Question about new Astra blades

[Tostig]

I recently ordered a box of 100 Astras after finally depleting my supply purchased in around 2016. These new ones seem to shave poorly and are nothing like the superior blades of my last box - even the printing on the sides ("Astra") is bleached out and bleh compared to the old bold black printing. Couple of questions:

1) Anyone else have this experience, or did I just get a bad box? Maybe Amazon isn't the place to get them anymore.

2) Any recommendations for a replacement blade? The only two I've used are Astra and Feather. On my skin the Astras are perfect and the Feathers are almost perfect and certainly provide a BBS shave but maybe a bit of overkill for one-day stubble. I'd like to find an Astra replacement with a similar sharpness/smoothness, not an "11" like the Feathers, but still nice and sharp, for everyday casual shaving. Razors currently in use are the Variant and a 34C.

Thoughts?

 

[ackvil]

Which ones did you buy?

 

[Trent in WA]

I recently ordered a box of 100 Astras after finally depleting my supply purchased in around 2016. These new ones seem to shave poorly and are nothing like the superior blades of my last box - even the printing on the sides ("Astra") is bleached out and bleh compared to the old bold black printing. Couple of questions:

1) Anyone else have this experience, or did I just get a bad box? Maybe Amazon isn't the place to get them anymore.

2) Any recommendations for a replacement blade? The only two I've used are Astra and Feather. On my skin the Astras are perfect and the Feathers are almost perfect and certainly provide a BBS shave but maybe a bit of overkill for one-day stubble. I'd like to find an Astra replacement with a similar sharpness/smoothness, not an "11" like the Feathers, but still nice and sharp, for everyday casual shaving. Razors currently in use are the Variant and a 34C.

Thoughts?

I had the same experience with a 100 of Astra SPs I bought last year. Loved the old blades, but the new ones are strictly mediocre.

 

[Tostig]

Which ones did you buy?

I purchased the SPs. I've never tried the SS.

 

[deafficianado]

I personally love all the modern Gillette blades from St. Petersburg -Yellow, green, silver blue, Polsilver, Rubie, Nacet, Permasharp, Platinum, and Astra. The greens and blacks from India are no slouches either.

 

[Bogeyman]

 

[naughtilus]

I have both and can't discern a difference TBH.

 

[ackvil]

I'm not a fan of either one. However, the SS seem a tad rougher to me.

 

[pg11]

I recently ordered a box of 100 Astras after finally depleting my supply purchased in around 2016. These new ones seem to shave poorly and are nothing like the superior blades of my last box - even the printing on the sides ("Astra") is bleached out and bleh compared to the old bold black printing. Couple of questions:

1) Anyone else have this experience, or did I just get a bad box? Maybe Amazon isn't the place to get them anymore.

2) Any recommendations for a replacement blade? The only two I've used are Astra and Feather. On my skin the Astras are perfect and the Feathers are almost perfect and certainly provide a BBS shave but maybe a bit of overkill for one-day stubble. I'd like to find an Astra replacement with a similar sharpness/smoothness, not an "11" like the Feathers, but still nice and sharp, for everyday casual shaving. Razors currently in use are the Variant and a 34C.

Thoughts?

Hi there. I do not think you are alone in this matter, and here is my story:

I got an Astra SP sampler blade earlier which was very smooth. Then I decided to buy 100 blades from Amazon.ca. Unfortunately, the new blades nicked and cut. I was confused and tried to compare the Astra sampler blade and the Amazon one. I found that the sampler had black ink on both sides while the Amzon one has an outline printing on single side. I googled it and found out the Astra SP from sampler was the older version and the Amazon one was the new version. Astra upgraded to a new labeling system to save cost.

My first thought was, they must have changed something else to the blades more than just the label and it caused the nicking. After some more researching, many people seemed to be fine with the new blades and could not tell the different between the new blades and the old blades. From the video above, Astra tried to ensure that the new blades should be no different than the old one other than the new laser labeling. I contacted Fendrihan asking about this matter and they also confirmed that both blades should be same except the label.

I then started to think, could it be the poor waxing on the new blades that caused th problem? Some shavers suggested that the wax on the poorer packing should not affect the shaving either. I tried to believe them on this one.

So, was it my psychological effect? I was not sure. I decide to try few more times to experience the sampler blade and the new blades. I opened a new pack of Astra blade and shave with one side of my face. Used the old Astra blade and shave with the other side. The old blade did seem to be smoother. I did not nick once even when I tried different shaving angle. The new blade, however, was a different story. It gave nicking feelings (not real nick) during the shave. It felt like the blade was not flat. It gave nicking feeling often when I shaved the chin and sideburns areas. To make sure, I tried Gillette silver blue with those area and it was smooth.

