Van Der Hagen Ice Tempered Stainless Steel Razor Blades - gave 'em a try

[PV29]

Was in the local Walgreen's and, as usual, strolled through the shaving aisle to see what they had to tempt me. It was the usual fare, except they are now stocking Van der Hagen safety razors and these blades along with their soaps and kits.



Couldn't help myself, bought a pack even though the price was ridiculous at $5 for a pack of 5.

Loaded one this morning in my Weber polished head razor, usual prep with some pre-shave coconut oil and Razorock Classic soap. Finished with cold water rinse, witch hazel splash, Cremo face moisturizer and some Royall Muske.

To be honest, I had some trepidation about this blade having read some lukewarm reviews about them last night. To my surprise the blade felt sufficiently sharp and pleasantly smooth. I did three passes as per usual and the blade was reasonably efficient and left only one or two weepers on the ATG pass on my neck. This is actually pretty good on a Friday because my neck gets very sensitive by Friday due to the cumulative effects of shaving all week. All in all, this is not a bad blade at all. As I'm sitting here at my desk I'm quite happy with how smooth my face feels. I'm now curious about this blade's longevity, I'll comment later next week as I put some mileage on this thing.

Unfortunately, the price is absurd. For that price I can bid on some NOS Platinum Plus blades at the usual online auction site. Better yet, I could save a buck and get 5 Kai blades for $4 online. Well, at least my curiosity was satisfied and I have a pack of decent blades in my cabinet to use in the rotation. I had feared that the $5 would be wasted completely on a pack of bad blades. Perhaps if they get more reasonable I will consider another purchase and add them to the regular rotation.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

I am glad to see a positive review. I got them for a little less, $2.19 I think, when they were on sale at a Harris Teeter grocery store. Got only one pack because I didn't know how good they would be.

Let us know how many shaves you get out of it.

 

[PV29]

Shaved again with this blade on Saturday, same setup and prep. What I learned from this shave is that these blades are quite sharp and demand some respect. I let my technique lax a bit on a south-to-north pass under my bottom lip and got bit. A small nick from letting my blade angle get too steep. Overall, the shave was close and left my face feeling nice for the rest of the day. Still, there was some harshness that I felt during the shave. No razor burn, but there was feedback on my skin from this blade.

No shave Sunday, as usual. Today (Monday) I decided to take the blade out of my Weber and put it in a milder razor given the blade's sharpness and somewhat harsh feeling in the Weber. Put it in my EJ89, same prep. This was a much better pairing for this blade. The shave today was very comfortable and the blade is still sharp and efficient in cutting whiskers. 3 passes, small touch up, near-BBS with no irritation. The Floid Blue had no sting when splashed on this morning, confirming that this is a good blade for the EJ89. Probably also a good blade for the Super Speed as well.

So far I'm happy with this blade except for the price. Curiosity justifies this one-time purchase of a blade at $1 per blade. But there is no justification in my opinion for a re-purchase unless the price is brought down by about half. At $2.19 per pack that Dog Whiskerer grabbed them they are a solid value. Will update on longevity later this week. Curious if others have had experience with these blades recently.

 

[nav]

These are the same as the Timor Ice Tempered blades right?

 

[TexanTom]

You get one of these with the VDH razor if you buy that...and even in the uber-mild VDH/Weishi, I got a very tugging/pulling first pass with these blades. They finished OK, but that first pass was pretty unpleasant on my medium-dense facial hair.

These blades are from "the city of blades"...are they not Merkur-made blades? Could explain the price. BTW, I saw them for $3 for 5 in my grocery just a couple days ago.

I'm, personally, not a fan of these blades.

 

[PV29]

These are the same as the Timor Ice Tempered blades right?

Not sure. I've read a thread in here that suggested that, but I don't have any knowledge either way.

You get one of these with the VDH razor if you buy that...and even in the uber-mild VDH/Weishi, I got a very tugging/pulling first pass with these blades. They finished OK, but that first pass was pretty unpleasant on my medium-dense facial hair.

These blades are from "the city of blades"...are they not Merkur-made blades? Could explain the price. BTW, I saw them for $3 for 5 in my grocery just a couple days ago.

I'm, personally, not a fan of these blades.

Clearly another case of YMMV. I got another decent shave with this blade again today, using Kiss My Face cream. Whereas Bolzano's feel like they're tugging a bit on me, these don't tug at all. Then again, I have a moderate type beard so that may explain it a bit.

 

[PV29]

Friday and this blade is still giving me great shaves. Three passes and some small touch ups using Tcheon Fung Sing tobacco verde hard soap. BBS and no irritation. This blade is perfectly paired with my EJ89, the blade angle of the razor works very well with this blade. Longevity appears to be satisfactory and comparable to other blades that I use in my rotation (Kai, Gillette Platinum, Gillette Silver Blue, Personna Blue). I guess the only question now for me is consistency from blade to blade, which will take a bit longer to determine. Too bad these blades are so expensive, maybe they'll get more reasonable over time or there will be some online sources with better prices.

 

[Ad Astra]

The best thing about VDH is them getting the boutique shaving thing mainstream and into Walmart, CVS, etc.

$1/each is what WW is getting for "refills" for the Pawn Stars guy's Weishi razor setup. I bet they're .10 blades elsewhere.


AA