It is up in the air. Ask one person and get one answer, ask another person and get a different answer. I always suggest getting a blade sampler and trying them out for yourself. You may find you have a preference for a particular type.
Since you are just starting, stick with a couple of reliable blades for a couple of months, until you get your techniques down. Persona Lab Blues Voskhods Astras Nacets These are only a few of the reliable, and proven performing blades. They aren't too expensive either. As for longevity, 3-5 shaves when you first start out. I suggest tossing them after 3, when you first start learning. When your techniques improve, so will the longevity of the blades. I was getting a consistent 25-30, out of each blade. If I concentrated on techniques I could get 45-50.
My favorites are Gillette 7 o clock yellows, Gillette silver blues, voskhods, Rapira, Astra SP, and feather. There are definitely many good ones out there.
My absolute favorite was the Gillette 7o'clock Yellows too, but they a very sharp, and might not be ideal to learn on, as with the Feather. The others you mentioned are solid performing blades too.
I toss blades the first time they tug, not based on how long I've used them. I've gotten anywhere from 1/2 a shave to over a dozen out of a single blade. I average 7 shaves per blade, 2 to 3 passes per shave. There was a thread on here where @Jayaruh used a certain blade for over a month, but I'm too lazy to dig the thread up...
I've never found there was much difference between any of the major branded blades regardless of what country they come from, and little to no value in keeping track on the number of shaves on a given blade. Granted, today's blades do seem to work better than the ones I was using in the 1950s but my rule of thumb has been "If it tugs, replace it." That's worked well for over a half century now and I could only tell you what blade I used in a DE razor that day by going and looking to see what is in there. While all blades may have been created equal, some blades are more equal than others and there have been blades that I have tossed partway through the first shave with that blade.
How long a blade edge with hold up and how well it shaves is a factor between the blade, your face and technique. It will vary between different shavers. The only way to really know how well and how long a particular blade will work for you is to try it. Recommendations from other shavers will help you get a start. The more different blades you try the better IMO.
I have American, Russian and Israeli blades that I use. I typically get 4 to 5 shaves before they start to tug. When buying in bulk and each blade costs the equivalent of 10 cents each, I have not focused on seeing how many shaves I really could get out of one. @Jayaruh once tried using the same blade for over 30 shaves, so his input could be interesting.
I agree with this, but recommend finding a blade that's comfortable, and sticking with it for awhile in the beginning. Same for razor, soap and brush. Once you learn how to use them, you can appreciate the variables. But jumping around from blade to blade, soap to soap in the beginning seems to lead to blaming equipment for operator error...
If you are looking to extend the life of a blade, you can palm strop or "belly strop" them. I made a video of me belly stropping a Gem blade. You can do the same with any DE blade.
Amazing technique! I easily got 18 shave from my Polsilvers. I find I like a lot of Russian blades. Many places of sell sampler set so you can try a nice variety.
Some time ago there was a discussion about who purchased 100 or more of which brand DE blades. Seemed like a bunch of good data since folks wouldn't buy that many if the blades didn't perform for them. There were several particular that stood out from the crowd, with others that only had a few believers or even just one fan. Because statistics can be manipulated I'll leave you to look up the thread if it is of interest. The split is near even on "get a sampler" versus "choose a blade and stick with it". Hard to choose a blade when you haven't sampled any. I'm not going to pick a side in that discussion. I do agree with three shaves and out because this keeps you in a fresh sharp condition as you're developing technique. As an new shaver if you can reduce your variables by using the same set up, any difference in your results can be attributed to user technique. That's the idea behind a 30 Day Rule. Later as you've leveled out somewhat on the skill set you might experiment by only changing one element (blades in this case) to see if the variable gives better or worse results. That the essence of a 30 Day Focus. TLDR; Do they hold up? Get a six sided die to keep track of how many shaves from a blade. Or if it tugs toss it. But don't totally disregard a brand of blades if it sucks early on. Later with improved technique or in a different razor it just might be the one you're looking for.
As I said in the Dorco thread, I'm convinced that there is a simple benchmark to see where someone will fall in blade preference: Ask their opinion of the Astra SP and the Derby Extra. Odds are that they will like one and hate the other. Depending on which one they favor, you will see trends regarding other well-known blades. I'm not sure exactly what it means other than, I suspect, a similarity in either skin, beard, or razor type.
3 - 5 shaves "per edge?" Can you flip a blade over, and get 3 - 5 MORE shaves? Are you using both sides of the razor during each shave?
