What I meant was, I dont believe either Bulgarian vendor is dcc. I wouldnt be the least surprised if both Bulgarian vendors are the same person though. The ad's are too similiar.
Replacement to Polsilvers
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What I meant was, I dont believe either Bulgarian vendor is dcc. I wouldnt be the least surprised if both Bulgarian vendors are the same person though. The ad's are too similiar.
I cant seem to find on dcc's site where they're shipped from, but I seem to remember reading they shipped from a US address, but I could be wrong.
The marketing strategy is working.
The marketing strategy is working.
Nope, I've ordered off of dcc's site many times for Gillette Platinums. I liked his price on those. They ship from Bulgaria shipping included. I think I have over 800 of those I got from him.I cant seem to find on dcc's site where they're shipped from, but I seem to remember reading they shipped from a US address, but I could be wrong.
The marketing strategy is working.
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You guys are confusing me with your similar icons.
It is funny you mentioned Gillete Yellow. I was going through some old blades I had from an order from Tryablade, and I had one of those and tried it this morning. It is honestly making me thing since so much has changed since I tried razor blades last, that maybe I might find a better blade than Polsilver for me. I had an amazing shave this morning with that Gillette Yellow. It was really smooth. So smooth, I might like it better than the Polsilver. I order some more blades with one being Perma-Sharp. I remember I really liked those blades when I tried them last time. I have a pack of Derby's in my drawer as well. I might have to try one of those again.
As for the soap, I really like Tabac. I have never tried the soaps you mentioned. I will have to look into those soaps.
The entire Gillette 7 O'Clock series, Yellow Black and Green are all exceptionally smooth, and they all vary. Black to me fits nicely between Yellow and Green. I didnt find the Green cut well enough in my SC and worse again in my Grande. The Yellow is too much in my SC but nice in my Grande. The Black in my SC was pretty good. Smooth and sharp but a bit harsh. The Black in my Grande is a top 5 blade.
Perma-Sharp Super I find has the same kind of smoothness but the top coating layer is very hard and wears better than any 7 O'Clock blade for me. I used one for over 20 shaves in my Regent without a problem. I lost count at 18 and think it went 22 or 24 before I swapped it to test another.
I used a single Polsilver to 20 shaves, all shaves were done first pass ATG buffing.
Polsilver shave #20.
Blade flipped.
52 hours since last shave. CC North cream.
ATG first pass buffing like usual and I wondered why it felt a bit tuggy. I guess at 52 hours growth and starting directly ATG thats allowed lol. Still not bad though and the blade did fine.
One ATG buffing pass, one clean up pass and two little touch ups with water only. BBS without issue.
All is well in crazy town lol.
It had more shaves in it when I tossed it to test a Gillette Yellow. The Yellow went 9 but started to tug at shave 7. Polsilver always mellows for me at shave #4, then it got harsh on shave 8 and again on shave 12. At shave 20 it was as smooth and cut as well as a fresh Gillette Yellow. Polsilver is the only DE blade I've used that improves with use.
All blades will lose their coating gradually and then later on they will stop working altogether as the underlying hardened edge erodes. Many think a blade improves with usage, but it merely feels sharper due to the coating eroding and at the expense of less smooth shaves. It's the exact opposite of what your senses are telling you. It may sound silly at first, but it is science.
That makes sense and I'd tend to agree.
GSB is a favorite blade of many but the first shave with one for me is literally a blood bath. That top coating, whatever it is, for some reason seems very fragile to me and I bleed profusely on the first shave. The second shave is better and the third shave better again. It did improve from the first two shaves because that top layer was wearing off.
Voskhod was similar but not as bad. The first shave was great, shaves two and three became progressively more harsh but on shave four it was back to being a very smooth blade.
If you look closely at the edge below it appears to be polished. Who knows what coatings would still be on it, if any, by that point.
120 Shaves and done on the magical Polsilver Super Iridium started on February 1st.
Polsilver blades have never come close to the level of harshness of either GSB or Voskhod. Gillette Yellow didnt become harsh either, it did just as you say, it stopped cutting cleanly and became tuggy. The Perma-Sharp Super did neither. The one I used past 20 shaves stayed as smooth and as sharp as the first shave. I wish they worked better in my other razors.
