Blind Test #13 - Gillette Silver Blue vs 7 O'clock Black

[rxonmymind]

Hehe

One of them is the unscented, which actually has quite a nice fresh smell.

Yes it does but unfortunately it's that soap I'm somewhat allergic too. His ironic. I'm fine with the regular scent and fogure. Strange. By the way thanks for doing this. I have a hunch what either is but I'll wait for your findings. I'll admit if I was wrong in the meantime this is a nice test as both those blades I have in stock.

 

[Oscroft]

Shave #9

Gillette Silver Blue vs 7 O'clock Black, in two EJ razors - one Black, one White

Test set up as described in the thread here.

Black = Right side of face
White = Left side of face

Brush = Vie-Long 21mm brown horsehair
Soap = Body Shop Maca Root cream
AS = Nivea Sensitive balm

Pass 1, WTG, Pass 2, XTG: Further loss of sharpness from the White blade this time, with the Black feeling considerably sharper. The White was still smooth enough, though, and at the end of two passes my face was feeling fine.

Pass 3, ATG: Significantly more tugging from White going ATG, and it was starting to feel a bit rough. I got a small weeper from Black under my bottom lip, and a small weeper from White at the end of my top lip - both were stopped by my cold rinse.

Closeness: Tiny area under my chin on the Black side with a bit of stubble remaining, and quite a bit more on the White side under the chin and stretching along the jawline.

Comfort: After three passes, White had left the left side of my face feeling a bit sore and irritated.

AS: With a bit of soreness from White, I decided I needed a soothing AS balm rather than my usual splashes, so I went with the Nivea sensitive - and it did the job nicely.

White is clearly losing it now, and though it had been degrading comfortably, by the third pass today it was starting to feel a bit rough. Next shave will be the equivalent of five full-face shaves each, though at the moment I'm wondering whether I'll be able to complete it.

 

[inspiringK]

Shave #9

Gillette Silver Blue vs 7 O'clock Black, in two EJ razors - one Black, one White

Test set up as described in the thread here.

Black = Right side of face
White = Left side of face

Brush = Vie-Long 21mm brown horsehair
Soap = Body Shop Maca Root cream
AS = Nivea Sensitive balm

Pass 1, WTG, Pass 2, XTG: Further loss of sharpness from the White blade this time, with the Black feeling considerably sharper. The White was still smooth enough, though, and at the end of two passes my face was feeling fine.

Pass 3, ATG: Significantly more tugging from White going ATG, and it was starting to feel a bit rough. I got a small weeper from Black under my bottom lip, and a small weeper from White at the end of my top lip - both were stopped by my cold rinse.

Closeness: Tiny area under my chin on the Black side with a bit of stubble remaining, and quite a bit more on the White side under the chin and stretching along the jawline.

Comfort: After three passes, White had left the left side of my face feeling a bit sore and irritated.

AS: With a bit of soreness from White, I decided I needed a soothing AS balm rather than my usual splashes, so I went with the Nivea sensitive - and it did the job nicely.

White is clearly losing it now, and though it had been degrading comfortably, by the third pass today it was starting to feel a bit rough. Next shave will be the equivalent of five full-face shaves each, though at the moment I'm wondering whether I'll be able to complete it.

 

[Oscroft]

Hehe

 

[Jeff_H]

Ok oscroft, just put me out of my misery and tell me the Silver Blue is in the White razor.

 

[Oscroft]

Ok oscroft, just put me out of my misery and tell me the Silver Blue is in the White razor.

Well, as soon as I know

 

[Haggises]

Open da box! Errrr...Open da razor!

 

[Oscroft]

Shave #10

Gillette Silver Blue vs 7 O'clock Black, in two EJ razors - one Black, one White

Test set up as described in the thread here.

Black = Left side of face
White = Right side of face

Brush = New Forest 24mm 2-band
Soap = MWF
AS = Floïd Genuine

A while ago I picked up some Erasmic sticks cheap - they're the old Tallow formulation, and when I used one it was pretty decent. I lost track of that first stick when I was traveling somewhere, so I thought I'd break out another one for today and give it a go. But the stick was very hard and brittle, and was cracking and flaking. I tried using it, but the lather was weak and not nearly good enough to shave with, despite a fair bit of effort soaping-up and using a very good face-lathering brush. Life's too short - so it went in the trash and I reached for the sheep.

