Bleue Extra's - A little weird so far

[MichiganRob]

For those of you with experience with this blade, could you give me your recommended razor? I have three shaves under my belt with the Bleue Extra, in a Red Tip, and so far the shaves have been a little strange. In all three instances, when I rinse my face after the first pass there is a ton of stubble still on my face. However, after three full passes, and a fourth on my neck, I'm getting a nice shave in the end. It just seems like I'm working hard for it, for a blade that I've read a lot of good reviews here. I'm wondering if I need to go to another axe.

I have a black handle superspeed, fat boy, slim, EJ89L and a Clix. I'll probably try them all with the bleue extra eventually, but thought I'd seek a little advice here before going further.

 

[man00ver]

They wow'ed me in the Merkur HD, which is probably a touch more aggressive than the Red Tip. You might want to try them in the Fatboy @5 or higher.

 

[Obi Wan]

I'm a big fan of Gillette Bleue Extra NOS blades, for me they work great in a british flare tip Rocket razor and in a Gillette Slim set on 7. I typically shave every second day and need 2 passes with touch ups. From what I've read the NOS blades in the white plastic dispensers (10 blades) are smoother and the modern 5 pack blades are meant to be sharper.

 

[jwilock]

These are among my favorites out of close to 20 varieties I have tried. All mine are the NOS variety. Back when Swedes and Iridiums were still being produced, and therefore didn't achieve their special status (great but no longer available), many preferred GBEs to either of those. That's the kind of company they are typically rated in.

 

[ironbrewer]

Just wondering if you have the new ones or the NOS ones. I love the NOS ones.

 

[jpkunst]

I don't think the Bleue Extras are that good, compared to the "Swedes" or Iridiums. Your experience with them sounds a lot like mine.

 

[Sledgehammer39]

Use your Fatboy or Slim and set it at 6 or 7 and see if that changes things for you.

 

[jwilock]

Just wondering if you have the new ones or the NOS ones. I love the NOS ones.

Yes the NOS ones are fantastic. If you go back and read reviews from 2 or 3 years ago when Swedes and Iridiums and GBEs were all readily available GBEs seemed to be as popular as the other two. It's human nature to want what you can't have. So the ones no longer available kind of grow in stature the longer it's been since they were made. I haven't tried a Swede yet, but NOS Bleues are the equal of Iridiums ... for me that is.

 

[MichiganRob]

I purchased these from an on-line vendor and they are in the plastic dispenser, and each blade is date coded, so I'm calling them NOS. I am going to try another blade in another razor, maybe the slim at 6 or 7 like was suggested above and see if that improves things. Has anyone ever gotten a bad blade once in a while with the GBEs? I want to like these blades, I really do. Especially since I paid fifty cents a blade for a couple hundred of them. In retrospect, that was kind of foolish on my part to buy 200 blades without even knowing if I'd like them or not. I'll post here if a new razor improves my shave.

 

[Sledgehammer39]

I have been through a few packs and I have not received a bad blade yet, but it could happen.

 

[Dalejr]

I've been hit and miss, first blade was horrible, the second not too bad, have yet to try a 3rd yet...

 

[mharris127]

I purchased these from an on-line vendor and they are in the plastic dispenser, and each blade is date coded, so I'm calling them NOS. I am going to try another blade in another razor, maybe the slim at 6 or 7 like was suggested above and see if that improves things. Has anyone ever gotten a bad blade once in a while with the GBEs? I want to like these blades, I really do. Especially since I paid fifty cents a blade for a couple hundred of them. In retrospect, that was kind of foolish on my part to buy 200 blades without even knowing if I'd like them or not. I'll post here if a new razor improves my shave.

$100 for blades?????!!!!! I can't imagine spending $100 on blades at one shot, but if you don't like them you could put them on the BST and recover some of your money, you may get a quarter a blade or so. I will assume they are in packs of ten, so you could sell the other 19 packs at $2.50 each plus shipping (probably a dollar or so for US or a dollar and a half for Canadian shipping) and they would sell relatively quickly in my opinion. Of course if multiples are shipped to one person, the cost to ship per pack is less. I wish I knew a sure-fire way to get what you paid for them, but most people (even here) won't pay obscene amounts for a blade. The only time I paid more than 25-30 cents a blade for myself is when I bought my Feathers to try (I bought two ten packs coming to $18 shipped, nice blades but I won't pay that much for a blade in the near future as they aren't obscenely better). Heck, I recently shipped 14 blades to two different people taped to cardboard inside of a business size envelope and the total pro-rata cost per envelope including blades and shipping (both pro-rated per blade from Turkey to me with a multiple-item order and from me to the recipients) was only about $3 per shipment.

 

[bakerbarber]

I'd pay $0.50 a blade for Spoilers all day long. I don't think what you paid is out of line.
They aren't making them anymore after all.

I have tons of Bleu Extras. I forget what I paid, but they are nice. They shave well and are always smooth for me. 200 blades is only 4 years worth. Cartridges would cost how much? $4 a piece twice a month or so. Sounds like a decent rate.

 

[ironbrewer]

I like them better than Iridiums, They were cheaper an "for me" much better. They work close to the same for me as swedes, but are much cheaper.

Yes the NOS ones are fantastic. If you go back and read reviews from 2 or 3 years ago when Swedes and Iridiums and GBEs were all readily available GBEs seemed to be as popular as the other two. It's human nature to want what you can't have. So the ones no longer available kind of grow in stature the longer it's been since they were made. I haven't tried a Swede yet, but NOS Bleues are the equal of Iridiums ... for me that is.

 

[jwilock]

Actually some people will pay far more than that for vintage NOS blades. Personna 74s go for at least $1 per blade and are snapped up at that price. Sometimes they go for more than that. Swedes, Schich Plus Platinum, GBEs and Iridiums all are regularly bought and sold for well over fifty cents per blade.

 

[mullard]

I have noticed extra stubble myself when using a Gillette DE razor such as a red tip. However, they do not appear to leave as much stubble when I use my Merkur HD.

 

[Chester]

Sounds like a problem with technique to me. You should be pretty smooth after 3 passes, easy. At the same time, it's about reduction, so you should not be perfect after one pass, anyway.

The GBE is a pretty good blade, with decent comfort and sharpness. I'd try a different blade before switching out the holder.
-- Chet