Please explain variety of personna blades

I am so confused by the variety of these blades. From Israeli personna's to personna lab blues to personna med preps. From personna's made in Israel to made in the US to packaged in Mexico.

I'd like to try some of them, specifically the lab blues and the med preps, but I don't know which I'm supposed to buy and from where.

I found a few old threads that tried to explain this but they were older and I believe people have said the packaging or something had changed.

Great thread I would like to know too.

Agree - excellent idea. Still eager to learn.

I have a blue label 10 pack of "personna platinum" (are these Personna Blues ?) and 5 Personna Medical Preps.  I bought the "platinum's" months ago and would have rated as ok.  Purchased Seygus razor and medical prep blades - several really nice shaves.  Tried the platinum's with Ursa hand lather, felt mild and smoove.

How much time do you have?

In a nutshell, per my experience, there are 3 main categories.  The Stainless, The Platinum, and the Med Preps.

The Stainless cover the Lab Blues and nearly all of the various store-brand Personnas.
The Platinums have two main blades that are very similar, but still feel different to my skin.  The Platinum branded version (same as the Reds) and the Crystals.
Then there are the med preps.  I, personally, have never tried these, but I hear they are in a class by themselves.  Because they are literally meant for medical procedures, they have some extra sterilization and burr removal that make them better than the standard stainless blades.

Personally, the Reds are my favorites of those I've tried.

(03-04-2016, 08:18 AM)gwsmallwood Wrote: How much time do you have?

You're talking to a group of guys who post about shaving hair off their face...

Clearly we have time to waste haha

Thank you though

Thanks for the help. I've purchased some of the platinums in the red box. I'm looking at the med preps and see them for 32.00 for 100 and 14 for 25 on amazon. Might purchase the 25 just to see how they are.

I bought a few from a 100 box that was blue and said stainless steel comfort coated. The blade wrapper was white and the blade had glue dots. No clue what they are, Lab Blues? I did try one in a Merkur slant and was not overly impressed. I was expecting as smooth a shave as I get with Personna Gem stainless steel coated blades but at first go these I think missed that mark. Further use will tell though.

Bob

Last time i looked you could get 100 med preps from robbins instruments for $25, and an even sharper price still per blade for a bigger buy. I like med preps. They're sharp and give a close shave. Lab blues are much less pricey. They dont feel like the same bLade to me. They get tuggier after fewer shaves compared to preps. Ymmv. These days my preferred blades are the Israeli personnas which some say are the same as crystals, but who knows? I have hundreds of each and really like changing brands every few shaves just for variety, so i'm always coming back to some personna blade after a few shaves with one of the russians. Variety in blades is good

I really like the Med Preps - also a novice and only tried 4-5 blades.  Picture of my other Personna's  "personna platinum - Platinum Chrome Super Stainless Steel".   Guesing i purchased from "shaving on-line site", if good price I might buy again.

(03-04-2016, 03:08 PM)BobH Wrote: I bought a few from a 100 box that was blue and said stainless steel comfort coated. The blade wrapper was white and the blade had glue dots. No clue what they are, Lab Blues? I did try one in a Merkur slant and was not overly impressed. I was expecting as smooth a shave as I get with Personna Gem stainless steel coated blades but at first go these I think missed that mark. Further use will tell though.

Bob

If the wrapper is plain and the blade says "made in USA" then they are Lab Blues.

Blades are in clear wax-paper like wrapper.  Blades have the "Personna Platinum Chrome" on top and bottom - both sides (total of 4 times).  No country listed on blade, cover label, etc.

(03-04-2016, 07:18 PM)SCOV Wrote: Blades are in clear wax-paper like wrapper.  Blades have the "Personna Platinum Chrome" on top and bottom - both sides (total of 4 times).  No country listed on blade, cover label, etc.

The ones in your picture are Reds. You can also get the same blades in a red box.

(03-04-2016, 08:16 PM)shevek Wrote:

(03-04-2016, 07:18 PM)SCOV Wrote: Blades are in clear wax-paper like wrapper.  Blades have the "Personna Platinum Chrome" on top and bottom - both sides (total of 4 times).  No country listed on blade, cover label, etc.

The ones in your picture are Reds. You can also get the same blades in a red box.

I believe the Personna Reds are only available in the blue package in Europe with the Platinum name on, as you see in the pic. So many in Europe confuse these Personna reds with the Personna Lab Blues, because there is mostly blue on the label, and very little red.

Thanks.  Guess red blades can come in blue packages.  If you look twice, "personna" is in red.

(03-04-2016, 05:56 PM)Blackland Razors Wrote:

(03-04-2016, 03:08 PM)BobH Wrote: I bought a few from a 100 box that was blue and said stainless steel comfort coated. The blade wrapper was white and the blade had glue dots. No clue what they are, Lab Blues? I did try one in a Merkur slant and was not overly impressed. I was expecting as smooth a shave as I get with Personna Gem stainless steel coated blades but at first go these I think missed that mark. Further use will tell though.

Bob

If the wrapper is plain and the blade says "made in USA" then they are Lab Blues.

Thank you.

The lab blues and med preps come in the same blue wrapper, but have slightly different markings on the blades.

(03-05-2016, 08:28 AM)shevek Wrote:

The lab blues and med preps come in the same blue wrapper, but have slightly different markings on the blades.

There's the money post!

Med preps seem sharper out of the box vs lab blues. I can confirm this by having my wife pick out the blade and loading it for me... But they seem to not last as long....

(03-05-2016, 08:28 AM)shevek Wrote:

The lab blues and med preps come in the same blue wrapper, but have slightly different markings on the blades.

Lab blues no longer come in the neat wrapper. They now come in the plain white paper as seen on the right. The markings and box are still the same, however.

(03-05-2016, 08:35 AM)GloryUprising Wrote:

(03-05-2016, 08:28 AM)shevek Wrote:

The lab blues and med preps come in the same blue wrapper, but have slightly different markings on the blades.

There's the money post!

Med preps seem sharper out of the box vs lab blues. I can confirm this by having my wife pick out the blade and loading it for me... But they seem to not last as long....

Thanks Spencer. I definitely use Personna blades more than any other. But I never did attempt to discern the difference in performance between the lab blues & med preps. I'll try to pay more attention to their sharpness in future shaves. But I do think they are both sharper than the Reds. The Reds I find to be a very smooth blade and might be may favorite overall.

Lab blues.