In the last blade pickup, I received a tuck of blades that I honestly hadn’t heard of, but that makes sense, and I’ll explain why in a bit. The blade is the Dorco Titan, and if Dorco sounds familiar, it’s because I have used and really like the Dorco Platinum HQ Red blades.
Dorco, as you may recall me noting in those shaves, or as you’re finding out for the first time here, is a South Korean shaving manufacturer that makes a lot of shaving products, many of which get rebranded or sold by other companies (they made razors that were used by Dollar Shave Club for a while, for instance).
They make 3 lines of safety razor blades (4, if you count their single-edge blades): the Platinum HQ red and blue packaging with apparently no difference in the blade itself, the Titan, and the Prime.
I’ve seen the Dorco Titan’s occasionally online, haven’t heard a lot about them, but I’m excited to try out another new to me blade. As you can see on the tuck, they claim to have new cutting edge technology, but who knows what that is. Interestingly, though, the both of the Dorcos represented here have 10 blades per tuck.
The Platinum HQ Red blades performed admirably, but I haven’t used them since mid-September 2025, in fact, their last use was the week before I put the Henson Medium into service.
So it’s fitting, then, that I’m pairing these two blades over this week and next with the Henson medium razor. I chose this for two reasons: first, the Henson in any form feels like a great test bed for a new blade–it’s consistent, performs very well, is very forgiving, and is just a pleasure to use–and second, I haven’t brought out the Henson medium since Christmas week 2025, so it’s due for some use. The bonus here is that I haven’t tried the Dorco Platinum in the Henson medium, so I get to also cross that off of the list.
This week, I’ll also be trying out a pair of new lathers (one French and the other the third Cella soap I’ve tried), so I’m looking forward to that as well. And there’s a milestone shave on Tuesday, and that’s always exciting! So let’s get into it and see how the shaves go.
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #249. The Dorco Titan Proraso Blue Sunday Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13++ Medium
- Blade: Dorco Titan
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Protective pre-shave cream (blue)
- Brush: Proraso boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Protective shave soap (blue)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Protective after shave balm (blue)
- Stats:
- 1st shave with the Dorco Titan blade
- 16th shave with the Henson Medium (3rd most behind the Henson mild and the King C Gillette)
- 6th blade used with the Henson medium
- 14th shave with the Proraso blue cream (leading the Proraso creams, but second for all Proraso lathers to the white soap)
- 28th shave with an overall rating of 21 (15.2% of all logged shaves)
A consistent challenge in this hobby/pursuit/journey is trying to figure out where blades land on several scales: aggressiveness, quality, and where a blade lands in terms of being top of the line or lower in a manufacturer’s product line. And this is certainly the case here with the Dorco products. I can’t tell in any meaningful way where the Titan blade stands in the 3 double edge safety razor blade product line produced by Dorco. My go-to for aggressiveness ratings, Razor Emporium, carries the blade, but hasn’t rated them, so that’s no help.
But let’s make an assumption based on price: At Razor Emporium, the Prime is priced at $2.38 for a tuck of 10, $1.44 for the Dorco Platinum HQ red, $1.13 for the Dorco Platinum HQ blue (supposedly the same blade as the red), and $1.07 for the Titan. And let it be noted here that all Dorco blades come in tucks of 10 blades. With that information, I’m thinking the Titan is at the bottom of the line.
All of this build up is really a way for me to explain an uncomfortable shave. Now the Henson medium is more aggressive than its mild sibling, and there’s a notable difference, so I’m pondering whether to switch out to the mild for one shave this week (and next), just for comparison’s sake. But the medium isn’t that much more aggressive.
All I know is that there’s some mild lingering irritation on my neck, my cheeks have that scraping after-feel, and the closeness of the shave wasn’t what I’d expect for all of that irritation. I mean, it’s close, but there’s still some lingering stubble spots that I simply wasn’t going to go back and work on because I could tell I was at the edge in terms of comfort.
So the question really becomes this: do I throttle back to the mild on Tuesday, or keep going and just address this like the Shark Super Chrome blades and adapt to what is probably an inferior blade?
