I posted this on the end of a thread I started almost 2 months ago in the "Newbie Check In" forum. I realized it might be better over here! I had returned to DE shaving after a 30 year hiatus and hadn't a clue on what blades would suit my experience and face. So i bought a 15 brand sampler blade pack from a B&B advertiser and here we are. All were tested in a SS Feather safety razor.
...........
It's been almost two months and I've finally run through my sampler set of blades and reached some conclusions. These are just my experiences on my mug with these blades. No doubt six months from now the blades that I've identified as the most compatible with my face and experience level will shuffle around a bit in the ranking.
Here are the blades of the fifteen in the sampler (plus the Merkur) that I found the best for me:
Bolzano Superinox
Feather Hi Stainless
Wilkinson Sword (classic)
Wilkinson Sword
Of these I found the Feather was the least work with the most care required. The Wilkinsons were both great as was the Bolzano. I've gone back to the Feather this past week and found that the shave quality I can achieve has improved (obviously along with my technique) in the past two months.
The ones I found not to my satisfaction were the:
Derby Extra
Merkur Super
Treet Durasharp
Treet Platinum
Of those the Treet Durasharp gave me the most trouble and the roughest shave. I came close to abandoning it half way through its first use.
Again, YMMV. These are strictly my biased, novice results.
All blades were ranked by:
Cost
Closeness
Passes
BBS
Irritation
Nicks
Weepers
Comfort
Overall
With all of them I found the most difficult area was immediately below my jaw line. For a good number of blades a fourth pass was necessary along that line. This may be more an issue of technique rather than a deficiency in the blade.
This was an exciting test as I never knew quite what my experience would be when I changed blades.
Thanks for all the great advice and encouragement I received along the way.
BTW - being a Scotsman I also changed from TOBS (which was very good) to Castle & Forbes Lavender cream. One word - WOW!
Best Regards,
Alex
...........
It's been almost two months and I've finally run through my sampler set of blades and reached some conclusions. These are just my experiences on my mug with these blades. No doubt six months from now the blades that I've identified as the most compatible with my face and experience level will shuffle around a bit in the ranking.
Here are the blades of the fifteen in the sampler (plus the Merkur) that I found the best for me:
Bolzano Superinox
Feather Hi Stainless
Wilkinson Sword (classic)
Wilkinson Sword
Of these I found the Feather was the least work with the most care required. The Wilkinsons were both great as was the Bolzano. I've gone back to the Feather this past week and found that the shave quality I can achieve has improved (obviously along with my technique) in the past two months.
The ones I found not to my satisfaction were the:
Derby Extra
Merkur Super
Treet Durasharp
Treet Platinum
Of those the Treet Durasharp gave me the most trouble and the roughest shave. I came close to abandoning it half way through its first use.
Again, YMMV. These are strictly my biased, novice results.
All blades were ranked by:
Cost
Closeness
Passes
BBS
Irritation
Nicks
Weepers
Comfort
Overall
With all of them I found the most difficult area was immediately below my jaw line. For a good number of blades a fourth pass was necessary along that line. This may be more an issue of technique rather than a deficiency in the blade.
This was an exciting test as I never knew quite what my experience would be when I changed blades.
Thanks for all the great advice and encouragement I received along the way.
BTW - being a Scotsman I also changed from TOBS (which was very good) to Castle & Forbes Lavender cream. One word - WOW!
Best Regards,
Alex
