After much reading and searching trying to figure out which of the store brand Personnas are which and which ones are good and bad, and not turning up a whole lot, I decided to put my face (and wallet) on the line for my fellow B&B members to write this guide.
IMPORTANT
I tested many different store brand Personnas during this trial and one of these three blades I believe are every single store brand DE blade made by Personna, I judged this not by patent or product numbers but by how each blade shaved.
END IMPORTANT
Each blade I used in this test was used in the same razor (Flair Tip SS) and with the same cream (Palmolive menthol). I used 5 of each blade to the point of death. The list is in order of quality (best at top worst at bottom)
Our first contender is CVS made in Israel blades, note that you need to check the back of the package before purchase as CVS also sometimes has the made in USA Personnas, which aren't as good, but I haven't seen anything but the Israelis there for sometime. Walgreens also occasionly has these instead of Dorcos under their own brand, but check the country of manufacture first.
CVS Israeli:
View attachment 475217
First impression of these is that they appear to be a higher quality product than the USA Personnas, the printing on the blade is sharp and clear instead of blurry and smudged like on the USA Personnas. The shaves confirmed this assumption, the blades were smooth and plenty sharp (I would place these just a notch above Astra SPs in sharpness), and fairly long lasting, each blade provided 4 excellent shaves and 2 good shaves for a total of 6 shaves before giving out.
I believe these blades to be identical to Crystals even though the dispenser says they are simply stainless (all the store brand dispensers just say stainless so I assume they just use this one dispenser for that purpose). They shave, for me, exactly the same as Crystals and last just as long; which means for me they are a top shelf blade. Are these worth the $6 for 10 that CVS charges? No, but if I'm travelling I'll buy these at location in a heartbeat. If all I had available were these I'd actually be happy using them and ok with the price.
2nd contender is Personna Platinum Chrome made in USA, I've never seen these privately branded, I've only seen them carrying the Personna name, but they are available in some Walmarts and in some independent drug stores, and weirdly one gas station close to me (for $2 a pack nonetheless)!
Personna Platinum Chrome:
First Impressions aren't good, ugly smudged printing. But looks can lie and these blades prove it, each blade provided 2 almost excellent shaves and 2 more decent shaves for a total of 4 shaves per blade. These feel just as sharp as the CVS blades, but rougher, they aren't uncomfortable they just lack smoothness. They would be my second choice if I failed to find a CVS at destination or if I just needed some quick cheap blades to hold me over until better blades came in.
Finally we have Personna Comfort Coated Stainless, unlike most I don't believe these blades to be "barbers" or the same as Labs, but I different category entirely, somewhere above the barbers but below the Labs. Sources are all Sally's stores, CVS (occasionally), and other regional and independent grocers.
Personna Comfort Coated Stainless:
Visually these blades look the same as the Platinum Chrome and they seem to be the same as made in the USA store brands I tested. Basically they just aren't very good, 2 decent rough feeling shaves and they're done. I would avoid these if at all possible and try to find the other two or even the store branded Dorcos before you buy these.
IMPORTANT
I tested many different store brand Personnas during this trial and one of these three blades I believe are every single store brand DE blade made by Personna, I judged this not by patent or product numbers but by how each blade shaved.
END IMPORTANT
Each blade I used in this test was used in the same razor (Flair Tip SS) and with the same cream (Palmolive menthol). I used 5 of each blade to the point of death. The list is in order of quality (best at top worst at bottom)
Our first contender is CVS made in Israel blades, note that you need to check the back of the package before purchase as CVS also sometimes has the made in USA Personnas, which aren't as good, but I haven't seen anything but the Israelis there for sometime. Walgreens also occasionly has these instead of Dorcos under their own brand, but check the country of manufacture first.
CVS Israeli:
View attachment 475217
First impression of these is that they appear to be a higher quality product than the USA Personnas, the printing on the blade is sharp and clear instead of blurry and smudged like on the USA Personnas. The shaves confirmed this assumption, the blades were smooth and plenty sharp (I would place these just a notch above Astra SPs in sharpness), and fairly long lasting, each blade provided 4 excellent shaves and 2 good shaves for a total of 6 shaves before giving out.
I believe these blades to be identical to Crystals even though the dispenser says they are simply stainless (all the store brand dispensers just say stainless so I assume they just use this one dispenser for that purpose). They shave, for me, exactly the same as Crystals and last just as long; which means for me they are a top shelf blade. Are these worth the $6 for 10 that CVS charges? No, but if I'm travelling I'll buy these at location in a heartbeat. If all I had available were these I'd actually be happy using them and ok with the price.
2nd contender is Personna Platinum Chrome made in USA, I've never seen these privately branded, I've only seen them carrying the Personna name, but they are available in some Walmarts and in some independent drug stores, and weirdly one gas station close to me (for $2 a pack nonetheless)!
Personna Platinum Chrome:
First Impressions aren't good, ugly smudged printing. But looks can lie and these blades prove it, each blade provided 2 almost excellent shaves and 2 more decent shaves for a total of 4 shaves per blade. These feel just as sharp as the CVS blades, but rougher, they aren't uncomfortable they just lack smoothness. They would be my second choice if I failed to find a CVS at destination or if I just needed some quick cheap blades to hold me over until better blades came in.
Finally we have Personna Comfort Coated Stainless, unlike most I don't believe these blades to be "barbers" or the same as Labs, but I different category entirely, somewhere above the barbers but below the Labs. Sources are all Sally's stores, CVS (occasionally), and other regional and independent grocers.
Personna Comfort Coated Stainless:
Visually these blades look the same as the Platinum Chrome and they seem to be the same as made in the USA store brands I tested. Basically they just aren't very good, 2 decent rough feeling shaves and they're done. I would avoid these if at all possible and try to find the other two or even the store branded Dorcos before you buy these.
