My wife and I are heading out to a belated anniversary dinner (31 years!) tonight, and I wanted to cut down the two-day stubble. So I started thinking about what I wanted to use in my 4th shave for the week–hence the bonus shave!
Since these are one-offs, and they don’t happen very often, I try to do things that may not fit in the schedule at that time. I’m coming off of three weeks shaving with the Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (green) blades, and had a series of outstanding shaves with it in the Henson mild. And next week, I’m launching into trying one of the last two blades in the collection that I haven’t tried yet.
So I got to thinking. Should I try something with the Rockwell plate 6? See how aggressive the most aggressive setting on that razor is? Get out the KCG for the first time in a while and give it a go with something new? Or, I’ve had the itch to get the Parker back out and see if things I’ve learned can be applied.
So that became the plan: use the Parker 55SL Semi-Slant. I paired it with the Lord Shark Super Stainless blade–which I’ve just fallen in love with. And put it all together with the Proraso blue products. Yes, 3 Proraso shaves in a week!
The ratings won’t reflect just how happy I was with this shave. No, it wasn’t close, and it wasn’t as comfortable as I’d prefer. There was substantial blade feel, and some lingering irritation. But it isn’t uncomfortable enough to make it a terrible shave, or one I’d never come back to. It’s also a close enough shave–some light stubble, but considering I’ll be shaving again tomorrow, I’m looking forward to the chance to clean that up with a more comfortable setup (or what I hope will be more comfortable).
I limited passes to just with and across the grain. I kept the touch light, and made sure I was using the correct head angle with every pass…or at least as many strokes as I could. I know I did a few strokes wrong, but I’d correct myself. The Proraso blue pre-shave and shave cream offered enough cooling menthol feel to help minimize discomfort, and the balm really helped calm things down afterward.
This shave was a success many ways, just not the ones that I measure: I know I can have a comfortable shave with the Parker, I know it can be close, and I know that it has a place in my collection. And all of that makes me happy. And it gave me ideas: I’ve seen people who use two razors when they have a longer stubble, so maybe I need to do a Sunday shave with one pass with the Parker, and finishing up with the Rockwell or Hensons to get the best of both experiences.
Not liking the razor has been weighing on me, and this helped so much to get me out of that funk. So happy shave! And that’s what it’s about.
The Ratings
Saturday Bonus Shave #192. The Parker comes out to play.
The setup:
- Razor: Parker 55SL Semi-Slant
- Blade: Lord Shark Super Stainless
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Protective pre-shave cream (blue)
- Brush: Proraso boar brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Protective shaving cream (blue)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Protective aftershave balm (blue)
Yep, a good enough shave that won’t necessarily translate to ratings numbers. I’d accept this with a razor that I really want to like and that is giving me fits.
And while it isn’t quite up to the rankings of the two top shaves with this razor, it still gives me hope that there’s a combo out there that will work extremely well.
Again, I’m happy with the result and look forward for trying more things with the Parker in the future.
Comfort: 19 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 19 out of 25
Overall: 19 out of 25
