My big fat Greek haul: new Gillettes, Bics, Astors and more

Let's talk about single and double edged razors and the blades that they use.
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Seamaster
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My big fat Greek haul: new Gillettes, Bics, Astors and more

Post by Seamaster »

Just got back from a week of sun, sand and souvlaki on the wonderful Mediterranean island of Cyprus, and what I found was a treasure trove for the DE shaver.

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I happened upon a couple of supermarkets selling DE blades in quantities, and CHEAP. These blades ranged from just 0.65€ per pack for the Astors to 0.95€/pack for the Gillettes. The latter seems astonishingly cheap when you consider what we were paying for "Swedes". And the outer packaging confirms who they're made by and where.

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I've not tried the Astors yet, but I can report the Barbon cream (which claims to be "a richly lathering shaving cream containing Chlorophyll, has antiseptic and slightly haemostatic effect") is very good stuff at under 2€ a tube. It claims to be made by Caola-Alfa Ltd of Budapest (Hungary) for Petroutsis & Son Ltd of Nicosia (Cyprus). This one is definitely worth a try for Proraso fans.

Also discovered on this trip, a blade new to me: Laser. Picked up a single pack of these at the store adjacent to my hotel. Nothing to write home about in terms of performance, but they claim to originate in the UK ("Laser Shaving UK Ltd, Wembley, UK"). I've never seen them at home, however, and don't recall them being discussed here?

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Aztecface
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Post by Aztecface »

Yep, those Gillette's and a model with red packaging were also what I found during my vacation in the continent this summer. A vast amount of different shaving creams as well. Derby's as well.

Edit: Those Laser's or blades with the brand Laser et al are not considered to be any good. Please report back when you've had a chance to try them.
Regards,
Jani
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Post by Seamaster »

Aztecface wrote:Those Laser's or blades with the brand Laser et al are not considered to be any good. Please report back when you've had a chance to try them.
I tried one in my Feather Portable travel razor while I was away, and as noted above, found it pretty mediocre. Not a terrible blade, but not good enough to warrant buying in further quantities. First shave was rough, second not so much, but neither were particularly sharp, and - lacking confidence in it - I settled for one pass on both occasions to avoid any potential discomfort.
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Post by bernards66 »

Very interesting regarding the Gillette Platinums. In the 'old days'....which is to say, until last year...sigh...Greece was about the only country, other than the UK and Scandinavia, that had the Swedes. Sooo....I'm thinkin' that what you have there might be the same blades that a few of us have gotten via Finland and Denmark, as oppossed to those versions that are available in Singapore. If so, then you got a hell of a deal because even in the places one can get them now in Scandinavia, they are very expensive.

That 'Laser' is a weird one. We've been told, fairly definatively, that no one is manufacturing DE blades in the UK these days, so I don't know what the story is. I do know that for quite some time, the Tesco store brand blades said 'produced in the UK'....but they weren't.
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Gordon
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Post by Seamaster »

bernards66 wrote:Very interesting regarding the Gillette Platinums. In the 'old days'....which is to say, until last year...sigh...Greece was about the only country, other than the UK and Scandinavia, that had the Swedes. Sooo....I'm thinkin' that what you have there might be the same blades that a few of us have gotten via Finland and Denmark, as oppossed to those versions that are available in Singapore. If so, then you got a hell of a deal because even in the places one can get them now in Scandinavia, they are very expensive.
0.95€ for a five-pack did seem very cheap. They were on sale at a Carrefour supermarket, if anyone else wants to go hunting for them. They had plenty of stock.
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Post by Aztecface »

Gordon, those are not the same blades. When I was at a wedding about a month ago, we went to a barbershop. They had the replacement-"Swede's" there for $8 for a 5-pack.
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Jani
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Post by Flash G »

Aztecface wrote:Gordon, those are not the same blades.

+1

They are sharp, but not smooth at all. The new Scandinavian ones have blue lettering on a white packet.
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Post by PeterS »

I think those Laser blades are made in India.
Wilkinsons (the UK shop chain) sells packs of 5 for about 40p. I didn't think much of the one I tried.
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Post by bernards66 »

Eric, Ah, right...there you go. I knew the packaging of the two was subtly different but I couldn't remember in what way. It certainly would have been phenomenol to get the Scandinavian version at the price quoted. Ah, wel......not that I was planning on being in Greece anytime soon anyway...
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Gordon
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Post by fp »

PeterS wrote:I think those Laser blades are made in India.
Wilkinsons (the UK shop chain) sells packs of 5 for about 40p. I didn't think much of the one I tried.
Slightly better than tweezers, as I recall, but only just.
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Post by KAV »

OOMPA! I teach you to shave. :-#
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Post by Seamaster »

As an update, I finally got round to trying an Astor today. Loaded one in my HD for a shave with the Barbon cream also in this haul. The jury's out for now. Sharp, but a bit rough, although I have a feeling its one of those blades that will settle down nicely on subsequent shaves. For the record they're definitely not the same blades as the Bics, as some have suggested.
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