RayClem's Blade Evaluations

FYI...I now have several shaves with the King C Gillette blades made in China.  IMHO, for my face, technique and the razor I used...the Chinese KC Gillette blades have been equal or better than the Russian made KC Gillette blades (PPI).  These have been the best blades I have used which are manufactured in China...which says something for Gillette quality control.  I did not expect this result, and quite frankly I am still surprised.  I recommend that Ray do a similar comparison between the Russian vs Chinese KC Gillette blades.  If nothing else, it will be a sanity check for me.  By the way, the Chinese blades were purchased with the $3 coupon on Amazon...so I did not pay full price.  I am curious if anyone else has made a similar comparison as I have, but I still highly value Ray's opinions and insights...and hope he makes this comparison.

I am not at all surprised that the KCG blades from China are at least as good as the ones from Russia. I suspect that Gillette had to leave all of the older equipment at PPI in place in St. Petersburg. They have been installing new machinery in places like China and Vietnam. As long as they install 1st class machinery, the blades produced should be 1st class blades. Obviously, attention to detail and quality control is important, but in machine-made products, it is the quality of the machinery that counts.  As long as Gillette engineers are overseeing production, I would not be concerned.

If I see some KCG blades at my local store that specifically state made in China, I might pick up a pack out of curiosity, but I doubt there will be much difference. I am hesitant to purchase them online as there are still Russian blades left in inventory.

Today's shave - Jaguar 8094 Platinum plus 3rd test of Personna Comfort Coated Lab Blue

Jaguar Solingen is a German company focused on providing supplies for professional barbers and hairdressers. They sell a double edge razor blade that is intended to be snapped in half to be used in their shavette razors. However, it is a standard DE blade that fits standard DE safety razors. Another forum reader recommend these platinum coated blades, so I purchased a few for testing. Although razor blades are made in Solingen, these blades are made in Egypt, presumably by Lord.

I was most disappointed in the results of my last shave in which the Personna Lab Blue and AccuThrive Prep blade were compared. While the AccuThrive performed as expected, the Lab Blue blade provided the worst shave I have ever experienced with that blade. Thus, I decided to try yet a third Lab Blue blade. The blades were not individually wrapped, but were dispensed from a slide-out cartridge. I wondered if the lack of blade protection allowed the edge to deteriorate.

I shaved the right side of my face with the Jaguar blade in my brass Karve C-plate razor. The new Lab Blue blade was installed in my stainless Karve razor with similar blade gap.

I was pleasantly surprised that BOTH of the blades tackled my two-day beard with minimal blade resistance. That was a huge improvement for the Lab Blue and was what I hoped might occur with the Jaguar blade since the Lord Platinum Diamond Edge performed in that manner. I continued my 4-pass shave, including buffing strokes during the clean-up pass. I was able to achieve a near-BBS shave on both sides of my face, but the Jaguar side might have been slightly closer.

When I applied witch hazel after the shave, I got moderate feedback on both sides.

Based on the results of this shave, I am rating both blades 4.5 sharpness and 4.0 smoothness.

AFAIK, the Jaguar blades are only available in 10 blade tucks. That is strange in that the blades are aimed at professional barbers who would typically purchase in bulk. This makes the Jaguar blades rather expensive at $0.80 per blade. Since the blades are presumably manufactured by Lord and the Lord Platinum blades perform similarly, but are available in bulk, if you are interested in the Jaguar blades, you might consider the Lord Platinum blades as an alternative.

I am not quite sure what to say about the Personna Lab Blue blade other than they were quite inconsistent. The first blade I tried gave me a close shave, but with significant irritation. The second blade was so dull that it tugged at my beard such that I could not complete the shave with the blade. The third blade gave me a perfectly acceptable shave. Unfortunately, I do not have a good explanation for the inconsistent results. If you like Personna blades but do not mind them being made in Germany, I recommend using the Personna Chrome Platinum blades. If you want blades "Made in USA", the I would recommend the AccuThrive Prep blades.