See? These are the types of things you need to think and worry about as you’re shaving and trying new blades…
Comfort: 20 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 of 25
Overall: 21 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #250. The 250th Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13++ Medium
- Blade: Dorco Titan
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Sensitive pre-shave cream (white)
- Brush: Yaqi Rainbow synthetic brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Pre de Provence No. 63 shaving soap
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Sensitive aftershave balm (white)
- Stats:
- The 250th shave!
- 1st shave with the Pre de Provence No. 63 soap
- 1st French shaving soap used
- 9th shave with the Yaqi synthetic brush
- 39th shave using the Proraso white pre-shave cream (ranks 2nd to the Razor Emporium unscented pre-shave stick)
- 38th shave using the Proraso white aftershave (3rd behind Dollar Shave Club and Nivea)
- 56th shave with an overall rating of 23 (30.3% of all logged shaves)
- 71st almost perfect shave (overall rating of 23 or 24)
After the uncomfortable shave Sunday, I really did think about swapping in the Henson mild instead of the medium. But ultimately, I didn’t. I figured I could work with it and figure it out, and if that didn’t work, I could swap mid-shave or on Thursday.
So I stuck with the Henson medium, and ended up having a very enjoyable shave–very close, though not perfect, and much more comfortable, with only a little irritation that faded quickly with the alum.
I’m not sure if the improvement was just me using a slightly modified technique (lighter perhaps?), or whether it was because the blade has dulled a bit after the first shave. (This is something that a lot of people talk about–that the first shave with a blade can be too sharp or aggressive due to the fresh edge or the coating on the blade (all blades get a coating during manufacture), leading some to “cork” their blade, where they run both sides of the blade through a cork once or twice to take the fresh edge off. I have never really noticed such a huge issue with a first shave before, though).
Also of note is that this was my first shave with the Pre de Provence No. 63 soap. As noted above, it’s my first French soap, so I was excited to give it a try after seeing it a bit online. I’ll admit that I struggled a bit with lathering it, whether that was due to it being a fresh new soap, or because I was using the Yaqi brush (which always seems to challenge my ability to determine the right amount of water to use). I ended up with a fine lather–rich and thick, but it probably took twice as long as normal lathering does. Next time I use it, I’ll try to use one of the boar brushes and see if that helps.
As noted, though, the soap produced a nice thick and rich lather, with a very mild but pleasant scent that was easily covered up even by the Proraso white aftershave balm. I’m very happy with the lather, but need to have at least one more shave with it before determining a rating.
So, bottom line, this was an excellent shave, kind of surprising after Sunday’s difficulties, and my hope for the Titan is slightly restored. I’m looking forward to Thursday’s shave to pass final judgement.
Comfort: 23 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 out of 25
Overall: 23 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #251. The Another New Cella Product shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13++ Medium
- Blade: Dorco Titan
- Pre-Shave: Cella red pre-shave gel
- Brush: Omega 10019 boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Cella Professionale Riserva Fresco shaving cream
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Cella red after shave balm
- Stats:
- 3rd shave with the Cella red pre-shave and after shaves
- 3rd Cella shaving soap used
- 37th lather used in my shaves
- 18th shave with the Henson medium
- 72nd almost perfect shave (overall rating of 23 or 24)
- 16th shave with an overall rating of 24 (8.6% of all logged shaves)
I’m really starting to believe that the Titan is just a super aggressive blade to start with and loses that aggressiveness quickly, because this shave was the best yet.
It was comfortable, close without too much extra effort (at least no more than I’d generally expect), and very satisfying.
The lather contributed as well as the Cella red pre-shave and after shave performed excellently, but the Riserva Fresco soap really stole the show, producing a wonderful lather that, combined with the pre-shave, provided lubrication even after a pass, though I did reapply a little just to ensure a nice slick surface.
I love the scent of the Riserva Fresco soap too–slightly sweet with spice notes as well. As seems to happen these days, I’m getting some of the best shaves on the last shave day of the week, and I’m okay with that.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about the Dorco Titan blade. The first shave was bad, but the others following it have really improved. I will have to revisit it to really nail down an accurate assessment of it, but for now, I’ll give it a better than average rating, and look forward to using its sibling next week.
Comfort: 24 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 out of 25
Overall: 24 out of 25