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.
Up to bat this time is a blade so highly regarded, if they had a DE blade hall of fame, it would be enshrined next to a picture of ol’ King Camp himself. I’m referring of course to the much lauded Personna Lab Blue. It’s a blade as shrouded in confusion as it is heaped with praise. Some say it’s just a dirty Personna Med Prep. Others swear the Med Preps are a cut above (pun alert.) Will we ever get a definitive answer?! Well...yes. In fact it’s been out there awhile. The Lab Blue is simply a Med Prep that hasn’t undergone the rigorous and mystifying cleaning process razor blades need to be considered medical grade. Yet still the debate rages! And the world is better for it. To make matters worse, Personna makes an Israeli and US blade in blue packaging. The difference? The blue Israeli blades are really the Israeli Reds in disguise! And the US made blue blades are the actual Lab Blues. Yes, Personna never fails to inform in their marketing. Interestingly enough, the Personna Lab Blues and Med Preps and are the only DE blades still made in the US. I’m sure if you’ve read to this point you’re wondering if there’s actually going to actually be a review of these things. So without wasting any more digital paper, it’s on to the review of the US made “Comfort Coated” Lab Blue!
First up as usual is sharpness. The Lab Blue has a reputation of being an upper tier sharp blade, and the first shave really was wonderful. In fact, for me it ranked up there with my best shaves ever. I have a pretty coarse set of whiskers and most blades i use require going over the same areas many, many times. Not so with the Lab Blue. It decimated my beard with almost zero fuss. The second shave was nearly the same as the first and in fact, it felt even sharper the second go round. To me, the second shave with the Lab was tied with the Viking’s Sword as best shave of my life. Now, i feel the need to insert this objective bit of info here: for those of you familiar with the refined shave website, the Lab Blue tested at an initial sharpness of 48. And the second shave sharpness was tested at a 37. 48 is a staggeringly “dull” sharpness number whereas 37 is a pretty “sharp” number. This was shocking to me as i felt the first shave was nearly as sharp as the second. More on that in a minute though. My third shave with the Lab Blue was good, but nowhere near the first two. I received some irritation and a couple weepers but it was still a good, close shave. The fourth was a little harsher than the third and though still good, the blade felt like it was no longer slicing through my beard as efficiently.
Which brings me to smoothness. The first two shaves were perfect. A 10 in my book. The razor had that beautiful “glide” that happens when paired with the right blade. The shaves were BBS and irritation was pretty much non-existant. The third and fourth shaves were about a 7 and 6 respectively. The blade started to drag and the irritation levels post shave rose. As noted previously, i also had a couple weepers on both the third and fourth shaves.
Which brings me back to the refined shave. The third shave for him registered a sharpness level of 35. This is getting into feather territory and one would think, should provide the shaves with the most efficiency and perceptable sharpness. So why did i feel the first two shaves were the most efficient and sharpest? In my opinion, it all has to do with the “Comfort Coating.”
As the Teflon (PTFE for those concerned with patent infringement) wore off, the razor’s edge gradually was more exposed. For shaves 1 and 2 the blade balanced out perfectly for me. As the coating wore off, the blade sharpened up but still had enough teflon to glide over my skin without biting into it. By the third shave, i believe the coating had worn off to the point that the blade began to create friction as it cut through the hair and dragged across my skin. This i perceived as a duller blade because the blade was pulling my skin instead of gliding over it. In actuality, it was plenty sharp but the friction increased effort and thus, perceieved inefficiency or “dullness.”
For me this really was a revelation in how to choose a blade and the nature of YMMV. For those like me, with a fairly wiry beard and about normal skin sensitivity, a blade that is teflon coated and medium-high sharp is ideal beacuse it cuts efficiently and the teflon allows the blade to glide instead of drag. For those with thin beards and sensitive skin, a duller coated blade would be ideal because they don’t need as much sharpness to cut their whiskers yet still require the protection of the coating. For those with tough beards and tough skin, the sharpest uncoated blades are best because they don’t feel the skin feedback of the blade and only really perceive the cutting efficiency. This is why someone might dislike the Lab Blue on the first two shaves and toss it before it sharpens up to a level they’d find acceptable. I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of hated blades fall into the uncoated medium sharp territory simply because they don’t serve anyone’s face and beard type well. So that’s my new theory. I successfully hijacked my own thead! Anyway on to longevity.
