What criteria/information are you looking for in a razor blade review?

[desrgrl]

I haven't even got my soap review out yet, so the razor blade one will be a bit, but I'm starting with getting a bit of information from you, the dear viewers. I've got about 20 plus brands to review, and I've been thinking the best way to 'chart' my results, and to then put that information into useful, useable form. It occurred to me, that asking what the readership wants.

What I've got so far... an intro that outlines what things can be covered in general, and ones that I can't. So for example, here are the parts of body, what I can do, and what I can't (for example, head). Also, variables, such as frequency of shave, type of razor used, etc. I can list what those are in reference to me, and then others can extrapolate to their situation.

As to what I can try to quantify...
- noticeable dulling (I can't do an exact 'x' number of shaves, but I can do a more general 'went dull quickly/lasted longer than usual' type of thing.
- quality of shave - good enough, everyday, better than average, BBS.. that kind of thing. Please feel free to recommend any forum usual descriptors (like BBS) that would help standardize things.
- The big one, how to grade the shaving experience. Not everyone uses the same terms, or one term can have multiple meanings. So, in one grouping would be things like aggressive/efficient/sharp vs tugs/pulls/drags vs mild/smooth/gentle vs too mild/not efficient I can only do a very vague grouping of a few things, but it would help to know which sort of descriptors work for you.

I will give pics/info on the blades. I figure after an intro that says 'this is me and how I shave' for comparison, there would be a few basic entries, and then maybe allow for a note for anything that pops up not covered.

I'll likely not have the ability to include everything everyone wants, or the way they want it, but at least by asking ahead I can try to include any information that you might be interested in, that I wouldn't necessarily think of. Or perhaps even just a preferred way to organize it. Of course, as always, this is a YMMV endeavor. What one person calls efficient, another calls aggressive, and someone else calls a chainsaw. I'm aiming at descriptive over judgmental for any particular factor.

I'm really early in the process, but it seemed like a good start to ask what your thoughts are.

 

[FarmerTan]

An excellent start in my opinion.

 

[APBinNCA]

One idea might be to get a blade that is well known, there is a thread on "most recommended" blade. I would say the Gillette Silver Blue for two reasons over the Astra SP; one as above, two GSBs are close to medium sharpness and known to be smooth shaving for their sharpness. With ASPs, everything is going to be sharper, but not smoother so saying something else is sharper is not really helpful to the reader. This means you can relate things to a known and the reader can interpret that based on their experience with that known.

 

[luvmysuper]

Blades are SO YMMV, that in general I am unconvinced by other folks reviews.
When I look at what someone recommends for a blade, I look around at what other blades they have said they like.
If they like the same ones I do, then chances are I will like the reviewed one.
Maybe in your review for whatever "categories" you choose, compare them to a blade that did as well or better for you.

 

[desrgrl]

One idea might be to get a blade that is well known, there is a thread on "most recommended" blade. I would say the Gillette Silver Blue for two reasons over the Astra SP; one as above, two GSBs are close to medium sharpness and known to be smooth shaving for their sharpness. With ASPs, everything is going to be sharper, but not smoother so saying something else is sharper is not really helpful to the reader. This means you can relate things to a known and the reader can interpret that based on their experience with that known.

I've got the blades already. I had a few of my dwindling stock left, a good sized sampler pack, and a handful that someone added as a bonus to a PIF razor. So, having so many, it seemed only fair to share with the crowd and do a review. I finished off my razor review (after being away for a handful of years, I wandered back when I was in need of advice on a new razor, and was PIFd a couple by some incredibly kind people). I was also PIFd some brushes unexpectedly, so did a brush review. I"m now working on a soap review, as I bought some new with the sampler pack, and also had some of my own. It will be a bit of time to get the razor one underway, and it will take a long time, as its a lot of different razors, and I don't shave every day.

Anyway, your idea is one that I'm going with, as to have some baseline blades to work around. I'm going to try and group them as I use them, and for help in describing them, luckily, my take on a couple of brands seems to fall in line with the majority of thought on them (Personna almost always get smooth/mild/medium, and Feathers almost always get aggressive/sharp/efficient), though as usual, you'll always find people that feel just the opposite. Besides those two, there are also GBS, Astra Green (and I think Blue), and many others. I'm kind of interested about the Astra Green, as once upon a time, a long time ago, they were my go to.

Being a female makes this all a bit more subjective. A brush or a soap doesn't matter as much, but like a razor, there are much more differences, biggest one being my chin hair is nowhere as copious/thick as a guys, and most guys are not doing legs/underarms, and I'm not doing my head. As you mention, its making waypoints of a sort, so that hopefully readers can interpret the findings based on comparisons.

