Newbie asks: what blades should I try?

Hi all,
I only started with a cheapo plastic Gillette Goal safety razor 2 months ago for budget reasons. Before, I shaved Gilette Mach 3 turbo. I got the hang of it and decided I would never go back. I read a lot on this forum and decided to buy the 'fake' Future, the Ming-Shi 2000s. I'm awaiting delivery.
Since a few weeks I'm able to do a close shave with Proraso red pre-shave and soap, the plastic Gilette, and Supermax Super stainless blades.

I know no one with shaving experience, so what blades do you guys advise me?
Any other tips and tricks welcomed!

Update: Just came home and the Ming Shi arrived. Can't wait to try!

Wash your face before shaving.

Load your soap. Load some more. And the next load more. Too much soap? Add water slowly.

Go slow and steady. Stretch your skin when shaving.

Blade: Voskhod

Wash your face before shaving.

Load your soap. Load some more. And the next load more. Too much soap? Add water slowly.

Go slow and steady. Stretch your skin when shaving.

Very good advice, here. However, since blades are very subjective, you may want to try a sample pack.
If you are located in the US, you may want to look here to try a few different blades to see which work best for you: http://tryablade.com/
These are some common ones:
Astra SPs
Gillette Silver Blues
Gillette Yellow pack
Polsilver Super Iridium
Personna
Voskhod

Good luck.

Both posts above +1 +1

Thanks everyone! I'm from the Netherlands. Best option I found so far is making a custom trial set on Ebay and have it sent to me from UK. There are only few online shops here, charging twice the cost of a set of blades for shipping

Astra SP. Cheap and good.

First of all friendlyfreedom, I'd like to welcome you to Damn Fine Shave and hope you enjoy your stay with us.  I have been to many parts of the Netherlands and love it.

As has been pointed out already, blades are probably the most subjective pieces of equipment in traditional DE razor wet shaving.  (This is known as YMMV, Your Mileage May Vary)

We can all give suggestions but your beard and skin type will play a role in this, as will, to a lesser extent, the razor you match the blade to.  A blade sample pack is really the best way to go so you can find out through personal experience.  While some on-line shops offer prepackaged blade sample packs, I like celestino's suggestion of going to tryablade.com.  Jason offers a very large selection, you can choose as many or as few blades as you want with no minimum per blade, and a low flat rate for shipping. According to his site, shipping is only US$5.00 to the Netherlands (about €4,50 at today's exchange rate, plus any bank fees).

On another note, I, too, just got a Ming Shi 2000S razor and they are incredible, especially for the price.  Just remember, it is a heavy razor so make sure to use almost no pressure when shaving.  Let the weight of the razor itself do the work.  Also, because it is an adjustable, start on a low setting to find out what will give you a great shave with no irritation, nicks, or weepers.  One final note, be careful inserting and removing blades with this razor; placement and removal is a lot different than with the Gillette Goal.  You may want to consider using a towel, at first, until you get used to it.  Good luck to you and, again, welcome to DFS.

Welcome! Who-hahhdaa-met-ye (phonetic and nearly the end of my Dutch).

If you go on youtube and put in Mantic59, you'll find lots of helpful videos on every aspect of wet shaving. There are many other good videos as well. Geofatboy, for example, and others.

One of the best things about making shaving a hobby is turning a chore into a pleasure. Part of that pleasure is trying different blades, soaps, creams, preshaves, aftershaves, razors, etc. Some of us enjoy the chance to keep trying new products. Others like finding what works and sticking with it. And this is the era of wet shaving. Unlike our dads or granddads, we have dozens, even hundreds of products, with more entering the market weekly.

This is a great forum and I agree with my colleagues. As far as blades, as others suggested, get some sample packs. What works for you might feel like a cheese grater to me. I've also noticed that sometimes, a blade I loved a few years ago no longer works for me. Could be my face changed, could be the blade changed.

Brands that generally get consistently good reviews include Astra, Gillette (7'Oclock and other Gillettes), and Personna Comfort Coated blades or Med Prep. Crystal blades are also well-reviewed for being smooth, though I haven't tried them yet.

Brands that generally get slammed are Merkur blades and Derby blades, and I agree with the haters. Nevertheless, your face might love these blades and, if so, great.

One thought on soaps. America has become the land of the artisan soap maker, which is great. Europe has fewer artisans, as far as I know, but great established brands like Haslinger, De Vergulde Hand, Taylor of Old Bond Street, Palmolive, Institut Karite, etc. I envy your proximity to these greats, so congratulations on coming to wet shaving, and enjoy every shave.

Hi everyone,
Thank you all for the advises and welcoming messages. Made me feel very welcome! I'll certainly follow your advises.

This morning I had my first shave with the Ming Shi and a used Supermax blade, and it was so much easier as the Gilette Goal. Do need to work on finding the right angle on every spot better. With the Goal you could just press it a little harder.

I got some ancient blades from my dad which I could sample, but wonder if they'd be of use. Quality wouldn't be consistent over, well, let say 40 years, would it?



Would love to hear your views!

These are probably the most popular
-Astra SP
-Feather
-Personna Blue
-Polsilver
-Gillette Silver Blue
-Voskhod
-Personna Platinum (or Red)
-Personna Med Prep
-Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge (Yellow)

And a couple of my Favorites that are just outside of the top list
-Perma-Sharp Super
-Treet Platinum
-Bolzano