Now that I’m firmly back in the DE safety razor world, I’ve been working through a set of blade samples to determine what works for me and what doesn’t. I’ve collated my findings and present them here for information and to encourage debate among the forum members.
The details shown here are not intended to state what I think is the best blade in the world – that would be impossible, given that I have tried only 8 different blades. I am conscious that there is a huge range of blades that will work ‘better’ or ‘worse’ for different people. This exercise was about what worked for me, based on my experience, using my set of equipment on my face! To borrow a commonly used disclaimer - Your Mileage May Vary.
Warning
I tend to get very wordy when telling a story, or reviewing a product, or selling an idea, giving presentations, etc. My education (13 years in the Scottish system, 6 of which were in a private school that provided a broad range of subjects including Latin and ancient Greek!) and my career (30+ years in IT management) have encouraged me to use my native language correctly. While I can’t promise to maintain absolutely perfect grammatical structure at all times, I will always attempt to make use of a reasonably extensive vocabulary. Unfortunately, this leads me to be quite verbose on occasion. I’ve been told I do it, know I do it, but can’t (or won’t) stop myself. In truth, I may secretly enjoy the old-school art of story-telling (or maybe I just like the sound of my own voice!).
Those of you categorised as ‘Gen-Y’ or ‘Millennials’ or inclined to use the abbreviations favoured by social media may have already left. Those of you with a strong disposition and a little more time to kill may stay the course. Your choice. I won’t be offended either way.
Given that this will probably turn out to be a lengthy post, it might require some judicial editing to break it into manageable chunks. I’ll do what I can within the bounds of my rudimentary knowledge of the forum mechanics but will happily accept whatever trimming the moderators feel is necessary.
Background
I returned to safety razors a few months ago after years of electric and cartridge razors doing their best to discourage the act of shaving every day. In the middle of 2016 I was contemplating changing to a more traditional shaving approach. I researched safety razor options for several months, using various forums, websites, video footage and friendly advice to try to remove the mystique associated with ‘proper’ wet shaving. When I finally decided to take the plunge, with help and advice from Brian at Executive Shaving, I chose a Muhle Stylo safety razor set. This included an elegant looking razor based on the R89 head, matching silvertip brush and stand. I know there are thousands of lower cost options available for a newbie, but I’m a sucker for German engineering and the aesthetics of Muhle in general, and the Stylo in particular, caught my eye!
For blades I started with Muhle (not surprising) and Personna Red based on Brian’s recommendation. I rotated these on a weekly basis for the first month or two, to get the hang of using the new razor and to compare two different blades. I found both blades very smooth and comfortable, similar in performance without the need to radically alter technique. Additionally, the blades were forgiving enough for me to build confidence in my technique. With this recently acquired confidence, I decided to branch out to other blade options.
Sample Set
I purchased a set of blades from Maggards, using their excellent sampler pack option. I chose the following:
Astra Superior Premium Platinum (well regarded by many)
Croma Diamant (couldn’t resist another German product)
Gillette 7 o’clock Super Stainless – Green (one of the mainstay brands from previous experience)
Rapira Swedish Supersteel (based on reviews and opinion on Russian blades)
Rapira Platinum Lux (based on reviews and opinion on Russian blades)
In addition to these, I included the Muhle and Personna Red blades I had already been using for several weeks and added a pack of Gillette 7 o’clock SharpEdge blades (aka Yellow) on a friend’s recommendation. This group seemed a good representation of blades that are well regarded and would allow me to try various combinations as I figure out what my ‘standard’ set was to be.
Trial Conditions
In an attempt to provide some control to the trial, I did not vary the razor head, handle or brush (pretty easy, since I only had one set at the time) and deliberately chose to use a single shaving soap throughout the trial – Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera.
I used a scoring system similar to others I’ve seen here and in different situations, scoring 1-5 for each of the following criteria:
Sharpness – how sharp I felt the blade was.
Comfort – how comfortable a shave was provided by the blade.
Efficiency – related to sharpness, but more to do with how many passes and tidy-ups were needed to get to a satisfactory result.
Finished result – self explanatory; how good the shave was (I was not necessarily looking for BBS, but was aiming for a DFS as the standard).
Post shave – because I have sensitive skin, I care about how my face feels after a shave, regardless of how well the blade performs in other aspects.
Longevity – how many shaves were achieved before I felt the blade had become sufficiently dull or scratchy to change out.
Value – the sample set included some expensive blades, some less expensive. What I rated here was the value to me based on overall satisfaction and money paid.
All of these scores were summed and an average produced to show my rating of the overall performance of each blade.
Still with me? Then here are the results from my two months of effort…
As I worked through the trial, I was prepared to ditch a blade if it’s performance was so awful as to cause me extreme discomfort, regardless of how many shaves I was into the life of the blade. I should state that this was not necessary for any of the blades tried, though the Croma came close.
Last Words
The scoring suggests I will use the Gillette 7 o’clock Yellow, Muhle Stainless, Personna Red and Rapira Swedish Supersteel in my regular blade rotation. However, knowing that I have already caught the same affliction that plagues most of us in the B&B forum (how many razors, brushes, soaps and after shaves do we need?), I feel sure I will try other blades in the future that may displace some of these.
