Assured For Men Dollar Tree Razor & Blade Shave Impressions

First off, we'll start with the Razor:

The handle is supposedly stainless steel. It might very well be the thinnest piece of stainless steel that could ever be manufactured. Overall, the razor is incredibly light. The head, what it’s made of your guess is as good as mine. Pot metal? Zamak? Zinc alloy? I’m sure something very inexpensive.

Now, onto the blades:

Who is making these blades for them, I have no idea. I sincerely doubt dollar tree is grinding their own blades out in the back of the store. Hell, maybe they are. What do I know? Other than their own branding, there is no other indication on the box, the wrapper, or the blades as to where they were made. In fact, the blade itself is completely blank. However, they are double wrapped if that interests anybody.

Onto the shave:

The shave started off feeling incredibly rough. I wasn’t sure if it was just a really bad blade, a crummy razor, etc. I played with the angle and it was a little bit better, but not much. I finished the first pass and moved onto the second, which was kind of more of the same. However, I switched from going against the grain to doing some buffing and that actually felt a lot better. As it turns out, I think it’s just the fact that there’s a lot of blade exposure. That makes the shaves feel very aggressive. I’ve included a picture for your perusal. As you can see there’s a lot of blade exposed and the cap is pretty small all the way around. I generally don’t have an issue with a little bit of the tabs sticking out, but they do stick out quite a bit on this razor.



Final Impressions:

This is kind of a mixed bag. I didn’t enjoy the shave even just a little but. Too rough even for me, and I favor some feel and aggression. This was just too much. However, the results were hard to argue with. 2 passes, some buffing, and BBS. No nicks, irritation, and I wasn’t red as a cherry like I thought I would be. The shave results were good, but the trip to get there wasn’t worth it for me. At some point I will likely try a different blade with the razor and the blade with a different razor. (That makes sense, right?)

Yep, cheap aggressive razor and junk blades. I was going to tell you but figured I'd wait and see what you had to say about it

Yep, cheap aggressive razor and junk blades. I was going to tell you but figured I'd wait and see what you had to say about it

Gee, thanks. Haha!!! Yeah, I had to try. For the money, you gotta take one for the team. Kinda guy I am. Haha. Yeah, my hopes weren't high, but my curiosity was. I had bought blades at a different one years ago and the other forum they were able to hone in on manufacture by where they were made and things. That was before they became $1.25 Tree. These had zero markings anywhere.

Dollar tree stores in my area are not carrying any of the Assured razors or blades. I purchased the Dollar Tree Assured TTO several years ago. My first and only shave used a new Israeli Red blade. I did not use the Assured blade, since everyone on the forums said those blades were potentially dangerous.
Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the shave! The razor literally came apart in my hands. The doors fell off and the whole thing was in pieces. I cleaned the parts and put them in a zip lock bag with the rest of my collection. The Assured TTO deserves recognition as the only razor in my collection that literally disintegrated during a shave.

I got a decent shave from the turn to open with a Wizamet and it still floating around somewhere. Could tell it wasn't made well but it works. Others had there's corrode and stop opening etc. Poor material and manufacturing but $1 for a razor with 5 blades couldn't have anyone hoping for much.

Best kept secret in wet shaving sans those cheap chinese blades they come with. Blades are still cheaper to buy brand name ones in 20, 50 or 100 packs than the Dollar Tree if they sell them of DG blades in packs of 5. DG blades unless they changed them up are made by Dorco in a factory in Vietnam.

Dollar tree stores in my area are not carrying any of the Assured razors or blades. I purchased the Dollar Tree Assured TTO several years ago. My first and only shave used a new Israeli Red blade. I did not use the Assured blade, since everyone on the forums said those blades were potentially dangerous.
Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the shave! The razor literally came apart in my hands. The doors fell off and the whole thing was in pieces. I cleaned the parts and put them in a zip lock bag with the rest of my collection. The Assured TTO deserves recognition as the only razor in my collection that literally disintegrated during a shave.

Amazing. I have yet to have any razor fall apart. I have dropped some of my less expensive ones with zinc alloy heads and expected some kind of breakage but haven't. This razor does feel super cheap for being allegedly a SS handle. Feels like plastic.

I got a decent shave from the turn to open with a Wizamet and it still floating around somewhere. Could tell it wasn't made well but it works. Others had there's corrode and stop opening etc. Poor material and manufacturing but $1 for a razor with 5 blades couldn't have anyone hoping for much.

Precisely. I wasn't expecting a ground breaking shave, but just had to try to see. Like I said, shave results were good. The shave itself sucked.

I got a decent shave from the turn to open with a Wizamet and it still floating around somewhere. Could tell it wasn't made well but it works. Others had there's corrode and stop opening etc. Poor material and manufacturing but $1 for a razor with 5 blades couldn't have anyone hoping for much.

Precisely. I wasn't expecting a ground breaking shave, but just had to try to see. Like I said, shave results were good. The shave itself sucked.

Just for clarity and to make sure we're on the same page. My post about a decent shave was with the turn to open, butterfly model that used to be available and I don't know that it is anymore or not.

I own both butterfly and 3 piece (spare no expense lol)

Best kept secret in wet shaving sans those cheap chinese blades they come with. Blades are still cheaper to buy brand name ones in 20, 50 or 100 packs than the Dollar Tree if they sell them of DG blades in packs of 5. DG blades unless they changed them up are made by Dorco in a factory in Vietnam.

I didn't' know there were DG blades. But you are right. Bulk name brand blades are still cheaper and even in packs of 5 they are just as cheap for some and not much more for others I use.