RayClem's Blade Evaluations

Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (green)- Russia

It has been a while since I have used the Super Stainless green. The blade is one of four blades in the 7 O'Clock lineup: Super Platinum (black), SharpEdge (yellow)and two blades in green packaging, the Super Stainless from Russia and the Permasharp from India. Today's shave was using the Russian offering.

I started today's shave with a Nacet Stainless blade in the razor. As expected the blade continued to be quite sharp with little blade resistance, even with my two-day beard. After a few strokes, I replaced the blade with a new Super Stainless. The new blade presented significantly more resistance, but no tugging. The blade became slightly sharper during the shave, so I was able to get a near-BBS shave, but it took some extra buffing to accomplish that level. Despite the extra buffing, I only perceived a slight amount of feedback when I applied witch hazel after the shave.

Based on the results of this shave, I am going to rate the 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (green) blade a 4 for sharpness and a 4.5 for smoothness. The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated. While the blade is similar in sharpness to the Gillette Platinum and Gillette Silver Blue blades, I find the blade to be somewhat smoother, resulting in less irritation. Because these 7 O'Clock blades do not have the popularity of the Gillette Platinum and Silver Blue blades, the prices have not increased significantly after P&G announced they would be relocating products made in the PPI facility. The pricing for Gillette Platinum blades has escalated. This makes the 7 O'Clock Super Stainless blades an excellent value for those who like the Gillette PPI blades, but do not want to pay inflated prices for them.

The next blade to be tested is the Gillette PermaSharp Super blade. Along with Nacets and 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black), the PermaSharp Super blades are among the sharpest to be manufactured by Gillette. Unfortunately, they are not quite as smooth as the other blades.

The Astra blades don't work for me also, not sharp and not comfortable and are taggy and when use alum block after shaving, irritation  could be noticed.

When you say you will be using Permsharp Super blade are you talking about the one in the gold pack?
I just noticed mine just says
 Permasharp Stainless steel whats the deal with that change and are the the same shave?

When you say you will be using Permsharp Super blade are you talking about the one in the gold pack?
I just noticed mine just says
 Permasharp Stainless steel whats the deal with that change and are the the same shave?

Yes, I am referring to the gold and red packaging. Mine are like these:

https://www.amazon.com/Perma-Sharp-Super...01J0DOQRU/

The reason I did not call them Permasharp Stainless is that there are also 7 O'Clock Permasharp Stainless blades in green packaging.

https://www.amazon.com/Gillette-Clock-Pe...07C21PW82/

There is a big difference between the PERMA-SHARP Super (gold) and the Permasharp Stainless (green). That is why I did not use the term Permasharp Stainless. The PERMASHARP Super blade are polymer coated stainless, but they are a LOT sharper than the Permasharp greens from India. I do not know why Gillette's branding can get so confusion, but it is about as bad as Personna. The blades in green packaging are similar in sharpness to the 7 O'Clock Super Stainless greens made in Russia. However, I found the Russian version to be smoother than the Indian Permasharp greens. That is why I selected the Russian version for testing.

Yes sir. Very confusing. Ready, apic of the tuck, blade would be very useful. Maybe insert pics in the spreadsheet. I am finding the sheet very useful.

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When you say you will be using Permsharp Super blade are you talking about the one in the gold pack?
I just noticed mine just says
 Permasharp Stainless steel whats the deal with that change and are the the same shave?

Yes, I am referring to the gold and red packaging. Mine are like these:

https://www.amazon.com/Perma-Sharp-Super...01J0DOQRU/

The reason I did not call them Permasharp Stainless is that there are also 7 O'Clock Permasharp Stainless blades in green packaging.

https://www.amazon.com/Gillette-Clock-Pe...07C21PW82/

There is a big difference between the PERMA-SHARP Super (gold) and the Permasharp Stainless (green). That is why I did not use the term Permasharp Stainless. The PERMASHARP Super blade are polymer coated stainless, but they are a LOT sharper than the Permasharp greens from India. I do not know why Gillette's branding can get so confusion, but it is about as bad as Personna. The blades in green packaging are similar in sharpness to the 7 O'Clock Super Stainless greens made in Russia. However, I found the Russian version to be smoother than the Indian Permasharp greens. That is why I selected the Russian version for testing.

