it was more than 30 years ago.
 
Shave 3
Face lathered with Soap Commander Endurance
blue=right, silver=left

Pass 1: Blue was very smooth. Silver was smooth with a little sharp-blade prickle.

Sharp Blade Prickle might be a good name for a band.

Pass 2: Both razors were smooth and effective.

Another tie.

‘Another tie!!!’ :a14::a14:This one is closer than I predicted”
 
Shave 4
Face lathered with AOS Sandalwood cream
silver=right, blue=left

On the first pass, silver was very uncomfortable. Instead of a prickle, the resistance hurt a little. Blue also had some resistance, but not as much as silver.

Both razors were smooth and comfortable during the second pass.

On the third pass, both razors were very smooth. Blue moved almost imperceptibly lighter.

Slight advantage blue.
 
Shave 5
Face lathered with Tabac
blue=right, silver=left

Pass 1: Blue had some resistance, but was fairly smooth. Silver's resistance came with a little prickle - the drag hurt a little in spots.
Pass 2: Both razors were pretty smooth. Blue was a little rough - bumpy - in spots.

Tie
 
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