As a newb (shaving right for three months) I found the hardest thing to figure out was which blade to throw in my DE razors. This more than any other component of wet shaving seems to really be individual specific. Most people somewhat agree on which soaps, creams, razors, and even brushes are quality and do a decent job. Razor blades however are completely different person to person, about the only accepted truth are Feather blades are very sharp and high quality. It was frustrating trying to figure out which blades to order because most blades I'd research would have several people that loved them and then several people that hated them.
So I took the advice of so many on this forum and bought a 35 blade sampler, of all 35 blades two stuck out as top performers for me. Surprise surprise the feathers gave me a very close shave and I had little to no irritation, I found I could only get two shaves (three pass) out of a feather before I noticed a decline in performance. The other blade that really impressed me was the Shark Super Chromes. I also only get two really great shaves per blade before noticing a slight decline in performance but at 1/4 of the price of feathers I don't mind. I've also thrown the shark in my Merkur 39C slant on the third use and it still works very well, extending its life a bit.
Just like every other blade review I realize although these are now my favorite blade some of you I'm sure can't stand them. I almost didn't purchase 100 of them because you can find so many negative reviews about them. And I understand this after going through my sampler, so many blades I had heard great things about simply gave me a horrible shave or pulled and tugged or gave me tons of irritation. I got 100 of the Sharks for 10.80 delivered to my door in 2 days from a U.S. dealer on eBay. Like many of you I switched from the Mach12's because of the 3 dollar per cartridge cost. The price of these Sharks just adds to the joy of DE shaving for me.
For reference I have a very thick beard with relatively sensitive skin (neck area). I have used these in the following Merkur razors: Futur, Progress (long handle), 39c (long handle slant) and 20c. They perform great in all of them and never pull or tug on my beard, I have significantly less irritation in my neck area with these and get as smooth a shave as with the feathers.
The point of this rambling is don't let negative reviews keep you from trying a certain blade. Unless maybe every review you see is negative there's a good chance you'll find a cheap blade that performs great for you.
So I took the advice of so many on this forum and bought a 35 blade sampler, of all 35 blades two stuck out as top performers for me. Surprise surprise the feathers gave me a very close shave and I had little to no irritation, I found I could only get two shaves (three pass) out of a feather before I noticed a decline in performance. The other blade that really impressed me was the Shark Super Chromes. I also only get two really great shaves per blade before noticing a slight decline in performance but at 1/4 of the price of feathers I don't mind. I've also thrown the shark in my Merkur 39C slant on the third use and it still works very well, extending its life a bit.
Just like every other blade review I realize although these are now my favorite blade some of you I'm sure can't stand them. I almost didn't purchase 100 of them because you can find so many negative reviews about them. And I understand this after going through my sampler, so many blades I had heard great things about simply gave me a horrible shave or pulled and tugged or gave me tons of irritation. I got 100 of the Sharks for 10.80 delivered to my door in 2 days from a U.S. dealer on eBay. Like many of you I switched from the Mach12's because of the 3 dollar per cartridge cost. The price of these Sharks just adds to the joy of DE shaving for me.
For reference I have a very thick beard with relatively sensitive skin (neck area). I have used these in the following Merkur razors: Futur, Progress (long handle), 39c (long handle slant) and 20c. They perform great in all of them and never pull or tug on my beard, I have significantly less irritation in my neck area with these and get as smooth a shave as with the feathers.
The point of this rambling is don't let negative reviews keep you from trying a certain blade. Unless maybe every review you see is negative there's a good chance you'll find a cheap blade that performs great for you.
