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Blind test #7 - Med Prep vs Iridium Super

Shave #1

I've been away from testing for a little while because I've been pretty hooked on my new Fatip Open Comb razors of late (and I've been hanging out with the Brotherhood). I haven't wanted to use much else - and I don't have two of the same model (yet), so there was no possibility of doing tests at the same time.

I'm also in a bit of a Semogue boar spell, and for the last couple of weeks I've only been using my SOC, new 610, and today's 1305. They're all terrific, and I sometimes wonder why I paid bigger prices for my favourite badgers.

Anyway, as usual, test set up as described in this thread here. This test compares a Personna Med Prep blade and an Iridium Super (or Super Iridium, depending on whether you read what's on the pack or on the blade). These are two of my favourite blades, so it's time to put them cheek to cheek. I'm using two EJ razors, one black handle and one white, and I don't know which blade is in which.

Black = right side of face
White = left side of face

Brush = Semogue 1305
Soap = DR Harris Arlington
AS = DR Harris Arlington

Pass 1, WTG: Super smooth pass, both blades feeling extremely sharp and cutting very easily. The only difference I noticed was more audible feedback from White - it sounded louder.

Pass 2, XTG: Pretty much the same - smooth and sharp shaving from both, and more audio feedback from White. After I'd lathered up again for the third pass I noticed a speck of blood on my upper lip - so that's one very small weeper to White.

Pass 3, ATG
: Effortless, and it pretty much got all the remaining stubble off on the pass without leaving me feeling I needed some final buffing (which I don't do for these tests, because I want to treat each blade and each shave as equally as possible).

Closeness: Very close indeed. If I was in a perfectionist mood and not conducting a test, I might have touched up under my chin a bit - but I really have to stretch my neck and use my fingertips to feel it. The two sides are indistinguishable.

Comfort: Just fine, no irritation - pass 2 weeper had stopped quickly.

AS: Arlington is great, nice tingle and cooling feel.

Clearly two excellent blades, as I was expecting - they're two of my current top three (with the Indian Gillette 7 O'Clock Black making up the number). So, great shave - next one should be on Wednesday.
 
Shave #2

Test set up as described in this thread here. This test compares a Personna Med Prep blade and an Iridium Super. I'm using two EJ razors, one black handle and one white, and I don't know which blade is in which.

White = right side of face
Black = left side of face

Brush = Semogue SOC boar
Soap = Tet-A-Tet cream
AS = 4711

Pass 1, WTG: Very effective and smooth pass again, with a little more audible feedback from the White. The two blades feel slightly different, but not in any substantive way and it's hard to describe - but this is the second time I've felt there's something different, so I'll have a go. Do you know what I mean if I say a very sharp blade tends to "suck to" or "stick to" the skin? That's what it is - the White has that feeling a bit more than the black. But to me there's no noticeable difference in sharpness or smoothness.

Pass 2, XTG: Very smooth again, from both. If anything, the second pass today got me closer than last time, on both sides.

Pass 3, ATG
: Excellent again from both blades, but a tiny weeper from White just below my mouth - it stopped without treatment.

Closeness: Same as last time - I can just feel a bit of stubble under my chin if I press hard ATG with my fingers, but there's nothing visible.

Comfort: Not even a hint of irritation. And a really nice feeling from the shave cream today - the Tet-A-Tet is very good. I just got it in a swap with kaiseris from Lithuania, and this is the first time I've tried it. It has a very clean and fresh scent, slightly medicinal, and feels like it has just a touch of menthol (I can't read the ingredients - it's all in Russian). It's quite soft in consistency out of the tube, but a small amount (I believe the correct SI unit is the "snurdle") generated masses of lather with my SOC - far more than I needed. And straight after my cold rinse, my face really felt pretty soothed.

AS: No need for anything with witch hazel, alum, or any other soothing treatments today, so a nice splash of 4711 for the fresh fragrance more than anything. No sting, feels great.

I already have the feeling that I'm not going to be able to tell these blades apart in terms of performance, although the White has given me two tiny weepers so far (though they were really small - of "Is that really blood?" magnitude). And there's that slightly different feel I mentioned, which makes no real difference. Onwards to the next shave...
 
Shave #3

Test set up as described in this thread here. This test compares a Personna Med Prep blade and an Iridium Super. I'm using two EJ razors, one black handle and one white, and I don't know which blade is in which.

