My Journey Through Gillette's Current Offerings

[fightingillini22]

Following this thread. It’s fun to read others opinions on blades. Thank you for your time & effort!

Glad you're enjoying the read! I too enjoy reading other members' evaluations of shave products and hope this is as enjoyable to follow as it is to document.

Sorry to hear the Super Stainless gave you a rubbish shave. I’ve been getting on quite well with the one I’ve used the last 3 shaves.

Just another great example of YMMV right? I'm not ready to write them off based on one blade so I'll come back to them when my order comes in from Germany.

First shave with the Black SP was very nice this morning. Seemed to get a little more feedback than I did with the Yellow or GSB but nothing else of note. Will see how the blade progresses over the next few shaves.

 

[fightingillini22]

Day 5 of the Gillette Black was just as good as the first 4. Extremely close and effortless shaves. Still don't think they were quite as smooth as the GSB, but would rank them extremely close to the Gillette Yellow - almost indistinguishable from memory.

Rankings thus far:
1 - GSB
2a - Gillette Yellow
2b - Gillette Black
3 - Gillette Green SS

My RBC order arrived this morning from Germany which was a very exciting mail call! I now have 5+ of all Gillette's "easy to acquire" blades in production which will be great for comparison shaving once I've gone through them all independently.

Up next is the Gillette Wilkies. This one is a strange one because it appear there are some made in China for the India market, and some made directly in India. Mine are the "Saloon Pack" made in India. Looks like some people prefer the China-made blades to the India-made. Unfortunately I don't have the Chinese version to side-by-side so will only be evaluating the India version for now.

 

[Boghopper]

I love the Gillette blacks. They work great in a Krona or my two flare tips.
They’re a bit cheaper than the GSBs too.

 

[fightingillini22]

I love the Gillette blacks. They work great in a Krona or my two flare tips.
They’re a bit cheaper than the GSBs too.

I'll be very interested to SBS test the Black, Yellow and GSBs (along with any other high performing blade) as while I feel like the GSB was smoother, it's coming down to memory at the moment!

Here's the package that arrived from Germany this morning. Excited to try them out especially the Rubies and Sputniks.

 

[BigJ]

I'll be very interested to SBS test the Black, Yellow and GSBs (along with any other high performing blade) as while I feel like the GSB was smoother, it's coming down to memory at the moment!

Here's the package that arrived from Germany this morning. Excited to try them out especially the Rubies and Sputniks.

Enjoy! I really like the Nacets!!

 

[fightingillini22]

Enjoy! I really like the Nacets!!

I've read many a posts about Nacets - definitely looking forward to giving them a go!

After 2 shaves with the Indian Wilkies, I'm going to call it for now. While I only had a small nick with the first shave, I can't say that either of the shaves were comfortable. More feedback than I'm used to with other blades. And with the cut yesterday, I'm going to move on for now. While not as nick-happy as the Green SS, definitely not as comfortable as the GSB, Yellow or Blacks. With so many blade options out there, it's just not worth trying to force something to work for me that doesn't right out of the tuck.

Ryan's Ranking Thus Far:
1 - GSB
2a - Gillette Yellow
2b - Gillette Black
3 - Gillette Wilkinson India
4 - Gillette Green SS

To round out the 7 O'Clock line before moving into other offerings, up next will be the Green PermaSharps out of India. We'll see if my face fares better than it did with the Green SS blade!

 

[Macduff]

Loving this thread @fightingillini22! I’ll be following it from here out. I’ll have to look through my reviews to see what i thought of some of these but if i remember correctly how you’re finding them is pretty much in line with how i felt. Still haven’t tried GSB’s or nacets yet though so i’ll be waiting to see how this plays out!

 

[SpannerX]

What I find, with Nacets, is that the first shave is not super smooth, but after that they stay great for 5 more shaves easy. I took one to 10 shaves once just to see how it was and it could have kept going, just wanted to switch. That's with a GC .84 as well.

