A recent thread or two has made me think about DE blade reviews.

I have come to the conclusion that new converts absolutely should write about their experiences as they use different blades.

Journaling one's progress is a good tool for spotting trends, recalling precise information, and also--maybe most importantly, it forces the new convert to "think through" the process of learning traditional style shaves.

My standard statement on blades from now on will be "they all hurt the user if used incorrectly." I have a favorite blade. Most vets do. It likely won't be your fave blade, but as far as "Best DE blade"? That question doesn't have a meaningful answer beyond "There is no universal best blade."

If you're new, and you want to use generic drug store blades, great, I will teach you how. If you wanna start with Feather, great! We're gonna talk about angles and not Feather versus GSB. Wanna shoot for value? We can learn with Astra or Derby or Shark. If you're new, buy blades based on label graphics. Or, find your fave poster who claims awesome results and try their blade brand. The point is....

There are too many variables in play when learning to even begin to think that a change in steel is gonna be the Magic Shave Kryptonite Bullet™. But.....

When you're new, and you try something, please write about your experience with a new blade. It will help you organize your "shave thinking", provide feedback for others, and maybe even help someone else find a favorite.

Thanks for reading, and have fun with your samplers!

(Edits for grammar and clarity)

I agree with this. Writing about my blade shootout helped me understand how incremental a lot of differences are and that others' experiences we're not necessarily my own.

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I have noticed since using my perssona blades that it is a much closer shave. I don't have to shave as much, even though I still shave everyday so I can use my razors. Lol

This is a good thing. Food for thought though....it isn't all the blades. It's you. You're learning a new fine motor skill, and can now use the Personna as your benchmark to compare other brands against. Nice work!

Thanks!! I am having so much fun learning new techniques. Eventually I want to get a straight razor but right now it makes me nervous. Lol

Putting your thoughts in writing helps, it helped me.

That's a good idea. Thanks!

Well, you just knew I'd show up in this thread, and if you didn't you haven't been around long. Blades have always been my favorite part of the whole process and my focus on trying every blade I can find and seeing how each performs is probably beyond OCD. I remember as a newbie back in November 2015 I couldn't wait to find that "perfect" blade. Little did I know I'd still be doing trials and comparisons.

I can say, however, that two blades are my absolute favorite. Voskhod and Sharp Star. Good, glorious Russian steel. But - as my shaves for this month have shown - Dorco blades can produce some very nice shaves as well. Every bit as good as the Voskhod and Sharp Star as long as my technique holds. Yet you read reviews all the time about how horrible Dorcos are. And Derby. And Merkur. (Ok, so Merkur for me isn't great). As @Bama Samurai pointed out, it's the skills we learn that make the shaves great. As long as the equipment isn't defective, we should be able to make it work.

Now, some blades are worse than others for each of us. And some (Tiger/Quick Tiger/Flying Eagle and about every Chinese blade out there) are just horrible, end of discussion. But those would be defective. Simple.

Part of being in a community like this one is the ability to keep notes and share knowledge back and forth and that is what builds skill and develops the lifelong skills needed to shave "the right way". I've always appreciated the opportunity to share what I've learned and to share what others have experienced to help guide me.

So, the advice and comments in this thread are excellent! Journal. Discuss. Write. Share. And shave on!!

Straights are not a big deal. If that's really where you wanna go with all this, then stop buying DE stuff now. Get on eBay and get a Schick G or E, pretty cheap. If you can shave irritation free with the super aggressive Schick geometry, straights are merely a leap of faith. Will you screw up and slice your ankle or something? Yes. Will it be ok? Yes, it will. Will shaving with an open blade be one of the coolest tricks ever? Only one way to know....

I've been getting REALLY good shaves with Dorco Platinum Prime blades. In a very "aggressive" razor, no less. But it seems to me that a razor is really only as aggressive as the way you use it. I get the least irritation using that razor because people here taught me how to use it. And as Neal reiterated, a blade that isn't defective should be able to provide a good result if understood and used correctly. I stopped my blade shootout early because I was having trouble finding much discernible difference. As @BamaSamurai pointed out to me, we are talking very incremental differences for the most part. I am pretty much to the point where most of the time I reach into my blade bowl and use whatever I happen to get. Using shavettes and straights drove the point home further. Did I bleed? Yes. Did I learn? Yes. Do I still use them? Yes, and quite effectively now.

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Very well done. About the only thing I would add is not to dismiss a blade to quickly. Often a bad shave can be due to technique, lather, etc, but the blade is blamed. If a blade doesn't seem like a good fit, put the rest of the tuck away for 6 months or so and then revisit. It is amazing how time and technique changes ones preferences.

I sense a new slogan for the 30DC thread. "Learning is Bleeding". Or maybe backwards - "Bleeding is Learning". "Bleed your way to excellence". Any of those reach out and grab anyone? No? Yeah, I had to try.

I kept a simple journal of each different blade, also with what blade worked with each different razor.

I have found this to be true many times over.


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The idea has merit. Bloody awesome.

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(Bangs on desk) Hear him! Hear him!

I have been doing blade Focus shaves pretty much since I started here(11/16). Not only have I found blades that worked on my face, but my technique improved by leaps and bounds. Spending 30 days with the same razor though the blades vary is a great learning tool.
And Derby's and Astra SP's still don't work on my face.

Hadn't really thought about trying other blades. Purchased a 100 count box of Personna blades and they've proven to last a really long time. Might be interesting to buy a few other brands (not a darn mega box), now that my skill has improved, to see if I can discern any differences.

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Tryablade.com. You can buy single blades. This way you won't have to keep 4 blades you don't like. May I suggest Gillette Silver Blue, Voskhod and Shark Super Chrome? Then you can go over to the 30 Day Rule/Focus thread and have at it. Great bunch of guys with lots of knowledge. Enjoy!

Excellent suggestion, thank you.

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