Perma-Sharp Super Stainless Razor Blade Review

The Perma-Sharp Super Stainless DE Razor Blade is yet another DE blade that is made by Proctor & Gamble/Gillette in Russia. It seems to be quite popular and understood to be on the sharper end of the blade spectrum.

The package itself does not list any coating and there does not seem to be any manufacturer sponsored product information for most of the DE blades that I’ve seen. Many retail sites list that the coating is PTFE (Teflon) while some don’t say anything. I tried to email the email address on the razor blade box and it bounced back. If anyone has a valid reference to confirm the blade coating please comment with a link below.

Perma-Sharp Double Edge Safety Razor Blades, 100 Count, (20 packs of 5 blades on a display card)

• Fit all standard double edge safety razors
• Stainless steel
• Blades made in Russia

Buy on Amazon

One thing I noticed about the blade itself was how crisp the Perma-Sharp branding on the blade was. This really has no bearing on anything but looks better than some of the other DE blades and might suggest a level of quality.

Fresh out of the pack the sharpness measured 41. For information on what this means check out Razor Blade Sharpness Testing. This is fairly sharp although I keep wondering when something out of the package is going to come close to the Feather at 32. You can click this link to see a Razor Blade Sharpness Comparison Chart with the other blades tested so far.

Note that I shave my head as well as my face and have a pretty thick growth – except for the top of my head. This means that one of my shaves might equal two of someone that just shaves their face, or even more if they have a thinner beard.

I proceeded to have a very close and very smooth shave on both my head and face. As we’ve seen in several other Razor Blade Reviews most blades tend to sharpen up with use. As I was cleaning up around my mouth I realized that this blade was actually very sharp and I was maybe being a little to aggressive. Some strong feedback from my Osma Alum Block confirmed that I should have been a little lighter when doing this area.

After shave one the sharpness measured 30. This is extremely sharp, and even sharper than the Feather measured fresh out of the pack. What I don’t like here is how much the sharpness changed. Going from 41 to 30 is significant and makes for a very inconsistent shave. Note the variance will be more noticeable (and less desirable) for a full head a face shave compared to just shaving ones face as it will change less during just the face shave.

I have found that the technique required does vary for blades measuring in the 30’s compared to the 40’s and the 50’s. I go into more detail in the Gillette 7 O’clock SharpEdge review. I prefer the blades that are more consistent and do not require a change in technique during the shave. This is personal preference and your techniques may be different than mine.

I knew going into the second shave that I would need to pay very close attention as I was now using the sharpest blade yet. While the blade was extremely sharp, the second shave was not very smooth for me. The second shave was ok but the lack of smoothness was noticeable and I would not choose to do a second shave with this blade again.

The fact of the sharpness dropping so significantly and the noticeable decrease in smoothness from shave one to shave two suggests to me 2 things. First, I do think there is a coating on this blade and it wears off rather quickly. This would explain why there was such an increase in sharpness as the coating wore off exposing the blade edge and why the second shave was not very smooth as the coating was gone. Please note I am stating this as speculation and not fact.

After the second shave the sharpness dropped to 37. This is about the same drop the new Feather took from 32 to 40, the Perma-Sharp went from 30 to 37. While 37 is still extremely sharp I would personally not go for another round due to the lack of smoothness.

Initial Sharpness = 41
Average Sharpness = 36
Edge Retention = 0.90
Smoothness = 3/5

Overall Subjective Rating = 3/5

Stainless Steel, Possibly Teflon Coated. Made in Russia.

Buy on Amazon

I can see why some people may enjoy this blade as it is very sharp. The first shave was good for me but the second one was not the best for my face. Your mileage may vary.

Also note that the edge retention value is somewhat deceiving as is appears to hold its edge quite well but because the values increase and then decrease it actually changes quite a bit. The other main point here is that on average the Perma-Sharp just edged out the Feather and was sharper after my first head and face shave. Being only 1 gram difference for all intents and purposes the average is about the same.

For my personal use the main test is would I buy a pack of 100? The answer for the Perma-Sharp Super DE Razor Blade is no, but again this is just for me. I see nothing actually wrong with the blade and can see why some may like it so I would say at the least grab a 5 pack and see how it works for you.

Check out more Razor Blade Reviews or look into how the Razor Blade Sharpness Testing works.

Have you tried Perma-Sharp Super Stainless Razor Blades? Be sure to leave your overall rating, the community appreciates your vote!

Perma-Sharp Double Edge Safety Razor Blades, 100 Count, (20 packs of 5 blades on a display card)

• Fit all standard double edge safety razors
• Stainless steel
• Blades made in Russia

Buy on Amazon