Favorite blade shave-off. Loser leaves town!

With the spoils of my recent foray into the Blade Exchange, I decided to try a last-blade-standing shave-off.

The Contestants

1. Rapira Platinum Lux vs. Voskhod
2. PolSilver Super Iridium vs. Personna Med Preps
3. Astra SP vs. Personna Labs

The Weapons of Choice

To make the comparison fair, I plan to use the following two razors to shave each day. They aren't exactly the same, but they are very similar. It should make for a level playing field.


This silver-plated 1914 bell end 3-piece Aristocrat is my favorite razor and is my daily shaver. I found it in an antique mall and knew that I had to have it as soon as I saw it. It is more aggressive than most of the others in my den, but I like it a lot both in aesthetics and in the way it shaves.


This silver-plated 1910 Standard Gillette was my favorite razor before I found the Aristocrat. It came in a very cheap mixed lot of razors from eBay. Its shave is just like the Aristocrat, but I favor the weight of the other razor a tiny bit more. If I hadn't found the other one, this would be my daily shaver.









The Process

• I will shave each day with both razors: one blade/razor on one side of the face and the other blade/razor on the other side
• I'll swap sides each day to make sure there isn't an advantage due to the differences on either side of my face
• I'll journal the results here as I go.
• Since they are only getting half of a workout, I expect the blades to last longer than they normally would, but I'll keep shaving until both sides are ready to be changed out.
• The winner will move on against another blade and the loser's day is done.

With just two of each blade, I will run out of one or more blades before I can finish the head-to-head match ups, but I'll deal with that when I get to that point.


I was pretty selective with these blades, because my plan is to stock up significantly on the best of these. These blades were all some that I liked as I went through samples over the last couple years*, but I couldn't really call one out as "best" for me. When I'm done, I should know for sure.




*Note: There were other blades, like the 7 O'Clock blacks, that I liked better in other razors, but these are my favorites with these two razors. When starting out, don't change a lot of things at once (razor, blade, soap, brush, etc.) or you'll never find the combination that works best for you. I tried lots of razors (and tons of blades in each) before I tried these two. As I'm sure you have heard before, YMMV.

Have fun.

Interesting. I'll be following.

Day 1:
Rapira on left; Voskhod on right

The Voskhod felt a bit sharper but the Rapira was a bit smoother. The differences, however were very minor.


Day 2:
Rapira on right; Voskhod on left

Today was similar to the first day, but the differences were less noticable. If I weren't aware that there were different blades, I probably wouldn't notice the difference.


Day 3:
Rapira on left; Voskhod on right

Both sides were very similar. After shaving this morning, I realized that there's a slight difference in blade angles between the two razors. I'm going to swap out the blades across razors tomorrow to remove one more variable.


Day 4:
Rapira on right; Voskhod on left

I swapped the blades this morning. Today, the Voskhod had some tugging, and it feels like it's ready to be replaced. The Rapira was still smooth.

I did start to get confused about which razor was for which side on the face this morning. When I finished shaving, I staged them in my razor stand with tomorrow's right razor on the right side and the left razor on the left side; this should help keep them sorted out. I also question the value of swapping out the blades which increased my confusion, so I doubt I'll do that next time.


Day 5:
Rapira on left; Voskhod on right

The tugging was worse this morning on the Voskhod, but the Rapira hasn't changed much. I'm pretty sure at this point that the Rapira will win this round, but I'll keep going until it needs to be swapped out.

I had a small weeper under my bottom lip from the Voskhod; it's not a spot that normally has issues, so I wonder if it's due to the dulling of the blade. Again, I staged the razors for tomorrow's shave.


Day 6:
Rapira on right; Voskhod on left

Today the Rapira started to tug a little bit, so I'm going to move on to the next blades in the morning. The Voskhod was quite rough and I probably pushed it a day longer than I needed to.