 

[fightingillini22]

Loving this thread @fightingillini22! I’ll be following it from here out. I’ll have to look through my reviews to see what i thought of some of these but if i remember correctly how you’re finding them is pretty much in line with how i felt. Still haven’t tried GSB’s or nacets yet though so i’ll be waiting to see how this plays out!

Glad to have ya! The GSB was simply a fantastic blade start to finish. Excited to try the Nacets and then do some side-by-side comparisons once I've made it through all of them.

What I find, with Nacets, is that the first shave is not super smooth, but after that they stay great for 5 more shaves easy. I took one to 10 shaves once just to see how it was and it could have kept going, just wanted to switch. That's with a GC .84 as well.

Seems to be a popular blade for many! I'm looking forward to giving it a go, probably will try them out after I finish with this Permasharp.

First shave this morning with the Permasharp was quite nice. Decent feedback and smoothness, and a comfortable shave throughout. Much better than the Green SS so far!

 

[dan86]

Nacets and funnily enough the India Saloon pack of Gillette Wilkinson Swords were the latest 100 blade purchases for me. Glad you tested the Gillette Wilkies even if they didn’t work so well for you. The ones I’ve used to date are made in India.

Looking forward to your review of the Permasharps, a blade I’ve never tried. Will they live up to that name? They’ve not been sold on any of the sites I bought my blades from. I expect I could pick some up on eBay if curiosity gets the better of me but I have well over 500 blades already!

 

[fightingillini22]

Nacets and funnily enough the India Saloon pack of Gillette Wilkinson Swords were the latest 100 blade purchases for me. Glad you tested the Gillette Wilkies even if they didn’t work so well for you. The ones I’ve used to date are made in India.

Looking forward to your review of the Permasharps, a blade I’ve never tried. Will they live up to that name? They’ve not been sold on any of the sites I bought my blades from. I expect I could pick some up on eBay if curiosity gets the better of me but I have well over 500 blades already!

As I've quickly learned revisiting these blades, sometimes a first impression isn't always the end all be all. Which is why I picked up a full tuck of all these blades. While the first impression of the Indian Wilkies wasn't great, I'll definitely be revisiting them when I do some side-by-sides.

First impressions of the Permasharps have been good these first couple shaves, we'll see how the next 3 go!

 

[JAHE]

Not cheap, but 10 blades for about $7 didn’t break my piggy bank. I’d love to know what existing blade they actually turn out to be, not one I’ve tried, I know that for sure.

Imho this retail price is almost insane (and it's getting even more weird if it is just re-wrapped blade that was / is already on sale for a friction of the price...).

Besides, I will follow this interesting thread.

 

[THall]

Imho this retail price is almost insane (and it's getting even more weird if it is just re-wrapped blade that was / is already on sale for a friction of the price...).

Besides, I will follow this interesting thread.

I’ve been shaving almost daily minus a couple Saturdays (I shave Sunday’s also) since June 13 with the same KCG blade. Still smooth today at 14 shaves and no signs of tugging yet. This is a very good blade. I’m actually just as smooth today as early on.

My favorite blade ever is the vintage Platinum Plus made in the US. So far this blade has performed the same. I’m still keeping up with it to see if it will go over 20 shaves. I don’t push a blade to test it, if I begin to feel any tug, the test is over.

Mostly I use Lab Blues as they are a great blade and will give me about 17 shaves before any tugs.

As of today, yes I will buy another 10 box for 7 bucks. I can expect to get at least 140 shaves with the box as of today and expect to get more than that.

 

[fightingillini22]

I’ve been shaving almost daily minus a couple Saturdays (I shave Sunday’s also) since June 13 with the same KCG blade. Still smooth today at 14 shaves and no signs of tugging yet. This is a very good blade. I’m actually just as smooth today as early on.

My favorite blade ever is the vintage Platinum Plus made in the US. So far this blade has performed the same. I’m still keeping up with it to see if it will go over 20 shaves. I don’t push a blade to test it, if I begin to feel any tug, the test is over.

That's some pretty impressive longevity from what I think we can all agree is a likely rebrand of an existing PPI blade. Is there any existing PPI blade that you can push this far Tony?

