Tried Astra, then Wilkinson Sword, then Feather, then Voskhod, but the best so far was Rapira Swedish SuperSteel - such a comfortable shave, no nicks or tugging. After 3 shaves, blade is still good - and not deteriorating.
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Most comfortable blades
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Tried Astra, then Wilkinson Sword, then Feather, then Voskhod, but the best so far was Rapira Swedish SuperSteel - such a comfortable shave, no nicks or tugging. After 3 shaves, blade is still good - and not deteriorating.
GSG are the smooth and sharp and Astra SP is a close second. Gillette Nacet are also worth trying and anything from the PPI stable.
Tried Astra, then Wilkinson Sword, then Feather, then Voskhod, but the best so far was Rapira Swedish SuperSteel - such a comfortable shave, no nicks or tugging. After 3 shaves, blade is still good - and not deteriorating.
And here is where ymmv. I find that swedish supersteel is not only the worst rapira blade made, but one of the worst blades I have used period. Derby are worse, so are dorco. I have kept trying to go back to them based on reviews such as this but find them horrible.
It's been said, but I have found Nacet and 7 O'clock Greens to be be the most comfortable for me. That's after trying Personna Red, Crystal, Derby Extra (not bad, just not sharp), Astra SS, Voskhod (horrible!) and a host of others.
Made in England Wilkinsons
A good place to start your search is here
Buy Individual Razor Blades for Double Edge, Single Edge and Shavettes
You can put your own sample pack together. I'd recommend you get at least three of each blade you want to try to allow for duds and in order to get enough shaves to tell. I found when still using modern blades that except for Feathers most of the top blades recommended by others lived up to the praise, PSI, Gillette 7 O'clock Yellows and Silver Blues, etc. and also one that usually slips under most peoples radar. Rapira Swedish Super Steel are an excellent choice. Very smooth.
Not sure why that link turned out as it did but in case it doesn't work for you it's
Tryablade.com
Buy Individual Razor Blades for Double Edge, Single Edge and Shavettes
You can put your own sample pack together. I'd recommend you get at least three of each blade you want to try to allow for duds and in order to get enough shaves to tell. I found when still using modern blades that except for Feathers most of the top blades recommended by others lived up to the praise, PSI, Gillette 7 O'clock Yellows and Silver Blues, etc. and also one that usually slips under most peoples radar. Rapira Swedish Super Steel are an excellent choice. Very smooth.
Not sure why that link turned out as it did but in case it doesn't work for you it's
Tryablade.com
Most comfortable for me is Nacet, & a close second is GSB.
If you go to that link I gave for tryablade.com, if you click NOS blades there's one that was one of the biggest surprises I ever got in wet shaving. Before I discovered vintage blades which you can expect to last into double digits, I only ever would get an average of 4 shaves, give or take one, from modern blades. Under that group is a cheap Lord model called "Cools" not the sharpest or smoothest but they surprised me by going sometimes as many as 10+ shaves before any noticeable deterioration. Not great to begin with but after 6 or so uses better than the best....for me....at the time.
As previously mentioned, you have to experiment, but here’s a tip (I’m speaking from experience, because when I was searching for which blades worked for me early on in my wet shaving career, I kept trying to change everything without focusing on what I was actually trying to do).
Without going crazy, gather a few different blades. Now, before you do anything else, Establish some constants. There are lots of variables that can influence your opinion on a blade. Keep focus on the fact that you are trying to make a determination of which blades you like and don’t like (what works, and what doesn’t). After you have narrowed the field, you can dial things in, and expand your scope of experimentation - LATER, not right now.
- Pick ONE razor to use for the evaluation, and stick to just that one. You stated that you favor the 6S with R5. Use that while testing each blade. Different blades can feel/perform completely different in different razors. Keep it consistent during testing. Remember, you can experiment further later. You can even revisit some of the blades that didn’t work well in this razor, but they work well in a different razor. Again, LATER, not right now.
- Pick ONE soap or cream that you use that you consider to be “average”. Again, changing the soap/cream can change the shave. Keep it consistent during testing.
- Pick how often to shave while testing the blades. A particular blade may easily tackle one day’s growth, but have a harder time trying to mow three day’s growth. Keep it consistent during testing.
- Use a blade three times, and then throw it away, and move on to the next blade in your line-up. At this point, you’re not trying to figure out which blade last the longest (in the grand scheme it’s actually irrelevant). Using the blade for only one shave won’t provide enough data. Two is better, but three will give you enough rounds to form an opinion. Besides, some blades perform differently on subsequent shaves. I’ve heard people state that they like blade X, but only on the second shave and beyond.
- After you’ve tried one of each blade in your line-up, go around one more time with each blade, just to ensure that you didn’t get a dud in there.
