You’ll recall that a couple of weeks ago, I tried out the Bic Chrome Platinum blades that I’d had in inventory since last September. I’d seen them posted in the Wicked Edge subreddit a few times (certainly less than some of the other bigger names like Gillette Nacet and the Feather), and I figured it was time to try to finish trying new to me blades.
For what it’s worth, after using the Bic, Gillette Platinum, and Durablade 7am Plus over the last few weeks, I’m only left with 4 more blades to try from the collection: the Dorco Platinum HQ Red, Lord Super Stainless (which is also a Gillette product), PAA Platinum Strangelet Super Stainless, and the Super Max Titanium. Obviously, those will be coming soon.
But to refresh your memory on the Bic blades, I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular. What I knew about them from reviews and Razor Emporium ratings was that they were good blades, but pretty middle of the road when it came to aggressiveness. I was floored by how good the shaves were that week with the Rockwell (on plates 3, 2, and 1 in order). Each shave delivered one of my top-rated shaves (just to be clear, there are 20 shaves of 4.875 in the 75 that I’ve rated), and to say I wasn’t expecting them to be that good is an understatement.
So clearly, I had to give them a shot with the Henson AL-13 mild. Keeping in mind that the Henson’s mildness seems to be somewhere between the Rockwell’s plate 1 and 2 (1 being mildest and 6 being most aggressive for that razor), and I’ve got to say that this shave came out a bit closer to the plate 2 results. As expected, the shave was very comfortable, with very little sting from the alum. I did need to go back over a few spots on my neck, but the shave still ended up being very close with very little irritation. This, for me, is just about a perfect shave.
Just as an aside, I don’t anticipate ever giving a perfect 5 to a shave. There will always be some small amount of irritation or some small amount of stubble that I just can’t get the blade to fully get rid of. Even a couple of hours after the shave, my neck, while mostly smooth, still has a few isolated spots with stubble that repeated passes couldn’t clean up.
The Rating
Shave #141. The Bic Chrome Platinum has easily made it into the list of blades that I will always come back to. Currently, the list is as follows: Gillette Nacet, Gillette Perma-Sharp, Feather, Gillette 7 O’Clock Sharp Edge Yellow, Gillette Platinum, and the Durablade 7am Plus. These are all blades that have delivered great shaves with at least two of my razors. I’m excited to try it out with the King C Gillette in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, though, this shave will be pretty similar to the others this week, and I always enjoy that. I know it will be very comfortable, and very close, and I can decided if I just want to limit the passes or not. One of the keeper shaves that I’ll repeat in the future.
Comfort: 5 out of 5
Quality/Closeness: 4.75 out of 5
Overall: 4.875 out of 5