Hopefully, this exercise will help other newbies in their journey to blade selection.
Happy to hear other views and feedback from the forum members.
The details shown here are not intended to state what I think is the best blade in the world – that would be impossible, given that I have tried only 8 different blades. I am conscious that there is a huge range of blades that will work ‘better’ or ‘worse’ for different people. This exercise was about what worked for me, based on my experience, using my set of equipment on my face! To borrow a commonly used disclaimer - Your Mileage May Vary.
Warning
I tend to get very wordy when telling a story, or reviewing a product, or selling an idea, giving presentations, etc. My education (13 years in the Scottish system, 6 of which were in a private school that provided a broad range of subjects including Latin and ancient Greek!) and my career (30+ years in IT management) have encouraged me to use my native language correctly. While I can’t promise to maintain absolutely perfect grammatical structure at all times, I will always attempt to make use of a reasonably extensive vocabulary. Unfortunately, this leads me to be quite verbose on occasion. I’ve been told I do it, know I do it, but can’t (or won’t) stop myself. In truth, I may secretly enjoy the old-school art of story-telling (or maybe I just like the sound of my own voice!).
Those of you categorised as ‘Gen-Y’ or ‘Millennials’ or inclined to use the abbreviations favoured by social media may have already left. Those of you with a strong disposition and a little more time to kill may stay the course. Your choice. I won’t be offended either way.
Given that this will probably turn out to be a lengthy post, it might require some judicial editing to break it into manageable chunks. I’ll do what I can within the bounds of my rudimentary knowledge of the forum mechanics but will happily accept whatever trimming the moderators feel is necessary.
Background
I returned to safety razors a few months ago after years of electric and cartridge razors doing their best to discourage the act of shaving every day. In the middle of 2016 I was contemplating changing to a more traditional shaving approach. I researched safety razor options for several months, using various forums, websites, video footage and friendly advice to try to remove the mystique associated with ‘proper’ wet shaving. When I finally decided to take the plunge, with help and advice from Brian at Executive Shaving, I chose a Muhle Stylo safety razor set. This included an elegant looking razor based on the R89 head, matching silvertip brush and stand. I know there are thousands of lower cost options available for a newbie, but I’m a sucker for German engineering and the aesthetics of Muhle in general, and the Stylo in particular, caught my eye!
For blades I started with Muhle (not surprising) and Personna Red based on Brian’s recommendation. I rotated these on a weekly basis for the first month or two, to get the hang of using the new razor and to compare two different blades. I found both blades very smooth and comfortable, similar in performance without the need to radically alter technique. Additionally, the blades were forgiving enough for me to build confidence in my technique. With this recently acquired confidence, I decided to branch out to other blade options.
Sample Set
I purchased a set of blades from Maggards, using their excellent sampler pack option. I chose the following:
Astra Superior Premium Platinum (well regarded by many)
Croma Diamant (couldn’t resist another German product)
Gillette 7 o’clock Super Stainless – Green (one of the mainstay brands from previous experience)
Rapira Swedish Supersteel (based on reviews and opinion on Russian blades)
Rapira Platinum Lux (based on reviews and opinion on Russian blades)
In addition to these, I included the Muhle and Personna Red blades I had already been using for several weeks and added a pack of Gillette 7 o’clock SharpEdge blades (aka Yellow) on a friend’s recommendation. This group seemed a good representation of blades that are well regarded and would allow me to try various combinations as I figure out what my ‘standard’ set was to be.
Trial Conditions
In an attempt to provide some control to the trial, I did not vary the razor head, handle or brush (pretty easy, since I only had one set at the time) and deliberately chose to use a single shaving soap throughout the trial – Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera.
I used a scoring system similar to others I’ve seen here and in different situations, scoring 1-5 for each of the following criteria:
Sharpness – how sharp I felt the blade was.
Comfort – how comfortable a shave was provided by the blade.
Efficiency – related to sharpness, but more to do with how many passes and tidy-ups were needed to get to a satisfactory result.
Finished result – self explanatory; how good the shave was (I was not necessarily looking for BBS, but was aiming for a DFS as the standard).
Post shave – because I have sensitive skin, I care about how my face feels after a shave, regardless of how well the blade performs in other aspects.
Longevity – how many shaves were achieved before I felt the blade had become sufficiently dull or scratchy to change out.
Value – the sample set included some expensive blades, some less expensive. What I rated here was the value to me based on overall satisfaction and money paid.
All of these scores were summed and an average produced to show my rating of the overall performance of each blade.
Still with me? Then here are the results from my two months of effort…
As I worked through the trial, I was prepared to ditch a blade if it’s performance was so awful as to cause me extreme discomfort, regardless of how many shaves I was into the life of the blade. I should state that this was not necessary for any of the blades tried, though the Croma came close.
Last Words
The scoring suggests I will use the Gillette 7 o’clock Yellow, Muhle Stainless, Personna Red and Rapira Swedish Supersteel in my regular blade rotation. However, knowing that I have already caught the same affliction that plagues most of us in the B&B forum (how many razors, brushes, soaps and after shaves do we need?), I feel sure I will try other blades in the future that may displace some of these.
Hopefully, this exercise will help other newbies in their journey to blade selection.
Happy to hear other views and feedback from the forum members.
