Recommended Blades for Edwin Jagger Razor

[Commander Hoek]

Hello everyone,

I have been shaving with a Gillette Mach II razor and canned foam for the past 4 or 5 years and couldn't stand it anymore. The razors always feel dull and rough, even new ones, and the foam is worthless. I could only get a decent shave after about 4 or 5 days of facial hair growth. Any sooner and the razor tore up my face and any later it would feeling the hairs were being ripped out. After finding out about this site and doing a lot of research here I ordered an Omega boar brush and a bowl of Tabac from West Coast Shaving over the summer. This has helped greatly and shaving is considerably less unpleasant. I haven't used canned foam since.

In a few days I will be receiving my first DE razor, an ivory handled Edwin Jagger. It is coming with a pack of Personna blades. I have read mixed reviews of these so I intend to order a few other brands to try out as well. It seems the consensus here is that certain blades work well with different razors (e.g. the Gillette Tech and Feather blades.) Is there a blade that would be particularly well suited to the Edwin Jagger?

 

[funkyb]

In addition to being different for different razors, blade choice is also different for different people (and likely even moreso than it is between razors for a single person).

The best thing to do is pick up the fattest blade sampler you're comfortable getting, it pays off in the long run. Westcoastshaving.com has an excellent "everything" sampler, highly recommended.

That said, my personal favorites are:

• Feathers
• Gillette Yellows
• DORCO ST-301s
• Super Irridiums

 

[AJMiami]

Shark Chrome, Cristal or Israeli Personnas

 

[DE Shaver]

For some reason, IP blades work really well with my DE86. Feathers, Iridiums and Gillette Bleue Extra work nice as well.

 

[hipfan]

So far, Feathers have worked *great* for me in the DE89, but I haven't really tried too many different types with it.

 

[Tommy Boy]

Crystals and Lord Platinums for me.....

 

[Hreafn]

Derbys are what i use in mine most of the time

 

[kiokoidrillow]

Well, iI'm a newbie too and I'm trying some brands from a sampler pack i have, til now i've tried, derbys, crystal(israeli personna), and astra superior platinum, all those are good, they are much sharper than the mach3, this are my conclusions:
Derby: the sharpest of the 3, but a little hard to handle, and yeah they're the vertical ones, so no complaints on them.(6 shaves)

Crystal: super forgiving, and comfortable, but not as sharp as derby and got stubble after 10 hours(4 shaves and a head shave and still sharp i think i could get one more shave but why should i risk my face?)

Astra: very sharp something in between derby and ip, but after the first shave, i got a lot of burn that only lasts an our or two(still trying)

I have a muhgle r89 wich has the same head than EJDE89 so i hope this help you a bit..

 

[figaro_black]

I have an EJ Georgian. I need as few passes as possible, since I almost have no hair to cut being a woman, and so I favour a sharp blade that cuts close in as few passes as possible over a milder blades that will get the job done but in more passes.

My razor came with a package of horizontal Derbys.These worked well enough to begin with. They are not super sharp, and so will not give you the closest and most comfortable of shaves, on the other hand they are also rather forgiving when it comes to pressure. Since there will be a relearning curve, I recommend a package of these.

Out of the blades I have tried the Feathers are my favourites. I would not recommend them to begin with and they are not for mornings when you are in a hurry, since the slightest pressure will result in injury but it is well worth the risks for the result. I achieved a super close, comfortable, smooth shave in just a WTG and a ATG pass, and some slight touch-ups. Usually, I do four passes, and don't achieve as close a shave without some major touch-up work. With the Feathers, if you pay attention to what you are doing, shaving just becomes effortless, really, and a pure pleasure.

I really like the Astras, too. They are not as dangerously sharp as the Feathers but give almost as comfortable a shave with some patience. I do need a XTG pass with these, and there are more areas to touch-up after the shave but they give me an irritation free close shave generally. They are not as forgiving as the Derbys, not as good as the Feathers, but I find they strike a good balance between forgiving and sharp, between easy to shave with and demanding several passes.

I've only tried one other blade, the red personnas and feel I must warn against them. My blade dragged horribly even on my close to hairless cheeks and caused lots of irritation. Plus, even with four passes I just could not get that smooth, perfect shave. I doubt I could have with even ten passes.

Hope that helps some.

 

[Nils]

Sorry to say, but all our advice will be of no use for you...
There is no "blade for a razor" and no "blade for a face", but there is a "Blade for a particular razor on a particular face".

Most people here love Feathers, I hate them.
Most people here (me included) hate Merkurs, but there are shavers who get their best shaves from them.

Get a sampler pack and find out for yourself, it's the only way.

 

[talibeard]

Sorry to say, but all our advice will be of no use for you...
There is no "blade for a razor" and no "blade for a face", but there is a "Blade for a particular razor on a particular face".

Most people here love Feathers, I hate them.
Most people here (me included) hate Merkurs, but there are shavers who get their best shaves from them.

Get a sampler pack and find out for yourself, it's the only way.

A big fat +1.

As far as blades are concerned one man's heaven is another man's hell.
Btw. I am one of those who actually like Merkur blades . I will not recommend them though since they are outragiously priced.

 

[Commander Hoek]

Thanks so much for all of the replies, everyone! I think I will get the Choice sampler pack from West Coast Shaving along with a pack of Iridium blades. I have one more question, what do you mean by horizontal and vertical Derby blades?

 

[PIPS]

Sorry to say, but all our advice will be of no use for you...
There is no "blade for a razor" and no "blade for a face", but there is a "Blade for a particular razor on a particular face".

Most people here love Feathers, I hate them.
Most people here (me included) hate Merkurs, but there are shavers who get their best shaves from them.

Get a sampler pack and find out for yourself, it's the only way.

 

[ibrewbeer]

I shaved with a freebie "rainbow" from bestgrooming in my EJ89L today, great shave. I think 'treet' makes them.

 

[figaro_black]

Thanks so much for all of the replies, everyone! I think I will get the Choice sampler pack from West Coast Shaving along with a pack of Iridium blades. I have one more question, what do you mean by horizontal and vertical Derby blades?

The Derby blades comes in different packaging, on the horizontal you can read the Derby name when the package is resting on the long side and on the vertical you can read the name reading it when the package is resting on the short side.

 

[xriley]

The Astra's and Gillette Yellows work the best for me.

Shark's (SC and SS) are close behind on the list.

I do not like Derby's or IP's in the 89.