 

[thombrogan]

The mentioned parameters work for me. If you have more than one razor, seeing how the shave quality changes as razors get switched might be enlightening. So would revisiting blades previously revered or reviled after months more experience.

 

[d_e]

Longevity ie how many shaves till done
Relative sharpness to your other blades
Relative smoothness to your other blades
Relative irritation post shave vs other blades

Blades seem to be uh relative

 

[desrgrl]

Longevity ie how many shaves till done
Relative sharpness to your other blades
Relative smoothness to your other blades
Relative irritation post shave vs other blades

Blades seem to be uh relative

Thanks, I might have thought of it when the time comes, but I hadn't jotted down 'post shave' aspect.

 

[desrgrl]

Blades are SO YMMV, that in general I am unconvinced by other folks reviews.
When I look at what someone recommends for a blade, I look around at what other blades they have said they like.
If they like the same ones I do, then chances are I will like the reviewed one.
Maybe in your review for whatever "categories" you choose, compare them to a blade that did as well or better for you.

People seem to like reviews, and I thought it was the least I could do as some were given to me as PIF. I agree that blades are the most YMMV items. I do plan on trying to do general groups, as opposed to some sort of linear best to worst ranking, which I think would be an inaccurate approach. Like you say, it usually comes down to comparing what you like to what someone else does, and where things agree or disagree. Hopefully it will just be a fun read with pics. But I don't shave every day, so it will be forever to get through them all. I live for 'science'

 

[Doc Dan]

I think this is a good start. Other things will occur to you as you go forward. I have kept a chart of my own experiences with blades paired with different razors. A blade in one razor will not necessarily be the same experience in another razor, I found. So, it might be helpful to list your razor pairings and use blade x in razor y and razor z and note any differences or similarities in blade performance.

 

[musicman1951]

Good suggestions. Give as much information as you have, it's hard to guess which bits will help which shopper. I absolutely agree that blades are very ymmv and comparisons to other blades helps put things in perspective. Just as sharp as blade xxxx but smoother means a lot more to me than your longevity - which isn't going to help me at all unless you also give your longevity with all the other blades.

 

[RenoRichard]

@desrgrl I'd say just write your impressions using descriptions that seem best to you, as opposed to trying to conform to any particular standard. As you mentioned, underarms, legs, and such that we guys don't normally shave might be best highlighted as well. For example, this blade XXX was sharper/smoother than that blade YYY for me on my legs. My leg shave was [insert description].

Your impressions may be most useful to shaver's that do similar shaves to yours, and that's something special you may contribute to the forum. We have lots of blade, and other, reviews for shaves of grizzled faces with tough whiskers that we old guys sport, but I do not recall reading many posts related to shaving much more than face and dome. Over time it would be nice to see more diverse folks joining B&B and being able to gain insights from a great variety of posts about all aspects of shaving.

 

[BigJ]

Great suggestions above!

My personal criteria for blades (recognizing that this is very much YMMV):
Sharpness (shave 1 and throughout the use cycle)
Smoothness
Comfort
Longevity

And finally, graphics (but that is just for the cognisanti)!!

 

[desrgrl]

I'd say just write your impressions using descriptions that seem best to you, as opposed to trying to conform to any particular standard.

I probably should have worked to make my original post shorter and more precise. I was thinking more what criteria I might be missing that more men would think would be obvious (for example, with razors, it never occurred to me the issues with upper lip shaving, until it was mentioned. Just oversight). Also, 'efficiency' is used a lot, but it seems its used almost randomly. Too aggressive/too mild used as a pro/con isn't valid (depends on skin, etc) so that can be more of a comparison thing, but I see aggressive equated to efficiency, and sharpness equated to efficiency, and 'bite' (another sort of iffy word) compared to efficiency. These are all different things.

Anyway, it was mostly a fishing expedition for input. I also don't want a ton of variables, it just gets too confusing. All of it is pretty subjective. I'm hoping to maybe get a grouping of five or so that seem to be in the same ball park... A is like this, B is like that, C is like the other thing, D are ones I personally love, E are ones I personally dislike. Something like that. It's been awhile since I've had a lot of different blades around. The past two years, I've mostly used Feathers, Personnas, Wilkinson Sword, Astra Green, and probably a few strays. So, I know a Personna and a Feather aren't going to be in the same group, and that my thoughts on them match a majority of those that shave with them. A good review hopefully also gives helpful information even when it doesn't match what you want. If someone said, I hate razor X because it shaves like an Astra Green, I know I'll probably actually be okay with it. I'm sure it will be an interesting process. The soap review got delayed a bit because I came across to more soaps that I had forgot I had, plus just life being busyish.