Black = right side of face
White = left side of face

Brush = Turkish #6
Soap = Tabac
AS = Jovan Musk

Pass 1, WTG, Pass 2, XTG, Pass 3, ATG: Reporting all three together here, because I'm pretty much at the "same as last time" stage that happens in all these tests. More audible feedback from White, with that slightly more "stick to the face" feel - but no real difference between them in terms of smoothness and sharpness that I could tell.

I got two small weepers from each, making four in all, which is very unusual for me, and I suspect my technique was a bit clumsy today (my prep was good, and the Tabac lather was second to none). And that's something that I think shows the benefits of cheek-to-cheek testing - had I used different blades on different days, I could easily end up blaming what is actually technique variation on the blades.

Closeness: Very close again. As usual I'd need a bit of buffing to get full BBS, but I don't do that in tests.

Comfort: I actually felt more of the "I've had a shave" feeling today, as if I'd used a bit too much pressure - though I hadn't thought I was doing so at the time. Not irritation or burn, just a slight "over shaved" feel.

AS: Bit of a sting from the Jovan Musk, suggesting again that my technique had been a bit rough - it was exactly the same on both sides, so it's definitely not a blade difference.
 
Shave #4

Test set up as described in this thread here. This test compares a Personna Med Prep blade and an Iridium Super. I'm using two EJ razors, one black handle and one white, and I don't know which blade is in which.

White = right side of face
Black = left side of face

Brush = Semogue 1305
Soap = Body Shop Maca Root cream
AS = Italian Floïd Genuine

Pass 1, WTG, Pass 2, XTG, Pass 3, ATG: All three passes went very smoothly, and if anything, the blades are getting even closer. At least, there wasn't really any difference in the sound of the blades today - they've been the equal of each other in sharpness and smoothness so far. I really could detect no difference at all between them. I got a weeper at the end of my top lip from White on the ATG pass, but on close inspection it looked like there had been a small zit there. Dab of styptic stopped it.

Closeness: Again, very close to BBS.

Comfort: Felt great today - very nice clean feeling, with no discomfort.

AS: Warm glow from the Floïd Genuine, followed by gentle cooling.

An exceptionally good shave overall today, which is nice :001_smile
 
Shave #5

Test set up as described in this thread here. This test compares a Personna Med Prep blade and an Iridium Super. I'm using two EJ razors, one black handle and one white, and I don't know which blade is in which.

Black = right side of face
White = left side of face

Brush = Semogue 610
Soap = Ach Brito Lavanda cream
AS = Brut

Pass 1, WTG, Pass 2, XTG, Pass 3, ATG: Three very nice passes again, and still no real difference between the blades in terms of either sharpness or smoothness. Well, I say that, but during the WTG pass I was thinking the Black was feeling slightly smoother - but I really wasn't sure, and I was sure I could tell no difference during XTG or ATG. No weepers today.

Closeness: Pretty much BBS today - even closer than previous shaves in this test.

Comfort: Lovely - probably the best shave of the test so far. :001_smile

AS: No sting from the Brut, which I think has a nice fragrance for summer weather.

Next shave will be the equivalent of three full face shaves on each blade (half a face each for each shave), and they're basically on a par with each other and it doesn't look like either is going to "win". So I'm really not sure how long to run this test - normally I'd keep going until one blade starts to fade, but I already know that both of these will last for quite a few shaves.

So I might just do another couple of shaves, and if there are no differences emerging, declare this one a draw.
 
Hehe :lol:

OK, no rash decisions - I'll see how the next few shaves go.

So far I haven't tried the Med Preps yet. I have started early on with the Reds (RSP), pretty ok but I'm tempted now to get a pack of the blue ones. TAre there differences between the Med Preps and Personna Blue, or is this just a packaging difference like the Reds packed in Israel vs Mexico?

I'm curious if there will be some differences emerging in your test, keep it on Oscroft :thumbup1:.
 
So far I haven't tried the Med Preps yet. I have started early on with the Reds (RSP), pretty ok but I'm tempted now to get a pack of the blue ones. TAre there differences between the Med Preps and Personna Blue, or is this just a packaging difference like the Reds packed in Israel vs Mexico?

Meds are definitely better than Reds for me, but the only other "blues" I know of are the Lab blades. I believe they're the same as Meds, and I have one to test - hopefully soon.

