I never see the Devil with stubble along his jawline. No evidence of razor burn, either - although it might not be readily visible against his red skin. Basically, aside from that goatee of his, he's always admirably clean shaven.
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Do you like or hate Derby's?
- Thread starter NorthernBoy
- Start date
Wrong question. The question should rather be: Do Derby blades work for you, do you get a good, smooth and close shave with them?
My answer is: No, I personally do not and that is the reason why I do not use Derby blades.
Love, like, dislike or hate have got nothing to do with that.
I hated them when starting in the DE world. But after learning proper technique they are OK blades. Not bad and not great, just workable and useable.
They were great when I started as far as forgiveness but as my technique improved other blades just offer a better shave with less pulling.
I like them and are pretty much my go to blade for my Universal Shavette
I hated them the first time I tried them. I didn't buy them, someone sent a five pack along with a vintage razor I bought. I kept reading 'your favorite blade' threads where guys liked them, so I tried them a few more times. I found that, being used to Feathers, Gillette Swedes, the Derby seemed dull by comparison.
But I began using them in a first model Gillette Super Speed and found that if I was in the mood for a mild shave they were very good. With blades such as the Feather, Gillette yellow 7O'Clocks, I can only do two passes. Three will leave me with irritation. With a Derby, very light pressure, and a mild shaver, such as the aforementioned Super Speed, I can do three. So in my shave den they have their place.
It is like living 8 miles from the ocean, which I do. I may rarely go there, but it is nice knowing it is there if I ever have the desire.
But I began using them in a first model Gillette Super Speed and found that if I was in the mood for a mild shave they were very good. With blades such as the Feather, Gillette yellow 7O'Clocks, I can only do two passes. Three will leave me with irritation. With a Derby, very light pressure, and a mild shaver, such as the aforementioned Super Speed, I can do three. So in my shave den they have their place.
It is like living 8 miles from the ocean, which I do. I may rarely go there, but it is nice knowing it is there if I ever have the desire.
I think they have an undeserved bad reputation, mainly because they come free with new razors such as the Edwin Jagger DE89. Guys use them before they develop a good technique. Then when they get better at shaving they move onto something 'sharper' and blame the Derby blades for their poor technique while learning. I still use them in my rotation and get a good shave.
Hate is a strong word. They are too dull for me and I will never use one again.
Tried them once - never again! They didn't so much cut my beard but rather pulled it out! For my money they are down there with Shark..
I shaved with one for the first time a couple of nights ago. The day before had been the 25th shave with a Gillette Thin Blade. I have read that Derby has to be paired with a middle of the road razor, so I knew not to try it with my Muhle R41 or my Old Types. I paired it with a 40s style SS. It seemed to work best with a shallow angle. Shaving felt smooth, results were ok. Based on one shave, I do not like it as much as Gillette Thin Blade, Astra Sp, or GSB.
I've tried them a couple times really on in my DE journey and didn't have any issues with them.
I hate them too, but Derby was very proud while announcing their new blade in our turkish shave form.
A new version is coming and I think it is a better one from the ex.
It wont be a substitute they will produce it as an alternative, as far as I understood.
A new version is coming and I think it is a better one from the ex.
It wont be a substitute they will produce it as an alternative, as far as I understood.
Derbys are, by far, the absolute worst blade I've used by a long shot. They are the #1 blade I will compare other, IMO, horrible blades to.
I'd say they're as dull as a butter knife, but they do cut pieces of some of my whiskers, also I don't want to offend butter knives. They're also about as smooth as shaving with volcanic scoria.
I'd say they're as dull as a butter knife, but they do cut pieces of some of my whiskers, also I don't want to offend butter knives. They're also about as smooth as shaving with volcanic scoria.
It's funny but the only Derby blades I own were freebies with razor purchases, no way I would ever consider purchasing these blades. Probably the most uncomfortable and inefficient shave of any blade I have ever tried.
I got a couple of Derby packs in a sampler when I first started DE shaving. I know I tried them but must've thought they weren't that good because they've been sitting for months now. This thread actually persuaded me to revisit Derby. I loaded a new Derby Extra in my RazoRock HD and used Arko soap. I usually end up with several weepers on a new blade, but I've been keeping "no pressure" in mind for the last couple of weeks and I made it through with no weepers. I usually do two passes on my cheeks and three with touch ups on the throat. All in all, not too bad a shave. I didn't get that really sharp feeling on the new blade that I get from other blades, this was more like a blade with a shave or two on it. I used it for 3 or 4 shaves, then switched it out this morning for another Derby Extra. Again, no weepers, but feeling like a bit of razor burn on the throat. That however was my technique today as I was being rushed to give up the bathroom.
I would have to say that they're not the best blade I've ever used, but they're certainly not the worst. I guess they could fall under the like catagory for me.