Next day, I opened a new blade. I tried a fuller preparation with a shower, hot towel on my face, and Rocky Mountain sandalwood shaving cream. I shaved carefully. The shaving cream somehow reduced the nicking feeling but I still feel nicking in certain area like the chin. The result was fine. Not a BBS but good enough for a beginning shaver like me. And for the bad part, I still got some nicking feeling during shave and one cut on my chin (around 1 cm but not deep. Can see blood line). After the tests, I believed that the new Astra blades were indeed not as smooth as the old one. They gave unusual nicks and cuts.

Most of the complains for the new Astra blades were about the blades been too dull or too aggressive. They either did not shave well, or nicked and cut a lot. Mine seems to be the the latter.

After some thinking and researching. The only clues I could find were:
1. Astra seemed to have slipped bad batches in the pass. Some shavers said it happened with the old blades.
2. I could only find negative reviews from Amazon and I also got mine from Amazon.

After all the information I got, it lead me to a conclusion that there was a bad batch of blades slipping out of the factory and some of them got to Amazon warehouse. Some of the unlucky shavers like me got the bad one and found problems. Many other got the normal blades and had no problem at all.

After all the things I wrote. I am still not sure what really caused the problem. One thing for sure is that, this is a very bad experience for a beginner DE shaver like me. Luckily I found a temporary working blade from the samplers. The Gillette Silver Blue seemed to work well with my Qshave razor. It was smooth and sharp. So I ordered 50 blades from ebay and pray that they will not have any problem this time. Because GSB are more expensive than Astra SP, I am still looking for a cheaper alternative for daily shave. I hope I can find one before the 50 blades run out.

As for Astra, I do not think I will be buying them again. I do not trust the blade anymore. Hopefully my experience will help and thanks for reading.

*sorry for any typo or bad English for English is not my first language.*

 

[Ricksplace]

When I first started de shaving about 2 years ago, I bought 50 Astra sp. They performed exactly as you describe. Rough, scratchy, nicks. Since this was my first batch of Astra sp I assumed all Astras were that bad. Fast forward to about a month ago when I bought a few on the bst with some other "must have accessories" to see if maybe I got a bad bunch or maybe fakes. The recently acquired blades perform beautifully, like members describe. They have the same ink printing, but the shading on the tucks is slightly different. Regardless, the blades I bought 2 years ago were garbage. I threw them out. I'm enjoying the Astra sp now, but I have so many other blades that I like and use that I probably won't buy any more. I bought the original Astras 2 years ago from Amazon Canada. I have purchased GSBs, Dorco Prime, Derby Premium and India Wilkies from Amazon since then with no problems.

 

[Earcutter]

You might want to try some Personna Reds. They are a step down in efficiency with respect to Feather’s, but a big step up in smoothness. Especially on that first shave. Only last about 4 shaves though.

Good luck.

 

[BigJ]

I have a good stock of older Astra SPs that work well for me. So I cannot comment on current production.
My other top-tier options:
GSB
Nacet
Personna red
Personna lab

 

[naughtilus]

I've had dud blades from both the old and the new batch. It happens, I don't obsess about it too much. Buying GSB made in the same factory, with same tooling, same employees and process, makes me skeptical it would yield much improvements.

Now when I get a dud blade (which is very rare) I toss it in the bin immediately and pop a new one. I used to persist with it for 2-3 shaves like a dum-dum. It's pennies on the dollar.

 

[pg11]

I don't obsess about it too much. Buying GSB made in the same factory, with same tooling, same employees and process, makes me skeptical it would yield much improvements.

Thank you very much for this information, naughtilus. I can only hope that the blades I ordered are good. Since GSB is from the same factory, I think I must find a replacement from other place.

 

[naughtilus]

Thank you very much for this information, naughtilus. I can only hope that the blades I ordered are good. Since GSB is from the same factory, I think I must find a replacement from other place.

I believe there are Gillette blades made in India, but general consensus is the ones from Saint Petersburg are more consistent quality. I once got a full pack (5 blades) that shaved rough as heck and went dull after one shave. The next one was buttery smooth.

See the same packaging, same maker (P&G), same factory (Russia), same laser etching on the blades. Included in the pic is the old ink stamped Astra SPs.





If you want old type Astra SP, contact Turkish ebay sellers. If you want the new one, ask the seller from Sweden.

 

[pg11]

I did not know that.
The problem blades I got are from Russia.

