For myself, I'm going out on a limb by ordering the Parker 87R. I'm already quite sure that Parker hasn't improved their famous quality control, and will try not to hold my breath -- but maybe I'll get lucky, this time. To get a Gillette as nice-looking as that would cost over a hundred (and I unfortunately do find Super Speeds relatively unattractive).
Humphrey's cucumber-melon witch hazel was being offered as a $5 add-on item by Amazon. I also had them throw in the $8 Atomic razor recommended by Frugal Shave (YouTube), with the "aggressive" style cutting head. I've been curious how that might work, replacing the flatly beveled safety bar of an anchor-style with a more Tech-like curve... if it comes into play.
Other Dads wouldn't do badly to receive the stuff I shaved with this morning: the Merkur 1904 Classic Open Comb and Kiss My Face moisture shave, lavender scent. I mixed up my lather in a bowl with a synthetic brush, applied some as a preshave, rinsed, and added pumpkin juice to see if it would work the same to soften the hair.
No luck this time. It surprised me, because KMF was definitely involved on other random occasions (when I failed to reproduce the effect, before pumpkin juice). And it is already highly aqueous and botanical. But, it doesn't contain those chemical chelators I had pointed out. I will eventually experiment with baking soda or vinegar to try to get it going with KMF. But before this blade gets too dull, I'd better go back to Williams, for the sake of replication.
I can't say I was too disappointed, though, because the luxuriously scented lather coordinated familiar tug-and-cut sensations with perfect safety and no skin insult. I just shaved until I couldn't get any more hair. That's not always a good idea, and may set sort of a bad precedent for beginners, but I can think of worse ways to start wet shaving! This was one of the better shaves I've gotten out of the Merkur, though cotton balls still need to beware.
When I tried PdP and pumpkin juice with the Super Speed, I got a good neck shave, but missed on the cheeks. This reversal was so unusual that I almost shaved again last night, but the stubble wasn't really that bad. Maybe there's just a new crop of hair coming in, or something random like that, but I do think my angles were being severely screwed up by the softening effect.
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