Do you chase BBS - at what cost?

bald as

bald as

ARKO! dealer & walking ECG
Joined
May 4, 2015
Location
Adelaide
Reading many shaving fora, many of the participants chase BBS often reporting 4 or 5 passes but then some, not all report irritation and emotional dissatisfaction.

What is the aim of your shave and what tells you enough is enough.
 
Comfort and lack of irritation are priorities for me. I shave every day I generally shave at night so I'll have some stubble in the morning anyway and it is therefore pointless to chase a BBS.

I'm now consciously trying to reduce the number of passes I make to just two. I find this difficult to do because I love the feeling of a blade running over my face. I'm finding that SE razors get me pretty much shaved after one pass.
 
Unless it's a special occasion I'll try and work within the law of diminishing marginal returns to get the best 'bang for buck' (smoothness vs hassle/irritation) shave.

Generally this entails 1 x WTG all over, 1 x ATG on chin + slight cleanup/buff on other tricky spots. Does kinda depend on what razor you're using as with something agro like an R41 it'll be one and done, but with a Tech or SS you might do 3 passes. Irritation after shaving stinks and if I get it I've screwed something up.
 
I aim for as smooth as possible with 2 passes, sometimes both wtg, sometimes one wtg and then xtg. As I'm trying better blades I'm finding I don't need to go atg at all. Also, if I don't I can shave again sooner...
 
I shave every day, most of the time just two passes for a very good shave.
If I go to an official function, I will do three passes, which will give me BBS nine out of ten times.
 
I (usually - if I had a sink in my bathroom) shave every second day. I need 4 passes due to my thick whiskers and a crazy growth pattern.

The good thing is, I don't have to chase much and a BBS above the jawline is the norm. Below the jawline I get without any effort a DFS - for a BBS there I have to do some buffing and only do that occasionally.
 
It's a waste of time to chase it. It grows back, and the only person that can tell is you.

I find the best shave is a WTG/XTG after a weekend when the beard has time to grow out a bit and soften. To then try and keep it a smooth as possible every day thereafter takes a third pass that I often CBF with.

No close shave is worth creating irritation for. It kind of defeats the purpose of enjoying shaving, and being well shaved.
 
I can't even bf to do wtg/xtg any more. I pretty much just go north-south then south to north and get almost as good a shave as when I chase something really smooth.
 
Tough one. I always tell myself that a DFS is good enough by aiming for a close and comfortable shave. But most days like today I just don't want to leave any survivors. I don't get irritation so I guess it's not an issue for a fussy prick like me.
 
Mark said:
Tough one. I always tell myself that a DFS is good enough by aiming for a close and comfortable shave. But most days like today I just don't want to leave any survivors. I don't get irritation so I guess it's not an issue for a fussy prick like me.
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I find that now I have a reasonable technique with the straight, a daily 3-pass then tidy up around the neck does not cause irritation.
 
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