Suggestions - Blade Sampler Testing

[artyfufkin]

I've been shaving with DE for about 3 months and ordered a sampler pack of blades. Two questions for those more experienced:

1. What is the best way to test the different blades; a new one each day, shave half my face with one and switch, any other creative analytical ways to test??

2. What am I looking/feeling for with choosing the "right" blade?

Thanks!

[turtle]

All blades you will run into will be good. There isn't a bad blade out on the market.

Open a pack and use that brand for a couple of weeks straight (2-3 blades in a row)

Then move to another brand and use it for a couple of weeks.

If you want to do it right, keep a shave journal with your impressions from each shave. Then once a few months has passed you can reference what you wrote and see if you can make a decision which was the best for you.

[Winblows]

Hi ! I don't have any favorite blade yet. I'm walking through the samples to find the one I like most. I use B&B as a "journal". In a thread Blade performance, I write how I feel about the blades, that I use. My method is (if possible) to shave 4 times with the same blade and feel how it performs.

[Griffo]

I'm going through a blade sampler but doing it a different way. I use a blade for 3 days then ditch it and move on to the next brand.

Once I've been through them I revisit the ones I enjoyed the most and try them out again and so on.

I've tried 8 brands so far and the only one I haven't got on with was the Derby blades.

brands used to date :
Feather
Racer
Lord Platinum
Shark SC
Derby
Astra SS
Lord Super Chrome
Asco

[Azarius]

1) Use a razor that you're familiar and competent with. If you want to test blades in various razors, repeat the steps below for each razor.
2) Use each blade no more than three times, If you find a blade to be unusable, then abort that blade and move on to another.
3) Keep a journal and grade the blade after each shave.
a) Sharpness (1-5) (1 would be not very sharp, 5 would be very sharp)
b) Smoothness (1-5) (1 would be rough, 5 would be very smooth)
c) Closeness of shave (1-5) (1 would be not smooth, 5 would be very smooth)
d) Comfort (1-5) (1 would be uncomfortable, 5 would be very comfortable)
e) Pleasure of shave (1-5) (1 would be not pleasureable, 5 would be shaving heaven)
f) Weepers (1-5) (1 would be lots of nicks, 5 would be none)
g) Tugging (1-5) (1 would be lots of tugging, 5 would be no discernible tugging)
h) Overall shave impression (1-5)
i) You can note other aspects of the blades in a notes section.

[JoshuaNY]

All blades you will run into will be good. There isn't a bad blade out on the market.

Open a pack and use that brand for a couple of weeks straight (2-3 blades in a row)

Then move to another brand and use it for a couple of weeks.

If you want to do it right, keep a shave journal with your impressions from each shave. Then once a few months has passed you can reference what you wrote and see if you can make a decision which was the best for you.

That is pretty much what I did. The journal helped keep track of them all. After I tried a bunch of blades I checked my journal and picked a few of my favorites then gave them each a week one more time. Then I picked my favorite.

Any new blades I try I base it off of the blade that won.

[artyfufkin]

Thanks for the suggestions! Lots of great ideas. I really like your grading approach, Daniel.

[Chester]

All blades you will run into will be good. There isn't a bad blade out on the market.

Open a pack and use that brand for a couple of weeks straight (2-3 blades in a row)

Then move to another brand and use it for a couple of weeks.

If you want to do it right, keep a shave journal with your impressions from each shave. Then once a few months has passed you can reference what you wrote and see if you can make a decision which was the best for you.

+1 to this. Use the same razor for all blades, though. Yes, it will mean that you'll have to stick with the same razor for awhile, but you will be removing the razor from the list of variables that can complicate your evaluation. Any time I use a new blade brand, it always goes in the slim, for example, because I know what a good slim shave feels like.

Hope it helps,
-- Chet

[Winblows]

Same do I with my Tech, though I sometimes can't resist all the other razors ...

[Predict]

All blades you will run into will be good. There isn't a bad blade out on the market.

Open a pack and use that brand for a couple of weeks straight (2-3 blades in a row)

Then move to another brand and use it for a couple of weeks.

If you want to do it right, keep a shave journal with your impressions from each shave. Then once a few months has passed you can reference what you wrote and see if you can make a decision which was the best for you.

+1 listen to Turtle. Turtle is wise.

[Slyko]

I cheat. I simply taped the wrapper of the ones I like to the inside of the medicine cabinet.