Longevity for the Lab Blue is its big flaw. For me, these are two and toss blades. It’s the only real area of weakness from what are now one of my top three blades. Others may find they like the lab blue more as it goes on due to the increased sharpness, but for me it just made the blade harsh.
Consistancy was a 10 with both blades performing identically. Most top tier blades have good quality control and the Lab Blue was no exception.
Last up is price. I had a devil of a time actually finding out which blue box on amazon were in fact lab blues and not israeli Personna’s. The packaging changes and lack of info on conutry of manufacture led to a mountain of confusion. I’m linking the ones i found for you fellow B&Bers to check and make sure i’m not spreading misinformation. These were $13.46 per 100 and put them on the mid-low end of the DE price scale. For a top tier blade though, these are a steal.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071...zor+blades&dpPl=1&dpID=51cnxwu4hJL&ref=plSrch
So after that exhaustively long review, what would i give the Lab Blue for an overall grade? This was a tough one. The first two shaves were 10’s in both sharpness and smoothness. The consistancy was a 10 and the price for a top tier blade is also a 10. The area it takes a hit (for me) is that it’s a two use and chuck blade. Initially i was going to grade it at an 8, but because the price is so good, i’m giving the Personna Lab Blue my highest score yet: a 9 out of 10. It’s going to be hard to beat the combination of near perfect shaves, price and consistancy. If any blade does overtake it, it’ll be something that gives me 4 perfect shaves. Pretty much my personal holy grail of shaving. But like the actual holy grail, it may not even exist. Won’t stop me from trying though!
Well that’s it for this review folks! I’m still pretty behind on reviews so a new one will probably be coming out in a week or two. Next up The Perma-Sharp Super. Until then, happy shaving!
Up to bat this time is a blade so highly regarded, if they had a DE blade hall of fame, it would be enshrined next to a picture of ol’ King Camp himself. I’m referring of course to the much lauded Personna Lab Blue. It’s a blade as shrouded in confusion as it is heaped with praise. Some say it’s just a dirty Personna Med Prep. Others swear the Med Preps are a cut above (pun alert.) Will we ever get a definitive answer?! Well...yes. In fact it’s been out there awhile. The Lab Blue is simply a Med Prep that hasn’t undergone the rigorous and mystifying cleaning process razor blades need to be considered medical grade. Yet still the debate rages! And the world is better for it. To make matters worse, Personna makes an Israeli and US blade in blue packaging. The difference? The blue Israeli blades are really the Israeli Reds in disguise! And the US made blue blades are the actual Lab Blues. Yes, Personna never fails to inform in their marketing. Interestingly enough, the Personna Lab Blues and Med Preps and are the only DE blades still made in the US. I’m sure if you’ve read to this point you’re wondering if there’s actually going to actually be a review of these things. So without wasting any more digital paper, it’s on to the review of the US made “Comfort Coated” Lab Blue!
First up as usual is sharpness. The Lab Blue has a reputation of being an upper tier sharp blade, and the first shave really was wonderful. In fact, for me it ranked up there with my best shaves ever. I have a pretty coarse set of whiskers and most blades i use require going over the same areas many, many times. Not so with the Lab Blue. It decimated my beard with almost zero fuss. The second shave was nearly the same as the first and in fact, it felt even sharper the second go round. To me, the second shave with the Lab was tied with the Viking’s Sword as best shave of my life. Now, i feel the need to insert this objective bit of info here: for those of you familiar with the refined shave website, the Lab Blue tested at an initial sharpness of 48. And the second shave sharpness was tested at a 37. 48 is a staggeringly “dull” sharpness number whereas 37 is a pretty “sharp” number. This was shocking to me as i felt the first shave was nearly as sharp as the second. More on that in a minute though. My third shave with the Lab Blue was good, but nowhere near the first two. I received some irritation and a couple weepers but it was still a good, close shave. The fourth was a little harsher than the third and though still good, the blade felt like it was no longer slicing through my beard as efficiently.
