I know that blade experience is wildly personal and varies enormously by razor, but I am conducting trials with my Henson AL13 + (the mild one) to see which blades are best for me. I would love to hear experiences from other Henson users or reactions to my experiences. Here are my observations so far: RK blades sold by Henson -- not as sharp on the first pass. Second pass is comfortable. Post shave feels great -- no irritation. Feather -- close shave, but afterwards my face felt irritated, needed to be soothed with lotion. I have this same reaction from Feather blades in my Feather AS-D2. Personna Platinum (German) -- close shave, rivaling Feather. Smoother than Feather, but still felt some irritation later. Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (green) -- not as sharp as I would like, but not especially smooth, either. Astra SP -- better than the Gillette green blades, but not as close or smooth as I wish. Nacet -- sharper than Astra, but not especially smooth or comfortable. Wizamet Super Iridium -- comfortable shave, not as close as Feather, but good enough. Face felt great afterwards. Tatra Platinum -- comfortable shave, fairly close. Face feels good. Gillette Wilkinson Sword -- comfortable shave, fairly close, no irritation. Gillette Silver Blue -- close, smooth, comfortable, no irritation. Face feels good. I still have a drawer full of blades to try!
I have the Henson+++ or aggressive version. I find Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (green) blades to be terrific in this razor. Isn't it amazing how YMMV works in shaving?
Used Gillette Wilkinson Sword blade yesterday. My first impression was medium sharpness, but the result was fairly close and comfortable. No irritation. I will give this one a second shave tomorrow.
I had an excellent shave today with a Gillette Silver Blue. Sharp, smooth, comfortable, no irritation.
I'm coming around on the RK blades. I've used them the past several shaves, in both my V1 + and my new V2 + . The RK blades do not seem as sharp as some of the others I have tried. So the first pass of the shave feels less smooth with the RK than with a sharper blade. But the second pass is more comfortable, and post shave, my face feels better with less irritation. I guess that is the classic trade-off between "sharper" blades and "smoother" blades. I'm going to stick with these for a while and just vary my soaps!
Wizamet Super Iridium are rapidly becoming one of my favourites. They are super smooth right out of the box.
I agree! These blades are a great pairing with the mild Henson. I'm using them more lately after a few weeks with the RK blades.