So i'm back with another monthly review! As before, each blade will be reviewed based on a 2 pass (plus touch up) shave using a Van Der Hagen long handled razor, some atrocious “Peace” soap that should never have been used for shaving and a generic Fento badger brush. I run through 2 of each blade and use each 4 times; for a total of 8 shaves per brand. I'll be grading based on sharpness, smoothness, longevity and consistency. Price will be a factor but only of it's very cheap or expensive since most DE blades are pretty cheap comparatively.
After a couple months hiatus, the unreviewed blades are starting to stack up and i need to get them committed to the B&B archives before my feeble brain forgets the specifics. First up, the Lord Super Stainless.
For whatever reason, the name Lord conjures up images for me of a stately knight riding in full armor through his village of peasants; watching with fatherly pride as they till the land he owns. Of course it’s possible i’ve been watching too much game of thrones and my mind is stuck in medieval mode. I suppose Lord could also be one of those awful english lords of the 18th century whose smug aristocratic demeanor made it a little easier for those men to fire the first shots at Lexington and Concord. Either way, Lord BLADES are actually made in Egypt and bear no similarities to anything i just described (though they DO have a sword on the tuck packaging.)
The wrapper packaging on the Super Stainless says LORD in blue on a white background. Pretty simple. The blade itself is similarly unadorned with just the words LORD and SUPER STAINLESS. So much for grand knights and wealthy aristocrats. These appear to be “chromium coated” according to a couple websites but as always with coatings, that may or may not be true. So how did this (in my mind) regal blade actually shave? Well, lets just say some Lords were known for their cruelty...
First up is sharpness. On the first swipe i knew i was in for a rough ride with the Lord SS. The tugging was sufficient for me to wonder whether i’d pulled a bad blade. Alas, i always run each blade 4 times so i was locked in even if i did. The subsequent 4 shaves were just short of murderously awful. It wasn’t so much that the blade was tearing up my face, it just was NOT removing stubble. Never have i blade buffed with such reckless abandon. Each of the 4 shaves seemed identical in its inability to cut hair. This was by far the dullest blade i’ve used outside of the Tiger 3H. Which isn’t actually meant for shaving. No matter how many times i went over the same area, stubble remained. I just couldn’t get a close shave. Thinking the first blade may have been a dud, i had hope for the second. Alas, it was exactly the same. It was truly a rough 8 shaves.
Smoothness was a bit of a different story. The tugging was pretty unpleasant during the shave, but even despite all the buffing and going over the same areas again and again, my face didn’t feel all that torn up. And only 1 or 2 weepers out of the 8 shaves. So smooth feeling it was not, but perhaps the dullness was to thank for a relatively irritation free shave.
Longevity is hard to measure here because each shave was so awful. They all felt equally as dull so perhaps longevity is good...if you like a brutal shave. Maybe the Lord is consistent but the sheer awfulness of the shave leaves me no choice but to give it a bad mark for longevity.
Consistency is also tough because both blades gave me a consistently bad shave. If that’s what the manufacturer aimed for they hit it spot on. I won’t ding it too hard here though because i can’t say i noticed a marked difference in blades.
Price for the Lord SS is very good at 11.35 per 100 on amazon, but it would basically like paying someone to hit you. If they gave these things away i’d still consider growing a beard.
Despite my opening remarks about knights and upper crust lords being a bit off mark for an Egyptian blade having nothing to do with either, i’ll keep it consistent and say that if the Lord blade was a lord proper, he’d be the sadistic, draw and quarter my peasants type. I truly feel that this was right up there with the worst shaves i’ve ever had. I’d quit DE shaving for good if i had to use these things regularly. I considered awarding a 3 out of 10 overall just because my face wasn’t hacked to pieces post shave, but who am i kidding? These blades were atrocious and deserving of lower. Therefore, they get an overall 2 out of 10. Just marginally better than the Tiger 3H which still maintains top honors for worst blade of all time.
