Personna Confusion #59353

[Dinola]

It seems silly to pursue something so unclear, so purposely clouded. Despite forum help I gave up trying to sort this out and use a few other really great blades that can be gotten reliably without such mystery and uncertainty.

 

[Cash_Stronomer]

I know this is an older thread, and I hate to throw in yet another question when there's more than enough now, BUT, I just ordered a few packs of the (Apparently Israel) Personna, the ones available from Italian Barber, so what did I just buy, and/or was that not a good choice for a Personna blade?

 

[Boge]

I believe there are four domestic-sourced Personna blades:

Made in USA
Personna Platinum Chrome ("Walmarts", "drugstore private labels")
Personna Platinum Chrome ("Barbers")

Personna Stainless Steel ("Labs")
Personna Stainless Steel ("Med Preps")

The only difference between the Walmarts and the Barbers is the Barbers are scored to be broken in two and used in a shavette.

The only difference between the Labs and the Med Preps is the Med Preps are sanitized (washed) for use in hospitals.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Mike

Most "in house" are marked simply Stainless Steel & to be frank I can tell no difference between them and current version marked Platinum Chrome. YMMV.

 

[Boge]

I thought I had Personna figured out, but now I am in doubt. I recently bought some of the Comfort Coated 5 packs at Sally's and did a SxS with an older Lab Blue and the former blew it away. To add to the confusion, the blades at Sally's are stainless steel AND scored! I think The Vez2 is onto something here.

 

[DaltonGang]

Too confusing. My Personnas are in a blue wrapper, but the blades do not say "hospital" anywhere on them. They do shave well, almost as good as the Feathers.

 

[Boge]

I e-mailed Personna about the 5 pack marked Comfort Coated and the Lab Blues marked the same and here is their reply:

...Yes, both the 5-pack and the 100-pack contain the same comfort coated blades. Even though they have different markings (directional arrows are printed on the blades in the dispenser), there are no differences in the blades or the coating process. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Edit: FWIW, I found this on another forum that has an interesting take:

http://shavenook.com/thread-different-personna-s

 

[delislave]

I was at first a little reluctant to use my CVS Personna made blades that were given to me by a friend. But now after using them both on my head AND my wife's legs, I'm here to tell you they worked great! Terrific, comfortable results, zero irritation. My friend gave me 2 10 packs he had minus 2 blades which he told me "tore his face to shreds". Well, I haven't used them on my face yet, but plan to soon.

Anyway, my question: If I were to look for these same blades in bulk, what exactly would I be looking for? Israeli reds? Something else??

 

[TheVez2]

If you look at my post on the first page, you'll see that the CVS brand Personnas are the plain regular non-coated Stainless Blades. Not sure what particular model that equates to in foreign makes, but you want to see whichever one says stainless and does not use any terminology like PTFE, Teflon coated, Comfort Coated, Super, etc.

 

[Boge]

Vez, I recently bought some of the Sally's Beauty 5 packs that are Super Stainless Steel and marked Comfort Coated. I did a SxS with a Lab Blue blade that I got recently in a 5 blade purchase, so I did not see the box. Anyway, the Sally's blade was noticeably better. This leads me to believe that although all Personna Super Steel are coated, that Personna has indeed improved their sharpening process 25% as their boxes recently stated. I was using the same Schick Krona and either blade on either side of my face and it was readily apparent that one was sharper & smoother than the other. Some say they can tell no difference between those Lab Blue boxes marked 25% Sharper and those currently marked Comfort Coated in yellow which leads me to believe the 5 blade sampler of Lab Blue blades I have are from an older lot before the 25% increase in sharpness.

Regardless, it made me order a 100 blade box as Personna has done something to these for the better IMO. These feel exactly like the Personna 74 blade on my face, albeit w/o the longevity of tungsten.

 

[TheVez2]

Interesting. The 25% sharper thing is something I haven't explored. Glad you found blades you like!

 

[poikkeus]

I purchased a box of the "25% sharper" blades, too. At least they're made in the USA (their main selling point).

 

[clyde72]

So then all of these are the same blades then?

 

[rlacrossjr]

To me the preps still shave great since the takeover. But the so called blue lab old box are great, but the new light blue box are garbage.

 

[seattleshaver]

Which box is the light blue box? Can you post a picture?

To me the preps still shave great since the takeover. But the so called blue lab old box are great, but the new light blue box are garbage.

 

[rlacrossjr]

Which box is the light blue box? Can you post a picture?

Pictures are right in Post before mine. Think #52