If all blades performed the same for everyone things would be a lot simpler but thats not the case, unfortunately.
GSB is my Nemesis. I've tried them in a made in England Gillette Flare Tip Rocket, D2 Gillette SS, Gillette Regent, Gillette NEW LC, NEW SC and my Grande. Even in the SS, which I consider very mild, I bled. I've used two full tucks, so I gave them a pretty good try.
The blades I've tried below. Derby Extra didnt make it to the photo shoot.
My list of poor performing blades: GSB, Gillette Platinum, Treet Platinum, Trig Silver Edge, Vidyut SuperMax Stainless, Croma Diamant, Zorrick, SuperMax Platinum bottom center that I think is another Vidyut blade but I cant remember.
All of the Personna blades I didnt get along with very well either but could use them in a pinch.
To the above blades I can add Super-Max Blue Diamond Platinum, which felt the same to me as their Titanium in my Grande. I havent used it in my SC.
I have several blade reviews posted if you search through my profile. All were tested in my NEW SC with the same boar brush and various Stirling soaps. I've also tested many blades throughout my journal thread on my Fatip Grande while I was searching for the best blades to start a shave directly ATG with for a single pass ATG shave. The shaves start on page 2. ATG first pass shaves start on page 5 with a Feather blade.
My Grande Journey
GSB is my Nemesis. I've tried them in a made in England Gillette Flare Tip Rocket, D2 Gillette SS, Gillette Regent, Gillette NEW LC, NEW SC and my Grande. Even in the SS, which I consider very mild, I bled. I've used two full tucks, so I gave them a pretty good try.
The blades I've tried below. Derby Extra didnt make it to the photo shoot.
My list of poor performing blades: GSB, Gillette Platinum, Treet Platinum, Trig Silver Edge, Vidyut SuperMax Stainless, Croma Diamant, Zorrick, SuperMax Platinum bottom center that I think is another Vidyut blade but I cant remember.
All of the Personna blades I didnt get along with very well either but could use them in a pinch.
To the above blades I can add Super-Max Blue Diamond Platinum, which felt the same to me as their Titanium in my Grande. I havent used it in my SC.
I have several blade reviews posted if you search through my profile. All were tested in my NEW SC with the same boar brush and various Stirling soaps. I've also tested many blades throughout my journal thread on my Fatip Grande while I was searching for the best blades to start a shave directly ATG with for a single pass ATG shave. The shaves start on page 2. ATG first pass shaves start on page 5 with a Feather blade.
My Grande Journey
I shuddered with dread seeing the dreaded evil Voskhod in the photo.
Where's the Graham-Field? 
Where's the Graham-Field?
Its not worthy of even a picture lol.
The GF blade was just plain steel. Nothing to see. A generic DE blade that was sharpened with a file lol.
I haven't used a Gillette blade other than the Nacet that didn't feel like I was shaving with shards of glass!! Horrible blades for me with plenty of work for the alum bar... Feather and Kai both felt like they pulled every hair as they crossed them so they are no more either. I will mention this is in multiple razors, light or hefty, angles from steep to neutral, to shallow, and light to moderate touch which all led to the same results.
Just the other day I happened to load a Nacet in my SS95DC, not paying attention and thinking it was a Polsilver because thats the tuck I removed it from, and proceeded to shave with it. It was nothing like the previous 2 blades I'd tried and maybe it was a bad blade, but there was several weepers and in all areas of my face and not just from going in one direction!! I get absolutely none of this with a Shark SC or SS and usually none with a Polsilver either... I used the Nacet for a 2nd shave 2 days later and same results. 2 days later I loaded it in my Ti95SB and had almost the exact same results on use #3 so I'm chalking this one up to a bad blade...
Just for the fun of it I loaded up my usual Shark SC 2 days later in the SS95DC and no nicks or weepers, just smoothness and a great shave...
