Gillette Silver Blue: This happen to anyone else?

[Alex_Kinzor]

Right so I've been going through my samples and decided to use a Gillette Silver Blue--I ordered two from tryablade and got maybe a half dozen or so from a recent pif. Anyway my first shave it was sharp but pretty rough, the second shave was smoother but still rough and still sharp.

My third shave though sharp but much smoother.

Has this happened to anyone else? A GSB being better after being used a few times than right out of the pack? If it helps I've been experimenting with soaps so that could be a factor.

Shave 1: VDH Deluxe (pretty much my work horse as it is easy to get and cheap)
Shave 2: Dove (yeah I know it isn't a shave soap but it seems to work just as well as the VDH, maybe a bit slicker)
Shave 3: The end of a VDH puck that was melted on top of dove shavings (yeah I did that to be cheap--I'm between jobs right now).

 

[Lightcs1776]

I've had blades that were more comfortable after a shave or two. Others start out great and stay that way for many shaves.

By the way, there's nothing wrong with being cheap. There were days when I was young when cheap was a requirement.

Sent via mobile

 

[BSAGuy]

Lots of guys here feel that shaves #2 and beyond are smoother than shave #1 on any blade. They feel that shave #1 knocks off some roughness and sets up subsequent shaves as smoother.

 

[Alex_Kinzor]

Well as to cheapness, I'm not so young anymore. Though I imagine to some guys here I'm still a kid at 37. But then again when I was 17, my mother once said "You're 17 going on 68" and I'm told I have "an old soul" from one of the local hippie freaks.

I've read that here too BSAguy, but I've never actually believed it. It would seem to me that a blade is going to be its smoothest and sharpest on the first shave because it hasn't cut through any wiskers yet. But then again I've also had a weird experience with Derbies too--it seems that my face can't stand them but they shave my head just fine. Of course with that I think my head hair might be quite a bit thinner than my whiskers--there is certainly less of it these days.

 

[sgemmett]

Yup. I seems to have a low tolerance for new sharp blades. I get what I call 'fire' from a new blade, an almost burn sensation from a number of blades on the first use. So far Nacets give me the closest shave of all blades but the first shave always is a little rough. Between 2-3 is where they get really smooth and very close shaving and although I usually don't go beyond 5 I just took one to shave 7 in a Bakelite slant and hadn't noticed any real drop in performance and comfort. OK, I could tell I wasn't on shave 3 anymore but damn close to BBS and still very comfortable.
GSB has less of an issue for me but shave 1 was a harder on my face than 2 and on. Most of the blades on the sharper end of the spectrum exhibit this while an India Wilki is smooth on shave one although not as close shaving as others. And they only last me for about 3 shaves before performance noticeably drops.

It would be nice to find a close shaving blade that I don't have to deal with the first shave burn but I haven't yet. Might not, could just be the way my face is.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

I had a stellar shave today with my 1952 Super Speed and a SuperMax Super Platinum on its eighth shave. Best shave to date with that blade.

 

[Highspeedlane]

It is not an uncommon occurrence with many blades, not just Silver Blue's. When I first started using the GSB I rarely liked the first shave as much as I would later shaves with the same blade.

 

[Floyd Eye]

I am a regular GSB user. As with any blade, the first shave is the best for me.

 

[TobyC]

Any machined surface needs to be broken in, or worn in, before it works smoothly.

 

[D1dad]

I gotta believe what your experiencing is some of the sharpness being knocked down a bit. I noticed with the new dorco prime the 1st shave is extremely sharp but a little rough but by shave 3 it's a perfect mix of smooth and sharp.

 

[seattleshaver]

I can see how that could be the case but I've never experienced it with GSB. The first shave could be like stropping a straight razor thus making the second shave smoother.

 

[D1dad]

I tried the GSB and thought it was pretty rough myself but that's just me. I canned it after 1 shave and never gave it a second.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Any machined surface needs to be broken in, or worn in, before it works smoothly.

You are on like the 35th shave with the blade you are using right now though. lol

 

[TobyC]

You are on like the 35th shave with the blade you are using right now though. lol

Just trying to break it in!


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[Floyd Eye]

 

[Strayhair]

I've had that experience with Polsilvers, but never GSBs.

 

[Alex_Kinzor]

Well we'll see as I intend on using the blade until it starts feeling blunt. So far I still like the 7 O'Clock yellows better. I was concerned that I might have in fact a defective blade--hence why I always buy at least two blades of each type from tryablade.

 

[ChipNWedge]

I was going to trash this trial Gillette Silver Blue after my 2nd shave with my trusty EJ DE89Lbl and some Barrister & Mann, because while the shave was very close (2 pass WTG and XTG with cleanup gave a solid BBS) ... the thing caused irritation. There's good audio feedback and it's relatively smooth, but not as great as an Astra, PolSilver, or Perma Sharp. I apply zero pressure in my shaves but this thing irritated me. I've never had any issues with B&M, so I doubt it's the soap. This blade reminds me of the Yellow 7 O'Clock's in terms of being very sharp but not all that smooth.

But I'll give it one more try to see if the 3rd shave's the charm.

 

[ChipNWedge]

I tried the GSB on a 3rd shave and ... it does smooth out. I had less irritation this time around, but ... it comes at the expense of getting a DFS/BBS instead of a BBS.

I made the mistake of not using the same B&M soap to keep the test consistent. I went with the QCS Fougere which I find to be slicker.

I have a 5 pack. So I'll try again but with the same B&M soap throughout.

 

[jesseix]

I haven't tried the GSB's yet but I've found that palm-stropping new blades before use helps to make the first shave or two smoother.