The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated with the results from today's shave. You can find the spreadsheet here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/71ttt15wy...qo8eb&dl=0

Wednesday's shave with feature the Faco'n Platinum blade. I have heard that these blades are super sharp. We will put that claim to the test. While the brand claims the blades are made of Japanese steel, I believe they are manufactured in China.

I’v been using the Lord platinum edge blades,they’re ok but nowhere near the jaguar in sharpness,smoothness,longevity,them jaguars need pressure,heave on the pounds,they won’t ever knick or bite..they shave the exact same way from start to end,maybe slightly sharper after the 10th shave,but definately smoother,very strange this blade.went again with the german personnas in my karve and two crappy shaves with knicks,had 8 good shaves in the rex,hmmm.either blade quality control is crappy or,I just don’t know.

I’v been using the Lord platinum edge blades,they’re ok but nowhere near the jaguar in sharpness,smoothness,longevity,them jaguars need pressure,heave on the pounds,they won’t ever knick or bite..they shave the exact same way from start to end,maybe slightly sharper after the 10th shave,but definately smoother,very strange this blade.went again with the german personnas in my karve and two crappy shaves with knicks,had 8 good shaves in the rex,hmmm.either blade quality control is crappy or,I just don’t know.

If Jaguars need pressure, I won't be using them. I have very sensitive skin, so sensitive that I cannot face lather due to brush burn. I got slight irritation even with using minimal shave pressure. I NEVER shave with pressure as my skin won't tolerate it. After the evaluations are completed, I might try using a Jaguar to see how many shave I can get from it, but I have never gotten more than 5 shaves from any blade; 3-4 shaves is more typical. Between my tough beard and sensitive skin, the blade either becomes too dull or too rough.  This is another YMMV item. If you results differ from mine, that is perfectly OK. It sounds like your beard and skin is significantly different from mine.

Today I got a chance to try the Derby Premium. I bought a 100 pack because you liked them, Ray. Like you Ive never got a decent shave from a Derby in the past but this was a pleasant surprise. Ive been enjoying the Shark Platinum for 3 good shaves but IMO I think the Derby might be a touch keener but also a touch less in comfort. But this is really getting picky. I find both blades to my liking and am happy I added another 200 blades to my mega stash of DEs. Wait, make that 300 as i got the Silver Stars also.

Ray is still an enabler. Look out everyone.

Today I got a chance to try the Derby Premium. I bought a 100 pack because you liked them, Ray. Like you Ive never got a decent shave from a Derby in the past but this was a pleasant surprise. Ive been enjoying the Shark Platinum for 3 good shaves but IMO I think the Derby might be a touch keener but also a touch less in comfort. But this is really getting picky. I find both blades to my liking and am happy I added another 200 blades to my mega stash of DEs. Wait, make that 300 as i got the Silver Stars also.

Ray is still an enabler. Look out everyone.

Yep. I went on blade buying exercise. made some new 'friends.'

Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk

Today I got a chance to try the Derby Premium. I bought a 100 pack because you liked them, Ray. Like you Ive never got a decent shave from a Derby in the past but this was a pleasant surprise. Ive been enjoying the Shark Platinum for 3 good shaves but IMO I think the Derby might be a touch keener but also a touch less in comfort. But this is really getting picky. I find both blades to my liking and am happy I added another 200 blades to my mega stash of DEs. Wait, make that 300 as i got the Silver Stars also.

Ray is still an enabler. Look out everyone.

I bought the Silver Star blades on a whim, have been my favorite blades for a little bit now. Haven't picked up a Shark blade in sometime, I will try them again hopefully in the not too distant future. I just came across two brand new tux of the Derby Extra green blades which I use for my last three shaves and I have to say I really enjoyed them. I am curious to try the Derby Premium at some point.

Today I got a chance to try the Derby Premium. I bought a 100 pack because you liked them, Ray. Like you Ive never got a decent shave from a Derby in the past but this was a pleasant surprise. Ive been enjoying the Shark Platinum for 3 good shaves but IMO I think the Derby might be a touch keener but also a touch less in comfort. But this is really getting picky. I find both blades to my liking and am happy I added another 200 blades to my mega stash of DEs. Wait, make that 300 as i got the Silver Stars also.

Ray is still an enabler. Look out everyone.

