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Personna Red/Durby/Astra - Blade testing weirdness

Sxot

Sxot

New Member
Artisan Producer
I've been using and getting great results with Astra Superior Blades / Murkur 34c. Yesterday I tried a Derby Extra (I liked the plastic box with the razor disposal hole) and shave was ok but irritation that lasted a couple of hours. It's a very dull blade right? So today I jumped up to something closer to the Astra in the Personna Red. Shave was very close, possibly the closest yet but I still have irritation 4hrs later. I find it strange that I got so much irritation from a blade that is so close to the Astra, more so that a much duller Durby.

I guess I just assumed I would get more and more irritation the duller I go from my preferred blade. Is that assumption incorrect? Practice - sample size of one! says so.

Tomorrow I'm going to throw in the Feather and see what happens. It's the only blade I have sharper than the Astra. Although, maybe I need to get a couple of irritation free shaves in with an Astra before I try different blade again?

Thanks
 
Blades are one of the most personal preference items I've found. I've certainly developed a preference for sharpness over smoothness, but still need a certain level of smoothness my sensitivity. That being said, I do like some blades that are smooth but not as sharp, and dislike sharp blades not smooth enough. There isn't a definitve selection criteria that I've found that works. The closest I've noticed, is going through "top 5 blade" type lists and finding someone with similar preferences to mine. They might have had one or two blades in their list I hadn't tried and I went about trying those ones.

Depends on the level of irritation on your skin and how it reacts. I had a shave on Monday where I went ATG on my neck and thus have gotten some ingrowns, so will have to give it a couple days. It's one of those things where you will try to shave once with irritation, and then learn from the results :)
 
@Sxot have you tried Gillette Silver Blue you'll find this blade is much better than Astra Superior blade, be extra careful with Feathers they're extremely super sharp and you can get irritation pretty quick so watchout make sure you've got some Alum Block before you start driving a feather blade.
 
SpeedyPC said:
have you tried Gillette Silver Blue you'll find this blade is much better than Astra Superior blade, better extra careful with Feathers they're extremely super sharp and you can get irritation pretty quick so watch make sure you've got some Alum Block before you start driving a feather blade.
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Perfectly demonstrating my point :) I tried GSB and they're similar performance to the Personna Reds for me, just no good on my skin. However feathers are great with no irritation. For me the extra sharpness of feather meant cleaner, easier passes which gives less irritation. DSDF
 
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I argue that it is blade and razor combination that really counts ...

[just to complicate things :)]
 
I'm not or at least haven't been for sometime a DE user but regardless as @Mark1966 has indicated the razor/blade combo is very important. I would also add no matter how little pressure you think you are using back off so you feel you are just removing lather. Don't try to get it all done in one pass. You are reducing the crop - not slashing it below ground. Feathers are very sharp so just let the razor do the cutting. You to a great extend just steer.
 
bald as said:
I'm not or at least haven't been for sometime a DE user but regardless as @Mark1966 has indicated the razor/blade combo is very important. I would also add no matter how little pressure you think you are using back off so you feel you are just removing lather. Don't try to get it all done in one pass. You are reducing the crop - not slashing it below ground. Feathers are very sharp so just let the razor do the cutting. You to a great extend just steer.
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@bald as I think I'm going to give feathers another go cause my skin is very sensitive, I better make sure I used @Anthony soaps because I didn't get any irritation with my DE razor with GSB because it glides smooth as a baby bare bum.
 
SpeedyPC said:
@bald as I think I'm going to give feathers another go cause my skin is very sensitive...
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It's really strange but it seems everyone's skin is sensitive these days...
Tongue-out-of-cheek, if Feathers don't work for you then a) try another razor or b) put them to one side for 6-12 months and then try them again. Seriously, good technique doesn't happen overnight. Even 3+ years on and I'm still learning how to improve my technique...
 
@filobiblic that's why I choose GSB instead of Derby after about 3 tries with a Feathers blade was getting irritation way too soon.
 
...and for me Feathers still don't work.

It's not important what works for you, it's just important that you find it. And if it is Treet Carbon, Merkur or Derbys - it has to work for you with your razor(s) and not for everyone else.
 
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