I'm curious if there will be some differences emerging in your test, keep it on Oscroft :thumbup1:.

OK, I'll keep it going :001_smile
 
Meds are definitely better than Reds for me, but the only other "blues" I know of are the Lab blades. I believe they're the same as Meds, and I have one to test - hopefully soon.



OK, I'll keep it going :001_smile

I've just loaded a Lab this morning after 3 shaves with a Med. It seems to be the same. At least there aren't any characteristics that are jumping out at me that suggests otherwise. I've had inconsisent results with both the Lab and the Med but my general opinion is that it's a forgiving and reasonably sharp blade. I pretty much discard every blade after 3 shaves so I can't comment on it's durability. It doesn't surprise me that you're getting similar results with the Super Iridium. I also think of that blade as a reasonably sharp and forgiving blade.

The one blindfold test you've done that befuddles me is the Feather/Med test. My milage varies wildly on that one. I could tell the superior sharpness of the Feather in less than one WTG stroke and I have also blindfold tested those two blades. The audible feedback of the (2) blades is also distinctive on my stubble. Feather more of a hiss. Med more of a crackle.

Thank you for your work Oscroft.
 
The one blindfold test you've done that befuddles me is the Feather/Med test. My milage varies wildly on that one.

I've actually had varying results with individual Feather blades, and I think their edge is quite delicate - I'd like to come back to Feathers in a while and try them against my top few blades again.

Thank you for your work Oscroft

It's my pleasure :001_smile
 
Shave #6

Test set up as described in this thread here. This test compares a Personna Med Prep blade and an Iridium Super. I'm using two EJ razors, one black handle and one white, and I don't know which blade is in which.

White = right side of face
Black = left side of face

Brush = Semogue 1305
Soap = Proraso green
AS = Alpa 378

Didn't have a lot of whiskers today, just 24 hours after my last shave (I generally shave every 2 days), but I had a new AS to try out, and there's nothing wrong with throwing a lighter shave into the mix.

Pass 1, WTG, Pass 2, XTG, Pass 3, ATG: Don't know if it was the soap, the fact that my stubble wasn't long, or what, but this time it felt like both blades were getting smoother - especially white, which felt a little ahead in the smoothness stakes. Both still as sharp as ever. White had that bit of extra audible feedback today again. I got 2 small weepers from Black, 1 from White.

Closeness: Back to yesterday's near-BBS.

Comfort: Left (Black) side of my face felt a little less comfortable this time - not irritated, but a bit more of the "I've shaved" feel.

AS: I got a bottle of Alpa 378 from Steve Faragher (whose Big Shave videos you've probably seen) yesterday, and I had to try it. It's from the Czech Republic, and is fairly high in alcohol (62%). Some Eastern European countries don't distinguish between AS and cologne as much as we do, but this has glycerin and menthol, so it's not just a fragrance. A splash of it gave a bit of a sting, and left me feeling very good - it's nicely soothing. It's hard to describe the fragrance - bit woody, bit flowery, bit musky, tiny bit soapy, very fresh - very nice :001_smile

Anyway, that's the equivalent of three full face shaves on each blade, and both are still going strong.
 
Shave #7

Test set up as described in this thread here. This test compares a Personna Med Prep blade and an Iridium Super. I'm using two EJ razors, one black handle and one white, and I don't know which blade is in which.

Black = right side of face
White = left side of face

Brush = Semogue SOC boar
Soap = Arlington
AS = TOBS 74 Lime

Pass 1, WTG: I thought White seemed a little bit better on this pass this time, with a bit more of the "stick to the face" sharpness feel to it, but both were smooth.

Pass 2, XTG
: Now, just as I was starting to wonder if White was about to pull slightly ahead, Black gave me a better XTG pass, and definitely shaved me a little closer.

Pass 3, ATG: And then a nice smooth pass from both blades, with an end result that's neck-and-neck again. No weepers from today's shave.

Closeness: About equally close on both sides. Right (Black) could have done with a bit of buffing at the jaw line, and Left (White) under my chin, but both pretty good.

Comfort: Fine - no irritation.

AS: Zingy glow from the TOBS Lime, feeling good.
 
Folks, I'm away for a couple of days with just my travel bag (Schick injector, Palmolive stick, Turkish brush) - should be back to the test on Wednesday or Thursday.
 
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