 

[JAHE]

I’ve been shaving almost daily minus a couple Saturdays (I shave Sunday’s also) since June 13 with the same KCG blade. Still smooth today at 14 shaves and no signs of tugging yet. This is a very good blade. I’m actually just as smooth today as early on.

My favorite blade ever is the vintage Platinum Plus made in the US. So far this blade has performed the same. I’m still keeping up with it to see if it will go over 20 shaves. I don’t push a blade to test it, if I begin to feel any tug, the test is over.

Mostly I use Lab Blues as they are a great blade and will give me about 17 shaves before any tugs.

As of today, yes I will buy another 10 box for 7 bucks. I can expect to get at least 140 shaves with the box as of today and expect to get more than that.

I did not intend to question the quality of the blade. And it's great that the blade works well for you.

However there are a lot of blades which are able to deliver 10+ smooth shaves but retail for a way more attractive price.
My 2 cent.

 

[THall]

That's some pretty impressive longevity from what I think we can all agree is a likely rebrand of an existing PPI blade. Is there any existing PPI blade that you can push this far Tony?

I can get Yellows out a few weeks no problem, but I prefer the smoothness of these blades.

 

[THall]

I did not intend to question the quality of the blade. And it's great that the blade works well for you.

However there are a lot of blades which are able to deliver 10+ smooth shaves but retail for a way more attractive price.
My 2 cent.

You could also say that about plenty of lower priced razors, soaps, brushes etc. but I understand your meaning. You do get to a point where longevity catches up with cost however.

Overall, if I was a daily toss em shaver, there are plenty here on B&B, I’d buy Sharks. If I wanted long lasting and performance for the best price, the Lab Blue. If I’m getting a shave which reminds me of my favorite blade ever, I’ll pay a little more and enjoy my shave. I expect to easily get 20 shaves after my 14th today and I’m not stretching this blade out at all.

I paid 7 bucks for my breakfast this morning and I’d trade that in a heartbeat for a few hundred shaves with this blade 10 pack.

 

[fightingillini22]

I can get Yellows out a few weeks no problem, but I prefer the smoothness of these blades.

Interesting! Wonder why these particular blades feel so much smoother? Once I've established a good ranking after going through all the blades and some side-by-sides, I'm planning to take the top couple blades and make sure that one doesn't have significantly extended longevity over the other. I've typically gotten 7ish shaves with both my Astra SP and Personna Reds in the past.

 

[THall]

Interesting! Wonder why these particular blades feel so much smoother? Once I've established a good ranking after going through all the blades and some side-by-sides, I'm planning to take the top couple blades and make sure that one doesn't have significantly extended longevity over the other. I've typically gotten 7ish shaves with both my Astra SP and Personna Reds in the past.

Never tried a Red, but the Lab Blues made in Verona, Virginia really last, average about 17 shaves. Astra usually can give me 10 shaves before a first tug. Generally, I shave with Lab Blues about 3 weeks, Astras about 2 weeks, Yellows about 2 weeks, Kais about 2 weeks, Feathers about one week and Sharks up to 3 days. Sharks are really good in a Timeless by the way but really burn out instead of fade away, I like them regardless.

 

[fightingillini22]

5 shaves with the Green Permasharp and I must say this was 100x better than my go with the Green SS! 5 comfortable shaves with no issues to speak of. I will say I don't think these are quite as smooth as I remember the Yellow and Black blades being, so it's in a firm 3rd place behind the GSBs and Yellow/Black. Good for me since it seems sourcing the Permasharp in 100 packs is more difficult than Yellows or Blacks.

Ryan's Ranking Thus Far:
1 - GSB
2a - Gillette Yellow
2b - Gillette Black
3 - Gillette Green Permasharp
4 - Gillette Wilkinson India
5 - Gillette Green SS

Up next is one I've been dying to try out since it arrived : Rubies. Slightly more expensive than the 7 O'Clock brands as well as GSBs, and more in line with the Nacets. Excited to see how these perform for me!