Findings:
The Rapira blade won this round and beat out the Vokshod in terms of smoothness and longevity. The Voskhod was a little sharper on day one and was similar for days 2-3; if I didn't care about longevity, the Voskhod would nose out the Rapira head to head.


Also, I don't really think there was much benefit from swapping the blades across razors mid through the trial. All this ended up doing was confusing the heck out of me the next morning.


Winner:
Rapira Platinum Lux

PolSilver Super Iridium vs. Personna Med Preps

Day 1
Super Iridium on right; Personna on left

This was the best shave I have had in a very long time. Both sides got very close and were very smooth. The Personna didn't feel quite as sharp as the Super Iridium, but it wasn't too far off. On day one, I would give a slight nod to the SI, bit it was by a slim margin.

The Rapira Platinum Lux was an easy pick over the Voshkod; let's see how this match lines up!

Day 2:
Personna on right; Super Iridium on left

I went from an amazing shave yesterday to a crappy one today, but 100% was based on my prep work. I didn't use enough cream, used too much water, and didn't correct it even when I knew it wasn't going to work very well. It was probably my worst prep in over two years. For you newbies, it's a reminder that technique is really more important that the equipment/product used. The extremely thin lather made for a fairly rough shave, and it was almost like no lather at all for pass #2 (very, very thin).

That said, my face was very smooth after two passes. Also, there wasn't much difference between the two blades, and although it could have been really bad, there wasn't any irritation afterwards. I'm sure it would have been a mess with lesser blades.

I'm as impressed this morning with these blades after a bad shave as I was after a good one. We'll see how the remaining shaves go, but there was very little difference today.

Off topic, I picked up a bottle of Shulton Old Spice cologne at an estate sale yesterday and used it today as aftershave. It probably wasn't good for my face, and the scent is pretty strong but I like it. I think I'll decant/dilute some to mix up an aftershave. I also got a bottle of "Herbal" cologne by Old Spice (green liquid in a clear bottle); I may decant/dilute some of that as well. The bottles were each $1.

Day 3:
Personna on left; Super Iridium on right

This morning's shave was another good one. I overcompensated a bit on the lather after yesterday's fiasco, so lather was flying everywhere as I prepped.

Both sides were good shaves and cut very close. The Super Iridium side was smoother than the Personna this morning. I had to double-check which blade was on the right side because it really felt like a fresh blade. I felt a tiny bit of irritation on the left side of my neck while cleaning up after the second pass. It's usually a trouble spot, but this was the first irritation there since starting the trial. We'll see if it improves after the swap tomorrow.

I'm considering adding a couple additional blades to the trial to expand it a bit. I have a Russian sampler on its way, and it has a few that I haven't tried before. I also have a couple others that perform well in other razors that I can add to the mix. I'll have to buy more of the winners though since I only have two of each of the above blades...

Good luck with your showdown.

Day 4:
Personna on right; Super Iridium on left

It was another good shave today, but the difference between the two blades was a bit more pronounced. Both sides were a good shave, but the Super Iridium was smoother; it almost felt like I didn't have a blade in that razor on the first pass. The Personna was also a smooth shave, but it was much noisier. I have been impressed with both blades this week.

As I said yesterday, I think I'll add a few more blades to the trial, but they are going to have to really surprise me to surpass these two blades.

Keep it up. Great study on these blades.

Day 5:
Personna on left; Super Iridium on right


Today the Personna started tugging a tiny bit on the first pass; the second pass was better, and on a normal shave, I wouldn't be thinking of replacing it yet. The Super Iridium gave a nice, smooth shave, but I noticed that it was noisier than it had previously been. Where before it almost didn't feel like there was a blade in the razor, today I heard it making the scraping sound as it cut through my beard.


Day 6:
Personna on right; Super Iridium on left


This morning the tugging on the Personna was more pronounced on the first pass; under normal circumstances, I would be thinking about changing it out after maybe one more shave. The Super Iridium was still pretty smooth; it tugged a bit near my sideburn on the first pass, but I didn't notice it anywhere else. It was also noisier today than yesterday (almost as loud as using a single-edge blade).


