Blade Wars: Bic Chrome Platinum vs. Crystal Super+ Platinum

Blade Wars: Bic Chrome Platinum vs Crystal Super+ Platinum

This blade war pits two platinum coated blades against each other. From what I know, some blades are coated with platinum to harden the edges. Crystals are manufactured in Israel and Bic is made in Greece. I haven’t tried either blade, so I go into this blade war with no preconceptions or favorite. On tryablade.com, you can purchase a Crystal for 40 cents and a Bic for 25 cents. When I pay for them, I usually root for the less expensive blade, but in this case I obtained both blades from @Tickle on The Great Blade Exchange, and do not mind spending the money of the B&B member who sent them in.

My razors for this blade war will be two Razorock Mentors, which have fairly aggressive heads and somewhat short and heavy stainless steel handles. One handle will be colored with blue Sharpie for differentiation, but I won’t know which blade is in which razor. I’ll shave half of my face with each razor, and switch sides with each subsequent shave. I intend for the competition to last for at least six half-face shaves, but will end it if I am getting irritated or one of the blades is absolutely destroying the other.

As we go, I’ll share what I experience and invite your comments. I’d love to hear what you think. Do you have a favorite?

I don't know these two either but will follow with interest!

Looking forward to this one. For me, the Bic was a surprisingly good blade, and the only blades worse than Crystal for me are Graham Field med preps, aka TBFH. If I were a betting man though, I'd put my money on Crystal as there are many here who like it. As it is, I'm not a betting man at all, so I'll go with Bic.

I've never used a Crystal blade before, but the Bic are quite nice! It'll be interesting to know how they compare.

Shave 1

Blue razor=right side, silver razor=left side
face lathered with Soap Commander Endurance

Pass 1 - Blue: Good pass, but somewhat scratchy/prickly. Blade feels sharp.
Silver: Good pass. Smoother than blue. Slight drag, but no prickly feeling.

Pass 2 - Blue: smoother than the first pass, but still a little scratchy.
Silver: smooth pass - nice.

Pass 3 - Blue - blade feels sharp - still has a harshness to it - the blade feels uneven as it slides across my face.
Silver - good, but there is some pull as I go against the grain.

Followed with Old Spice splash and some Nivea Sensitive balm. Not the best shave I've ever had. Both sides of my face are cleanly shaved, but not baby smooth. I have some pretty significant razor burn on the right (blue) side of my neck. There is a patch about the size of a quarter that looks and feels like it came in contact with a very hot object. I hope the blade in the blue razor behaves itself a little more gentlemanly in the next shave.

Should be a good match!

Shave 2
Face lathered with AOS Lemon cream because I work hard and deserve it.
Silver=right side, blue=left side

Pass 1 - Silver was nice and smooth. Comfortable pass - felt like it needed a little help getting through wiry whiskers on chin.
blue- Prickly, sharp-feeling blade

Pass 2 - Silver: smooth and gentle
Blue: Blade has bite - feels sharp - I was very careful, but still got a small cut on my chin that required styptic.

Followed with a liberal douse of Pinaud Citrus Musk. Both sides have a good shave.

Shave 3
Face lathered with P160
Blue=right side, silver=left side

Pass 1 - blue: had some prickle and drag
silver: smooth workmanlike pass - slight drag, got the job done

Pass 2 - blue: a little more comfortable than first pass, still feels sharp and a little harsh
silver: smooth and comfortable

Finished with some Florida Water and am off to work. No cuts, nicks, or notable irritation. Both sides of my face are cleanly shaved.

I'm curious to see the results. I shaved with a Bic Chrome Platinum today, and it isn't an experience that I wish to repeat. I might have had a bad blade. I've never tried a Crystal Super+ Platinum.

ciderguy said:

I'm curious to see the results. I shaved with a Bic Chrome Platinum today, and it isn't an experience that I wish to repeat. I might have had a bad blade. I've never tried a Crystal Super+ Platinum.

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I've heard both good and bad about both blades (mostly good, though.) I'm enjoying one blade much more than the other. I'm interested to find out which one it is!

Shave 4

Similar to shave 3. I did a two-pass shave. The silver, again, was smooth, comfortable, and gentle during both passes - with a little resistance on the first.

The blue razor was scratchy on the first pass. One thing it does better than the silver is providing audio feedback. I can hear it, which is something I like. The second pass with the blue was the best blue pass yet - there was less scratchiness, and for the first time, it didn't hurt at all.

Shave 5
Face lathered with Razorock XXX
silver = right and then some... blue = left

Pass 1 - Silver: nice smooth pass. Blade feels fairly sharp
Blue: Prickly and uncomfortable. What am I doing? This is the fifth shave in a row that hurt. I'm done. At first this blade hurt to use, but felt very sharp. Now it hurts to use, and it feels somewhat less sharp.

I did two more entire passes with silver, and they went just fine. It is a comfortable blade that performed well for me. It did a good job and I would use it again. I can't say the same for blue, as I didn't get a single satisfying shave with it. The mentor razors are fairly aggressive, and it's possible the blue blade might work better for my face if it were in a milder razor. But I doubt I'll shave with that blade again, as life is short and I have a lot of blades that work better for me.

I haven't yet opened the razors to see which blade is in which. Do you have a guess?

I'll stick with silver being the Bic.

It'll be interesting to know which blade was in which razor! I use and like Bic, so I'm going to say the silver razor is the Bic blade.

The Reveal

Once again, my guess about which blade is which is wrong. I expected to like the Bic blades. They performed extremely well in @Cksnffr's 32-blade March Madness bracket. My father shaved with Bic Sensitive disposable for many years without complaint. I figured that if Bic could make a disposable that gives you a good shave, it would be even better to put one of their blades in a safety razor.

It just didn't work out that way. The blue razor was the Bic.



The winner of the Blade War is the silver razor: CRYSTAL.

Well I can't say I'm surprised since many here like Crystal blades. I really liked the Bic, but I used it in the mild shaving EJ de86, where the Crystal was just awful. It very well could depend on the razor since you used a more aggressive one. I've experienced the same thing with a Voskhod going from my EJ to a Maggard's, where it just didn't perform the way I'm used to. Funny how a blade can be so nice in one razor yet not another. Thanks for posting, looking forward to what 2 blades go head to head in the next one.

Inconceivable!

I'll believe it. The Bic was the second worst blade I've ever used in my Tech. Can't wait to see the next Blade War.

CigarSmoka said:

Well I can't say I'm surprised since many here like Crystal blades. I really liked the Bic, but I used it in the mild shaving EJ de86, where the Crystal was just awful. It very well could depend on the razor since you used a more aggressive one. I've experienced the same thing with a Voskhod going from my EJ to a Maggard's, where it just didn't perform the way I'm used to. Funny how a blade can be so nice in one razor yet not another. Thanks for posting, looking forward to what 2 blades go head to head in the next one.

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That's very interesting. I had a similar experience with Voskhods. Usually, they are among my favorite blades, but I tried one in an aggressive razor and it didn't work well at all. I just love the endless variety of trying various products in different combinations.