I would have to say that they're not the best blade I've ever used, but they're certainly not the worst. I guess they could fall under the like catagory for me.
I'm not fond of them. I found them to be less sharp than most, which meant I'd have to do more passes to get the shave I wanted. More passes = irritation. 
They were the first blade I tried, and I liked them then. After revisiting them when I gained good technique, I thought they were awful, lots of tugging. I'm not exactly sure why this happened, but I'll never use another.
My first experience was negative but I put that down to my technique and gave Derby another chance today. Here's the report:
Preshave: shower and hot towel
Soap: Nanny's Silly Soaps Vetyver
Brush: hgm badger
Razor: Fatip Piccolo
Blade: Derby Extra (1)
After shave: alum, Nivea ASB sensitive skin, Giorgio Beverly Hills Red
I've very comfortable with my prep regime and my soap, which gives good cushion and glide and has previously made average blades, like Treet Platinum feel good.
I did two passes, WTG and XTG. I took it slow, let the razor do the work and I watched my angles carefully. The Derby blade gave lots of aural feedback – it sounded like it was working hard. As I went I thought 'this isn't so bad'.
After the second pass I'd picked up four weepers, all on the left side of my face. The angles I normally used, which with the Rapira Platinum Lux razor yielded a two pass BBS, had still left a noticeable, rough stubble behind. The alum bar tingled all over my face and especially my neck.
I applied my usual ASB and looked in the mirror – it looked like I had heat rash – lots of red weals on my neck. So the Derby is not a blade I could use during the work week. It remains to be seen how long it takes for the irritation to subside. After assessing the rough stubble, I did a third pass with my Krona + Polsilver Iridium to get an acceptable level of smoothness.
So, the remaining Derbys are consigned to paint scraping. I wouldn't even offer them as a PIF as I wouldn't pass on the risk of irritation from these blades to my worst enemy. I didn't get the nicks that plagued me the first time, however, the irritation was as bad which I attribute totally to the blades as they were the only variable in my set-up.
So, yes, hate!
Preshave: shower and hot towel
Soap: Nanny's Silly Soaps Vetyver
Brush: hgm badger
Razor: Fatip Piccolo
Blade: Derby Extra (1)
After shave: alum, Nivea ASB sensitive skin, Giorgio Beverly Hills Red
I've very comfortable with my prep regime and my soap, which gives good cushion and glide and has previously made average blades, like Treet Platinum feel good.
I did two passes, WTG and XTG. I took it slow, let the razor do the work and I watched my angles carefully. The Derby blade gave lots of aural feedback – it sounded like it was working hard. As I went I thought 'this isn't so bad'.
After the second pass I'd picked up four weepers, all on the left side of my face. The angles I normally used, which with the Rapira Platinum Lux razor yielded a two pass BBS, had still left a noticeable, rough stubble behind. The alum bar tingled all over my face and especially my neck.
I applied my usual ASB and looked in the mirror – it looked like I had heat rash – lots of red weals on my neck. So the Derby is not a blade I could use during the work week. It remains to be seen how long it takes for the irritation to subside. After assessing the rough stubble, I did a third pass with my Krona + Polsilver Iridium to get an acceptable level of smoothness.
So, the remaining Derbys are consigned to paint scraping. I wouldn't even offer them as a PIF as I wouldn't pass on the risk of irritation from these blades to my worst enemy. I didn't get the nicks that plagued me the first time, however, the irritation was as bad which I attribute totally to the blades as they were the only variable in my set-up.
So, yes, hate!
Blades are strictly a YMMV thing so there is no reason to "hate" a blade.
For me they work fine,MUCH better than Feathers & Astras but not as well as SHARK (my absolutely favorite blades) & US Personnas (my second favorite blades) .
My father uses them exclusively for over 5 decades and ,of course, absolutely loves them (when I gave him a pack of FEATHER blades he simply threw it in the trash cause he found them absolutely useless and "trashy"
) .
For me they work fine,MUCH better than Feathers & Astras but not as well as SHARK (my absolutely favorite blades) & US Personnas (my second favorite blades) .
My father uses them exclusively for over 5 decades and ,of course, absolutely loves them (when I gave him a pack of FEATHER blades he simply threw it in the trash cause he found them absolutely useless and "trashy"
) .
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Blades are strictly a YMMV thing so there is no reason to "hate" a blade.
For me they work fine,MUCH better than Feathers & Astras but not as well as SHARK (my absolutely favorite blades) & US Personnas (my second favorite blades) .
My father uses them exclusively for over 5 decades and ,of course, absolutely loves them (when I gave him a pack of FEATHER blades he simply threw it in the trash cause he found them absolutely useless and "trashy"
Good for you, your skin can tolerate the Derby Extras. Mine didn't three blades tried, all with the same outcome. With my varying mileage, that's all the justification I need to hate them thank you very much!
It's also consistent with the OP's question in post #1.
