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Returning after several years with Parker Variant

So I’ve been in and out of DE shaving for several years. If you check my username, you’ll see that the last I posted was a looong time ago. Well…I’m back again because, the older I get, the more I want to enjoy my shave. And I just keep wanting to get the DE shave down.
I decided to buy the Parker Variant. I had a Merkur long handle. The Parker Variant proves to me that the razor you choose makes all the difference!
Pros:
-it’s one of the smoothest shaves I’ve ever had. I used a derby razor with Bigelow cream (I really like that cream! Great lather)
-I have some coarse spots on my neck that no razor ever seems to be able to get smooth. The variant got them smooth today.
Cons:
-for some reason, one side of the blade didn’t seem to cut as well. In other words, I got a cut cut from one edge, and then flipped the razor over and the other edge didn’t seem as sharp. Not sure if it was my angle or just the razor?
-a few nicks but nothing horrible.
all in all, I feel that with the Parker Variant I’ll be able to get smooth shaves with proper technique. Looking forward to learning more and checking in. And hopefully this time I’m able to stick with it!
 
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Welcome back! With your issue you described, try a few different blades and see if the issue persists; might want to check the alignment of the blade in the razor hear just to make sure there are no issues there. Enjoy the Variant!
 
Check if the blade is misaligned though I never noticed it in my Parker variant it is possible that the blade is slightly rotated resulted in symptoms like this
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
Welcome back to the forum. Thanks for checking back in with us and sharing your experience.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Welcome back! I took a hiatus from the forum and recently returned, but not from DE shaving. As others have said check the blade alignment. The human brain processes visual cues makes us very good at checking for parallelism. Eye the blade along the cap edge in good light and make sure both sides are the same. If they cut differently on each edge of the razor, blade alignment is the most likely culprit.

Good luck, and good shaves! And welcome back!
 
So I’ve been in and out of DE shaving for several years. If you check my username, you’ll see that the last I posted was a looong time ago. Well…I’m back again because, the older I get, the more I want to enjoy my shave. And I just keep wanting to get the DE shave down.
I decided to buy the Parker Variant. I had a Merkur long handle. The Parker Variant proves to me that the razor you choose makes all the difference!
Pros:
-it’s one of the smoothest shaves I’ve ever had. I used a derby razor with Bigelow cream (I really like that cream! Great lather)
-I have some coarse spots on my neck that no razor ever seems to be able to get smooth. The variant got them smooth today.
Cons:
-for some reason, one side of the blade didn’t seem to cut as well. In other words, I got a cut cut from one edge, and then flipped the razor over and the other edge didn’t seem as sharp. Not sure if it was my angle or just the razor?
-a few nicks but nothing horrible.
all in all, I feel that with the Parker Variant I’ll be able to get smooth shaves with proper technique. Looking forward to learning more and checking in. And hopefully this time I’m able to stick with it!
Other users have reported this - more blade exposure on one side with the Variant.
 
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