Vintage Travelling Blade reviews: Personna Super Stainless 'Ultra Chrome'

Monsta_AU

...can I interest you in some vintage blades?
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This thread is for the review and discussion of the Personna Super Stainless 'Ultra Chrome' blades in our Vintage Travelling Blades PIF.

Please note that there will be a Zero-Tolerance for off topic posts in this thread. Your opening post in this thread should be your initial shave review - you are then free to discuss the blades and further shaves.

General discussion of the PIF should go in the PIF thread as linked above.
 
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I cracked into one of these this morning - having not shaved with them previously and since I had now sent them out on PIF, it dawned on me that I should probably give them a go and be the sacrificial face in case they aren't much good.

These blades were purchased via eBay and it would have been almost two years ago. It was a mixed blade offering of these Personnas, a pack of Light Brigades (Wilkinson 'The Blade'), plus a pack of the Schick Plus Platinum and a bunch of other lesser-knowns. I have not seen them since so I would expect that they are pretty rare. By comparison, you can usually find at least one pack of Spoilers and Schick Plus Platinum on eBay at any one time.

These blades come in a 4-pack plastic (styrene) dispenser, with a metal back which is designed to accept used blades. I have sent the 5-pack version out. The Styrene on the 5-packs has been affected by heat or sunlight and as a result has perished.

Getting the blade out was easy, they were not sticky or anything like that. The blades is printed with 'Personna Super Stainless' and the print quality is amazing, nothing like what we get now. I inspected the edges for any rust or imperfections and found none. The grind looked extremely fine and uniform to the naked eye. Just looking at the blade you can tell it is quality.

I loaded the blade into my Fatboy, and had no issues with it not fitting or anything like that. After taking a shower and following my usual scrubbing of my face with a $3 Woolworths Scrub towel, and washing with L'Oreal Men daily facewash, I dried of and prepared Proraso Red in my lather bowl, using the Semougue 730HD. Once lathered up, I took a deep breath and started to shave.

Immediate reaction to this blade was almost identical to the Schick Plus Platinum. A sharp and quality blade, but it just does not glide on the skin like modern PFTE (Teflon) coated blades. Once I started attacking my neck I really felt the sharpness easily slicing through my 3-day growth, which is a marked improvement on the Schick Platinum Plus which had issues on the first shave with a 3-day growth.

First pass WTG was relatively uneventful apart from one small nick on my neck near my Adam's apple. Not sure if it was blade or blade tab which caused it. I did note some tenderness and burning while shaving one particular spot which was pre-existing but shaving-unrelated skin breakout. Overall it was a close and uniform WTG pass and I could have happily stopped there and headed to work.

I was looking forward to my '45-degree XTG' pass which was what made the Schick Plus Platinums really shine. Performance on WTG had been similar but the Personna blades coped better with the longer growth. I lathered up and my Proraso had kind of gone flat and the lather was a little thin for my liking. I whipped it up a bit and proceeded anyway.

XTG felt no different to the WTG pass. Just sharp and smooth as hell. I noticed that it was taking very little growth off my face which means the WTG pass was very good indeed. Again, where irritation was pre-existing I did feel a very uncomfortable burning where the blade passed over it.

I washed off with warm water, and due to the weeper on my neck decided to Alum down - it's also helpful for the skin irritation. I did feel more stings than I was hoping for but put it down to my face breaking out a little lately.

Overall result was a great shave - on par with the Schicks and Spoilers. The Spoilers do much better in ease of use and smoothness/glide, but I feel that the uncoated blades do better in the closeness stakes. Of course these blades demand a better technique and since the Spoiler was my first blade in these vintage blade trials, I will be going back to them now as I am sure I can do better.
 
The personna ultra chrome, I had difficulty getting a blade out of the dispensor. I think age has got to the little plastic tabs which holds the blades in place.


Standard test setup for me: Wash with bath soap, then face lather with Tabac and boar. I used two razors for 1st pass, the Gillette SS flair to start with on the right hand side of my face, I use this razor more than the aristocrat in general. Then switched to the gillette #70 for the rest. The blade is better/smoother in the #70 for first pass. 2nd pass stayed with the #70, it's a good blade. Cleanups with the SS. I am testing so I push for BBS. I got there with some scratchyness on the neck. Plenty of blades cannot get this far. There is some serious skin stretching to get this close too.

