Weekly Blade Review: Personna Platinum Chrome Redux

This is the sixteenth of my weekly shave summaries. This week, I'm again using an Israeli-made Personna Platinum Chrome blade. I reviewed this blade on 22 November 2014, but I wanted to revisit the blade and enjoy it for another week. (After my first week of use, I ordered 100 blades.)

My primary shave soap again this week is the first pre-production run of Grandad's Slick 'n Creamy Shave Soap for Sensitive Skin (formula SS#11P1).

[Reminder about my skin type: I have very sensitive, thin skin, somewhat loose (on the neck when shaving horizontally), with lots of angles and dips -- paired with a moderately tough beard. It's challenging to get a close, comfortable shave. Shaving gear must be chosen with care.]

Unless otherwise specified, all shaves this week were with my minimalist beard preparation.

What I Learned this Week:
The Israeli-made Personna Platinum Chrome blade is a really good blade for my face, which this week has confirmed. Sharp and comfortable.

The Merkur 33 remains my go-to razor.

Grandad's shave soap face lathers well with a boar brush and adequate water.

Merkur 33C Classic

Sunday:

Using my trusty Merkur 33C Classic razor, I took an aggressive two-pass shave with a fussy second pass. An excellent shave: very close and comfortable with only a single weeper on my upper neck. After my usual cool water rinse, I had a cool-water-and-Noxzema wash, and then put just a touch of styptic on the weeper.

Monday:

Similar process to yesterday: a two-pass shave with a bit of fussing in the second pass and some extra touch ups after the rinse. A very close, pleasant shave marred by a weeper under my chin that needed styptic. Finished the shave with my usual Noxzema wash and then just a very light rub with pure vitamin-E oil.

Tuesday:
Again with the same Personna blade in the 33 razor, I took a standard three-pass shave (WG, XG, AG) and got a reasonably close, comfortable shave. The weepers were merely residual from yesterday's shave, and went away with rinse and dry. The shave was finished off with a Noxzema wash, and that's all. Not perfect; not baby smooth from all directions, but still pleasing to the hand and looking good.

The Lord L.6 razor head on the Maggard
MR3B handle.

Wednesday:
Put the Personna blade in the Lord L.6 and, like yesterday, took a normal three-pass shave. There were a few weepers owing to the slightly larger blade gap in the L.6, when compared to the Merkur 33. A very close shave marred by the weepers. Not better than yesterday, though, which was the goal. After a water rinse, did an alum rub. Then a Noxzema wash, topped off with Gillette after-shave lotion for sensitive skin supplemented with a couple of drops of vitamin-E oil.

Thursday:
With the Personna red back in the 33, I used canned shaving foam instead of soap and brush. Three passes with a bit of fussing gave an excellent shave. A couple of dabs of styptic followed by another rinse and a wash with Noxzema completed today's shave, which is close and comfortable.

Friday:

Face lather with Grandad's soap, boar brush, and the Personna red blade still in the 33. Three passes and a close shave.

Saturday:
Another face lather morning, but with a pre-wash of Noxzema. This was good, but I didn't wash off the Noxzema before face lathering, which was a mistake. The Noxzema tends to suppress rich lather with the Grandad's. Still the soap was protective for three passes. Did a final fourth touch-up pass with mostly water, which did open a single weeper that got a touch of styptic. Close, comfortable outcome.

For next week I'm returning to the Lord Platinum Class blade.

Happy shaving!