Day 7:
Personna on left; Super Iridium on right


Surprisingly, the Personna felt a bit better this morning. It still drug a bit, but I didn't feel tugging. I did get small weeper on my chin, but it's a spot I tend to hit a lot. The Super Iridium was smooth again today but didn't cut as close as it has been. Also, I noticed a weeper on my jawline in a spot where I had to spend additional attention cleaning up after the second pass.


Overall, I'm impressed with how long both of these blades have lasted especially compared to the last two. We'll see how the next couple days go.

Day 8:
Personna on right; Super Iridium on left

The Personna was particularly rough this morning under my jawline. The rest of the shave was acceptable, but it wasn't anything great. The Super Iridium did cut as well as it has on previous days. I realized that I was "working" the blade a bit (giving it a little pressure) which is probably what led to the weepers yesterday. At the end of the day, I have more shadow than on a typical day (on both sides).

I think I'm going to call this one and move on to new blades.

Findings:
The PolSilver Super Iridium won this round and handily beat out the Personna Med Prep in both smoothness and longevity. Although both were really fine blades and gave nice shaves, the Super Iridium was amazingly smooth and gave very close shaves. A couple days I wasn't even sure that I had a blade in the razor which made me double-check which blade I was using. It also lasted longer than the Personna, but I probably pushed it a day longer than I should have.


Winner:
PolSilver Super Iridium​

I'm going to add two more blades to the trial: 7 O'Clock Blacks, and Gillette Silver Blues. I have several of each, and these also give me nice shaves in other razors. This will give me a total of eight blades so I can do a true single-elimination bracket. I considered taking it up to 16 blades, but I think I'll save the next eight for a later trial.

Astra SP vs. 7 O'clock Black

Day 1:
Astra on right; 7 O'clock on left

After the previous two blades, these two started off a step lower. The Astra started off a bit rough on the jawline; overall, it wasn't a particularly smooth shave, but it was a close shave. The 7 O'clock was a bit smoother, but it was also a tad rough over the whole face. I have used both of these blades before, in other razors, but I remembered them being much smoother. Perhaps the open comb razors are considerably different.


Day 2:
Astra on left; 7 O'clock on right

I kind of got into autopilot mode this morning and did the entire first pass with the 7 O'clock. It was smoother today than it was yesterday. I used the Astra for pass 2, and it was also much smoother. I didn't need to do very much touch up afterwards, so the shave was pretty good overall. I think both blades improved quite a bit from shave #1 to shave #2; if they hadn't, it may have been a short trial.

I'm going to have to do something different going forward -- starting by putting both razors in the sink -- to be sure that I don't mess up on the 50/50 trial again. It was surprising how easy it was to fall into my normal routine while I was thinking of other things while shaving.

Wulfster said:

I'm going to add two more blades to the trial: 7 O'Clock Blacks, and Gillette Silver Blues. I have several of each, and these also give me nice shaves in other razors. This will give me a total of eight blades so I can do a true single-elimination bracket. I considered taking it up to 16 blades, but I think I'll save the next eight for a later trial.

Click to expand...

Subscribed!! Battle away!!

Day 3:
Astra on right; 7 O'clock on left


It was a pretty good shave on both sides. I couldn't really tell a difference between the two blades, and the shave was pretty close. I did nick myself right at the corner of my mouth on the left side; it isn't a spot that I have nicked before, but I think I hit it with the corner of the blade during some high-powered maneuvers.


Day 4:
Astra on left; 7 O'clock on right


This morning the 7 O'clock started tugging a bit at the sideburn (the start of my first pass) and under my jawline (the first spot after turning over the razor). Otherwise the shave went pretty well. No issues with the Astra except that I opened back up the spot by the corner of the mouth.


