Blind test #6 - Gillette 7 O'clock, Yellow vs Black

**jwilock** · 03-31-2012, 09:04 AM

Great job, and a fun read. While some prefer 7 Greens the majority seem to prefer Yellow, Black or Blue. Your Blue to Black should make that comparison clearer too.

**man00ver** · 03-31-2012, 09:52 AM

Alan, you're doing GREAT work here. I'm completely un-surprised by the results on this one; the 7-Blacks have been on my top shelf for a very long time (the Yellows, not so much).
I recently did some extensive heads-up testing of 7-black vs 7-blue (not blind, however). They're both great, but I found the blacks a hair better and more versatile in different handles. I'll be looking forward to that future test of yours. The Personna Med is another big favorite, so you've got my full attention on this series!

**beengone** · 03-31-2012, 10:08 AM

I was thinking a nice tournament bracket could be fun.

**Mr.Oak** · 03-31-2012, 02:21 PM

I'm trying the yellows next after finishing a black recently. All I hope is that the yellows are better than the blues (which I hated).

**cfender** · 03-31-2012, 06:30 PM

My unscientific evaluation of the Black and the Yellow determined the Black to be sharper but I don't think I ever took either blade past 3 or maby 4 shaves. Probably 3. Unlike Oscrofts eval, I think I felt the distinction on the first shaves. One qualifier though is that I do a 4 pass shave PLUS A LOT of touch up and buffing so I may be dragging a blade on my face more than other users on a single shave. It might equate to 2 or 3 shaves for other users.

**JCinPA** · 03-31-2012, 06:49 PM

Whew! What a wait!

Man00ver first introduced me to the blacks maybe 6-7 months back. I was still running through blades to see what I liked. Ended up being the Blacks!

I have a decent sized stash of NOS Schick Plus Platinums, and I think I like the Blacks as much, which is good, because they are still making them. Ordered 140 from and Indian seller on the 'bay, and I'm done testing now. I love those blades.

**beengone** · 03-31-2012, 08:22 PM

After all this I finally ordered some Blacks. Needed to get one more pack of Astra SPs to compare a few blades to anyway and this thread finally made me do it. Finally ordered the Red IPs to try for the first time as well.

Hated the 7'OC blues - one of the worst blades I've used. really liked the Russian Green SSes and was the first blade to go past 3 shaves for me - basically went 4 1/2 and was sharp and smooth like Astra SPs. Didn't care for the Yellows, they were sharpish, but not smooth and lots of weepers from them, not to mention mine came with a lot of oil left on them that I had to rinse. Maybe I'll order another pack someday to be sure it wasn't just that one pack. Everyone talks so much about the Yellows, I hope it was a bum pack.

**mftoms59** · 03-31-2012, 09:19 PM

Oscroft Thanks for another fascinating read, a Tip of The Hat to your perseverance in the continuing Saga of documenting your observations in this compelling Series of Blade Tests.

**Oscroft** · 04-01-2012, 03:30 AM

Hi folks, thanks for all the kind words of encouragement.

I know I said a while back that I might start shortening tests and stopping them when I was sure there was a difference, and I think the difference in this test was apparent a few shaves back - but I just couldn't resist sticking with it to see how far it would go!

It's interesting to see such polarized opinion of the Blues, and I'm really keen to do the Blue vs Black test - but Med vs IS next.

**latetolathering** · 04-01-2012, 07:08 AM

Thanks for the great work, nice to see that it matches with my own experiences. Bulk order of blacks it is

**JCinPA** · 04-01-2012, 03:50 PM

We did a HYOOGE blue/black test a while back with about a dozen participants. I think it is safe to say that differences were well within the margin of error, as they like to say on TV. It was a dead heat, many folks admitting they could not tell the difference. Those that could tell a difference did not seem to think they were major ones, for the most part.

I sure can't tell. I just like the black wrapper!

**kpg102** · 04-02-2012, 08:17 AM

Thanks Oscroft for sharing your experiences with us. I have enjoyed all of your head-to-head threads and look forward to more.
Until last week I had not tried the Gillette Black, with the Gillette Yellow being one of my all-time favorite blades.
Now I can see both of these blades coming up regularly in my rotation.

Well done!