With that horrible memory out of the way, next up in Macduff review land is the Lord Superior Platinum. Can Lord shake its cruel reputation? Or will I once again be subjected to the DE shaving equivalent of medieval torture? Stay tuned...
After a couple months hiatus, the unreviewed blades are starting to stack up and i need to get them committed to the B&B archives before my feeble brain forgets the specifics. First up, the Lord Super Stainless.
For whatever reason, the name Lord conjures up images for me of a stately knight riding in full armor through his village of peasants; watching with fatherly pride as they till the land he owns. Of course it’s possible i’ve been watching too much game of thrones and my mind is stuck in medieval mode. I suppose Lord could also be one of those awful english lords of the 18th century whose smug aristocratic demeanor made it a little easier for those men to fire the first shots at Lexington and Concord. Either way, Lord BLADES are actually made in Egypt and bear no similarities to anything i just described (though they DO have a sword on the tuck packaging.)
The wrapper packaging on the Super Stainless says LORD in blue on a white background. Pretty simple. The blade itself is similarly unadorned with just the words LORD and SUPER STAINLESS. So much for grand knights and wealthy aristocrats. These appear to be “chromium coated” according to a couple websites but as always with coatings, that may or may not be true. So how did this (in my mind) regal blade actually shave? Well, lets just say some Lords were known for their cruelty...
First up is sharpness. On the first swipe i knew i was in for a rough ride with the Lord SS. The tugging was sufficient for me to wonder whether i’d pulled a bad blade. Alas, i always run each blade 4 times so i was locked in even if i did. The subsequent 4 shaves were just short of murderously awful. It wasn’t so much that the blade was tearing up my face, it just was NOT removing stubble. Never have i blade buffed with such reckless abandon. Each of the 4 shaves seemed identical in its inability to cut hair. This was by far the dullest blade i’ve used outside of the Tiger 3H. Which isn’t actually meant for shaving. No matter how many times i went over the same area, stubble remained. I just couldn’t get a close shave. Thinking the first blade may have been a dud, i had hope for the second. Alas, it was exactly the same. It was truly a rough 8 shaves.
Smoothness was a bit of a different story. The tugging was pretty unpleasant during the shave, but even despite all the buffing and going over the same areas again and again, my face didn’t feel all that torn up. And only 1 or 2 weepers out of the 8 shaves. So smooth feeling it was not, but perhaps the dullness was to thank for a relatively irritation free shave.
Longevity is hard to measure here because each shave was so awful. They all felt equally as dull so perhaps longevity is good...if you like a brutal shave. Maybe the Lord is consistent but the sheer awfulness of the shave leaves me no choice but to give it a bad mark for longevity.
Consistency is also tough because both blades gave me a consistently bad shave. If that’s what the manufacturer aimed for they hit it spot on. I won’t ding it too hard here though because i can’t say i noticed a marked difference in blades.
Price for the Lord SS is very good at 11.35 per 100 on amazon, but it would basically like paying someone to hit you. If they gave these things away i’d still consider growing a beard.
Despite my opening remarks about knights and upper crust lords being a bit off mark for an Egyptian blade having nothing to do with either, i’ll keep it consistent and say that if the Lord blade was a lord proper, he’d be the sadistic, draw and quarter my peasants type. I truly feel that this was right up there with the worst shaves i’ve ever had. I’d quit DE shaving for good if i had to use these things regularly. I considered awarding a 3 out of 10 overall just because my face wasn’t hacked to pieces post shave, but who am i kidding? These blades were atrocious and deserving of lower. Therefore, they get an overall 2 out of 10. Just marginally better than the Tiger 3H which still maintains top honors for worst blade of all time.
With that horrible memory out of the way, next up in Macduff review land is the Lord Superior Platinum. Can Lord shake its cruel reputation? Or will I once again be subjected to the DE shaving equivalent of medieval torture? Stay tuned...
