Yesterday I tried Astra blade in the Muhle R89 razor. I found the blade to be a bit rough.. Especially at the beginning. It pulled the whiskers a bit, something that didn't happen with Feather or Iridium blades. Some say that it is a sharp blade, but I don't know.. It did shave close to be honest. But it wasn't particularly friendly. I remember when I first tried the Astra, it was with a Merkur HD razor. That shave was the roughest!! I got some serious burn, like I never got before. I then tried the Astra in the Feather Popular and it was much better. I got to admit that the Muhle razors seem to me MUCH MUCH better than the Merkur ones. And this only by the way it shaves, never mind the finish and looks. Great razors:happy088 Anybody else tried Astra in Muhle or EJ razors?
I felt I'm not the one who tried Astras and did not enjoy them. I have a Muhle R41, however both Astras (brown and blue) were loaded in Merkur 34C. I doubt they will work much better in Muhle. I even gave them two second chances but with no greater results.
Alexey, Tibi, I tried Astra blades in a Super Speed, and they worked very well. I guess it's necessary to use a blade like that in a mild razor for a comfortable shave.
Hi, Jeff! I'll try to use them in Weishi. And, errr... in my ase I think it's more like the wrong shaver
Just shows to go ya... one man's trash is another man's treasure. I love this blade, be it in one of my Merkurs (used one in an HD this morning, as a matter of fact - a 5 Blade shave!) or an old Gillette. It's the only other blade I've purchased in bulk; Dorco ST-301 being the other. Hope you find what works for you.
I find the Astra to be my favorite blade in most razors. The only distinct exception being my NEW Standard, which is by far my most aggressive razor. It's cases like this why we say YMMV. Good luck finding your favorite blade.
Like ChemErik said. The Astra Superior Platinum seems to be a serious YMMV blade. It was the second blade I used in my Muhle R106 and from there nothing seems to give me as good shaves.
I happen to enjoy the Astra SP's but I do agree the first shave can be a bit rough. I get around this by palm stropping them before loading it in my EJ 86. The consensus seems to be split 50/50 whether palm stropping or corking have any benefits, but for me I find it works nicely.
I just tried my first astra blade in my EJ razor yesterday. It worked very well for me using only Pacific Shave oil. Normally shaves are a little rough when only using oil but the Astra blade was very mild and produced good results. I will be using one in my Goodfella tonight.
I shave more often with SE and injector razors. However, with DE razors, Astra has worked great for me. The only one that might be better is Feather, but it's not by much. We always say "YMMV" and shrug in cases like this, but there has to be a concrete reason why our mileage varies. It's not like everybody's face has mystical individual properties which defy analysis. I suspect small differences in shaving style and prep add up to make big differences in how a given blade works for us. Just speculation.
Well the Muhle is a mild razor, that is for sure! I didn't get any irritations, no burn. But in the HD I get tons of it! I will revisit this blade in my razors, but I found it a bit rough. And today I noticed it wasn't very skin friendly Maybe I will try stroping it before, like suggested. Yes I agree with you. The differences may come from the shaving style, and have nothing mystical to do with it. I really liked your comment :happy088
I followed your approach this morning. I mean, I palm-stropped the day two blue Astra blade. And it went very well. Sad I had to stop after second pass due to piece of my chin accidentally chopped off by that... blade. Now Astras have their chance. Blues at least.
I never stropped a blade. I'm curious how it will go. But first I want to try Feathers again. BTW.. You didn't get hurt or anything, right? You chopped off a piece of your chin??
It was just my carelessness. I think I wanted to flip my razor or something and nicked off a piece about 4x2 millimeters on chin by the corner of the blade. Feathers will go just great But be careful with them. Go nice and slow. Don't push it. They are katana sharp. And the stropping thing was pure wondering to me. I thought that advantages of stropping just blade is some kind of myth. But seems it worked
Alexey, Tibi, I will NEVER, EVER use a Feather blade again. The reason why is, they always gave me bad cuts. 2 years ago, I tried a Feather blade again, and the results were brutal. I made a slaughter from my face and neck, and I was bleeding so badly, I had to go to the hospital. I was also in unbearable pain for the whole day. :sick007
