Journey to 100 blades (journal)

[Abz88]

Fourth and final shave with the Parker Premium today. Another smooth shave but feeling like it's lacking sharpness. The irritation/ingrowns from shave 2 doesn't seem to be any worse and no alum feedback today.
Not a bad blade overall but ingrowns suggest the balde is lacking a bit of sharpness for me.

 

[Abz88]

Blade 23: Shark Super Chrome

It's Shark Week! Decided to load up my FaTip with a Super Chrome for Shark week (albeit a late start to the week!) and got a very pleasant shave. This is my first ever Shark and first ever Lord blade and while I just had time for a quick two pass shave, the Shark Blade felt smooth and sharp enough in this razor for a close shave, hopefully that continues for the next few shaves! As a side note, I need to use my FaTip more often! Its a very smooth but efficient shaver with almost no blade feel at times.

 

[Abz88]

Shave 2 with the Shark Super Chrome today and again it feels quite smooth and I think a touch sharper. Just another two pass shave today, starting to think two passes is all I need with the FaTip, and the shave was close enough (although not as close as a two pass with a Personna IR, BIC or sharper Gillette). I also ended up with some irritation again around the ingrown hairs I've been getting over the last few weeks. Hopefully Aloaclear and Hydrocortisone will have it cleared up by the morning!

 

[Abz88]

Shave 3 with the Shark Super Chrome (after travelling last week with a more familiar combination). It still feels smooth but it again felt sharper than on the last shave. A full three pass (for me that's ATG, XTG x2) and a close shave with no irritation or Alum sting. There has also been no flair up of the lingering irritation I had over the last few weeks so I am thinking that has finally disappeared.

 

[Abz88]

Fourth and final shave with the Shark Super Chrome. Just a single pass today, and I think the Shark SC peaked on shave 3! No initial irritation and no feedback from the Alum but not the closest of shaves and I am starting to feel some tug from the blade. Overall not a bad blade and I could easily shave with it regularly but it hasn't overtaken any of my top tier blades.

 

[Abz88]

Blade 24: Shark Platinum

I decided I might as well try out all three Shark blades back to back, so up next is the Shark Platinum, again loaded into my FaTip SE Gentile. On shave 1 it felt very similar to the Shark Super Chrome (possibly not quite as sharp as the Super Chrome?), its smooth and shark enough for a pleasant shave but it could do with being a bit sharper for me.

 

[Abz88]

Shave 2 with the Shark Platinum today and again it felt very similar to the Shark Super Chrome in this razor but possibly a touch sharper. A closer shave than shave 1 but still not quite as close as I would like. No alum feedback but a couple of small spots of irritation although they seem to have disappeared during the course of the day.

 

[Abz88]

Shave 3 with the Shark Platinum today and again it felt similar to the Shark Chrome Platinum. It felt sharper today than on previous shaves while still retaining its smoothness, although similar to the Chrome Platinum it still sits in the mild category of blades for me. The end result today was a close and pleasant shave with no apparent irritation or Alum feedback.

 

[Abz88]

Shave 4 with the Shark Platinum was my standard single pass Sunday shave and the blade pleasantly surprised me! It still felt as sharp as shave 3 if not a touch sharper again and I got a fairly close shave for a single pass and still very smooth. Much better than the fourth shave with the Chrome Platinum and no irritation or Alum feedback.

On holiday this week with an Israeli Red and then I'll try out the Shark Stainless when I get back.

 

[Abz88]

Blade 25: Tiger Platinum

I was going to try out the Shark Super Stainless, but decided to join in with the Tiger Week Thread and loaded one into my Rocca.

I got a very smooth shave out of this blade, it could do with being a touch sharper but there was no tugging and I get a pleasant, irritation and alum feedback free shave from it that was close enough for my liking. I'm hoping it sharpens up on the next couple of shaves while retaining it smoothness

 

[Abz88]

Shave 2 with the Tiger Platinum today in the Rocca and another very smooth shave. It doesn't seem any sharper on shave 2 so again, despite a pleasant and irritation free shave, it feels like it could do with being sharper (I have a feeling I will prefer the Tiger Superior when I get to it!)

