WHOA! Newbies note- SAMPLE SAMPLE SAMPLE

I've been at this going on two months.

Started with the Merkur blades that came with razor.

Bought a sampler pack after a month.

Working my way through them one brand at a time.

Today I hit the Astra! WoW. What a difference finding a blade that suits your face.

Best shave I've had yet. The most BBS, trouble free and easy.

If you're new to this- heed the words of all those that came before: buy a sampler pack of blades.

The Merkurs were okay-ish. Derby's better. Wilkinson sword - ehhh. Red Pack kinda tore me up.

But today the Astra kicked azz. It was very zen like as I got underway and could see this blade was gonna be different.

Wow- again.

It all makes sense, but I had no idea! I'm not advocating the Astra; rather urging you try different brands till you find the smoooothest for you.

I love Astras. Good you found something that works!

I suggest to revisit the blades you don't like now at a later date. The reason is your technique will have improved and your likes may differ.

StylinLA said:

If you're new to this- heed the words of all those that came before: buy a sampler pack of blades.

Click to expand...

+1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

There's good reason 9 out of 10 wetshavers recommend blade samplers.

Anyway, I'm glad you found your blade.

rickboone1 said:

I suggest to revisit the blades you don't like now at a later date. The reason is your technique will have improved and your likes may differ.

Click to expand...

That certainly is worthwhile advice, but I must say on the second stroke I knew this was better for me than all the others so far.

+1 but Astras are very good blades indeed!

rickboone1 said:

I suggest to revisit the blades you don't like now at a later date. The reason is your technique will have improved and your likes may differ.

Click to expand...

So when you are going through your sample pack, did you just do one blade each or did you do several of each?

cdthomas23 said:

So when you are going through your sample pack, did you just do one blade each or did you do several of each?

Click to expand...

I would do several of the same kind together before moving on to another blade, while saving maybe one or two for later. That way you get a good feel for that brand and make of blade, how it shaves, how consistent the shave is from blade to blade, that sort of thing while still reserving a few blades to try at a later date, in case you initially misjudged a blade early on.

cdthomas23 said:

So when you are going through your sample pack, did you just do one blade each or did you do several of each?

Click to expand...

Did like two each of four different blades. Bailed bailed on Red Pack after one blade.

I'll keep em all and retry later.

Astra best to date, but I've got more to test including (gulp) Feather.

Great to see you've hit gold! Astras rock!

StylinLA said:

Did like two each of four different blades. Bailed bailed on Red Pack after one blade.

I'll keep em all and retry later.

Astra best to date, but I've got more to test including (gulp) Feather.

Click to expand...

Don't fear the feather. Be one with the blade. No pressure. You may find a new favorite.

gollum83 said:

I would do several of the same kind together before moving on to another blade, while saving maybe one or two for later. That way you get a good feel for that brand and make of blade, how it shaves, how consistent the shave is from blade to blade, that sort of thing while still reserving a few blades to try at a later date, in case you initially misjudged a blade early on.

Click to expand...

+1

I would also use each blade for the exact same # of shaves. This will promote scientific accuracy, along with limiting your # of variables.

After you determine what blades work best for you, you can do further testing to figure out the optimal # of shaves for that blade. Using the blade until it dulls is likely to askew your perceptions of that blade for purposes of blade testing.

I found in my testing that 2-4 shaves with each blade was optimal, with there usually being a marked difference in shave quality between shave 3, and shave 4.

While just about all blades can be used for 3 good shaves, there is quite a wide variance among blade brands in how many shaves a blade will give before feeling dull.

~John~