I started to shave with a DE about 3-4 months ago. At first it was iffy but now I get a unbeatable shave time in and time out and love shaving. No bumps, no cuts , a few minor nicks here and there. I bought a sample pack and out of the pack I found the Astra Platinum, Persona platinum, and the Lord Platinum to be my favorites. I also found the Palmolive Italian menthol to be my favorite cream. I am in need of more blades and while I plan on ordering more of the 3 mentioned above I would like some recommendations or suggestions on if and what is out there that is better or more "aggressive" since I am comfortable now with the whole process. Also any creams would be appreciated also. Thanks!
Well, you can look at my link below to see about various blades. Remember that this is one person doing testing with a single razor and limiting all other aspects of the shaving experience. You will have to experiment with blades to find out which ones are truly sharper, but that is not the number one item on my list. Smoothness is #1 and Closeness is #2 then Sharpness is #3 and Longevity is last. DE Blade Challenge II - GDCarrington1 The write-up will tell if the blade was being made at the time of the writing. There are some that are no longer in production that were used as benchmarks in this test. As to creams, I like Godrej Mist, Palmolive from India, and C.O. Bigelow. Good fortune.
Everyone should try Feathers at least once. Besides it's fun to walk into work and announce to the world, "I shaved with a feather today!" and watch the expression on your boss's face as he thinks you've finally gone off the deep end.
Try some Voskhods. Many of us on here have really good success with them. I like them as much as Astras and Personnas and better than Lords. Try some of the Gillette 7 O'clock line too. I find many of them to be very good blades especially the green Permasharps and the black ninjas. The green super stainless are good too, but I prefer the green Permasharps. The yellows are fine too. I don't think I've tried the blue ones, but I think they are generally well received by most. As far as aggression and blades go, I don't know if there is such an attribute for blades. Sharpness and smoothness, yes, but aggression comes from the razor and how it bends/holds/exposes the blade. With blades it is YMMV, so try many and see how they do for you.
I'm with Bob when it comes to those who say blades are aggressive. I don't buy it. As he said, aggression comes from the razor and not from the blade.
My suggestion is to still go with the sample packs for awhile. Read the daily shave section to see what most people are using with what razors and experiment! That's the fun of it. For a back up buy a block of 100 something on sale for~$10 from turkey, or a recommend site.
Blades are really one of those things that many people have various opinions on. My go to DE blades are: SuperMax Super Platinums, Lord Platinum Class, Personna Reds, and Personna Med/Labs. I can use any of the aforementioned blades in any DE razor and get a great shave. The blades which work for me in only a few razors are: Derbys and Feathers. As others have mentioned, purchase a sampler pack and see what blade works for you in your razors.
Razors make a difference when choosing blades but normally Gillette 7 O'clock yellow & Voskhod are my favorites. If its a mellow razor like a tech or krona I do enjoy feathers as well. I have not tried any other colors besides yellow on the 7 0' clocks but I do plan on eventually trying the blue and green ones, Gillette Silver blues, and Gillette super thins.
Yup, as others have said, i'd say go with another sampler. I myself like Perma-Sharp Super, Gillette Yellows, Iridium Supers, and the occasional SuperMax Super Platinum.