- Oh, one more thing. Don’t shave half of your face with one blade, and the half with another. It’s just one more variable that can affect the data. It’s somewhat minuscule, but it can throw things off.
This same process isn’t limited to just finding which blades work for you; you can use the same concept for testing out different razors, different creams, etc. The bottom line is that the only way to get an accurate comparison between things is by changing ONLY ONE THING at a time.
Without going crazy, gather a few different blades. Now, before you do anything else, Establish some constants. There are lots of variables that can influence your opinion on a blade. Keep focus on the fact that you are trying to make a determination of which blades you like and don’t like (what works, and what doesn’t). After you have narrowed the field, you can dial things in, and expand your scope of experimentation - LATER, not right now.
- Pick ONE razor to use for the evaluation, and stick to just that one. You stated that you favor the 6S with R5. Use that while testing each blade. Different blades can feel/perform completely different in different razors. Keep it consistent during testing. Remember, you can experiment further later. You can even revisit some of the blades that didn’t work well in this razor, but they work well in a different razor. Again, LATER, not right now.
- Pick ONE soap or cream that you use that you consider to be “average”. Again, changing the soap/cream can change the shave. Keep it consistent during testing.
- Pick how often to shave while testing the blades. A particular blade may easily tackle one day’s growth, but have a harder time trying to mow three day’s growth. Keep it consistent during testing.
- Use a blade three times, and then throw it away, and move on to the next blade in your line-up. At this point, you’re not trying to figure out which blade last the longest (in the grand scheme it’s actually irrelevant). Using the blade for only one shave won’t provide enough data. Two is better, but three will give you enough rounds to form an opinion. Besides, some blades perform differently on subsequent shaves. I’ve heard people state that they like blade X, but only on the second shave and beyond.
- After you’ve tried one of each blade in your line-up, go around one more time with each blade, just to ensure that you didn’t get a dud in there.
- Oh, one more thing. Don’t shave half of your face with one blade, and the half with another. It’s just one more variable that can affect the data. It’s somewhat minuscule, but it can throw things off.
This same process isn’t limited to just finding which blades work for you; you can use the same concept for testing out different razors, different creams, etc. The bottom line is that the only way to get an accurate comparison between things is by changing ONLY ONE THING at a time.
A few years back on a British traditional wet shaving forum they had a great blind test with volunteers to test modern blades and the winner was the Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless made in Russia.
I don't get why someone would endure up to 6 mediocre shaves from a blade to start with, but to still shave with it beyond that makes absolutely no sense at all!! I would think that 2-3 shaves from a mediocre blade would be enough to make one think, maybe I shouldn't be shaving with this blade and change to something different, be it another blade from the tuck or a different brand of blade altogether. I always thought the idea was to use a blade that was sharp and smooth until the blade started to fall off in efficiency, then bin it and put in a new one and do it all over again!! Maybe I've been doing this wrong all along...
Rest of blades were varied Derby and lord? lol
Difference between blades is much less than we perceive. For instance I would not be able to tell apart German Wilkinson Sword, Red Personna or Gillette Black from any of PPI blades, in a blind test.
I will add one thing to this. Get a base line blade as well as razor - I used a shark stainless that I kept going back to between tests as a base line. (3 days with a new blade, 3 days with base line blade). Your memory can get foggy if you keep going from blade to blade - having something that resets your expectation helps.
I ended up choosing the shark stainless as my go-to but I am firmly convinced that that was chance and I did find other blades that I would have been as happy with - just not happier.
It was for the experience, they were never regulars.I don't get why someone would endure up to 6 mediocre shaves from a blade to start with, but to still shave with it beyond that makes absolutely no sense at all!! I would think that 2-3 shaves from a mediocre blade would be enough to make one think, maybe I shouldn't be shaving with this blade and change to something different, be it another blade from the tuck or a different brand of blade altogether. I always thought the idea was to use a blade that was sharp and smooth until the blade started to fall off in efficiency, then bin it and put in a new one and do it all over again!! Maybe I've been doing this wrong all along...
Comfort? Try Voskhod, Derby, or Lord Silver Star.
Personna Israeli Reds were the most comfortable for me for quite some time until I tried Lord Platinums a few months back and now they're my favorite blade. Now I'm just trying to use up my Personnas so that I can switch to the Lords full time.
For a very long time now, and after MUCH trial and error I have settled upon and stay with Nacet. That said, it's my 95% of the time blade. For the days when the weathers awful, or for whatever reason my face is dry or irritable, I keep a few tucks of Voskhods around as they are less sharp and touch smoother, but only for about 2 shaves.
Where do you get your Personnas at ?
razorbladesclub.com and most shaving web shops
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