I've been shaving with a butterfly safety razor every since I was 18. A while back, after having lost one, I began using an old Gillette, likely made in Boston, that had
belonged to my grandfather. Alas, after 60 years of service, the old warhorse started to give out, and I decided I would rather reitre it before it gave out completely than have it in pieces. Enter the Parker safety razor:
An apt replacement to my old one. Stainless steel top, with a knurled black metal handle and just the right amount of vintage styling. The handle is longer that my old one, which took some gettign used to, but after a weeks use I've decided it offers more control. Made in India, but as far as I can tell, every bit as good as a the much prefered Merkur of Germany. In any case, worth every bit of $26.99, especially considering the triple-bladed, lubricated strip, swivel headed plastic junk that you can buy at CVS (or Duane Reade, or Rite-Aid, given you geography) for $15-$20. This thing is nice and hefty, and the last such thin I owned took sixty years of daily use before it quit. A sound investment. Purchased online from
Best Grooming Tools, it was on my doorstep in a scant few days.
Those of you who are still afraid of wet shaving with a safety razor, get over it. Sure, you'll hack yourself up a bit to start, but once you get that hang of it, and realize that cuts come only from dull, rusty blades, not clean, fresh sharp ones, you'll wonder why you spent so long faking it. Think about it the next time you're about to drop a twenty on a
Mach III, or whatever it is these days. Would you rather have a wafer thin, murderously sharp piece of "safety" near your throat, or something made of plastic with a name suggestive of inordinate speeds? For me, there is no discussion.
