From poor shaves to heaven in one day!

[LBTRS]

Have been wet shaving with a DE for about a month now and have been working on my technique and trying different combination's of razors and blades to find a combination that gives me acceptable shaves. I found nirvana this morning!

The razors in my collection are a Muhle R89, Edwin Jagger DE87BL, Merkur HD 38 Barber Pole, Merkur 23c, Gillette Tech and a Parker 99R which I obtained yesterday. Blades consist of Red Personna, Derby, Shark Super Chrome, Astra SP, Super Iridium, Feather and Dorco ST-301.

The Muhle and EJ gave me terrible shaves reqardless of what blade and angle I used and I have put them away as I would go back to a electric before continuing with these two razors. The two Merkur's gave pretty good shaves with Shark Super Chrome and Super Iridium blades and three passes. However, this morning I loaded up the new Parker 99R with a Shark blade and made two effortless passes and when I checked to see where I needed the third pass I found I was smooth all over and was done.

After rinsing and applying aftershave I am enjoying the smoothest shave I have experienced since starting to wet shave a month ago.

I had put off purchasing a Parker due to the negative comments I've read but I'm so glad I kept searching for a razor that worked well for me.

Here is to years of great shaves...

 

[wulfgar1976]

Parkers can give fantastic shaves if you get a good one, which it certainly sounds that you did. It also sounds to me that perhaps you get on better with a more aggressive razor.

Don't give up on the Muehle/EJ just yet, though. You might find that you like them more if you revisit them one day. Maybe you just haven't found the right blade for those razors. I find that a Feather or a Sharp Edge works very well in my R89.

 

[newboy]

However, this morning I loaded up the new Parker 99R with a Shark blade and made two effortless passes and when I checked to see where I needed the third pass I found I was smooth all over and was done.

After rinsing and applying aftershave I am enjoying the smoothest shave I have experienced since starting to wet shave a month ago.

I had put off purchasing a Parker due to the negative comments I've read but I'm so glad I kept searching for a razor that worked well for me.

I'm glad you did too.

Don't give up on any other razor just yet though. You just found a razor to suit your current technique. Refinement and practice can make any razor work for you. EG the humble mild tech requires perfect angle and technique, it takes a while to learn it. The GEM micromatic introduces a 'blood bath', but with the right technique has the closest shave ever.
So hold on to the other razors and maybe revisit them in a few months to re-audition them before letting them go.
As remarked above, the whole problem with being a parker shaver, is it's not really fair to recommend them to anyone as the consistancy isn't there. Which is probably why you got the recommendations on a muhle, ej, tech, merkur. But nothing wrong with a parker if you get a good one, it's just as good as the rest then, and seems your current technique is compatible with that razor

 

[LBTRS]

Good advice, I'll put the others away for a bit and revisit them once I acquire more practice and improve my technique.

Thanks to all.