Initial Personna Lab Blue experience and ??s

[Chris]

Chris i got lab blue & med pred all in blue wrappers last year from razorbladeclub
perhaps they have old stock

These are three of my boxes showing the difference in packaging. I don't know how well it shows in the second pic but the barcode is identical on all three boxes. It is possible that razorbladeclub had old stock, not that that's a problem with razor blades, and I cannot say for definite that they didn't revert to the blue wrappers in the four or five years since I last bought any. I have about 20 years' supply of Personna blades that I bought when I heard they were selling the US factory, so I've not needed any for a while.

@Mike M CT I have had the odd Personna Super / lab blue that felt "off", which I never had with the med preps, but it's rare and I rate them highly. The Personna Platinum Chrome, which I've never seen in the box you have, are also excellent blades. They used to be made in Israel and then production was moved to Germany, both iterations are excellent with the German ones possibly being even better than the Israelis.

 

[Mike M CT]

Seems like Personna could be a good college / B-school case study on the importance of product and branding consistency.

 

[Chris]

The changes in packaging happened over a few years. TBH I think part of the confusion is the fact that the shaving world refers to them as "lab blues" which, to my knowledge, Personna has never sold them as.

There are, to my knowledge, three product lines:

The Personna Super / Comfort Coated / lab blue shown above and also seen blister-packed in fives. The blister-packed blades have no lettering on them, just four arrows pointing towards the centre. I don't have any of those as they're the same blade in worse packaging and they're more expensive.

Med preps are medical prep blades and not intended for sale to the public, they come in plain white boxes with blue lettering or plain brown cardboard. The blades have "For hospital use" printed on the blade. All the ones I have are in blue wrappers but if they're still available the packaging may have changed. Opinion varies on the difference between these and the Supers, one rumour says that they have an additional cleaning step during production, someone on another forum had an electron microscope picture that appeared to show a different grind, and others can't tell a difference. I've been back and forth on this one myself and now I don't know. They are very good blades though.

Personna Platinum Chrome, formerly made in Israel, now made in Germany. These had variations in the packaging which I believe to be regional, one variant had red wrappers hence them being referred to as "Red IPs" as in red Israeli personnas. I like both varieties a lot.

 

[Mike M CT]

@Chris thanks so much for the rundown. That cleared up a lot for me. Have a great weekend!

Mike

 

[Tonyschin]

My two-penneth

Top left Med prep (white block lettering)
Top Right Lab Blue - (Black block Lettering)
Bottom - German Platinum Chrome.

Top Left - For Hospital use, Made in USA + Trade Mark sign - I have loads left
Top Right Made in USA "Super" no TM - Single figures left
Bottom - self explanatory, i do miss the Israeli Reds - Buy anywhere really.
All Top blades for me.

 

[Mike M CT]

I really love that shave I got yesterday with the Platinums. I’m going to stick with them for a while I think. Zero irritation and even today it’s like I just shaved earlier this morning so it was a super close shave.

 

[Holyzeus]

Knew I had some Reds and the plain wrapper ones somewhere

 

[Mike M CT]

Just had my second shave with that Personna Platinum and I love that blade - I think even more than GSB. Zero irritation and just one small nick that was totally a “my bad”.

Talk about a screw up working out in a good way….

Mike

 

[SeanC]

The changes in packaging happened over a few years. TBH I think part of the confusion is the fact that the shaving world refers to them as "lab blues" which, to my knowledge, Personna has never sold them as.

There are, to my knowledge, three product lines:

The Personna Super / Comfort Coated / lab blue shown above and also seen blister-packed in fives. The blister-packed blades have no lettering on them, just four arrows pointing towards the centre. I don't have any of those as they're the same blade in worse packaging and they're more expensive.