I took some photos from the case. Maybe it shows the batch number for the problematic blades?

Too bad I can't exchange or return the blades.

 

[njpaddy]

I like a smooth, rather than sharp, blade, especially since I'm retired and like to shave after a few G&T's. I've got about 250 Astra SP from several years back & they're fine. At my age, I shouldn't need to order more. I also have about 500 Red Personna stockpiled. While I preferred Astra SP in the Merkur 34 I used exclusively for 5 years, I prefer Reds in the GameChanger I've been using for the last 6 months. All blades are 2 and out for me. Even my son-in-law, who's been using only Feathers for more than 10 years, tosses his blades after 2 uses.

 

[johnwick]

@pg11 what you’re experiencing with the sampler being different than the 100 pack has happened to me more than once across brands. I swear that sampler packs have blades shipped that are coated in diamond voodoo dust and the ones that shoe up in a hundred pack are meh!

I’ve learned to try 4-5 rather than 1 to ensure I’m not just in a honeymoon phase with one blade.

 

[Deltaboy]

No problem with them so far!

 

[JerseyBoy]

Hi there. I do not think you are alone in this matter, and here is my story:

I got an Astra SP sampler blade earlier which was very smooth. Then I decided to buy 100 blades from Amazon.ca. Unfortunately, the new blades nicked and cut. I was confused and tried to compare the Astra sampler blade and the Amazon one. I found that the sampler had black ink on both sides while the Amzon one has an outline printing on single side. I googled it and found out the Astra SP from sampler was the older version and the Amazon one was the new version. Astra upgraded to a new labeling system to save cost.

My first thought was, they must have changed something else to the blades more than just the label and it caused the nicking. After some more researching, many people seemed to be fine with the new blades and could not tell the different between the new blades and the old blades. From the video above, Astra tried to ensure that the new blades should be no different than the old one other than the new laser labeling. I contacted Fendrihan asking about this matter and they also confirmed that both blades should be same except the label.

I then started to think, could it be the poor waxing on the new blades that caused th problem? Some shavers suggested that the wax on the poorer packing should not affect the shaving either. I tried to believe them on this one.

So, was it my psychological effect? I was not sure. I decide to try few more times to experience the sampler blade and the new blades. I opened a new pack of Astra blade and shave with one side of my face. Used the old Astra blade and shave with the other side. The old blade did seem to be smoother. I did not nick once even when I tried different shaving angle. The new blade, however, was a different story. It gave nicking feelings (not real nick) during the shave. It felt like the blade was not flat. It gave nicking feeling often when I shaved the chin and sideburns areas. To make sure, I tried Gillette silver blue with those area and it was smooth.

Next day, I opened a new blade. I tried a fuller preparation with a shower, hot towel on my face, and Rocky Mountain sandalwood shaving cream. I shaved carefully. The shaving cream somehow reduced the nicking feeling but I still feel nicking in certain area like the chin. The result was fine. Not a BBS but good enough for a beginning shaver like me. And for the bad part, I still got some nicking feeling during shave and one cut on my chin (around 1 cm but not deep. Can see blood line). After the tests, I believed that the new Astra blades were indeed not as smooth as the old one. They gave unusual nicks and cuts.

Most of the complains for the new Astra blades were about the blades been too dull or too aggressive. They either did not shave well, or nicked and cut a lot. Mine seems to be the the latter.

After some thinking and researching. The only clues I could find were:
1. Astra seemed to have slipped bad batches in the pass. Some shavers said it happened with the old blades.
2. I could only find negative reviews from Amazon and I also got mine from Amazon.

After all the information I got, it lead me to a conclusion that there was a bad batch of blades slipping out of the factory and some of them got to Amazon warehouse. Some of the unlucky shavers like me got the bad one and found problems. Many other got the normal blades and had no problem at all.

After all the things I wrote. I am still not sure what really caused the problem. One thing for sure is that, this is a very bad experience for a beginner DE shaver like me. Luckily I found a temporary working blade from the samplers. The Gillette Silver Blue seemed to work well with my Qshave razor. It was smooth and sharp. So I ordered 50 blades from ebay and pray that they will not have any problem this time. Because GSB are more expensive than Astra SP, I am still looking for a cheaper alternative for daily shave. I hope I can find one before the 50 blades run out.

As for Astra, I do not think I will be buying them again. I do not trust the blade anymore. Hopefully my experience will help and thanks for reading.

*sorry for any typo or bad English for English is not my first language.*

Please try the Gillette Nacet blades - an inexpensive blade - very smooth and sharp - just a tad below the Gillette Silver Blue (which is my personal favorite)