Hi everyone, I decided to just do a quick write up. I wanted to try a variety of blades so I went to tryablade.com to pick out a few different blades. I heard good things about Personna blades so initially wanted to try out their different blades. Seeing how they are either made in the United States or Israel, I decided to just try every blade on tryablade that is made in Israel or the U.S. So anyway this write up is my experience with each blade. The gear used was kept consistence throughout the trials. The gear used was a Frank's Shaving 24mm Finest badger brush, Maggards Razor V3A head with MR5 handle, and various Stirling Soaps and after shaves. The blades are in no specific order and are strictly my experience with each blade. -Viking's Sword: This was a sharp blade that gave me a close shave with some razor burn. I liked this blade and would not shy away from using it again. -Eddison Stainless: This blade did not do much for me, it did not seem sharp enough. It gave me a semi-close shave with no razor burn. -Tomy Stainless: I did not enjoy using this blade. It was sharp and gave me a close shave, but came with a good amount of razor burn. -Q Ball Platinum Plus: This blade surprised me, it is one of the best blades I have yet to try. It is a nice, sharp blade that gave me a super close shave with no razor burn. -Royal Stainless Super: Again this was another blade I quite enjoyed. It seemed plenty sharp, gave me a close shave and I got no razor burn. -Personna Platinum Israeli Reds: The results of these blades are questionable for me. I believe it might have been a coincidence, but every trial I had with the blade caused me to get acne. The shave, however, was close with no irritation. -Crystal: I did not have the best of luck with this blade. It was a semi-close shave, but I had an odd, hot irritation after the shave. -Rockwell: I have heard nothing but good things about their razors. However, their blades did not do it for me. I achieved a close shave, but that came at a price. I had plenty of razor burn and this blade gave me my first nicks since I start wet shaving. I never want to touch one of these again. -Personna Lab Blue: I think I found my go to blade with this one. Which does not come to a surprise since it seems a good amount of people rave about this blade. I got a super close shave with no irritation. -Personna Med Prep: I am not 100% sure what the difference between this blade and the Lab Blues are, especially since I got an identical shave from both blades. I have heard the blades just go through an extra cleaning process. -Personna Apche: I do not know anything about these, but I got them from my Q-Shave. They seemed to be closest to the Personna Reds (minus the acne). I ordered two of each of these blades, shaved twice with the first one. Then moved on the next blade and after I tried every blade I went through the process again with the other blade. I kept a log of every shave and summed it up in the above write up. Thanks for reading!
Nice review. I have found that blade preferences and performances are very subjective. But, when you get a large group commenting on an individual blade, along with their experiences with it, you tend to see a pattern forming. Certain individuals seem to gravitate towards certain blades. Hat being, I have, in the past, used these people's reviews of blades they have tried as a guide for my purchases. It has usually worked out very well. As for the Personna Lab Blues vs. Personnas Med Preps, they are the same, except the Med Preps are without oil, and are supposedly sterilized. I enjoy them both.
AFAIK Rockwell are rebranded Personna Red ("Swedish Stainless"). Although tryablade says Made in USA there's nothing on the package or blade to indicate that. Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
My understanding is that the Personna Lab Blue and Personna Med Prep are the same blade. They were developed for the medical industry and are made in America. The other Personna blades are Israeli made. I like the Blues/Meds and use them in my rotation - didn't care for the others. Just my opinion. Didn't see any Russian blades in your sample. Might give them a try. For me (and many others) - they are my top blades.
