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Personna Lab Blue --- same as Barber Personna , or same as Medical Personna ?

Of these three Personna blades --- Medical , Lab Blue, and Barber --- which two are regarded as the most similar ? Some threads have mentioned the Medical and Lab Blue as similar and the Barber as different , but a thread today mentions the Lab Blue and Barber as being similar and the Medical as being different.
 
Lab and hospital are the same shave wise, hospital (medical) goes threw an extra cleaning/sterilization process.
 
I've not tried the labs but use the barber's & med's interchangeably, haven't noticed a major difference. Maybe I'll have to pay more attention see if the med's are working better.
 
These were described as "Super Barber Lab Blues" (
super stainless, comfort coated) on​
http://connaughtshaving.com/

The world of Personna blades is confusing, even for the vendors I reckon :huh:

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Hi,

I used to get the Med Prep from a medical supply house. So, no confusion there! The Labs, I get from West Coast Shaving in a box of 100 for 17 bucks. About half the price of the Meds. The ones in the dispenser pack I have never tried. My barber uses the Labs, so until today I was thinking Lab and Barber were also the same. Ugh. Too many ways to make and sell what ought to be the same thing! :crying:

Stan
 
Oscroft compared both, twice. His second comparison is here. I cannot tell the difference between Meds and Labs, but the "barbers" do shave different.
 
These were described as "Super Barber Lab Blues" (
super stainless, comfort coated) on​
http://connaughtshaving.com/

The world of Personna blades is confusing, even for the vendors I reckon :huh:

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View attachment 355222

They did this to me also, I was so looking forward to trying them out as I'd heard nothing but good reviews etc.
Ah well I'll order a hundred count in the box and if they are these again I'll send them back and never order from them again.
 
They did this to me also, I was so looking forward to trying them out as I'd heard nothing but good reviews etc.
Ah well I'll order a hundred count in the box and if they are these again I'll send them back and never order from them again.
Well I wasn't too bothered, tbh, as what they sent was a great blade!
 
In theory, they should be. But the blades are marked differently, and for me, they shave differently. They also look identical to blades sold in the Kroger chain as Kroger blades. Looks exactly the same to me, just a different blister pack. But the mystery of the American Personna continues. I blame ancient astronauts.
If you have the blister pack, I'll PIF you several Blue "Labs" so you can compare. If you want a few, PM me a mailing address.
 
Thank you very much! They do seem to be the same as the blades I got at CVS and Kroger, I bought the Personna blister pack like the one above at Sally's that's why I thought they were lab blues. But looking online they are marked differently, things that make you say hmm.

Jim
 
WCS sells them as Lab Blues, too.

Thank you very much! They do seem to be the same as the blades I got at CVS and Kroger, I bought the Personna blister pack like the one above at Sally's that's why I thought they were lab blues. But looking online they are marked differently, things that make you say hmm.

Jim
 
So does that mean the ones sold by WCS are indeed Lab Blues? I got a pack, assuming this was so.

If they just have arrows on the blade I'd say no they're not, Med/Labs have persona printed on them and shave way better.
These to me where the worst Personnas I've tried.
The totally blank ones from Tesco/Boots/Asda in the UK are far superior IMO.
 
Thanks to Chadao who sent me some Barbers, Lab Blues and Medical Personna's I have been doing a week long test. This week I did Lab Blues VS Blister pack Personna's I bought at Sally's.

One I used the same soap and brush and the same razor. On day one I used two super speeds of the same year(1976) and shaved one side with the blister pack and the other with the Lab Blues. To me they were both sharp but the Lab Blue was a lot smoother than the Blister pack Personna's. All shaves will be three pass WTG, XTG and ATG.

On the second day using the same brush and soap as the day before but did my entire face with the lab blues it was a great shave sharp and smooth.

On day three same as day two but I used the blister pack Personna and it was not as smooth or sharp but still a good shave.

Day four I used the blues again great shave smooth and still sharp.

Day five blister pack and it was not as smooth or sharp good to average.

Day six and the blues were still smooth and sharp.

Day seven the blister was really tugging and not fun I finished the ATG pass with the Lab Blue Personna and it was still smooth.

Day eight Lab Blue was still smooth and sharp I intend to use the lab blue another day to see how it does but I can say in my opinion there is a large difference in the blister pack Personna's and the Lab Blues.

Winner Lab Blues by a mile I have 4 blister packs personna's and now I want to just put them aside and order the Lab Blues but I will wait until I've don all three.


Next week blister vs Medical Personna's then Barbers to follow.

Jim
 

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I had some lab blues in my sample pack and some others I picked up along the way. I like them in my fatboy and my slim. I don't like them in my merkur. I'm almost out of them, but just having 2 razors I like them in puts them on my buy list. Now I just have to find a place that has them in stock and takes paypal. Or maybe I'll bite the bullet and buy them on amazon.
 
I had some lab blues in my sample pack and some others I picked up along the way. I like them in my fatboy and my slim. I don't like them in my merkur. I'm almost out of them, but just having 2 razors I like them in puts them on my buy list. Now I just have to find a place that has them in stock and takes paypal. Or maybe I'll bite the bullet and buy them on amazon.

I've noticed that samples from all over the net have the white plastic packaged blades and list them as Labs.
They are not the same, I ordered 100 lab blues in the box and they have Personna printed on the blade unlike the white packaged ones which only have arrows on them.
These are the poor Barber ones, you might want to try some real Labs as they are infinitely better.
As usual YMMV.
 
I've noticed that samples from all over the net have the white plastic packaged blades and list them as Labs.
They are not the same, I ordered 100 lab blues in the box and they have Personna printed on the blade unlike the white packaged ones which only have arrows on them.
These are the poor Barber ones, you might want to try some real Labs as they are infinitely better.
As usual YMMV.

Nope. My blades were individually wrapped in blue paper. So either they are labs or med preps. I don't recall the wording for med prepes, but i'm pretty sure that it wasn't on any of the blades i've used. So i'll go as far as saying that i'm 99% sure i've been using lab preps.
 
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