Med preps are medical prep blades and not intended for sale to the public, they come in plain white boxes with blue lettering or plain brown cardboard. The blades have "For hospital use" printed on the blade. All the ones I have are in blue wrappers but if they're still available the packaging may have changed. Opinion varies on the difference between these and the Supers, one rumour says that they have an additional cleaning step during production, someone on another forum had an electron microscope picture that appeared to show a different grind, and others can't tell a difference. I've been back and forth on this one myself and now I don't know. They are very good blades though.

Personna Platinum Chrome, formerly made in Israel, now made in Germany. These had variations in the packaging which I believe to be regional, one variant had red wrappers hence them being referred to as "Red IPs" as in red Israeli personnas. I like both varieties a lot.

Right on point

'Lab Blue' is effectively out of date terminology now due to the evolution of branding and packaging

 

[adrian ivanovici]

Personna dumped the red packaging due to cost and competition on the market. They are now sold with plain white paper.

 

[Wrong End Chihuahua]

The changes in packaging happened over a few years. TBH I think part of the confusion is the fact that the shaving world refers to them as "lab blues" which, to my knowledge, Personna has never sold them as.

There are, to my knowledge, three product lines:

The Personna Super / Comfort Coated / lab blue shown above and also seen blister-packed in fives. The blister-packed blades have no lettering on them, just four arrows pointing towards the centre. I don't have any of those as they're the same blade in worse packaging and they're more expensive.

Med preps are medical prep blades and not intended for sale to the public, they come in plain white boxes with blue lettering or plain brown cardboard. The blades have "For hospital use" printed on the blade. All the ones I have are in blue wrappers but if they're still available the packaging may have changed. Opinion varies on the difference between these and the Supers, one rumour says that they have an additional cleaning step during production, someone on another forum had an electron microscope picture that appeared to show a different grind, and others can't tell a difference. I've been back and forth on this one myself and now I don't know. They are very good blades though.

Personna Platinum Chrome, formerly made in Israel, now made in Germany. These had variations in the packaging which I believe to be regional, one variant had red wrappers hence them being referred to as "Red IPs" as in red Israeli personnas. I like both varieties a lot.

What about Crystals ? Aren't they also by Personna ?

 

[Chris]

What about Crystals ? Aren't they also by Personna ?

Never heard of them, sorry.

 

[SeanC]

What about Crystals ? Aren't they also by Personna ?

They were formerly made in the Israeli factory. Unfortunately, no idea about their current status

 

[chazt]

These are three of my boxes showing the difference in packaging. I don't know how well it shows in the second pic but the barcode is identical on all three boxes. It is possible that razorbladeclub had old stock, not that that's a problem with razor blades, and I cannot say for definite that they didn't revert to the blue wrappers in the four or five years since I last bought any. I have about 20 years' supply of Personna blades that I bought when I heard they were selling the US factory, so I've not needed any for a while.

View attachment 145529

View attachment 145530

@Mike M CT I have had the odd Personna Super / lab blue that felt "off", which I never had with the med preps, but it's rare and I rate them highly. The Personna Platinum Chrome, which I've never seen in the box you have, are also excellent blades. They used to be made in Israel and then production was moved to Germany, both iterations are excellent with the German ones possibly being even better than the Israelis.

The middle box in the pic was made on my birthday!

 

[chazt]

They were formerly made in the Israeli factory. Unfortunately, no idea about their current status

My two-penneth
View attachment 145565
Top left Med prep (white block lettering)
Top Right Lab Blue - (Black block Lettering)
Bottom - German Platinum Chrome.
View attachment 145566
Top Left - For Hospital use, Made in USA + Trade Mark sign - I have loads left
Top Right Made in USA "Super" no TM - Single figures left
Bottom - self explanatory, i do miss the Israeli Reds - Buy anywhere really.
All Top blades for me.

Solid post, Tony. You covered all the bases. I agree, they’re all top quality blades. Fwiw, I find the Israeli Platinum Chromes to be a wee bit smoother than the German variety. They are definitely my go-to DE blade.