It is a great blade, not as good as the blueu, IMO.

Razors: the SS is a step down from the #70 in aggressiveness. It allows a much finer closeness (going over thick/difficult areas) with less worry.

Edit: I wrote this review in notepad and pasted it here, so as not to read RM's review before writing my own. The heat effected plastic did cause trouble for me. I cannot get away with a single WTG pass with any setup. I could get away with the 2nd pass combo of XTG and ATG (in places). Yes, a very close shave is possible with this blade and my razors.

Edit2: I am planning on dropping the blades over to GT tonight, so I took a schick and spoiler out which had no issue coming out of their containers.
 
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It is a great blade, not as good as the blueu, IMO.

Bodge; did you feel the difference in quality between this and more modern blades?

I would definitely agree that the Bleue is better in some respects (Availability, 'stiffness' of blade, glide) but I don't think it is as sharp or as smooth. The big 'difference' between the Personnas (and also the Schicks) is that they lack a PTFE coating whereas the GBE's definitely do have a Teflon coating and glide on the skin really nicely. The Spoilers definitely do have the 'Miracle Plastic Coating' so I think that you will love the Spoiler when you get to it.....

What I have found with the Vintage blades as a whole is they work well with a wider range of razors, and they definitely last longer. I'd also say that in my experience, they tend to be a very rewarding shave when you get the angle right in the zone. If you are off, the uncoated blades tend to feel like they are sticking and pulling on your skin - there is just no glide.

Finally, I definitely look presentable the day after a shave with the vintage blades, many people are hard pressed to pick that I have not shaved that day. I find that I have a longer growth the day after a shave with a modern blade than these vintage blades. It's quite noticeable.
 
2nd shave on the personna with #70 all the way. More comfortable shave today, as I didn't keep pushing the envelope with extra touchups. Not than anyone can see the difference. The difference in feel (of stubble) is miniscule too. I really am preferring the SS these days, although with a very nice blade, the #70 can be used with less passes. To quantify the difference (in comfort) at least in my head, the more aggressive razor has a wider range of cutting angle, whereas the SS has a very limited range which keeps me in check.

Bodge; did you feel the difference in quality between this and more modern blades?

Yes, although: Every blade (and razor combo) is a compromise.Current production blades that I have tried all have a weakness compared to the blueu, which is hard for me to get over. The personna is up there. I am going to revisit some of my favourite current production blades in the SS after these vintage tests.

I would definitely agree that the Bleue is better in some respects (Availability, 'stiffness' of blade, glide) but I don't think it is as sharp or as smooth. The big 'difference' between the Personnas (and also the Schicks) is that they lack a PTFE coating whereas the GBE's definitely do have a Teflon coating and glide on the skin really nicely. The Spoilers definitely do have the 'Miracle Plastic Coating' so I think that you will love the Spoiler when you get to it.....

Trying my best to keep my hopes down here. I really don't want an unavailable blade to be my prime choice. Even if it is identical to the GBE I'm gonna be happy with it. In my tests of your sampler, I did not determine what coating is preferable to me. In fact there was some coated that I didn't like and coated which I did and vice versa.

What I have found with the Vintage blades as a whole is they work well with a wider range of razors, and they definitely last longer. I'd also say that in my experience, they tend to be a very rewarding shave when you get the angle right in the zone. If you are off, the uncoated blades tend to feel like they are sticking and pulling on your skin - there is just no glide.

Finally, I definitely look presentable the day after a shave with the vintage blades, many people are hard pressed to pick that I have not shaved that day. I find that I have a longer growth the day after a shave with a modern blade than these vintage blades. It's quite noticeable.

I had a very close shave yesterday, but I won't be doing that until the next blade which I'll try when I think the personna is no longer capable of an ordinary close shave.
 
Yesterday the superspeed gave me a very close shave very quickly.
Gave the r41 a whirl today with the personna, took my time as this razor is not the bees knees for my face. Got a close shave but overall not as good as the gillette ss. I'll be ss'ing the rest of life of this blade.
 
I have the luxury of being able to use my Fatboy for the duration of my first blade of each these three vintage brands. That said the Schick has more shaves in it and is currently sitting in my Slim.

