Parker Variant Adjustable Razor, Graphite

This and my Rockwell 6C are currently dueling it out to see which is my favorite. Excellent razor!

So this was my first razor, and I completely love it. While I don't have much experience for a fair comparison. The razor feels great in the hand, and I really like the adjustable blade angle.

This safety razor is a beast! My third adjustable safety razor, the Parker Variant provides one of the closest shaves at the lowest setting I have ever experienced with Astra blades. A word to the wise: do not exert any pressure when using this incredible piece of craftsmanship. I have not had to go to a high (open) setting, but I am sure that it’s like a lawnmower on the tallest (prairie grass) beards. Use caution. Highly recommended.

This is a very affordable adjustable razor. It is well made and calibrated. The ability to start at a more aggressive setting and dial it down for subsequent passes is very helpful. It has become my go to razor. I highly recommend it.

After around 50 years since shaving with a safety razor, I decided to jump back in. Have used disposables, in the past and Gillette Sensor 3 and Mach 3 most of the time. Also tried a couple of the Club razors and their blades. Have tried some electric razors in the past also. Never found an electric that gave a me close shave without a lot of skin irritation. I have a beard, so only shave cheeks and neck. I grew the beard in gradually (side burns kept getting longer till they reached the chin, then moved across to the mouth and mustache) because shaving was such an irritation. For that reason, I rule out some of the disposable blades because the heads are too big or wide to manage the edges of the beard with any precision. Searched the safety razor market a few years ago, but decided to stay with the Mach 3 at that time. A revisit recently led me to this razor and a sample pack of blades to try anew. Hasn’t been long enough to give a full evaluation yet, but so far I like the balance of the razor, and have tried a number of settings to experiment with closeness and comfort. It will take a while longer to find a blade that I like with a setting that works best with my beard. So far, I really like the feel of the razor on my face, and I think it does a better job than the Mach 3. Closer and smoother with less irritation and less effort. As I bonus, I haven’t even nicked myself yet, much to my surprise. My toughest shaving area is my neck where the beard hair grows in every direction everywhere. Hard to get a close shave there even with 2 or more passes in different directions. First try with this produced a shave that was smoother than the Mach 3 in 2 passes with fewer strokes. It will take a while to find a blade and setting that I really like depending on when I last shaved (sometimes 2 to 3 days of growth), but I feel I have found something that is more effective that the name brands and that will last me the rest of my days.