Yep. I went on blade buying exercise. made some new 'friends.'

Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk

TommyCarioca I had a new order put together on the RBC website, but they cleaned my cart out so I'll have to do it again this week when I'm actually able to place the order. It's mostly blades that I have already wanted to try that are relatively inexpensive and RayClem gave them a solid rating. Some of them seem to do well all around with users and some of them seem to be hit or miss with users. So, I will buy a few of each and form my own opinion!

Today I got a chance to try the Derby Premium. I bought a 100 pack because you liked them, Ray. Like you Ive never got a decent shave from a Derby in the past but this was a pleasant surprise. Ive been enjoying the Shark Platinum for 3 good shaves but IMO I think the Derby might be a touch keener but also a touch less in comfort. But this is really getting picky. I find both blades to my liking and am happy I added another 200 blades to my mega stash of DEs. Wait, make that 300 as i got the Silver Stars also.

Ray is still an enabler. Look out everyone.

Yep. I went on blade buying exercise.  made some new 'friends.' 

Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk

TommyCarioca I had a new order put together on the RBC website, but they cleaned my cart out so I'll have to do it again this week when I'm actually able to place the order. It's mostly blades that I have already wanted to try that are relatively inexpensive and RayClem gave them a solid rating. Some of them seem to do well all around with users and some of them seem to be hit or miss with users. So, I will buy a few of each and form my own opinion!

Absolutely! While my evaluations should guide you towards blades you might like, in the end, you must determine for yourself which blades work for you and which do not.

When I started purchasing blades years ago, I ran into some blades that just did not work for me like Van der Hagen, Shark Super Stainless, Derby Extra old version, Rockwell, and Merkur old version. Then I ran across the Refined Shave web site. The evaluations on that site confirmed that the blades I did not like were on the less sharp side. Thus, I started purchasing blades that the site rated as sharpest. I found most of those blades worked well for my beard. However, the Refined Shave evaluations are rather outdated. There are new brands and even some new producers in the market. That is why I wanted to do a set of evaluations with the hope they will serve as a guide to those of you trying to find their blade of choice, just as I did years ago. In doing the evaluations, I have found some pleasant surprises like Silver Star, Minora Stainless, Wizamet Super Iridium, Derby Premium and Topaz Platinum. These are blades I never would have considered had it not been for this series. Yes, I am an enabler, even when it comes to purchases for my own shave den. However, armed with good information, we can all make better decisions on purchases.

Today's shave- Facon Platinum

Until a couple of months ago, I had never heard of Facon blades. Facon Premium razors primarily produces shavettes and razors for barbers and hair stylists. They produce DE blades and pre split blades for use in the razors. There are not a lot of reviews out there, but the impression I got was that these blades might fall into the super-sharp category. I am not certain where these blades are made, but I suspect they come from China. I have no issue using Chinese produced products as long as the quality is good.

I began today's shave with the Jaguar blade from my previous shave. It was still performing well. When I switched to the Facon blade, I found the sharpness was similar, but the blade seemed to be somewhat smoother. While the blade was not as sharp as the sharpest blades I have evaluated, it was plenty sharp to give me a near-BBS shave. Furthermore, because the blade was smoother than the Jaguar, I was able to complete the shave, including buffing strokes, with only minimal feedback when I applied witch hazel after the shave.

Based on the results of this shave, I am rating the blades 4.5 sharpness and 4.5 smoothness. The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated.

This is exactly how I rated some of my favorite blades, including Personna Chrome Platinum, Lord Silver Star, and Dorco Prime Platinum. Furthermore, you can purchase 50 blades for $6 (12 cents per blade). While the Silver Star blades appear to be a better value, if the Facon platinum blades last longer, they might be as good. Anyway, I am glad I added 50 blades to my den. I will be checking their durability in the coming months.

For Thursday's shave I plan to use the Bolzano Superinox. While Bolzano is an Italian name, the blades were formerly made in Germany. However, for the past few years, they have been made by Lord in Egypt. Since Lord makes blades with widely varying quality, I am hoping the Bolzanos blades are on the higher quality end, especially since they are 20 cents per blade.