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Blind test #9 - Personna Med vs Lab

Shave #1

OK, this is it - the great Med vs Lab test (with thanks to cfender for supplying the blades).

I'm testing the famous Personna Med Prep blade against the equally famous Personna Lab blade, in Edwin Jagger EJ razors with different colour handles - one white, one black, and I don't know which blade is in which razor. More details of the test method here.

Some say they're the same blade, some say they're different, and some say the differences are small. So let's see what my face makes of them...

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

Brush = New Forest 24mm 2-band
Soap = Arlington
AS = Floïd Blue

Pass 1, WTG: Hadn't shaved for three days, so there was a reasonable bit of stubble there, and both blades did a very good job of getting most of it off on the first pass. Both felt very sharp, and both gave good audible feedback. Both felt equally smooth on my face - no differences detectable.

Pass 2, XTG: Both felt sharp again, and slightly louder audible feedback from the two. Very close pass, and no noticeable difference between them.

Pass 3, ATG
: Not much stubble left for them to deal with, but they both got the remains off very well. It's generally on the ATG pass than I can feel the sharpness of the best blades, and I had that really sharp feeling here - you know the feeling that makes you think you could slice your top lip off if you're not careful? :biggrin1: But I was careful, and I got a great pass with the blades still indistinguishable.

Closeness: Super close shave all over.

Comfort: Nice feel, no irritation, but clearly "just shaved with sharp blades" feel.

AS: Gentle sting from the Floïd Blue, and then... aaaaahhhhh, lovely!
 
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Wow! I'm glad you posted this because I was trying to decide if it was worth purchasing the med prep blades. I think I will go with the labs instead. Thanks!
 
Wow! I'm glad you posted this because I was trying to decide if it was worth purchasing the med prep blades. I think I will go with the labs instead. Thanks!

Might be worth waiting until I get a few more shaves into the test - quite often I find blades very similar at the start, but differences become apparent after a few uses.
 
My guess is that the Med Preps are in the black razor. :biggrin1:


Really looking forward to this one. I have about 97 Labs still, and I like them a lot. I haven't tried meds, and I'm hoping this thread convinces me not to need to!
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
Thank you Alan. I use the Med Preps and have been frustrated in my research to find out if I'm wasting half my money by not purchasing the Labs. I was just going to suggest this blind test. Outstanding!
 
Shave #2

The great Med vs Lab test

I'm testing the famous Personna Med Prep blade against the equally famous Personna Lab blade, in Edwin Jagger EJ razors with different colour handles - one white, one black, and I don't know which blade is in which razor. More details of the test method here.

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

Brush = Semogue 1305
Soap = Palmolive cream
AS = Old Spice Whitewater

Pass 1, WTG: Same sharp feel I got from the first shave, from both blades, and I got good audible feedback from both too. I'm getting that "stick to the skin" feel that I get from the sharpest blades, from both of these. I got a small weeper on my top lip from White, but it had stopped by the time I got to the second pass...

Pass 2, XTG: Again, both blades seemed very sharp. They both seemed smoother too - it does often seem that the second shave on a new blade is a bit smoother than the first, and that seems to happen with a lot of different blades for me. Small weeper on my chin from Black, stopped by itself.

Pass 3, ATG
: Felt very good on both sides.

Closeness: Another very close shave on both sides - tiny bit of roughness on the neck that could have been improved with a bit of touch-up, but I don't do that for these tests.

Comfort: After cold rinse, felt just fine.

AS: Mild sting, nice soothed feeling.

The equivalent of one full face shave each, and at this stage I really can't tell any difference. But that sometimes happens, and it can take two or three shaves before blades start feeling different. Looking forward to the next one :biggrin1:
 
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