Recently I purchased 100 Polsilver Super Iridiums. It was quickly pointed out to me when I posted in the Latest 100 Blade Purchase thread that these blades were more than likely cheap Chinese knock-offs. Disappointed, but undeterred, I decided to see for myself. Today I loaded one into my razor, and planned to shave the right side of my face with the Fake, and then the left half with a real Polsilver, to see if there was in fact a noticeable difference.
To try and ensure there was as little variability as possible, I used my favourite razor, a Gillette Slim, set to the median setting for me (5), same soap, brush, prep, etc as I have been using for the last week. Not scientific, but close enough to satisfy my own curiosity.
I should mention that I went in to this quite optimistic. Most blades agree with me: I don't consider myself all that fussy, so I figured "I have a hundy of these, how bad can they be?"
I lasted most of the right side for the first pass... This blade was awful. Dull (tuggy and scratchy), and more like scraping paint that shaving stubble. Rather than tough it out for science, I capitulated like the fool-to-myself that I am and loaded the real Polsilver. It was night and day, reader! Smooth, easy gliding across the planes of my face.
When I got to the second pass, the right side of my face was noticeably louder: there was still quite a lot of stubble to cut, whereas on the left, it mostly felt like I was just removing lather (as is typically the case for pass 2).
So, there you have it. These blades are, certainly from the outside, cunningly close to the real thing. The tell is the font, especially the 'y' in Zyletek. Once opened, it will be obvious that you are dealing with a counterfeit: no Super Iridium, terrible printing, and an entirely obviously different font.
So, much as it saddens me, the other 99 of these blades will now join their compatriot in the bin...
To try and ensure there was as little variability as possible, I used my favourite razor, a Gillette Slim, set to the median setting for me (5), same soap, brush, prep, etc as I have been using for the last week. Not scientific, but close enough to satisfy my own curiosity.
I should mention that I went in to this quite optimistic. Most blades agree with me: I don't consider myself all that fussy, so I figured "I have a hundy of these, how bad can they be?"
I lasted most of the right side for the first pass... This blade was awful. Dull (tuggy and scratchy), and more like scraping paint that shaving stubble. Rather than tough it out for science, I capitulated like the fool-to-myself that I am and loaded the real Polsilver. It was night and day, reader! Smooth, easy gliding across the planes of my face.
When I got to the second pass, the right side of my face was noticeably louder: there was still quite a lot of stubble to cut, whereas on the left, it mostly felt like I was just removing lather (as is typically the case for pass 2).
So, there you have it. These blades are, certainly from the outside, cunningly close to the real thing. The tell is the font, especially the 'y' in Zyletek. Once opened, it will be obvious that you are dealing with a counterfeit: no Super Iridium, terrible printing, and an entirely obviously different font.
So, much as it saddens me, the other 99 of these blades will now join their compatriot in the bin...
If anyone would like to try them, I'm happy send as many as you'd like. They're not horrible, but they're well below the standard of real Polsilver SIs. PM me if you're interested - otherwise I'll bin them next week.
