I should have talked about this a while back, but now the topic is hitting home with me. Okay...
A month or so ago I ran out of Merkur DE blades, so I ordered more from Charles at QED but in the meantime, I needed a blade. So I reluctantly drove up to Walmart to see what they had on the shelf and little to my liking, I see a pack of Persona DE Blades for $1.36. I rolled my eyes and thought, what the hell am I going to do to my face? But that was the only option so I bought them with the understanding that it would just be a few days until I got my Merkurs. Got back to my place, threw em' in the drawer in the bathroom until the next morning.
I loaded up the ol' Vision and the first pass felt MUCH different, almost like ZERO resistance. But that's not atypical of my regular shaves and it was just a passing thought as I shaved with the grain. But when I went against the grain, HOLY MOLY!
It was like a hot knife going thru soft butter. Hands down the easiest shave I've ever gotten! I mean, it made my Merkur blade feel like I was scraping my face with a Swiss Army knife. I couldn't believe it. I kept feeling my face to see if I was dreaming this up and I was amazed at how smooth my face was with ONE against the grain pass.
So finally, yesterday I decided to put in a Merkur blade just to see if I was crazy. Nope. Worst shave I've gotten in a while, lots of nicks and irritation and drag. The strange thing is why are these generic $1.36 pack of blades whooping up on the giant name in DE razors & blades? I mean folks, maybe it's just me, but the shave was not even comparable. The Persona blades made my face feel as smooth as a freshly Zamboni'd hockey rink. At $1.36 a pack of 10 with a nice little container, I think everyone should at least give em' a shot.
Needless to say, I may give the Merkur's one last shot, but as it stands right now, I'm going to have to put up two brand new packs of Merkur blades for sale/trade if this keeps up. Now I realize everyone's beard type is different and this may just be my nirvana, which is cool because it's cheep cheep cheep. But I will say this, after about 4 shaves, the blades do have a noticeably reduced shave "strength". Although that's nothing new, I was only getting about that out of my Merkurs.
Just thought I'd give you a heads up and get some feedback.
A month or so ago I ran out of Merkur DE blades, so I ordered more from Charles at QED but in the meantime, I needed a blade. So I reluctantly drove up to Walmart to see what they had on the shelf and little to my liking, I see a pack of Persona DE Blades for $1.36. I rolled my eyes and thought, what the hell am I going to do to my face? But that was the only option so I bought them with the understanding that it would just be a few days until I got my Merkurs. Got back to my place, threw em' in the drawer in the bathroom until the next morning.
I loaded up the ol' Vision and the first pass felt MUCH different, almost like ZERO resistance. But that's not atypical of my regular shaves and it was just a passing thought as I shaved with the grain. But when I went against the grain, HOLY MOLY!
It was like a hot knife going thru soft butter. Hands down the easiest shave I've ever gotten! I mean, it made my Merkur blade feel like I was scraping my face with a Swiss Army knife. I couldn't believe it. I kept feeling my face to see if I was dreaming this up and I was amazed at how smooth my face was with ONE against the grain pass. So finally, yesterday I decided to put in a Merkur blade just to see if I was crazy. Nope. Worst shave I've gotten in a while, lots of nicks and irritation and drag. The strange thing is why are these generic $1.36 pack of blades whooping up on the giant name in DE razors & blades? I mean folks, maybe it's just me, but the shave was not even comparable. The Persona blades made my face feel as smooth as a freshly Zamboni'd hockey rink. At $1.36 a pack of 10 with a nice little container, I think everyone should at least give em' a shot.
Needless to say, I may give the Merkur's one last shot, but as it stands right now, I'm going to have to put up two brand new packs of Merkur blades for sale/trade if this keeps up. Now I realize everyone's beard type is different and this may just be my nirvana, which is cool because it's cheep cheep cheep. But I will say this, after about 4 shaves, the blades do have a noticeably reduced shave "strength". Although that's nothing new, I was only getting about that out of my Merkurs.
Just thought I'd give you a heads up and get some feedback.
but after about 6 Personnas and trying Merkurs again...I will keep what few Merkurs I have only to use when I don't have anything else! 
Sorry about that, Rich. I really just wanted to remind folks who are starting out with double edge shaving that the choice of razor blades can also make a difference in the comfort/quality of the shaves, and that after they've attacked the usual newbie trouble spots--pre-shave prep, improper blade angle, too much pressure, allergic reactions to particular soaps/creams, etc.--and they still have issues, they should ALSO try changing razor blades.