Yep those gold Pack's exactly like mine. I guess they dropped the Super at some point on the gold pack.
   I did not favor the green ones either.
 I'm really curious about some of the blades you're getting into now.
 I think you're doing a nice thorough job.

Yes sir. Very confusing. Ready, apic of the tuck, blade would be very useful. Maybe insert pics in the spreadsheet. I am finding the sheet very useful.

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

I agree with you that a pic of the blade or tuck would be helpful. However, embedding photos in the spreadsheet might make it rather unwieldy. I will have to play around with it and see if I can figure out a way to do it without making it hard to use.

Yes sir. Very confusing. Ready, apic of the tuck, blade would be very useful. Maybe insert pics in the spreadsheet. I am finding the sheet very useful.

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

I agree with you that a pic of the blade or tuck would be helpful. However, embedding photos in the spreadsheet might make it rather unwieldy. I will have to play around with it and see if I can figure out a way to do it without making it hard to use.

Ready, have an idea. A separated tab or tabs with the pics. That way you're sheet stays intact.?

Thx for doing this. I will buy several 100 blades based on your analyses.

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Today’s shave- Gillette PERMA-SHARP Super (gold) made by Gillette/PPI

Gillette produces two blades named PermaSharp. One is the PERMA-SHARP blade in gold packaging made in Russia. For differentiation, I am call it PermaSharp Super. The blade is laser imaged Permasharp Stainless on the blade. The second blade is the 7 O’Clock Permasharp Stainless blade in green packaging made in India. This review is of the blade in gold packaging. I do not plan to review the 7 O’Clock Permasharp Stainless (green) made in India. It is similar in sharpness to the 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (green) made in Russia, but the India blade is not quite as smooth.

By now, you know that I am a fan of many super-sharp blades as they can slice through my tough beard, even with two days of beard growth. However, I also have sensitive skin, so I have to be cognizant of potential irritation when using sharper blades. For those who are interested in the PermaSharp Super (gold) blades, be aware that they start out very sharp, but unlike Feather blades, they get even sharper during the 1st shave. By the end of the shave, they are as sharp as Feather blades out of the wrapper. For those not expecting this significant change in sharpness, the blades are capable of causing skin irritation or drawing blood. They are more suitable for a milder razor than a more aggressive one, especially if you have sensitive skin or tend to get nicks and weepers. They are also not advised for new shavers.

I started the shave with the 7 O’Clock Super Stainless Blade in the razor. In its 2nd use, it is very sharp with minimal blade resistance. After a few strokes, I replaced that blade with the PermaSharp Super. Initially, the blade encountered similar resistance as the previous blade. However, the blade quickly started to become sharper such that by the second pass, there was no noticeable resistance at all. As the blade was now super- sharp, I had to be very careful of shaving angle and pressure, just as I would when using a Feather blade. I was able to complete my four-pass shave without incident, including the clean-up pass with buffing strokes. I was easily about to achieve a near-BBS shave.

After the shave, when applying witch hazel I got only slight feedback, which is great.

The PermaSharp Super blades start out at 4.5 sharpness and increase to 5 sharpness. This is the exact opposite of Feather blades. Because these blades will stay at the 5 sharpness level for another shave or two, I am rating the sharpness as 5. I am rating the smoothness as 4.5. The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated. If you are someone who likes super-sharp blades, these are a value-priced alternative. However, for those with sensitive skin, I recommend caution, especially if you intend to use them in a more aggressive razor.

The next two blades to be evaluated are produced by Mostochlegmash in Moscow. Like other Russian made blades, they are not currently being exported to NATO countries, but they are still available. Like most of the PPI blades, prices have risen significantly, so they are no longer as good a value as they once were. While these blades do not seem to get the same respect at the PPI blades, I find the Rapira Platinum Lux and Voskhod blades to be quite capable for those who do not need super-sharp blades.

For those interested in photos of various DE blade packaging or even purchasing various blades for evaluation, please refer to the The Razor Blade Club website.

The front page of their web site has photos of nearly every blade I tested and quite a few I have not tested.

https://www.razorbladesclub.com/


There are a couple of exceptions. The photo on the main page shows Gillette Minora Platinum in the hot pink packaging. I tested the Minora Stainless in yellow packaging. RBC sells both blades. It might well be that the Minora Platinum, like the Nacet platinum, has been discontinued.

For those interested in testing a variety of blades Razor Blades Club sells a variety of sampler packs.