Where's the difference?

[Wanderlust167]

Ok I've been DE shaving for 3 months now, always with the same razor but I have tried a few of the popular blades that people have recommended on here. Apart from the Feather which caused a bit of soreness I haven't really noticed any difference between any of the other blades. They all seem to do a good job & all seem to get the same closeness depending on the number of passes. Is something wrong with the way I'm doing things?

I was expecting there to be marked differences between some of the blades but that doesn't seem to be the case. Can anyone explain what I'm missing please?

 

[Halk]

Are you trying to find out how long the blades last, and are you going against the grain for the closest shave possible, making sure that all problem areas are completely smooth? Anything else could be done by any blade, pretty much.

 

[Wanderlust167]

No I'm not bothered about how long the blade lasts, although I've found that 3-4 shaves is about right for the ones I've tried. As far as best shave goes I've been mainly doing a 2-pass WTG & XTG and only occasionally going for the full 3-pass & a BBS.

I presume by your comment that it's getting the best & closest shave without irritation that shows up the difference between the blades?

 

[Canuck]

To be honest I empathise with you to an extent, most of the widely available and well known blades give me a really good shave with just a few exceptions, I've never really found more than about 5 that are bad. The good ones are exactly that, they do the job well and I can name probably 20-25 that have been very pleasant but I don't see a great deal of difference between the good ones.

Maybe you and I are just less discerning when it comes to blades, I'm never sure if it's just me. Some of the differences I hear about regarding the finer points of good blades are ones that I've never experienced. If it cuts well and it doesn't irritate, I rate it, simple as that.
This probably explains my bemusement at the pursuit of vintage and fabled blades... I've had more than a few and they were no better and no worse than maybe 6 other present day blades, all in my opinion of course.

 

[Halk]

No I'm not bothered about how long the blade lasts, although I've found that 3-4 shaves is about right for the ones I've tried. As far as best shave goes I've been mainly doing a 2-pass WTG & XTG and only occasionally going for the full 3-pass & a BBS.

I presume by your comment that it's getting the best & closest shave without irritation that shows up the difference between the blades?

Yeah, that's what I think at least. I know that when I try a new blade I might get a feeling for how it will be when I do the ATG pass when I do the WTG and XTG passes, but I don't find out until it comes to that.

I'm by no means an expert though and I may not be correct.

 

[UKMerk]

I'm new to all of this but can definitely feel the difference in the three blades i've used so far.
Tesco (isreali) - A lot of razor burn due to going over the same area several times. Still feel stubble after completion,
Shark SS - My favourite blade. For me the feedback is perfect and i'm confident to apply pressure in certain areas to get a closer shave (around jaw line).
Derby - Probably sharper than the shark but very tuggy and uncomfortable. Surprised by the closeness. I can grow to like this one.

What razor are you using, maybe its too mild??

 

[WiffWaff]

I can see your point entirely

I arranged my Connaught's sample pack in a rough order of increasing quality... according to comments on this forum. I stuck with the Derbys for a good while first to get my technique sorted.

Lo and behold! Each blade I've tried since has got slightly better. Now I wonder whether it is the blade or whether my technique is still improving... so I'm going back to try some of the earlier ones again

 

[Wanderlust167]

To be honest I empathise with you to an extent, most of the widely available and well known blades give me a really good shave with just a few exceptions, I've never really found more than about 5 that are bad. The good ones are exactly that, they do the job well and I can name probably 20-25 that have been very pleasant but I don't see a great deal of difference between the good ones.

Maybe you and I are just less discerning when it comes to blades, I'm never sure if it's just me. Some of the differences I hear about regarding the finer points of good blades are ones that I've never experienced. If it cuts well and it doesn't irritate, I rate it, simple as that.
This probably explains my bemusement at the pursuit of vintage and fabled blades... I've had more than a few and they were no better and no worse than maybe 6 other present day blades, all in my opinion of course.

Thanks Canuck, I think that sums up my situation at the moment, although I'm more than happy to be corrected. I'm not unhappy with my progress at all, in fact quite the opposite, I just wanted to see if I was the only one who didn't notice much difference between the makes. I shall still go & try ones that I haven't experienced yet but I won't necessarily rush to do it.

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I'm new to all of this but can definitely feel the difference in the three blades i've used so far.
Tesco (isreali) - A lot of razor burn due to going over the same area several times. Still feel stubble after completion,
Shark SS - My favourite blade. For me the feedback is perfect and i'm confident to apply pressure in certain areas to get a closer shave (around jaw line).
Derby - Probably sharper than the shark but very tuggy and uncomfortable. Surprised by the closeness. I can grow to like this one.

What razor are you using, maybe its too mild??

That's very interesting, perhaps it has more to do with my technique or razor than I originally thought. I'm using a EJ89 & have found that I like the Supermax Blue Diamond best of all that I've tried so far, but again there's not much difference between them and the Astra SP to me. Do you do a 3-pass with each blade?

 

[chrisbell]

What sort of beard hair have you got? Mine's like wire wool and I'm convinced that's at least part of the reason that I find quite large differences between different blades. I wouldn't doubt for a minute that, if you have tough-ish skin, a mild to moderate beard, use mild-ish razors and don't go ATG anywhere, you won't notice much difference. In many ways, that's got to be a good thing, surely - it means you can use almost any blade?

