Which blades to start with with my new DE razor

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased an Edwin Jagger de89l double edge razor and about 12 different packs of razors. Until now I have only used Merkur and 2 packs of Feathers (iin the black and silver packaging) when I was still a little inexperienced. I'm still not perfect, but I'm coming into my own :) I was hoping to get some advice on which blades to try first. Here is the list of what I bought. I am also wondering if there is any difference between the yellow packaging Feathers and the silver and black packaging in terms of sharpness, quality, etc. Anyway, here are the blades I got:

Astra Superior Platinum
Derby
Feather Hi-Stainless (Yellow Packaging)
Gillette 7 O'Clock (Yellow Packaging)
Gillette 7 O'Clock (Green Packaging)
Shark Super Stainless
Shark Super Chrome
Personna Platinum (Red Pack Personnas)
Treet Durasharp
Treet Platinum
Lord Platinum

I think that's all of them but I'm not sure. Bullgooseshaving didn't send me an email with what I purchased so I won't be sure until I get them. Any advice on which to try first with the Edwin Jagger would be appreciated.

Thanks,
KWood

Nice assortment of blades there. It may behoove you to start with a less aggressive blade to start with and progress from there. Derby and Red IP's are a good starting point.

I agree, Derby and Personna would be good for a beginner. Astra is a good brand too. I'm not sure about the Treets as I've never used them.

The feathers are all the same no matter the packaging. I agree the Darby are pretty well known as mild mannered blades with the feathers at the top of the heap for sharpness. However to tell you the truth I don't know if there really are such things as starter blades. It's just a matter of what combo works best with your DE and your skin so you just experiment.

I would opt for using the Gillette (Yellow package), Lord, Shark, Personna, and Treet razor blades first. I've used them all and they deliver good shaves.

I've heard good things about Derby blades too, but some people complain that the quality is not consistent--a dull blade or two in the package.

I would save the Feathers for last. They're exceptional razor blades, but rather expensive compared to other brands. If you're on a budget, the DE razor blades I mentioned first are probably the best buy.

So far, I've used Merkurs and Derbys with my my Merkur Classic 1904 and both have done well for me.

If I use a DE (sometimes) I only use the Red Personna for the Edwin Jagger and the Feather- blade for the Feather-DE, nothing else.

I started using merkur blades, then personnas and now use feathers. This particular progression worked well for me, I found it's a good idea to move up in sharpness as you become more skilled with a de. Also this way you don't waste money on more expensive blades when you don't have the skill to get all of the potential out of them as you can.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KerryWood34

Astra Superior Platinum
Derby
Feather Hi-Stainless (Yellow Packaging)
Gillette 7 O'Clock (Yellow Packaging)
Gillette 7 O'Clock (Green Packaging)
Shark Super Stainless
Shark Super Chrome
Personna Platinum (Red Pack Personnas)
Treet Durasharp
Treet Platinum
Lord Platinum
KWood

---

Hello, KWood:

I would start in the following order:
Personna, Derby, Treat, Astra, Gillette green, Gillette yellow, Feather. Shark and Lord have a hit and miss reputation. I would use them for travel — one shave and out.

Regards,

Obie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obie

Hello, KWood:

I would start in the following order:
Personna, Derby, Treat, Astra, Gillette green, Gillette yellow, Feather. Shark and Lord have a hit and miss reputation. I would use them for travel — one shave and out.

Regards,

Obie

---

I couldn't agree more. I find the Personnas to be a forgiving blade and they have always been my go tofor trying any new razor.

After I was finished with my initial sampler, Shark Chromes were my go to blades. They're still my favorite.

I've used Derby, Feather, Merkur, Bluebird, and Shark, and gotten fine shaves with all of them. I seem to have the best shaves on the second day of using any blade. I don't use any of them past four days. Days 2-3 are the sweet spot.

I tried merkur with my Merkur 39C but did not like it much, my favorite are Blue Bird.

flip a coin, roll the dice and try them in random order.

I find that if I work in pairs then A is better than B
then I move on to C and D, then E and F.

Once through the selection once you can enter a
double elimination. Perhaps a reverse double
elimination to find the one you dislike.

Do not believe your first impressions. I find
that I change my mind a couple times.

I wonder what an industrial engineer would say about all the different blades out there. If there are genuine differences in how they are manufactured, I'd be curious.

Without double-blind testing, all our subjective impressions are pretty limited, imho.

Ok. So far i have used quite a bit of the blades i got (1 of each) and have found the following:

Gillette 7 o'clock (green packaging): felt like i needed to go over the same area 2 or 3 times to get as close a shave as other blades. That was yesterday, but today, more than 12 hours after i shaved, I am still super smooth so i dont know what to make of these blades. More testing is needed lol

Gillette 7 o'clock (yellow packaging): really really smooth shave. Gave me my first perfect 3 pass shave. No nicks, no cuts, no little random blood dots on my neck. Awesome blade all around.

Personna (red packaging): Also as good as the yellow gillettes but some very minor nicks on my neck. May have just been me so not going to blame the blade.

Astra: Gave me the same kind of great shave as te Gillette 7 o'clock yellows. Very nice blade.

Shark super chrome: did not go so good with this blade. Nicks here and there would just appear out of nowhere. Had to change blades halfway through shave because i couldn't stand it anymore. May give it another try later.

And now the biggest surprise for last...

Feather hi-stainless: i was actually disappointed with these blades. I had used them before and figured te bad experience was my technjque so i decided to try them again now that i have more experience. I found that the shave did not go smoothly at all. Little nicks all over my face especially my neck. I don't know why i have such bad experiences with feathers, but i am thinking of trying something. I have recently found that waiting 3 or 4 days before i shave gets me a closer shave. So in 3 or 4 days when i shave again i will give the feathers another try. Hopefully that shave will go smoother than my previous feather shaves. I would hate to not be able to enjoy a blade that is held in such high esteem by many members here.

I also still have to try out lord, treet, and shark stainless so i may or may not find some more favorites. Will post more findings as soon as i can. Any advice, tips, etc. are always welcome :-)

KWood34
Sent from my DROIDX

Kerry,
I have been getting some pretty nice shaves from the Astra superior platinums in my Edwin Jagger DE89 also. I decided to stock up on them, as you can find some pretty good deals on these.

Im thinking that im not gonna get any better than the gillette yellows or the astras but we shall see. Ill probably end up stocking up on one of these two.

Sent from my DROIDX

I think you're going to find that the Feathers are the best of the lot. They are my absolute favorite, when I can find them.

It all depends on what works best for you. Everybody’s face and facial hair is different. What that being said you are on the right track. For the money I prefer the Derby blades. The feathers works the best for me.

Any word on Wilkerson Blades?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tex

Any word on Wilkerson Blades?

---

Wilkinson Sword? IME, the second and third shave is smoother than the first and the fourth is painful and not worth trying.

I just used Personna Platinum Chrome in my combless Gillette Tech three piece ball end razor and was very pleased. This was also my very first time to use a DE razor. No cuts, no burn just a nice close shave.

Jim

Try the personnas. I think theyre my favorite, although Ive got a box of feathers waiting as well.

Always keep a sharp eye open for DE blades in
the local market. I have been very pleased both
with the price and the shave. When I find some
nice ones I buy all but one package since they
commonly stock only five or six packages. If they
restock with the same product I often get some more.

They are never equal to the Feather but
some days they are more than equal to my
whiskers.

I have been using the Gillette yellows in my NEW and they work pretty nice for me.