 

[Abz88]

Shave 3 with the Tiger Platinum today in the Rocca. The blade still feels smooth, but unlike other Platinum coated blades I've tried (bar the Treet Platinum) there has been no noticeable increase in sharpness with this blade. I ended up with a bit of irritation today which I often get with duller blades so it looks like this blade should have been a 2 and done blade for me! After a promising start, the Tiger has been a bit of a let down (at least in this razor)!

 

[Abz88]

Fourth and final shave with the Tiger Platinum this morning for a quick single pass. It still feels smooth but I ended up with some additional irritation today and it aggravated the irritation from shave 3. I think this is likely due to it not being sharp enough for me in this razor (it never really sharpened up like other blades do). I'll be trying the Tatra Platinum next week, rumored to be the same blade so possibly another week of "not sharp enough" shaves and then the Tiger Superior the week after (which I am holding out a bit more hope for as it is supposed to be sharper!)

 

[Abz88]

Blade 26: Tatra Platinum

Trying out the Tatra Platinum this week, made by Czech Blades in the same factory as the Tiger Platinum and rumoured to be the same blade but re-packaged.
Shave 1 lived up to the rumour with it feeling identical to the Tiger Platinum! The blade is very smooth and gave a pleasant, tug and irritation free shave but it could do with being a touch sharper.

 

[Abz88]

Shave 2 with the Tatra Platinum today and although it is supposed to be the same blade as the Tiger Platinum I got a better shave with the Tatra on shave 2 than I did on the Tiger shave 2 (possibly down to using a better soap). The blade was still very smooth and felt slightly sharper than it did on shave 1. No tugging, no irritation and no alum sting but I still feel like it could be a touch sharper.
Shave 3 will be interesting as that's when the Tiger Platinum started to go downhill!

 

[Abz88]

Shave 3 with the Tatra Platinum today and it's feeling like the Tiger did on shave 3! I feels duller than both previous shaves and while it still feels smooth it was dull to the point of being tuggy. I ended up with some spots of irritation today and on the basis that the Tiger was duller again on shave 4 I've put the Tatra in the blade bank and will be moving on.
Trying out the Tiger Superior next which is supposed to be sharper so I am hoping I have more luck with that!

 

[Abz88]

Blade 27: Tiger Superior

Trying the third and final Czech Blades company blade (although they are due to release a Tatra Superior at some point as well) and it was a better shave than both of their Platinum offerings. The Tiger Superior is just as smooth as the other two but has a noticeable step up in sharpness. A pleasant and close shave today with no new irritation (albeit some lingering from the duller Tatra blade on my last shave)

 

[Abz88]

Shave 2 with the Tiger Superior and another excellent shave. The blade still feels as smooth as it did on shave 1 but it feels a touch sharper now. A close shave with no irritation or feedback from the alum apart from the couple of spots of lingering irritation from the previous weeks with the duller Platinum Czech Blades.

 

[Abz88]

Shave 3 with the Tiger Superior and it was the best shave yet with this blade. The blade still feels as smooth as it did on shaves 1 and 2 but similar to my other top tier blades it feels like it has sharpened up again on shave 3. No irritation or feedback from the alum today and it feels like the closest shave I have had with my Rocca so far. I still have 1 shave to go with the blade, but it's already top of the blade pile for this razor.

 

[Abz88]

Shave 4 with the Tiger Superior today and another excellent shave. The blade still feels very smooth and nice and sharp in the Rocca. I don't think it's quite as sharp as an Israeli Red but possibly similar to a Gillette Platinum. No irritation or alum feedback today and a close shave for a single pass. Overall the Tiger Superior is feeling like a top tier blade for me.