Derby Extra Double Edge Razor Blades, 5 blades

Got my build your own sampler pack and tried the Derby blade after the Rockwell blades that came with my shaver and after the Astra Superior Platinum in my sampler pack. I must say the Derby hacked up my face and left me with a not so close shave and irritated face. They gave much louder audible feedback while shaving and I had to apply some pressure on the blade to get the hair cut. Not a problem so much on the first pass, but very irritating on subsequent across the grain, and really painful on against the grain. So far only the Astra shaves me without nicks and cuts. I'm new to wet shaving and somewhat surprised how different blades can be. I'm using the R3 plate on my Rockwell razor and the Derby blades just don't cut it (pun intended), except for my facial skin.

Just finished a 5-pack of these blades. I was very disappointed in their sharpness and durability, after coming off several years of Feather blades. I'll not recommend Derby blades to anyone, and certainly won't buy them again.

When I put these in my 6S using plate 3 I get an easy BBS shave with no tugging or irritation in three passes 100% of the time. Once I learned how to properly prepare my face for shaving I've never had any issues with blade sharpness from any brand, but the gentleness of the blade still matters and Derby blades are quite gentle in my experience.

Easily the worst blades out of the 10 sample brands I have tried. They dragged and nicked my face on the second use, and the first use wasn't great either. This was on 24-hour facial hair growth, not 4-day beard-- it should have been an easy cleanup but all it did was aggravate my sore spots. As others have said, it could be my razor head affecting the blade-- I use the Maggard V3 Standard head-- but I have nothing else to compare them with. I did not finish the sample pack of 5 and would never buy these again.

It's really a combination of the razor, blade, skin / beard, technique and soap. In other words, it really depends on many factors! I get a great shave using Derby Extras with my Merkur 25C, but look / feel shabby using them in the Merkur 34C. I think the 34C is a mild razor that needs a sharper blade, whereas the 25C is a medium razor and does fine (for me) using the mild Derby Extra blade. Smooth, no burn / irritation and low cost.