Day 5:
Astra on right; 7 O'clock on left


The 7 O'clock tugged quite a bit everywhere, and it was quite bad under the jawline. I noticed a little bit of dragging by the Astra at the sideburn. I'm very close to calling this trial and moving on, but I may go one more day.


I'm going to be on vacation for the next week, and although I initially planned to take these two razors with me to continue the trial, instead I think I'll just wait until I return. I like to travel as light as possible, so one razor makes more sense. My travel razor is a ball-end tech, so the shaves will be mild, but not as close. I'll pick up on this when I return.

Day 6:
Astra on left; 7 O'clock on right

Today was my first morning back from vacation, so I picked up where I left off. The 7 O'clock drug quite a bit with some tugging throughout. The Astra wasn't quite as rough, but it felt like it was scraping through the whiskers versus cutting them off. Overall the end result of the shave was smooth and close, but it wasn't exactly pleasant.

This is going to be the last shave with these blades, so I'll pick a winner:

Findings:
Although the first three shaves were essentially identical, the performance of the 7 O'clock started falling off on day four. Based solely on a bit more longevity. I'm declaring the Astra the winner of this round. The razor must make a huge difference, as I thought it would, as the 7 O'clock Black was my favorite blade in the Fatboy.

Winner:
Astra SP

Personna Lab vs. Gillette Silver Blue

Day 1:
Personna Lab on right; Gillette Silver Blue on left

The Personna side felt a tiny bit rough out of the gate, but it wasn't really bad. The GSB was a decent shave overall. I did notice, however, that after two passes, both sides were smoother than they had been in two weeks; I only did a tiny bit of touch-up for pass three. The aftershave, however, had a bit of a sting, so this was a very close shave on both sides of the face. Day one went to the GSB by a tiny margin.


Day 2:
Personna Lab on left; Gillette Silver Blue on right

The Personna was more comfortable today. When compared to the GSB, it is a bit chattery (noisy) as I made the strokes. The GSB felt dangerously close; I felt the blade on each pass and was acutely aware of the blade angle and pressure. On the second pass, it felt like I lost a layer of dead skin; frankly, I liked this better than the chatter, and this type of shave was one of the reasons that I switched to an open comb. I did get a small nick on the Personna side, but it was on a mole on my chin that seems to be a frequent target. After the shave, I broke out my alum block and the burn was consistent on both sides of my face. It was again close enough on both sides that I only needed a tiny bit of touch-up on the third pass. Day two also went to the GSB.

Day 3:
Personna Lab on right; Gillette Silver Blue on left

Both blades were comfortable today. Again today, the GSB felt like it took off a layer of skin, but it didn't draw blood. I needed a bit of touch-up on the third pass on both sides.

Day 4:
Personna Lab on left; Gillette Silver Blue on right

I felt some tugging today on the Personna in the mustache area, and it also nicked me on the jawline (not a normal problem area). The GSB was smooth today and didn't feel quite as sharp as it did on previous days. Otherwise, after some cleanup on the third pass, it was a pretty good shave overall.

Day 5:
Personna Lab on right; Gillette Silver Blue on left

This morning the Personna started to tug a bit more all over, especially in the mustache area, under the jawline, and on the cheek. The GSB gave another smooth shave with no issues. I did notice that the Personna side needed more cleanup on the third pass than I like.

Day 6:
Personna Lab on left; Gillette Silver Blue on right

Ok, today the GSB started to tug a bit under the bottom lip and in the mustache area. The Personna felt pretty uncomfortable everywhere, and I essentially skipped the 3rd pass altogether for fear of nicks under my jawline. I think today will be the last day for these two blades, and I'll have to decide on the seeding for the final four.

Findings:
The Gillette Silver Blue outperformed on almost every shave. It was sharper out of the box, and it outlasted the Personna Lab. Although some may not like the dangerously close shave it gave, I really liked it. I hadn't tried this blade in this razor before this week, and this trial surprised me.


Winner:
Gillette Silver Blue