Lord is an ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 company based in Egypt’s second city, the port of Alexandria. Their 2,200 employees make several billion razor blades a year (and lots of the razors to put them in) using 8 of their own brand names and also the brand names of many supermarkets and other businesses around the world that they manufacture for. They export to 75 countries.
From a traditional shaving point of view they seem to have a very good cost/performance balance in that they make very good blades (but not the very best) at very attractive prices (though not the cheapest).
Their 8 brands are:
Lord. Platinum, Super Chrome and Super Stainless.
Big Ben. Super Stainless.
Shark. Super Stainless.
Crown. Super Stainless.
Asco. Super Stainless.
Racer. Super Stainless.
Silver Star. Super Stainless.
Rainbow. Super Stainless.
Just as with Petersburg Products International I refuse to believe that these are 10 different razor blades. In fact it is more likely that there are three different razor blades (the three different Lord models) and that everything else is just packaging.
Currently the Shark brand is finding favour with the traditional shaving community (I am using one at the moment). Presumably this is because they have the nicest packaging of the 8 brands!
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Bruce, you missed out on an extra Shark brand – they also come in Super Chrome.
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Lord Platinum as well as the Super Chrome are fantastic IMHO – the equal of Astra Platinum in my experience. (Makes sense as they cost the same at retail.)They are now my main blades after trying 6 or 7 different kinds of blades. I am also very impressed with the L6 and the L5. The L6 is one of the great bargains in shaving.
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I have used all these blades and think they are all similiar except for the Sharks. The Sharks seem sharper and less smooth.
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Some have said that there are four classes of Lord blades, but the top two are so close as to constitute one. My own guesstimation is that Lord Platinum are at the top, closely followed by Shark SS and Asco Orange. Racer and Silver Star are in the mid-range, with Asco Red, Big Ben, and Crown at the bottom.
I have regrettably tried the Big Ben and Asco Red, but had a second DFS with a Crown today. The prep may have helped: 30-minute soak in swimming pool during workout, shower, and lather with a Wilkinson Sword Stick.