Yesterday's shave (Jermyn St lather) was a bit hurried and I did feel a little raw. But overall the result was good after the Jermyn AS did it's thing. Still feeling presentable today, although it's feeling a little patchy as the day wears on.
 
I can now officially join in. And a very nice blade it is too. Put it into the Slim set at 7 lathered up with the Prorasro Red and away I went. Experienced no fear of knicking myself (the blade just didnt feel that treatening) but after the first pass and a bit of scraping away, a very nice close shave indeed. The other two will have to be very very good indeeed to surpass the smoothness and closeness of the Persona. Might let the whiskers get to a four day growth to see how it reacts to a bit more of a challeng.
 
I think I had my 5th or 6th shave with it today. Still feels plenty sharp, although detecting a slight drop in shave quality.

Also was a little rushed and I can feel I missed a bit on the second pass. Meh, who cares when the rest of it is so smooth. :eek:mg:
 
6th shave - starting to lose it, getting harder to get smooth without irritating. Might go on to the next blade tomorrow.
 
Went for another spin with this blade, just tried to stop myself from overdoing it. OK shave, but getting rougher. I'll stay on this until it is dead.
 
8th shave and it is getting harder to use but still getting a closeish shave. That's it for me on this blade.
 
Shave number two for me and I will give it the highest praise I know. Had I started with this blade then the world would be a sadder place as the TM would probably have never been borne. I find I can quite happily scrape and slash away with no sign of a cut or scratch very very smooth and the way it removes the hair very very sharp. My thanks to you Razormonsta for sharing.
 
I went about my 8th shave on it this morning too. Still going well for me, definitely not as close around the jawline and it is noticeably stubbly this afternoon. Could probably push another 2 shaves out of it but won't.

Also needed to slow the speed down considerably. Started feeling a little rough and 'skippy' during the XTG. MWF face-lathered and felt great afterwards as usual.
 
Number three after a few ays growth. Avery niceclose shave but the blade began to feel a little rugged on the longer whiskers. Nothing to grizzle about but I suspect I only have two more left in it - depending on how often I leave it between shaves. All in all though a nice close shave with no stubbly bits and no nicks or scratrches.
 
After the last shave with this blade I thought I would give it every chance and shaved after only 2 days. Very smooth I must admit but still getting a little scratchy. I do not see it lasting the 6 or 7 others are getting for it but it was certainly wonderful for the first two. I would very much like it to keep going but I see a Schick in my not to distant shaving future.
 
And thats its lot - stretched it to five but it will go no further - Got a decent shave out of it but had to force the issue a little too much resulting in a couple of tiny nicks. A bit sad really as it would have been nice if it had kept its edge past the first two shaves but sadly twas not to be. To be fair I never get more than five out of one of my SE blades either but that is probably because I have lots of them and dont have to test the outer limits. So thats all from me for this section and its on to the Schick next time around.
 
After using the Schick first up for two shaved I've swapped to the Personna. Will do two shaves with this then the Spoiler then a modern blade then cycle back through them again. I'm hoping this gives a good chance to compare.

Still using my birth year L 1 Slim on 6. I'm trying a new shaving cream this morning that I picked up on clearance with a recent Connaught order.

The first pass was good despite the lather not being my best. I know that 'feel' it not the measure but this blade feels smooth to use, glides well for me without tugging or pulling, certainly IMHO a little smoother than the Schick.

Usual 2 1/2 pass shave. No nicks or cuts, BBS result.

Finished off with Ollagalla Bay Rum and Sandalwood aftershave and no particular irritation noticed - this is a very good blade on the first use. If I had to rank on only one use I'd choose this one over the Schick.
 
Link's dead Mark, but a quick google tells me it's a Deutsche-produced SC that is in a tube and relatively low in scent? Most of the remarks are in favour of the lather.

7213880-phaemosan-rasiercreme-b0.jpg


I'm surprised that you would pick the Personna over the Schick, but they are very close in terms of performance. I do find they feel a bit 'draggy' on your skin while shaving but the results are magical for those of us that have been doing it for a while. That said, they need a slight refinement of technique over modern blades and then reward you for it.

The Spoiler will be something else. So glad I got my stash for an absolute steal.
 
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