I think you'll find Marc you're not the only one with your impressions from the Derby blades. The regular Derby blade for me is at most 2 shaves & out. The Usta, I agree, about the best under the Derby heading. Maybe the Premium Derby, too, as another decent Derby. The soap: yes I've seen it in UK retailers. You're right again. Not the most competitively priced. I've never tried the soap, so for the money perhaps I'd have expected an unqualifiedly good performance. These days non-tallow soaps can be as good as/better than the tallow ones. Cheers!
Hey K! The Usta are not my go to blades but they do work well enough and for under 10$ can for 100, they will remain in my line up. Now, a lot of people are saying they are a rebranded Premiums. I am not sure as my premiums don't shave as well. There is also some Usta who do not have any marking on the blade. Whenever I have more free time, I will try to contact Derby to see if they can shed some light on the blades... For the soap, well, it has been a roller coaster ride with this one. I got it last winter, early spring and my first few uses were not what I wanted. It ended up on a shelve until two weeks ago. For the price I paid, I had to make it work... Everyone I talk to just rave about Nuavia and I just couldn't get a decent shave out of it. I don't know why I finally bloomed it but it made a huge difference on the lather. It is a good soap, really nice performance but not the best performer out there. PAA CK6 out perform Nuavia In my Opinion. The scent is where the soap shine really. This type of scent is right in my alley. I have smelled something similar before I just can't figure out where it was. For an other soap just as good is WSP Vanilla Black Amber. Thanks for commenting K and have a great week!
@@dartmouthshaving1442 I think (!), older make Usta blades have absolutely no markings on them whatsoever. I've seen them in videos and in looks they reminded me of the Kai blades. No markings at all on the Kais either. However, newer produce of Ustas DO have markings: they bear the word "USTA" in the corners of the blade. At least the Ustas I got by post from Turkey only last week do have those markings. [ Not that it matters that much I suppose :) ]
Great review brother! Those aftershaves are some of my absolute favorites to use, I love all 3 of them! I’ve gotta send my Black Beauty out to, Matt for service, because it’s not shaving right. 😕 🤷🏻♂️
Hey Manny! I love Pinaud ' After shaves. Great price, the work well on my face and the scents really last. They have a great line up of scents but the reserve collection did rejuvenate the line up. I already ran out of Gent Gin and Whiskey Woods is seeing a fair amount of use. If I go back to Big Shave this year, I will probably bring mine to RE for some work also.
Very nice shave Marc 💈👍😎💈
I think you'll find Marc you're not the only one with your impressions from the Derby blades. The regular Derby blade for me is at most 2 shaves & out. The Usta, I agree, about the best under the Derby heading. Maybe the Premium Derby, too, as another decent Derby. The soap: yes I've seen it in UK retailers. You're right again. Not the most competitively priced. I've never tried the soap, so for the money perhaps I'd have expected an unqualifiedly good performance. These days non-tallow soaps can be as good as/better than the tallow ones. Cheers!
Hey K!
The Usta are not my go to blades but they do work well enough and for under 10$ can for 100, they will remain in my line up. Now, a lot of people are saying they are a rebranded Premiums. I am not sure as my premiums don't shave as well. There is also some Usta who do not have any marking on the blade. Whenever I have more free time, I will try to contact Derby to see if they can shed some light on the blades...
For the soap, well, it has been a roller coaster ride with this one. I got it last winter, early spring and my first few uses were not what I wanted. It ended up on a shelve until two weeks ago. For the price I paid, I had to make it work... Everyone I talk to just rave about Nuavia and I just couldn't get a decent shave out of it. I don't know why I finally bloomed it but it made a huge difference on the lather. It is a good soap, really nice performance but not the best performer out there. PAA CK6 out perform Nuavia In my Opinion. The scent is where the soap shine really. This type of scent is right in my alley. I have smelled something similar before I just can't figure out where it was. For an other soap just as good is WSP Vanilla Black Amber.
Thanks for commenting K and have a great week!
@@dartmouthshaving1442 I think (!), older make Usta blades have absolutely no markings on them whatsoever. I've seen them in videos and in looks they reminded me of the Kai blades. No markings at all on the Kais either. However, newer produce of Ustas DO have markings: they bear the word "USTA" in the corners of the blade. At least the Ustas I got by post from Turkey only last week do have those markings. [ Not that it matters that much I suppose :) ]
Great review brother! Those aftershaves are some of my absolute favorites to use, I love all 3 of them! I’ve gotta send my Black Beauty out to, Matt for service, because it’s not shaving right. 😕 🤷🏻♂️
Hey Manny!
I love Pinaud ' After shaves. Great price, the work well on my face and the scents really last. They have a great line up of scents but the reserve collection did rejuvenate the line up. I already ran out of Gent Gin and Whiskey Woods is seeing a fair amount of use.
If I go back to Big Shave this year, I will probably bring mine to RE for some work also.