Well that is good to know. We already have 2 users reporting that they can't make a difference between the Israeli and the German made ones.
Israeli versus EU Personna blades
- Thread starter Roedeer
- Start date
Looks like the Reds are now the Blues. I’m trying the Lab Blues and find them to be smooth and sharp. I’m looking forward to trying the German Blues.
Thanks for the good report.
Thanks for the good report.
Boots [UK high street retailer] own-brand blades, which were blatantly a rebadged Personna plastic dispenser, top card and packaging format, always used to be "Made in Israel", and stealthily changed over to "Made in Germany" some time in late 2019, without any other packaging changes.
I used one of the new ones on Tuesday, and it was perfectly fine. I would bet good money that I couldn't tell the new stock from old, if someone else was loading the razor.
I have 100 of the old-type Boots stashed anyway, but it probably wasn't necessary.
I know that many of the generic branded blades in the USA stated made in Israel. I have not checked lately to see if such blades have changed over to made in Germany. If so I might pick up a pack. However, I prefer purchasing blades in bulk quantities as the cost per blade is much lower that way. I see that shaving.ie sells the German Personna blades in bulk, but sources in the USA still seem to carry the Israeli blades.
The European plastic 10 pcs dispensers of the Personnas have always been blue. Even the previous packaging that was made in Israel. Same blades as the Reds.
I guess country of origin doesn't make a difference as long as the blades are being manufactured with the same kind of machinery.
I went to Meijer today (regional superstore chain in the Great Lakes area) and found they now have German Personna blades.
I paid $3.99 for this. Won’t be able to try them until tomorrow night, will post then. I also have German Wilkies and Israeli Personnas and three nearly identical razors, so I might be able to see if they feel any different.
I paid $3.99 for this. Won’t be able to try them until tomorrow night, will post then. I also have German Wilkies and Israeli Personnas and three nearly identical razors, so I might be able to see if they feel any different.
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- Thread starter
- #68
I used the Boots German blade (probable Personna rebrand) again, and got a good result on #2.
It will be interesting to see how your blades play out. The more opinions the better.
It will be interesting to see how your blades play out. The more opinions the better.
We have Meijer stores in the Chicago area as well. They are based out of Grand Rapids, MI, but have stores around the region. The next time I get to my local store, I will have to check whether they have the Meijer branded German Personnas. The Meijer web site still shows photos of blades "Made in Israel". I guess they are transitioning to the German blades as the stock of Israeli blades is depleted store by store.
Yeah, I tend to think of Illinois in general and Chicago in particular as being part of the Great Lakes region, given which body of water is going to get you wet if you jump off the end of Navy Pier. 
Anyway. Nice warm shower and shave with all the blades in three Slims of various ages, but they all feel the same to me. Century 7090 brush and VDH Luxury soap, if it matters. But it became pretty clear which one was not like the others - the German Wilkie tends to come with more Teflon than the others and that was noticeably different on these new blades. As for the Israeli and German Personnas, I couldn’t tell them apart to save my life. Had to check the date codes on the razor to know which was which. Both were extremely effective and left me similarly smooth where I used them.
That was only one time around with new blades. Have to keep using these three a few more times to know, but first impression is that those who like the Israeli blades will like the German ones too.
Speaking of not being able to tell things apart, markings were completely identical on my Israeli and German blades. The only way I could tell them apart in the dispenser was that my older Israeli blades’ dispenser’s metal bits had a slightly pebbly finish that was not present on the newer dispenser full of German blades. I doubt that is actually a distinguishing feature, more likely a separate change from my Israeli blades having been made a few years ago.
Anyway. Nice warm shower and shave with all the blades in three Slims of various ages, but they all feel the same to me. Century 7090 brush and VDH Luxury soap, if it matters. But it became pretty clear which one was not like the others - the German Wilkie tends to come with more Teflon than the others and that was noticeably different on these new blades. As for the Israeli and German Personnas, I couldn’t tell them apart to save my life. Had to check the date codes on the razor to know which was which. Both were extremely effective and left me similarly smooth where I used them.
That was only one time around with new blades. Have to keep using these three a few more times to know, but first impression is that those who like the Israeli blades will like the German ones too.
Speaking of not being able to tell things apart, markings were completely identical on my Israeli and German blades. The only way I could tell them apart in the dispenser was that my older Israeli blades’ dispenser’s metal bits had a slightly pebbly finish that was not present on the newer dispenser full of German blades. I doubt that is actually a distinguishing feature, more likely a separate change from my Israeli blades having been made a few years ago.
- Thread starter
- #71
Good work there, pdieten.
The old [Israeli] Boots blades had a wrapper that the blade literally fell out of, as soon as you unwrapped it, and the new [German] was mildly stuck to its wrapper, with tiny little dabs of wax, nothing like the big blobs that you will see (and some of us weirdos obsessively rinse off with boiling kettle water) on an Astra SP.
I really don't think there is any significant difference here, unless my attempt to make it last as long as an Astra SP fails.