Pass 1, WTG, Pass 2, XTG: Same as last time, only more so. The White blade was clearly nowhere near as sharp as the Black now, but it wasn't really uncomfortable - it just took more force to get it to cut.

Pass 3, ATG: This was the end for the White. It just wasn't sharp enough to shave ATG, and was getting a bit too rough. I got several small weepers in various places.

Closeness: Fine from Black, but White didn't get close enough having failed on the XTG pass. I used up the remains of my lather and finished off with the Black.

Comfort: Actually felt fine, despite the White blade feeling rough for the third pass.

AS: Nice glow from the Floïd, with a subtle bit of menthol coolness.

So that's it - test over. I'll post this and then go open the razors - but I'm really not expecting any surprises.

 

[Oscroft]

And surprises there were none...

Black = 7 O'clock Black
White = Silver Blue

The Silver Blue is a good blade, capable of giving me a good 4 shaves, and when it fails it degrades fairly comfortably. But it's not up to the longevity of the 7 O'clock Black - though few blades are, for me at last.

I'll have a break now and shave with some of my other gear, and then I'll start a new test in probably a couple of weeks. No final decisions on the next blades yet - but there's a very good chance one of them will be a Rapira.

 

[jaguar]

Continued thanks Alan for your excellent blade comparison series. Your reviews are well done, entertaining, informative, and provide a useful comparison to our personal experience with the reviewed blades. I find my personal experiece to be virtually identical with your test results.

If you test a Rapira blade in your next installment, may I suggest the Rapira Super Stainless blade in the blue, black, and pink box. They are probably the most generally available Rapira blade, and it would be interesting to see a comparison with such great blades as the 7 O'Clock Black, 7 O'Clock Blue, Personna Meds, Super Iridium, and Polsilver Super Iridium.

 

[The Dean]

I guess I have to put the Black on the list of blades I will try.

Great stuff as always, Oscroft.

 

[ateace]

A few members had this one pegged before the unveiling.
As Oscroft says, it doesn't mean that the Silver Blue is a bad blade, but that the Black G7 is that good.

 

[Oscroft]

If you test a Rapira blade in your next installment, may I suggest the Rapira Super Stainless blade in the blue, black, and pink box. They are probably the most generally available Rapira blade, and it would be interesting to see a comparison with such great blades as the 7 O'Clock Black, 7 O'Clock Blue, Personna Meds, Super Iridium, and Polsilver Super Iridium.

Yep, I think I'll go for the Rapira Super Stainless first - I have a pack of those and a pack of "Rapira Swedish Supersteel", which someone kindly sent me for testing (and I'm embarrassed to say I can't remember who it was - I cleared out my PMs recently and lost the details).

And I'll certainly test it against one of my previous top blades - maybe a Polsilver, as I still have a couple from Emilio.

 

[JCinPA]

Thanks, Oscroft, i love these!

Blacks are my go to blades, I have hundreds of them. Looks like West Coast Shaving has them in stock, too!

 

[vocalistbob]

Silver Blue is my new favorite blade for my aggressive razors - R41, Joris, etc. On Saturday, I used a Black in my Vision (set one notch away from its most aggressive setting) and, based on Sunday's re-growth, got a closer shave than I have been getting with the Silver Blues. Further Black experimentation is warranted.

And thanks, Alan - I have read (and enjoyed) most of your blade comparos.

 

[jasonb8736]

Very well done, again, Alan. It was fun reading your comparison on two of my "go to" blades.

 

[Oscroft]

Thanks for all the thanks again, folks

 

[Relentless]

Foregone conclusion for me.

 

[inspiringK]

Good stuff, thanks for these tests Oscroft.

My feeling is that the Silver Blues are just a hint smoother on the first shave or two compared to the Black, and since I am a two and out shaver edge longevity isn't a factor for me.

Interesting nonetheless to see these two blades start out being very similar, but then noticeably diverge as they experience more shaves.

 

[njagota]

2 of my favorites! This should be interesting... (as always). Looking forward to the results.

Oh boy, I agree. Those three are also my favourite blades so far. I've only been DE shaving for 2-3 months though so its hard to get a solid look without throwing in too many variables such as trying new razors and creams. I've read all the old ones and was engaged. Can't wait to scroll through a nearly new post. It's on!