Which brings me to smoothness. The first two shaves were perfect. A 10 in my book. The razor had that beautiful “glide” that happens when paired with the right blade. The shaves were BBS and irritation was pretty much non-existant. The third and fourth shaves were about a 7 and 6 respectively. The blade started to drag and the irritation levels post shave rose. As noted previously, i also had a couple weepers on both the third and fourth shaves.
Which brings me back to the refined shave. The third shave for him registered a sharpness level of 35. This is getting into feather territory and one would think, should provide the shaves with the most efficiency and perceptable sharpness. So why did i feel the first two shaves were the most efficient and sharpest? In my opinion, it all has to do with the “Comfort Coating.”
As the Teflon (PTFE for those concerned with patent infringement) wore off, the razor’s edge gradually was more exposed. For shaves 1 and 2 the blade balanced out perfectly for me. As the coating wore off, the blade sharpened up but still had enough teflon to glide over my skin without biting into it. By the third shave, i believe the coating had worn off to the point that the blade began to create friction as it cut through the hair and dragged across my skin. This i perceived as a duller blade because the blade was pulling my skin instead of gliding over it. In actuality, it was plenty sharp but the friction increased effort and thus, perceieved inefficiency or “dullness.”
For me this really was a revelation in how to choose a blade and the nature of YMMV. For those like me, with a fairly wiry beard and about normal skin sensitivity, a blade that is teflon coated and medium-high sharp is ideal beacuse it cuts efficiently and the teflon allows the blade to glide instead of drag. For those with thin beards and sensitive skin, a duller coated blade would be ideal because they don’t need as much sharpness to cut their whiskers yet still require the protection of the coating. For those with tough beards and tough skin, the sharpest uncoated blades are best because they don’t feel the skin feedback of the blade and only really perceive the cutting efficiency. This is why someone might dislike the Lab Blue on the first two shaves and toss it before it sharpens up to a level they’d find acceptable. I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of hated blades fall into the uncoated medium sharp territory simply because they don’t serve anyone’s face and beard type well. So that’s my new theory. I successfully hijacked my own thead! Anyway on to longevity.
Longevity for the Lab Blue is its big flaw. For me, these are two and toss blades. It’s the only real area of weakness from what are now one of my top three blades. Others may find they like the lab blue more as it goes on due to the increased sharpness, but for me it just made the blade harsh.
Consistancy was a 10 with both blades performing identically. Most top tier blades have good quality control and the Lab Blue was no exception.
Last up is price. I had a devil of a time actually finding out which blue box on amazon were in fact lab blues and not israeli Personna’s. The packaging changes and lack of info on conutry of manufacture led to a mountain of confusion. I’m linking the ones i found for you fellow B&Bers to check and make sure i’m not spreading misinformation. These were $13.46 per 100 and put them on the mid-low end of the DE price scale. For a top tier blade though, these are a steal.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071...zor+blades&dpPl=1&dpID=51cnxwu4hJL&ref=plSrch
So after that exhaustively long review, what would i give the Lab Blue for an overall grade? This was a tough one. The first two shaves were 10’s in both sharpness and smoothness. The consistancy was a 10 and the price for a top tier blade is also a 10. The area it takes a hit (for me) is that it’s a two use and chuck blade. Initially i was going to grade it at an 8, but because the price is so good, i’m giving the Personna Lab Blue my highest score yet: a 9 out of 10. It’s going to be hard to beat the combination of near perfect shaves, price and consistancy. If any blade does overtake it, it’ll be something that gives me 4 perfect shaves. Pretty much my personal holy grail of shaving. But like the actual holy grail, it may not even exist. Won’t stop me from trying though!
Well that’s it for this review folks! I’m still pretty behind on reviews so a new one will probably be coming out in a week or two. Next up The Perma-Sharp Super. Until then, happy shaving!