 

[Wanderlust167]

I can see your point entirely

I arranged my Connaught's sample pack in a rough order of increasing quality... according to comments on this forum. I stuck with the Derbys for a good while first to get my technique sorted.

Lo and behold! Each blade I've tried since has got slightly better. Now I wonder whether it is the blade or whether my technique is still improving... so I'm going back to try some of the earlier ones again

Having read the other posts in this thread I'm now wondering if it may just be my technique isn't good enough yet, although I can get a very good shave with no irritation, cuts or weepers almost ever time. Not sure quite how I can improve my technique if that's what needs doing! :huh:

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What sort of beard hair have you got? Mine's like wire wool and I'm convinced that's at least part of the reason that I find quite large differences between different blades. I wouldn't doubt for a minute that, if you have tough-ish skin, a mild to moderate beard, use mild-ish razors and don't go ATG anywhere, you won't notice much difference. In many ways, that's got to be a good thing, surely - it means you can use almost any blade?

Mine's about average I reckon Chris, although my goatee feels reasonably soft to me! As you say it may just need me to do more shaves ATG and see if I notice a difference by doing it that way. I started off by doing a WTG then ATG, but was having patchy results in that sometimes it was good, sometimes not, so I changed and went back to basics only doing WTG & XTG for a few weeks for consistency. Now that I have achieved that and my shaves are still more than acceptable, I think I'll try adding ATG to the mix and see what that brings. I'll keep you posted!

 

[PavlovsDog]

I wonder if there is some aspect of people subconsciously grading a blade based on the reputation it has on forums such as this.

It may well be that one could find no major difference in performance between an Astra and a Big Ben, but because Astra seem to have the better rep, we could be convincing ourselves that the Astra is the better blade.

 

[chrisbell]

Sorry, I'm getting a bit annoyed with this. I have no doubt that, for some people, there's no appreciable difference, but it's a bit unfair for them to then suggest that, for those of us who do perceive quite a difference, it's all in the mind. Whatever happened to "YMMV"?

 

[PavlovsDog]

Sorry, I'm getting a bit annoyed with this. I have no doubt that, for some people, there's no appreciable difference, but it's a bit unfair for them to then suggest that, for those of us who do perceive quite a difference, it's all in the mind. Whatever happened to "YMMV"?

That's stretching my words a bit far, Chris. I wasn't suggesting it was all in the mind, I was simply wondering to what extent reputation plays a part.

This may seem a sacrilegious thing to say on a dedicated shaving forum, but it's just a shave. The margin of difference between a great shave, a good shave and an outstanding shave is very small, I'd imagine.

But of course, YMMV always applies in all aspects of the shaving experience, I was not trying to imply otherwise. I was just considering how much of a factor blade reputation plays.

 

[Halk]

I think reputation has to have some effect on it, it affects many things. The placebo effect is a very similar phenomenon, and placebo injections work better than placebo pills for example. 4 placebo pills a day works better than 2...

That aside though there just is a difference between blades. I suspect though that the harder a job you give the blades the more the difference becomes apparent. The amount and quality of prep, the angle of the hairs and the toughness/thickness of them will affect it, as will of course what we ask of the blades - are we trying to get a BBS and clear every single difficult area or are simply looking to look clean shaven.

Additionally if a blade is finished very sharp but a little rough then someone with tough skin will get a good shave. If a blade is finished only quite sharp, but it's very smooth then someone with sensitive skin might find it gets them the best shave.

 

[UKMerk]

That's very interesting, perhaps it has more to do with my technique or razor than I originally thought. I'm using a EJ89 & have found that I like the Supermax Blue Diamond best of all that I've tried so far, but again there's not much difference between them and the Astra SP to me. Do you do a 3-pass with each blade?

My first venture into DE was with the Tesco blades (Merkur 34c) rather than the Derby and Merkur blades i got with the pack. I did a lot of reading on B&B and it seems Tesco Israeli blades were rated.
I do 3 passes and clean up the jawline. My hair growth is pretty thin compared to most of you guys, so i run each blade for 1 week which gives me good feedback.
imo, you get a closer shave with the correct prep and when the hair is longer so with 2 days growth I feel a better cut. Once you've mapped your face, do 3 passes and go over the areas where you felt the most stubble previously pulling the skin and shaving ATG.

Start over with what you feel is the worst blade and work towards what you think is the sharper. Give each blade a few days and work on technique to know where you can add pressure.

*EJ89 is not too dissimiliar to a 34c, which is rated above mild. You might want to consider an adjustable in the future, maybe the reazor is just too mild for you?

 

[cruciate]

What sort of beard hair have you got? Mine's like wire wool and I'm convinced that's at least part of the reason that I find quite large differences between different blades. I wouldn't doubt for a minute that, if you have tough-ish skin, a mild to moderate beard, use mild-ish razors and don't go ATG anywhere, you won't notice much difference. In many ways, that's got to be a good thing, surely - it means you can use almost any blade?

My experience entirely.
Thick fast growing wiry stubble. Many blades just tug and don't do well.