Participation PIF - ELIOS Inoxidable Blades

[Grundi]

Hi, I am wondering if this is still on? I am from Malaysia and would love to try these blades.

Sorry, @Chard52142, but the PIF part of the Participation PIF closed a little while ago (and it did include international B&B members). The Participation part is still on-going, and I'm grateful for the reviews that are still being posted. I'm out of ELIOS Inoxidable Blades and found them to be very good blades.

Although you missed out on this Participation PIF, there are others in the very near future (which will also include international B&B members).

 

[Ted A]

Second shave with the second Elios blade. As I expected the second was much smoother than the first. Perhaps there is some placebo effect or expectations, but I generally find the second and subsequent shaves to be nicer than the first. I do think, though I only have 2 blades’ experience to go on, that the Elios tugs or drags a bit more than the average blade does on the first shave

 

[Chard52142]

Sorry, @Chard52142, but the PIF part of the Participation PIF closed a little while ago (and it did include international B&B members). The Participation part is still on-going, and I'm grateful for the reviews that are still being posted. I'm out of ELIOS Inoxidable Blades and found them to be very good blades.

Although you missed out on this Participation PIF, there are others in the very near future (which will also include international B&B members).

Thanks for reply. No worries about it. I read through and realized it was closed earlier. I will try to get the blades through Tryablade and perhaps give my 2 cents review here too in future..
Appreciate your assistance. Keep safe.

 

[gamestorming]

Second Elios blade, first shave. My experience is consistent with the previous one, very comfortable two pass shave and no signs of any skin stress.

 

[gamestorming]

The second shave on the current Elios blade was as comfortable as the first, or even a tiny bit better. Feather ASD2, red proraso soap, two pass WTG+XTG.

This is again consistent with what I experienced on my first blade. I will give this blade a third shave opportunity tomorrow, wondering if testing it on the R89 would be a good idea.

 

[skyfire1]

First blade 7th shave was good, not as good as the previous shaves. Had a little irritation on my neck but that could have been my fault. So far I think these blades are good middle of the road blades worthy of consideration.

 

[Ted A]

Third shave with the second Elios blade. My prep was a little rushed and my beard might not have been as softened as I would like, but the shave was good, no injuries.

 

[gamestorming]

Third shave on this Elios blade. This time the third shave was still comfortable and smooth.

I "cheated" anyway, or at least altered the perfect comparability on the third shave with the first blade. I used a pre-shave oily cream, and I moved the blade on the slightly less mild R89 razor.

 

[never-stop-learning]

I retired the first blade last week and have not had a chance, yet, to start using the second one.

The first one impressed me sufficiently to buy 30 blades.

 

[something better]

After shaving for a month with these Elios blades, I shaved this week with a nacet. I like the Elios blades, but I prefer the nacet. I consider the nacets to be smoother, though they have similar sharpness.

 

[Demolition]

Sixth shave on ELIOS blade #1.

I switched to my Maggard V3 which is slightly misaligned, causing one side to have more blade exposure. I used to consider this a major issue, but now think that it's handy to have one aggressive side and one mild side.

Anyway, I used the aggressive side for the WTG and XTG passes and the mild side for the ATG pass. As before, I received a nice, close shave. Only some minor buffing was needed.

I'm still impressed by the consistency of this blade. After a mediocre first shave, each succeeding shave has been smooth and comfortable. The only other blade that I've had this kind of consistency with is the Astra SP (a favourite among the Excalibur Club crowd).

Now, the question is whether it has the longevity of the Astra SP. I'm only 1/4 of the way to my goal of 25 shaves with the ELIOS, so it's too early to say if that will be achievable. But, if the performance doesn't suddenly drop off, then my hopes are high.

 

[gamestorming]

Fourth shave with current Elios blade today. Very interesting results.

I kept the blade on my R89, but removed the preshave to clarify if the improvement perceived yesterday was given by the razor or the cream.

This one was the most comfortable shave I ever had with an Elios blade: Elios+R89 might be a far better pairing than with ASD2.

In terms of durability, I see plenty of people here are getting more shaves than me from this blade, but if I can reuse it 3/4 times I'm already perfectly happy, I don't have the habit to stretch a blade a lot more than that.

 

[gamestorming]

5th shave: I'm very impressed by this blade (+R89) now, very happy with comfort again and any doubt I had on durability vanished.

I will now push this blade to the 7th shave on R89+proraso red, and after that repeat the whole experiment on a new blade (with R89) rotating the different soaps I have. Will give an update here if something goes wrong, or after the whole cycle.

 

[vacman]

Sounds like this blade is a contender. Interesting reading. I find that with most blades, the first shave only serves to finish honing the blade and subsequent shaves are smoother until the blade dulls.

 

[Demolition]

Seventh shave on ELIOS blade #1.

I used the Maggard V3 again. This seems to be a great pairing. As before, I had no issues with any of my three usual passes. All were smooth and comfortable. No buffing needed this time.

So, the consistency is still there.

 

[Demolition]

Eighth shave on ELIOS blade #1.

In the Maggard V3 again. This pairing is working very well for me. Like yesterday, I had a trouble-free shave. Honestly, I could just copy what I wrote yesterday and paste it here.

But, I do want to mention that I was wrong about something that I wrote earlier. I think it was the third shave where I said that the blade had entered a "sweet spot" phase where the balance between sharpness and smoothness was at its peak.

However, I think I'm in the sweet spot right now. I've mentioned "consistency" and "predictability" a dozen times each over the last couple weeks and I hate to keep harping on those two points. But, these last few shaves with the ELIOS have all been uniformly smooth and irritation-free. Each feels as good as the last and the blade doesn't appear to be getting worse.

Frankly, consistency and predictability are the two things that I really value from any shave. I like to know how it'll feel and whether I can expect to get it or not. So far, the ELIOS is delivering.

 

[Demolition]

Ninth shave on ELIOS blade #1.

Paired with the Maggard V3 again. As before, another smooth, comfortable shave.

Next time, I'm just going to type "Ditto"!


(Actually, from now on, I'll post a recap every three or four shaves... unless something goes wrong or I finally reach 25 shaves. Otherwise, you'll have to read 15 more posts of me saying "I used the Maggard V3 again. Another smooth shave." I'm already tired of it. I can't even guess how you all feel. )

 

[Grundi]

Another smooth shave." I'm already tired of it. I can't even guess how you all feel.

I could never tire of smooth shaves!! Just saying!!

 

[FarmerTan]

Man, I skipped posting a few shaves, sorry Gents! I know you missed me.

Tonight's shave results were just like the rest: I just CAN'T get a TRUE BBS shave with this blade, but a very comfortable DFS.

I am still working on the first blade, shave number 5! and it shows no sign of dulling. I had NO irritation, no sting with my awesome AS: it's vintage Avon Tribute with bergamot essential oil mixed in. Smells so nice that my lovely War Department even likes it!

The shave soap was an unobtainium: vintage Williams. I just took the sample that was given to me by @Chandu and rubbed it on my well prepared, moist, incredibly handsome face, and went to town. That was my second shave with vintage Williams, and now I know why everyone loves it. Lather exploded in my brush. Thanks bro Chandu.

I'm really stoked for the Wilkinson blades challenge.

Thanks @Grundi and @Space_Cadet !

 

[lancre]

I've found another razor that seems to like the Elios. An R41 seems to work much better with this blade than an R89. While I can get DFS shaves out of it, I still find the blade to cause more irritation for me than US Personna, European Wilkies, Derbys, Feathers, Satinex, Voskhod, 7 O'Clock SS or Shark SS.