Oh god, am I really going to have to try 14+ shaves with this thing? The things we do to inform our brothers.
I missed the alert on here about Personna shutting down its operation in Israel.
On the other hand, I noticed a while back that I liked the "made in Israel, distributed by (...) Energizer, High Wycombe, UK" high street Personnas available here (Scotland), and on general cynical principles ("if I like anything, they will discontinue it"), I bought a few whenever I was getting groceries, and have about 300 stashed.
In late 2019 the packaging changed to "made in EU, distributed by Personna International CZ (...) Czech Republic".
What is the overall impression: the same, better or worse? I'm going to withhold my opinion, as I don't want to lead the jury.
If I have not characterised the product well enough, I could provide pictures of packaging. The blade itself was blank. We may never know which Personna it really was, only its country of origin.
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I know they say the made in eu Personna platinum (blue box with red letters) is the same blade as the Israeli made Personna platinum (Red box) but they are not. There is no doubt they are different after using both. I will post a photo of the Reds. These are sharper and yet maintain the same smoothness. I have a hundred of the EU Personna Blades and They are collecting dust.
And on a good note... as it stands right now the Israeli plant is safe for awhile. Edgewell was going to close the plant if it purchased Harry’s razors but the US Government didn’t like the buyout and stopped it. But of course Harry’s is now suing Edgewell for dropping the idea of the purchase and not fighting it. so around and around they will go.
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Now to make things more confusing
Energizer owns Edgewell personal care who owns Personna, Schick, Wilkinson Sword, Bull dog, jet black and about twenty other large brand names.
Here comes the confusing part.
Energizer either sold or is licensing the Personna brand name to a company called Accutech Who produces all of the Personna blades made in the USA. So who owns Accutech? They are not listed as a Edgewell owned company.
I will post a photo of the Accutech website listing Personna blades as their product
Confused yet? I am.
Energizer owns Edgewell personal care who owns Personna, Schick, Wilkinson Sword, Bull dog, jet black and about twenty other large brand names.
Here comes the confusing part.
Energizer either sold or is licensing the Personna brand name to a company called Accutech Who produces all of the Personna blades made in the USA. So who owns Accutech? They are not listed as a Edgewell owned company.
I will post a photo of the Accutech website listing Personna blades as their product
Confused yet? I am.
Attachments
It's very confusing, but there was a series of acquisitions and spin-offs from the American Safety Razor company starting back in 2010. ASR had the Personna brand as well as GEM and several other brands. They made blades for the consumer, medical and industrial markets.
ASR was going bankrupt and was acquired by Energizer. Energizer spun off the blade business into another company, Edgewell. Edgewell wanted to get out of the industrial and medical blade market. Accutec was a new company that was formed when Edgewell spun off that portion of its business to a new company formed by some investor group.
The USA Accutec plant is near Staunton, VA. This was originally an ASR plant built back in the 1940s. They make blades branded as Personna and GEM because they got the right to use those brands. They were old ASR brands they've been making for years. However, Edgewell also makes Personna blades because that is a brand that consumers are familiar with, even if the ownership has changed.
Atlantic59. Thank you for explaining it. It’s all confusing to me. Lol. BTW. Love the car in your pic
- Thread starter
- #76
YMMV, but I'm finding the German Personna are working the same for me as the "Made in Israel" version, so I'm happy with the new ones.
Me too.
When you talk about high street Personnas available in Scotland which one's are you referring to? Is it the Personna blades your can get in the Supermarket like these ones in Asda?
EDIT: Spotted it was the Boots own brand you were referring to, I assume they are the same as the Asda ones but haven't tried them
If so, these are different from the Israeli Reds that a lot of posters (myself included) really like. To me, the supermarket one's feel closer to (possibly the same blade) as the Personna Super + Platinum (Crystal Blades), not as sharp or smooth as the Israeli Reds.
I haven't tried the German version of the Supermarket Personna's (I didn't like the Israeli so probably won't bother) and I have a yet to use tuck of the German made Personna Platinum's but if you like any of the Israeli blades (Crystal or Reds) they are still available at multiple online UK stockists so you still have time to stock up!
(As others have pointed out, Personna is the most confusing blade brand/name out there
)
EDIT: Spotted it was the Boots own brand you were referring to, I assume they are the same as the Asda ones but haven't tried them
If so, these are different from the Israeli Reds that a lot of posters (myself included) really like. To me, the supermarket one's feel closer to (possibly the same blade) as the Personna Super + Platinum (Crystal Blades), not as sharp or smooth as the Israeli Reds.
I haven't tried the German version of the Supermarket Personna's (I didn't like the Israeli so probably won't bother) and I have a yet to use tuck of the German made Personna Platinum's but if you like any of the Israeli blades (Crystal or Reds) they are still available at multiple online UK stockists so you still have time to stock up!
(As others have pointed out, Personna is the most confusing blade brand/name out there
)
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Except the plastic dispensers that are made in Israel the word Personna is Red
