Derby Extra Double Edge Safety Razor Blades (5)

I've had a strange experience with Derbys.

The first shave is amazing for me: very easy, few cuts, nice and close.

But every shave after the first use is more painful. I'm sure user error is part of it, but after the first shave the Derby blades suddenly turn nasty, leaving cuts, burns, and even ingrown hairs one time (that was after persisting with it for a fourth shave).

Every person is different, but my advice is to only go for Derby blades if you replace yours every day. Otherwise, don't bother.

I have particularly thick and coarse beard hair and have found Derby blades just don't do the job for me. As mentioned in other reviews, I too find that it takes multiple passes to achieve even a satisfactory shave. I do not mean to sound biased, I have tried these in four different razors to little avail.

Like most people I started on Derby’s as part of a sampler pack. At first, hated them. Moved onto Astras, then Gillette 7’oclock Yellows then Feather. Always assumed they were a beginner/average blade till I started using a shavette and needed a “duller” blade to hone in my skills to prevent getting cut. Or so I thought.
Tried the Derby’s again in my regular DE razors (adjustables, slants and regular) and found the results to be really really surprising - very smooth result, no tugging (even on my coarse beard) and I felt they were still very sharp, but left me with less micro bumps that I would sometimes get with the Gillette’s and Feathers. No rash or burn with the Derby’s at all, and still sharp enough to give me very smooth results after a 2 pass shave.
I’m really happy to have given the Derby’s another go, plus they’re cheap enough to change every couple of shaves (and I need to shave daily for work).

These blades are smooth but not sharp enough for me. They are a blade I could see someone new to DE shaving gaining confidence with and the price point is good.

These ones are forgiving and sharp enough to do the job well. I like these and would buy them again.