Over the weekend I decided to revisit my Parker SR1 shavette. I had been a little disappointed with my Hartsteel 6/8 with irritation so I thought I'd give myself a break.

I pulled out the Parker, loaded up a half-Bluebird DE blade, and figured I'd have at 'er.
Lathered up with the Strop Shoppe Baker St on Saturday and took off.

The first thing that I noticed: the scale weight made it feel off-balanced compared to the blade-heavy Hart. After a couple awkward repositionings of the scale through the first swipes down my my cheeks and I stopped even noticing it. It was as though I've never used anything else and this was my "perfect" razor.

I did a two-pass shave, not because I needed to but, because I wanted to enjoy the scent of the Baker St soap and keep having a relaxing shave. The bluebird was a little harsh on the first two swipes and then quickly mellowed.

... In two passes: I had a fine shave with no irritation.


Sunday: old-SR1 came out again. This time with the tried-and-true: Arko soap. Another fantastic shave. The blade was in its stride throughout.

I could easily use this day-in and day-out if needed. I do, however, find that the shorter blade length meant I couldn't easily see my sideburns when I started my stroke to help trim them but, otherwise, the couple extra strokes to clear my cheek with the smaller blade were a non issue.

The SR1 with the Bluebird blade is really my perfect combination there.


Monday I went back to my Hart. I guess I just needed a break from it as I got a great shave again with no irritation.