Journey to 100 blades (journal)

[Abz88]

Not a new blade today but a revisit of a Derby Premium but loaded into my FaTip Piccolo OC at the request of @thombrogan.

I think this is my first ever full 3 pass shave with the OC baseplate on my Piccolo (not a big OC shaver) so I was extra slow and extra careful today!

Looking back at my notes I last tried one of these in my Muhle Rocca and I found it's sharpness wasn't the best and it wasn't very smooth on shave 1. In the OC Piccolo there were no issues with the sharpness of the blade and it felt smoother than in the Rocca (but not as smooth as some other blades). There was more blade feel in the OC and despite being careful with the shave I still ended up with a couple of small weepers around my jaw. The shave also didn't feel as comfortable as shaving with the Gentile plate, however, there was no irritation and my face doesn't feel too bad so overall a better shave with this blade than I had with it in the Rocca.

 

[thombrogan]

Thank you, @Abz88 Sorry for talking you into some weepers.

 

[Abz88]

Thank you, @Abz88 Sorry for talking you into some weepers.

No problem, they disappeared with the Alum so no major blood loss!

 

[Abz88]

Shave 2 with the Derby Premium in the OC Piccolo. Similar to my experience with it in the Rocca it feels smoother on this shave than on shave 1 with no loss in sharpness. Smoother shave today, and no nicks! (Although I still prefer my Gentile plate)

 

[Abz88]

Shave 3 with the Derby Premium in the OC Piccolo. The blade still feels very smooth but the shave felt a bit tuggier today (likely due to a lack of sharpness) and I ended up with a touch of irritation. Not a bad shave, but for me there are better combinations out there.

 

[thombrogan]

I’m sorry about the irritation, but thank you for retrying the Derby Premium blades in a Fatip OC razor, @Abz88

 

[Abz88]

I’m sorry about the irritation, but thank you for retrying the Derby Premium blades in a Fatip OC razor, @Abz88

No worries, fairly minor irritation, nothing like what I used to get when I used cartridge razors or an electric razor

 

[Abz88]

Shave 4 and a final single pass shave with the Derby Premium in the Piccolo OC. It's still very smooth but lacking a bit in sharpness for my liking (although no irritation or alum feedback today). Overall I've had similar results to the ones I had with this blade in my Rocca, but the shaves were a bit more efficient in the Piccolo OC.

 

[Abz88]

Blade 36: Merkur Super Platinum

Finally back to blade testing after trying out a few new razors with some old faithfuls!
Up next is the Merkur Super Platinum that came free with my new Merkur Progress. On shave 1 it felt very smooth but not overly sharp and a bit tuggy on a few spots. No Alum sting but a couple of spots of minor irritation. They seem to have disappeared this afternoon but from past experience with duller blades I could be in for some ingrown hairs. It was also not as close a shave as the Israeli Red I used last week in this razor on the same setting (3).

 

[Abz88]

Shave 2 with the Merkur Super Platinum today and a marked improvement from shave 1. I turned my Merkur Progress up to 4 for all passes and the result was still a smooth shave (not quite as smooth as shave 1) but a more efficient shave with no tugging. No irritation or Alum feedback today and it doesn't look like any ingrowns are inbound as often happens with less sharp blades.

 

[Abz88]

Shave 3 with the Merkur Super Platinum today and it was the best one so far. The blade felt sharper today than previous shaves and with the Progress up at 4 again it was a pleasant and irritation free shave. With 1 shave to go I've been pleasantly surprised with this blade.

 

[Abz88]

Blade 37: Lamix Platinum Plus

I still have one shave left to go on thr Merkur, but it's Tiger/Lion week so trying out a Lamix before jumping back to the Merkurs final shave. This one is made in Turkey at the Derby factory and reminds me of either a Derby Premium or a Parker Platinum (rumoured to be made by Derby to Parkers spec). The first shave was smooth but lacked a touch in sharpness (mid-sharp blade similar to the other two mentioned), however, the end result was quite a close shave with no need to go over any areas and an irritation and alum feedback free shave.

 

[Abz88]

Shave 2 with the Lamix Platinum Plus today. Unfortunately after shave 1 I ended up with some next day irritation and quite a few ingrowns (likely due to lack of sharpness). The blade felt a bit sharper today and still smooth. No additional irritation today but previous irritation flared up a bit. Hopefully there's no next day irritation tomorrow!

 

[Abz88]

Shave 3 with the Lamix today. It was sharper than shave 1 but possibly not quite as sharp as shave 2 (based on how close the final shave was). No irritation today or alum feedback and the irritation and ingrowns from shave 1 seem to have disappeared completely.

 

[Abz88]

Fourth and final shave with the Lamix today. Just a quick single pass shave which the blade managed ok with. Sharpness dropped again but it was sharper than shave 1 and still smooth. A touch of irritation around my adams apple but it disappeared by the end of the day.

Overall this blade reminded me of the Parker Premier and the Derby Platinum. Smooth but not overly sharp.

 

[edw]

Lamix is a Brazilian brand that order and rebrand blades ("lâminas") from abroad in batches.

The first one were German from Feintechnik, awful in my opinion.

Then they imported a batch from Turkey Derby, got better.

Now Lamix being sold nowadays in Brazil are a batch from Dorco Vietnamese, very good blades.

 

[Abz88]

Lamix is a Brazilian brand that order and rebrand blades ("lâminas") from abroad in batches.

The first one were German from Feintechnik, awful in my opinion.

Then they imported a batch from Turkey Derby, got better.

Now Lamix being sold nowadays in Brazil are a batch from Dorco Vietnamese, very good blades.

Thanks for the info, I believe the ones I have are the Derby version. Do you know if the Dorco ones are just a re-branded Dorco blade or are they made to a different specification?

 

[Abz88]

Back to the Merkur Super Platinum today for its fourth and final shave! Just a quick two pass shave today and the blade was sharp enough and smooth enough with my Progress set at 4 again. Maybe not quite as close a shave as I would get from 2 passes with a BIC but it was close enough and it was irritation free. Pleasantly surprised by this blade, with it being on the duller side I was expecting more irritation and ingrowns.

 

[edw]

Thanks for the info, I believe the ones I have are the Derby version. Do you know if the Dorco ones are just a re-branded Dorco blade or are they made to a different specification?

To me it looks and shaves exactly the same as the regular Vietnamese Dorco, white and red package. Good blades. Called LAMIX NEW PLATINUM PRO.

 

[Abz88]

Blade 38: Gillette 7 O'clock Permasharp Stainless

The Indian 7 O'Clock Green got it's first run out today after I used a 7 O'Clock Yellow last week. The first shave was an improvement from the Yellow, it felt a touch sharper on shave 1 and smoother as well. Overall it provided a close shave with no irritation or alum feedback other than a touch of flare up from the last shave.