Drum roll please................The Variant arrived yesterday and I just had my first shave this morning with it.
Today's Shave: Shave #59
Razor: Parker Variant - Graphite handle
Blade: Gillette Super Blue
Brush: Maggard Razors Synthetic
Soap: Mystic Water Bay Rum
Bowl: Walmart Salsa Bowl (plastic)
Pre Shave: Wash with soap
Total Razor on Face Time: 15 minutes
Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel (Walmart Brand) face only, Cold rinse. Dry face, then immediately applied Nivea AS Balm to the face only. Mammoth Painting, rubbing left over soap on the neck then rinsing.
Let me first talk about the Parker Variant. I've bee researching razors for a few weeks now and pretty much knew what to expect when unboxing this razor. I absolutely love the graphite handle which gives it a more sophisticated look. Early Variants had a problem with the graphite finish and black finishes coming off because they were a powder coating, but they fixed this problem with a new process that now bonds the graphite finish in the same way things are chromed so this finish isn't supposed to come off. My expectations were fully met when I examined this razor and the quality of everything. The knurling is excellent and everything seemed spot on upon inspection. It came with a tuck of Parker razors as well and the razor cost less than $60. Some reviewers complained about the price, but from my perspective carts cost me $12 a month to be used and pitched. 5 months of that and you've got the money to buy a high quality DE razor. I think we all remember buying a new Mach whatever razor and paid $30 or more for it, so that puts the price in perspective. Let's get to the shave.
After a lather of MW I was set. I skipped any PS oil because I wanted to really evaluate the Variant's performance for my shaves without any aide from anything but the shaving soap. Instantly I picked up the Variant and the weight felt wonderful. Loading a blade was super easy and easy to align correctly. WTG pass felt like true effortless shaving. Set at 1.2 to start felt way too mild so I increased it to 1.5. I can't say enough how wonderful and smooth this razor felt. You could tell the razor was in charge and there was absolutely no reason to apply any pressure whatsoever. After this first pass I was smoother than the Gillette SS and the QShave, but the most noticeable thing was that my face didn't feel like a razor had been on it. Finding the proper angle with the Variant was pretty easy. XTG pass was equally as great and it got me in the DFS realm. I had to increase the razor setting to 2.0 because 1.5 wasn't cutting anything - so wow, what a great pass. ATG pass was effortless as well. I did have to back the razor down to 1.0 / 1.5 setting for areas around my lips that were still sore from yesterday's rough shave. Clean-up.......ah hum.....well, I'd still be there cleaning up right now if I didn't force myself to stop chasing the dolphin that was within sight for the first time in my wet shaving history. At 1.0, you can clean and buff until your heart is satisfied and it's not irritating. Overall, the closest shave I've ever had. I'm not fully confident I achieved a DBBS, but BBS+ in some areas with the rest being BBS. The only areas of irritation are what was left from yesterday's rough shave. I can tell that the Variant didn't do any damage because the witch hazel didn't sting in those areas. I'm very happy with this razor and there isn't one bad thing I can say about it at this point. As I put the Variant away this morning I heard a collective sigh from all my other razors in the cabinet.
Today's Shave: Shave #59
Razor: Parker Variant - Graphite handle
Blade: Gillette Super Blue
Brush: Maggard Razors Synthetic
Soap: Mystic Water Bay Rum
Bowl: Walmart Salsa Bowl (plastic)
Pre Shave: Wash with soap
Total Razor on Face Time: 15 minutes
Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel (Walmart Brand) face only, Cold rinse. Dry face, then immediately applied Nivea AS Balm to the face only. Mammoth Painting, rubbing left over soap on the neck then rinsing.
Let me first talk about the Parker Variant. I've bee researching razors for a few weeks now and pretty much knew what to expect when unboxing this razor. I absolutely love the graphite handle which gives it a more sophisticated look. Early Variants had a problem with the graphite finish and black finishes coming off because they were a powder coating, but they fixed this problem with a new process that now bonds the graphite finish in the same way things are chromed so this finish isn't supposed to come off. My expectations were fully met when I examined this razor and the quality of everything. The knurling is excellent and everything seemed spot on upon inspection. It came with a tuck of Parker razors as well and the razor cost less than $60. Some reviewers complained about the price, but from my perspective carts cost me $12 a month to be used and pitched. 5 months of that and you've got the money to buy a high quality DE razor. I think we all remember buying a new Mach whatever razor and paid $30 or more for it, so that puts the price in perspective. Let's get to the shave.
After a lather of MW I was set. I skipped any PS oil because I wanted to really evaluate the Variant's performance for my shaves without any aide from anything but the shaving soap. Instantly I picked up the Variant and the weight felt wonderful. Loading a blade was super easy and easy to align correctly. WTG pass felt like true effortless shaving. Set at 1.2 to start felt way too mild so I increased it to 1.5. I can't say enough how wonderful and smooth this razor felt. You could tell the razor was in charge and there was absolutely no reason to apply any pressure whatsoever. After this first pass I was smoother than the Gillette SS and the QShave, but the most noticeable thing was that my face didn't feel like a razor had been on it. Finding the proper angle with the Variant was pretty easy. XTG pass was equally as great and it got me in the DFS realm. I had to increase the razor setting to 2.0 because 1.5 wasn't cutting anything - so wow, what a great pass. ATG pass was effortless as well. I did have to back the razor down to 1.0 / 1.5 setting for areas around my lips that were still sore from yesterday's rough shave. Clean-up.......ah hum.....well, I'd still be there cleaning up right now if I didn't force myself to stop chasing the dolphin that was within sight for the first time in my wet shaving history. At 1.0, you can clean and buff until your heart is satisfied and it's not irritating. Overall, the closest shave I've ever had. I'm not fully confident I achieved a DBBS, but BBS+ in some areas with the rest being BBS. The only areas of irritation are what was left from yesterday's rough shave. I can tell that the Variant didn't do any damage because the witch hazel didn't sting in those areas. I'm very happy with this razor and there isn't one bad thing I can say about it at this point. As I put the Variant away this morning I heard a collective sigh from all my other razors in the cabinet.
