Revisited Shark Super Chrome blades today

On September 23rd in the year 2010 I ordered 2 tucks of Shark Super Chrome blades from a well known internet vendor. At the time I used them I remember I wasn't that impressed with them especially versus the blades I ordered with them which were Astra SPs and Personna Reds ( long time members of my favorites at this point). The remnant blades got shoved in the back of my 'overflow' shave supply drawer, and basically forgotten. All that remained was a vague memory of not liking them very much.

I recently was cleaning out some old shave gear and ran across those blades. I thought I should give them another run particularly in the spirit of knowing my shave technique almost 9 years ago wasn't the best, and I have a better stable of handles now to test them.

I decided to give it a run in the SLOC that is the newest member of my collection. Frankly, the results were outstanding. Smooth comfortable shave with zero nicks, and only the slightest hint of irritation in one of my main problem spots. Just for fun, I ran the same setup today and it was an even better shave with no irritation at all.

So long story short I owe the SSC an apology. I've spent the last almost 9 years pretty much in the camp these blades just weren't for me. Never say never they say

Nice coincidence. I haven’t used Shark Super Chromes in years, although I quite liked them the last time I did. Too many other options, I guess… However, just a few days ago, I decided that it’s time to try that blade again. Your post served as a good reminder!

I’ve long been curious about the stainless version of Shark, and just recently another version was released, that one is platinum. If the Super Chromes are as good as I remember, it might warrant giving the other variations a try, as well.

Nice coincidence. I haven’t used Shark Super Chromes in years, although I quite liked them the last time I did. Too many other options, I guess… However, just a few days ago, I decided that it’s time to try that blade again. Your post served as a good reminder!

I’ve long been curious about the stainless version of Shark, and just recently another version was released, that one is platinum. If the Super Chromes are as good as I remember, it might warrant giving the other variations a try, as well.

The next time I order some blades I'm going to order a few more of the Chromes, and grab a tuck of the Platinums to test out. I have a tuck of the Stainless that I will test a blade from when the Chrome gives out ( this one only has 3 shaves on it at this point ).

Well, my return to using Shark blades was not smooth – literally! I opened a new tuck of five Super Chromes, and the first blade I tried was fine on the one edge and completely dull on the other. It was a little surreal. The one edge was quite nice. Then I’d flip the razor around, and all the stubble was left behind after the dull blade wiped the lather away…

I’ll eventually try another Shark blade, but I need some time to forget this experience.

Definitely not worth having a bad shave experience from it. 

Even though I like the Shark in my SLOC it's only selling point to me is cost over most other blades unless it somehow morphs into a longevity miracle. Just finished shave 4 on the one I started with and I can tell it only has 1 or 2 more good shaves in it left.  5-6 shaves is about typical for me so it's got good legs, but for the same cost I can get Astras which work better for me in most of my razors.

I'll order more Sharks just to have some but I doubt they'll be a daily driver. I may move this one from the SLOC and put it in my Slim and give it a whirl. I don't remember if I had the Slim back when I tested these originally.

geneaut, I’d be interested in your impressions of the stainless, when you decide to try it. Most people seem to prefer the chrome, but the stainless also has its fans. And now of course there’s also that platinum option.

By the way, I also tend to get at least 5–6 good shaves out of a blade (sometimes much more that that, too), so when I’m trying a new blade, I try to keep it for at least that long. If it doesn’t seem to hold up, then I wouldn’t usually consider getting more, unless the fewer amount of shaves are really exceptional shaves.

I liked the one side of that last Super Chrome in my Blackbird, too bad the other side of the blade was useless. I hope it was just a very random dud, instead of a sign of larger quality control issues…

I will try the Shark stainless out. Might be a few weeks though since I just got a shipment of new ( to me ) blades in and I'm eager to test out a few of them ( Sputniks, Gillette Silver Blue, Gillette Yellow, and Rapira Lux ). I also got some old favorites in the same order that I've been out of for a long time ( Astra Stainless and Ladas ).

I shaved with the chrome again today so that was 5 good shaves and it seems like it still has legs. For an inexpensive blade that seems to work well on my face in this particular razor I can't ask for much more.

When I try the Shark Stainless I'll comment back in here.