Blade PIF: Personna "Lab Blue" blades

Alright. This is a bit of an unfair test because of my 3 days growth...but I have to say I'm impressed!

I applied some Proraso preshave for the first pass, and it cut through almost as easily as a feather blade. The rest of the shave went very smoothly! There really isn't any irritation just sensitivity from not shaving in a while. I will have to see how things go tomorrow, and how well the blade held up against the extreme first pass. Like I said in the beginning, I am impressed so far!

 

Today was day four for the blade. The blade was still sharp, there was the beginning of a slight tug. The shave was still near BBS, with no irritation what so ever. I definitely believe that blade could be used a fifth day.

Conclusion; Impressive blade, sharp but not to the point of being irritating or being a nicker, longevity could be pushed to 5 shaves with no problems, 4th shave as good as the 1st. This blade should be in everyone's den and rotation. I enjoyed the shaves this blade gave.

 

In my first month of shaving, I tried to stick to Astra SP as I developed my technique, but I did break from that a couple times, once to to try the Voskhods to see if I wanted to get in on the group buy, and once to try the Personna Labs. Both the labs and the Voskhods outperformed the Astras for me, but since I was still new, I didn't consider the results to be legit.

I went back to the Astras and, after a month, started logging my shaves, giving them a grade for sharpness, comfort and final result. I'm also giving a rating to my lather and I can already see that the overall shave score is definitely affected by the lather quality.

With the Astras I kept getting patches of whiskers left over that I'd have to go back and touch up. I chalked it up to poor technique and kept trying to prevent it, with varying degrees of success.

Today I broke out the Personna Lab for its first rated shave, expecting that I'd continue to have the same issues with certain areas needing touch up. I was surprised to find that wasn't the case! Two areas in particular, my neck and one spot on the rear of my right jawline were significantly better shaved than normal. I'm really happy with the result and look forward to seeing how the rest of the shaves go this week.

So many praise the Astra SP. While I find them to be acceptable, so far my face is telling me the Labs are better. Someday I'll compare the Labs to the Voskhods, but first I want to get though a few tucks in my sample pack.

 

I skipped a day of shaving and had my third shave with the lab blue blade today. Still going strong. So far the performance is identical to the med prep blades.

I've used Astra and Voskhod as well. I like Astras but they don't get past a third shave for me.

Voskhod... I don't like. They shave okay but there's a "roughness" to the experience that I don't find with most other blades. It's there for every Voskhod blade I've used. And they don't usually last for more than three shaves.

The price for 100 lab blue blades is roughly the same as 100 Astras. Haven't priced 100 Voskhods lately. I will be buying lab blue blades in bulk soon, esp. if the blades hold out for a fourth or fifth shave.

 

I'm sure most folks around here know this, but there's a guy (noahpictures) on another forum that got 31 shaves from a Med. Prep. blade. He attributed it partly to using glycerin as a pre-step and dipping the blade in alcohol afterwards but still...31 shaves on one blade. And if I remember right, he quit at 31 because he got tired of waiting on the blade to wear out.

 

okay- the Personna lab blade I was using went for 5 shaves. Four were stellar. The fifth was a bit rough. This performance is identical to what I've gotten from med prep blades. I'm going to start a new lab blade tomorrow and we'll see how it holds up. I expect it to be the same.

Like Randy pointed out- if you give the blade special treatment it will last much longer. Maybe not 31 shaves, but definitely more than 5. I'm doing nothing for the blade. No hand stropping, no drying, no nothing. I shave and put the razor back in its rack. Med prep and lab blades hold up well.

 

My second shave with the Lab Blue was the last for the first blade...what can I say? My face eats blade edges for breakfast if there is any more than 1 day of growth. The second shave resulted in a harsh shave and I had a bunch of irritation afterwards. I will let you know how the shaves go for the other ones. I'll switch the razor to my black handle SS too (from my Muhle). The vintage razors seem to give me a better idea as to how long the blade should last (don't know why...they just do).

 

31 on a Med Prep? Impressive.
I got 31 on a Personna 74 NOS during last year's "Month on a single blade" which is hosted on another forum and going on now.
I always put Oster Blade Oil (mineral oil) on my blade between shaves.
Joe.

 

How do you apply the MO to the blade? You're one of the first I've heard do that. Mineral oil has lots of good uses.

 

The Oster Oil comes in a 4 oz bottle and has a nozzle like a refillable red picnic ketchup bottle. I pat the blade dry with a piece of toilet tissue and then squirt a little on the blade edge and then wipe it down the 4 edges...
It's similar in principle to covering the blade with alcohol, barbicide, or anything else to keep the blade from oxidizing.
Some folks use other oils and it is common to use mineral oil (or some others) to store or ship straight razors.
My wife uses it on her electric lady eyebrow trimmer and our hair clippers to keep the blades lubricated.
Joe.

 

You guys went and did it again! Just talked me into 100 of them. Nice that they say that they're made in the US. Not so nice that I and the company are both in NY state. Yes... Sales Tax-(

 

I think I just had a dud Lab blade. I had two shaves that were not very comfortable in spite of the good lathers I had. Going ATG on the neck was almost impossible. It made me rethink my entire shaving process and the only new thing I had introduced was to use a Crystal Alum stick which is sold as a deodorant. I decided stop using that, and to put in a new Lab blade as well. The first shave with the new blade felt great and was much smoother, so I'm sure it was the old blade, not the alum.

 

Same here. I originally bought it as a deodorant, but I didn't care for it. So, I took it out of its casing and use it broad side as a post shave alum.

 

How has it been working for you on your face? I think I"ll go through a couple more blades before I introduce it back in, just in case my face doesn't like it, but considering that it's applied after the shave if it was detrimental to my shave, it would have affected this mornings shaving, so I'm thinking it's ok to use.

 

I haven't noticed any bad effects at all. That's a good idea to re-introduce later just to rule it out. I may be wrong, but alum is just a chunk of salts. I would think if alum in general doesn't cause you harm, then this one shouldn't either.

 

Aw man, i missed this pif? I really wanted to try these blades.

Oh well maybe next time lol.

 

Wasn't interested in the PIF but just wanted to add that I have compared the Meds to the Labs, having both. I can tell absolutely no difference between them. I almost always dump a blade after three shaves and with the price of most blades being so inexpensive I have no desire to see if I can stretch a blade to four or five shaves. I like shaving with a fresh, sharp blade and for me, I'm usually done after three times. Based on that criteria, pretty much any blade I use works very well.

 

That definitely happens from time to time. Hope your next one is better.

 

Good point.

 

Sure guys!!! Now tell me that I won't get atleast 25yrs out of my 100 blades!!! Might as well go back to the single edged Bic!-)