DE Razors from SWMBO

Tried the fake Feather razor with a Wisamet blade. It was the 3rd shave on the blade so i felt like this should be a good match.

I found im not real happy with this razor. The shave angle seems to be a small window so you have to be right on the money to get a nice shave

I will give this a few more tries including the feather blade in it. But im not feeling this will be a great razor in my collection.

If the razor is a clone of the Feather razor, it has a small blade gap (0.73mm) and minimal blade exposure. Feather designed the razor to be used with their super sharp Feather blades.  With such a head design, they will be a small difference between the  minimum and maximum effective shave angles. Had you shaved with an authentic Feather razor, you experience is likely to have been similar.

I do not have a Feather A2 or clone, but I do have a Timeless razor with 0.68 mm blade gap and 0.002 mm blade exposure. Like the Feather, it needs careful control of shave angle and a super sharp blade like Feather, BIC Chrome Platinum, King C Gillette (China), Gillette Nacet, 7 O'Clock Super Platinum black and a few others. 

Razors with large blade gaps have a wide range of shave angles over which they are effective. 

I like using more efficient razors with larger blade gaps to tackle several days of beard growth on the WTG and XTG passes, but love milder razor with a super sharp blade for the ATG pass and buffing strokes. Thus, if you are not happy with the Chinese clone of the Feather razor for a full shave, try it for the ATG pass and see how it does then.

Concur with RC and FS.... The gap and exposure make the shaving with the A2 [and clones] adhere to strict angle and positioning. I try to shave with mine every Friday. Some shaves are perfect, and others I leave quite a bit of stubble. All due to my technique and ability to position the razor correctly. As RC and FS mentioned, a sharp blade is requisite for the results you seek. I use a Feather.... And if I am on my game, can get great shaves. If not, it can be like I made a1 pass shave.


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Tonight shave will be with the Feather Blade and razor. Gotta give it a fair shake.

I have not tried the blades that I got with the razors yet. Thanks for identifying the one type, Ray. The white cardboard blades have no identifying markings of any sort. I will give them a try some day. But in a razor I know very well so I can determine if they are junk or not. I will report here when the time comes to test the two blades types I got.

I looked up "Matgicol" from the blade labels.
One item they sell is this alleged "Brown Pure Badger Hair Shaving Brush"

Material : Pure badger hair with wood handle

Ri-i-ight. 



Yes, the handle is (probably) real wood, but now it leads me to speculate that no actual Platinums were harmed in making the blades.

All that really matters is that she was thinking about you

It does, you know. She at least made the effort.

I have not tried the Matgicol razor blade, but I shaved this afternoon using a FlyDear blade made in China. I have seen references on another forum that the two are the same blade in different packaging.

I got a decent shave with the FlyDear Platinum blades. . I rated the sharpness 4 out of 5 and the smoothness 4 out of 5 which is similar to the Van Der Hagen Basics blades from China I tried recently (purchased at Walmart). I gave the Suneko Amorphous Diamond blades from China a similar rating. For comparison, I rate the older Gillette Platinum Russian blades, Gillette Silver Blue, Rapira Platinum Lux, and Voskhod blades with similar sharpness and smoothness. Thus, FlyDear Platinum are good blades for those who do not need the sharpest, smoothest blades. At a price of $8.88/100 blades, they are a much better value than the Russian made blades.

The Matgicol blade does say Super Platinum on the blade. I'm going to put them down on my list the same as your Super fly blades. Ha. China. So why not. If the white label blades feel the same would be a nice bonus so I could just put them together. Having no marking on the blade or package...

I tried the Feather Blade in the Feather Clone Razor and was still not satisfied with the outcome. not as close as a shave as I normally get and I was very aware of the shave angle so I could get the most out of it. Oh well. 
If nothing else I got a few tucks of blades, A Razor Stand, and an extra handle that can be used on another head I might run across in the future. For the 8 bucks (i think) I am just fine with that. Well, 16 bucks as I got a gold and a black one. Still, I think I came out ahead of the deal with the two E.J. Clones.

I will still do a test with the Matgicol blade and while I'm at it do a side by side test with the white labels. Maybe next week.

Tested the White Label blades and the Matgicol Blade in a side-by-side comparison.
Razor used was the GC .84 SB and S.V. for suds.

I will say that the Matgicol blade was sharper and smoother. I could tell it was a Platinum coated blade by the smoothness (and its markings on the blade itself) as I find I lean towards those types of coating on the DE blades that I like the most. The White Label wasn't lacking a lot in sharpness compared to the Matgicol. Maybe half or one step down at the most but in the comfort level I felt it was more like a standard S.S. blade. The Magticol blade gave a BBS shave and the white label was next to BBS so both blades are definitely usable blades. I wish I could find a name for the White Label blades.
After the shave I went for the Alum block and got very little feedback. I'd say the feedback was what I feel when I get a great shave as sometimes I will get a lot of burn when I find I was a bit harsh with my shave or a blade that is not to my liking. I don't normally use Alum unless testing.

So going with Rays ranking I will say...
The Magticol was 4.5 in sharpness and 4.5 in smoothness.
The White Label blade was 4 in sharpness and 3.75 in smoothness.

YMMV...