Just the other day I happened to load a Nacet in my SS95DC, not paying attention and thinking it was a Polsilver because thats the tuck I removed it from, and proceeded to shave with it. It was nothing like the previous 2 blades I'd tried and maybe it was a bad blade, but there was several weepers and in all areas of my face and not just from going in one direction!! I get absolutely none of this with a Shark SC or SS and usually none with a Polsilver either... I used the Nacet for a 2nd shave 2 days later and same results. 2 days later I loaded it in my Ti95SB and had almost the exact same results on use #3 so I'm chalking this one up to a bad blade...
Just for the fun of it I loaded up my usual Shark SC 2 days later in the SS95DC and no nicks or weepers, just smoothness and a great shave...
I dont mind Nacets but I'd have a hard time knowing one from an Astra SP if I didnt load it.
I havent used a Shark SC for a long time. I should try them again. I didnt mind it when I used it, but it was a mid pack blade like many.
The Bic Chrome Platinum is a very sharp and smooth blade. I didnt like them much on first use, but they've since surprised me.
I find all the Gillette 7 O'Clock blades very smooth but the top coating does wear and they become harsh. If you dont get along with them, you might try a Rapira Platinum Lux or Lord Platinum. I found both as smooth as the Gillettes and they didnt become harsh. They dont cut as well for me but I really like the feel of them.
Kai I really liked the feel of. Smooth with lots of 'bare blade' feel the same as I get from Nacet and Astra SP, but the single Kai I had took 4 full passes ATG and another clean up for a BBS finish in my Grande. They dont cut well for me either.
Ponder this for a moment for those of you getting nicks & weepers. A blade is locked into position in a razor, therefore it cannot get any closer to your skin. That goes for every blade made as they are all made to the same width. If you are getting cut then it is not the blade. It is either you are applying too much pressure, a razor too aggressive for your face or you have faulty prep. Remember, only YOU control how close the blade gets to your skin.
I shuddered with dread seeing the dreaded evil Voskhod in the photo.
I think very little of the Voskhod's performance-wise but still my favourite packaging artwork. Only blade i've bought 100 of, mistake.
dave
You're removing blade coatings from the equation entirely. I can only speak for myself, but its not a question of technique for me, its a matter of blade coatings and how they wear.
A coating doesn't even add an angstrom to a blade at most and it protects the edge to impart smoothness. Coating or no coating getting cut = too much pressure or razor too aggressive. There is no other scientific answer.
Should I assume you've used ~30 different blade types and they all, initially at least, feel and perform the same?
What if its neither? It has to be something and like I said, I can vouch for my technique, its pretty polished at this stage. I can and do, quite easily, shave directly ATG first pass with several razors, at anywhere from 48 hours growth to around 100 hours growth with my MMOC and have a post shave feel of 'I dont feel like I've shaved'. With a BBS finish that lasts from a low of 8 hours to a high of nearly 19. I can assure you, it is not my technique.
Blade coatings are the only aspect that explains it. How else would one, scientifically or otherwise, explain how a blade changes so drastically in the space of 3 shaves across several types of razors. Its the only way I can rationalize it.
All blades, as I understand it, have several coating layers, some perhaps more than others. The coating materials vary by blade as well as the order they're applied in.
There are several different blades made in the PPI plant.
I would assume they're all made on the same machinery and quite likely from the same stock and yet, all of those blades vary, a great deal for most people. I believe its the coatings that make the difference on how a blade can cut through an individuals hair composition. "The Drag Theory" as Gillette engineers called it. Below is a quote from a patent document @jmudrick posted.
I believe its possible that some of those coatings when they meet an individuals hair composition may react differently to another persons. When they do, in the case of GSB for me and Voskhod for Rave and many others, that top coating layer is fragile and flakes off at a microscopic level. Ever had a Teflon frying pan where the Teflon became damaged and started to peel and flake away? Those flakes are sharp and that Teflon layer is very brittle. Now imagine that happening from a coating on a razor blade.
Deleted.... Realized after I posted this that maybe it might come off as maybe not so nice!! Maybe I should just say thank you for your blade expertise and that maybe some people actually know what they are doing and when they say a blade just doesn't work well for them that maybe its not in fact..."their fault"... and that it could actually be the blades fault!!
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