Just a little behind-the-scenes for you: I planned this week’s shaves (and next week’s) the week before Christmas. And I’m really excited about these two weeks (and the two after that, but that’s for a later post) because they give me the chance to compare two blades head-to-head.
The blades in question? The Astra Superior Stainless blades, also referred to as Astra blues.
And what are they going up against? The Astra Superior Platinum blades, also referred to as Astra greens.
I’ve had the greens almost from the beginning, as they were in the first blade sampler pack I bought in August 2024. And they’re good blades. But while I’ve had the blues for a few months, I haven’t used them yet, and I need to give them a try.
In case you’re wondering, the Astra blue was given an aggressiveness rating by Razor Emporium of 4.0, whereas the green is a 4.5. I’ve used the greens a couple of times, but not since late 2024 or January of 2025, before I started actively tracking my shaves. So in a sense, this will be a fresh test for me. I do recall thinking that the Astra greens were fairly aggressive, but part of this test will be to see if they’re more aggressive than the blues to my feel.
Online, you hear a lot of argument about which is better.. And you seem to hear that argument more about Astras than any other blades. Or maybe I’m just tuned into that more. A lot of the argument is that the greens are just a better, higher priced, higher quality blade. I don’t know if that’s really why, or just because it’s platinum while the blues are stainless steel. Arguments like this one often boil down to weird personal preference and not actual experience.
Why am I doing this? I want to know first-hand what the difference feels like. Similar to what I did with the Gillette 7’Oclock blades, I want to see what the difference is, besides the metal referenced in the title, or the kind of edge, or the color on the packaging.
An interesting note is that Gillette, that 2,000 pound gorilla in the room, owns Astra. So yet another set of Gillette blades for me.
So here’s the plan for this week and next: use the same razor (the Henson mild, since the Astra green is fairly aggressive) with each blade each week and compare the shaves directly.
This should be pretty fun! I’ve really been looking forward to this.
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #225. The Blue & Green shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL13+ mild
- Blade: Astra Superior Stainless (blue)
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Refreshing pre-shave cream (green)
- Brush: Proraso boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Refreshing shave cream (green)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Refreshing after shave balm (green)
- Stats: 1st Astra blue shave; 50th almost perfect shave; 12th consecutive almost perfect shave; 23rd blade used in shaves; 17th blade used with the Henson mild.
It’s always interesting going into the first shave with something entirely new to me: I don’t know what to expect, and especially when it’s something that I’ve read a lot of conflicting arguments about, I’m doubly excited. So many people either love this blade, like it, but prefer the green, or hate it because the green is so much better, and those opinions seem to be very cut and dried in people. I really do want to find out what I think about it.
By any measure, this was an outstanding shave–almost perfect, in fact. There was some post-shave sting with the alum, but it faded within 20-30 seconds, and as I sit here writing this almost two hours later, there’s none of that just shaved feeling (you know, after having scraped a sharp edge across your skin). Full disclosure: I did nick myself on the side of my neck, but that was entirely user error.
I needed some extra strokes to get the closeness I want, but not as many as I’d need with a more mild blade (like the 7 O’Clock yellow last week). There was blade noise but not a lot of blade feel, as I expect with the Henson mild.
So yes, an excellent shave to start out the test, and based solely on this one shave, I’d say that I really like the Astra blue blades. But stay tuned, two more shaves are coming.
Comfort: 23 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 of 25
Overall: 23 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #286. The Cella Organic shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL13+ mild
- Blade: Astra Superior Stainless (blue)
- Pre-Shave: Cella Organic pre-shave gel (green)
- Brush: Yaqi Rainbow synthetic shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Cella Organic shaving cream (green)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Cella Organic aftershave balm (green)
- Stats: 1st shave with the Cella organic pre-shave gel and aftershave balm; 13th almost perfect shave in a row; 51st almost perfect shave
The review of the Cella product line will be coming, but I’m pretty happy with the Organic products. The pre-shave gel is a form factor I need to get used to, but provided excellent lubrication and slickness. And the aftershave balm is providing great comfort and moisturization and has a very enjoyable mild but noticeable scent. After its first go for me, I’m very happy with the product combo.
This shave was almost perfect again, indicating that this razor/blade combo is excellent for my face and neck. There is plenty of blade noise during the shave, but not a lot of blade feel, which I appreciate. So while it takes some extra strokes to get my neck clean, I am not getting much irritation. While there is a little more stubble than Sunday’s shave (likely because this was a day two shave and not day three), it was comfortable and worked very well.
So far the Astra blues are proving themselves as great blades, especially when paired with a great mild razor. Looking forward to Thursday!
Comfort: 24 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 out of 25
Overall: 23 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #227. The last Astra blue shave (for now).
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL13+ mild
- Blade: Astra Superior Stainless (blue)
- Pre-Shave: Stirling Soap Co. Unscented pre-shave soap
- Brush: Omega 10019 boar brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Cooper & French Unscented shaving soap
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Protective aftershave balm (blue)
- Stats: 14th straight almost perfect shave; 52nd almost perfect shave; 51st shave with the Henson mild; 1st pairing of Cooper & French soap and Proraso blue balm
The last of this week’s experiment with the Astra blue blades closely followed the other two shaves this week: close and ultimately, comfortable, though not as comfortable as Tuesday’s shave, mostly because I made a choice to see how close I could get the shave with more strokes. So a little more irritation, but nothing bad at all, and closeness that really is impressive.
I’m still getting used to the Stirling pre-shave soap. It does provide some slickness, but I don’t think that it provides any beard hair softening. I haven’t used the Cooper & French for just over two months, and I need to keep it in a tighter rotation: it lathers wonderfully, lubricates and protects my face excellently, and just makes for a very pleasant, smooth shave. The Proraso Protective balm was a perfect follow up for the unscented pre-shave and lather, providing great moisturization and a scent that I love.
So, let’s wrap up the week and talk about the Astra Superior Stainless blade: I love it, plain and simple. It’s smooth and comfortable, but the only complaint I’d have is that in a mild razor, it’s not as efficient as some blades are, but I’m willing to overlook that for the comfort and quality of shaves I did have this week, even with extra strokes to clean things up.
I head into next week ready to compare it to the Astra Superior Platinum blades (green), fully expecting those to be more aggressive and hopefully more efficient. But we’ll see which I prefer.
See you next week!
Comfort: 23 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 out of 25
Overall: 23 out of 25