I have no idea what type of blade is in the white cardboard tucks. The ones in the black tucks are Matgicol blades. They are Super Platinum blades. I have not used them, but I have used a number of Chinese made blades. This afternoon, I plan to shave with a FlyDear blade which I have heard some speculate to be the same as the Matgicol.

As will blades made in many countries, Chinese blades range from less sharp to super sharp. The very best Chinese blade I have used is the Filoso Barbers Blade. It was very sharp and super smooth. one of the best blades I have tested.  Faco'n Japanese Steel blades were also quite good.  At the other end of the spectrum are the Rockwell Swedish Steel blades made in China that were neither sharp nor smooth. Thus, do not discount blades made in China. There are some excellent ones and some not so great. Choose wisely.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Matgicol blades.

Ray, what's make you think the Filoso is Chinese? I've read another reviewer who says it's from Turkey.

I have no idea what type of blade is in the white cardboard tucks. The ones in the black tucks are Matgicol blades. They are Super Platinum blades. I have not used them, but I have used a number of Chinese made blades. This afternoon, I plan to shave with a FlyDear blade which I have heard some speculate to be the same as the Matgicol.

As will blades made in many countries, Chinese blades range from less sharp to super sharp. The very best Chinese blade I have used is the Filoso Barbers Blade. It was very sharp and super smooth. one of the best blades I have tested.  Faco'n Japanese Steel blades were also quite good.  At the other end of the spectrum are the Rockwell Swedish Steel blades made in China that were neither sharp nor smooth. Thus, do not discount blades made in China. There are some excellent ones and some not so great. Choose wisely.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Matgicol blades.

Ray, what's make you think the Filoso is Chinese? I've read another reviewer who says it's from Turkey.

Like you, I have seen speculation that the blades are made by Derby in Turkey. However, there are several things that cause me to doubt that claim.

1. The blades state that they have a platinum coating. All of the Derby blades with which I am familiar have a complex chromium, ceramic, tungsten, platinum, and polymer coating. That includes such non-Derby branded blades as Bluebird and Parker,

2. Most razor blades are 0.1 mm thick. Blades manufactured by Derby are 0.09 mm thick. While I did not measure the thickness of the blades, I did compare the stiffness of the Filoso blade to Derby blades. The Filoso blade is much stiffer, similar to most razor blades. This is an indication that it was not made by Derby.

3. If the blades were made by Derby, they should perform similar to the Bluebird and Parker blades which are the non-Derby branded blades produced by Derby. While the Bluebird and Parker blades performed similarly, the Filoso blades seemed to be sharper and smoother than the other two brands. None of the Derby blades evaluated were as smooth as the Filoso blades. I suspect the difference in smoothness might have been due to the thinness of the Derby blades.

I cannot say for certain that the Filoso Barbers blades were not made in Turkey, but I would be quite surprised if that were the case. The evidence point elsewhere.

I have no idea what type of blade is in the white cardboard tucks. The ones in the black tucks are Matgicol blades. They are Super Platinum blades. I have not used them, but I have used a number of Chinese made blades. This afternoon, I plan to shave with a FlyDear blade which I have heard some speculate to be the same as the Matgicol.

As will blades made in many countries, Chinese blades range from less sharp to super sharp. The very best Chinese blade I have used is the Filoso Barbers Blade. It was very sharp and super smooth. one of the best blades I have tested.  Faco'n Japanese Steel blades were also quite good.  At the other end of the spectrum are the Rockwell Swedish Steel blades made in China that were neither sharp nor smooth. Thus, do not discount blades made in China. There are some excellent ones and some not so great. Choose wisely.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Matgicol blades.

Ray, what's make you think the Filoso is Chinese? I've read another reviewer who says it's from Turkey.

Like you, I have seen speculation that the blades are made by Derby in Turkey. However, there are several things that cause me to doubt that claim.

1. The blades state that they have a platinum coating. All of the Derby blades with which I am familiar have a complex chromium, ceramic, tungsten, platinum, and polymer coating. That includes such non-Derby branded blades as Bluebird and Parker,

2. Most razor blades are 0.1 mm thick. Blades manufactured by Derby are 0.09 mm thick. While I did not measure the thickness of the blades, I did compare the stiffness of the Filoso blade to Derby blades. The Filoso blade is much stiffer, similar to most razor blades. This is an indication that it was not made by Derby.

3. If the blades were made by Derby, they should perform similar to the Bluebird and Parker blades which are the non-Derby branded blades produced by Derby. While the Bluebird and Parker blades performed similarly, the Filoso blades seemed to be sharper and smoother than the other two brands. None of the Derby blades evaluated were as smooth as the Filoso blades. I suspect the difference in smoothness might have been due to the thinness of the Derby blades.

I cannot say for certain that the Filoso Barbers blades were not made in Turkey, but I would be quite surprised if that were the case. The evidence point elsewhere.

I'm not as familiar with blades as you are, especially in regards to who makes what blades for who and where they're made. But I do agree with your points on the derby blades as I'm familiar with the derby blades. Any Derby blade that I have seen, or any other brand of blade that I've seen that has been made in Turkey, all have the same coating. Chromium, ceramic, tungsten, platinum, and polymer. When I see these other branded blades boasting that coating, I know that they have to be made by Derby and they are always manufactured in Turkey. This includes the brands, Bluebird, Concord, Lion, and Parker.