BBS Question

[KenL]

I'm shaving everyday (except weekends) with my straight and it feels perfectly comfortable. I shower, condition my beard in the shower and rinse, then shave after my shower. I do one wtg and one atg. Comfortable shaving, only occasional irritation, usually from focusing on one spot too much, it's a very nice shave, but not bbs. I still feel a tiny bit of stubble, even on my cheeks where I feel it should be the easiest to shave. Is this normal? I put the spine of the razor touching my face and do buffing motions for the atg pass. This weekend I'm going to do 3 passes (wtg,xtg, atg) and see how that turns out (never tried it before for some reason).

I know it's probably my technique, but it possible for my razor to be sharp enough to give a comfortable shave, but just dull enough to miss some whiskers?

Could stropping between my passes help?

I've realized that any one pass is only as good as its preceding pass. Is working on my wtg pass the answer?

Thanks for your help!

Ken

[hi_bud_gl]

I'm shaving everyday (except weekends) with my straight and it feels perfectly comfortable. I shower, condition my beard in the shower and rinse, then shave after my shower. I do one wtg and one atg. Comfortable shaving, only occasional irritation, usually from focusing on one spot too much, it's a very nice shave, but not bbs. I still feel a tiny bit of stubble, even on my cheeks where I feel it should be the easiest to shave. Is this normal? I put the spine of the razor touching my face and do buffing motions for the atg pass. This weekend I'm going to do 3 passes (wtg,xtg, atg) and see how that turns out (never tried it before for some reason).

I know it's probably my technique, but it possible for my razor to be sharp enough to give a comfortable shave, but just dull enough to miss some whiskers?

I've realized that any one pass is only as good as its preceding pass. Is working on my wtg pass the answer?

Thanks for your help!

Ken

Ken
you will not get as close as shave DE blade when you just start to using straight razor.
There is a learning curve and every single of us has to climb.
Some of us is patient enough and wait until that time.
Some don't have enough patients and quits straight razor shaving etc.
there is would be 0% chance which blade will be sharp enough to give you comfortable shave but miss some hairs.
I would suggest try to use only
WTG and xtg for a while. Try to use scything motion . if you master this you will never need to use AGT Shave to get great shave.
hope this helps.

[Alembic]

You did not say if your razor was purchased shave ready, but assuming it was, it could be stropping, lather building, or more than likely just your technique, which will improve over time.

One thing I can say however is that you have not been shaving long enough to have your skin break in, and probably that you do not have a full handle on the direction of your whisker growth.

You say one WTG and one ATG, but in reality, based on whisker growth direction, you could already be doing a XTG in areas you think you are doing WTG or even ATG. Spend some time after the shave running your hands across the stubble to find their true growth direction.

This early in your game, don't worry about the quality and focus on technique and enjoying yourself - BBS comes later.

[thebigspendur]

Most guys don't even worry about BBS shaves for maybe 6 months of shaving so your ahead of the game. Just slowly experiment with the strokes to improve those areas that need attention. You will get your result with more shave practice.

[JohnnyCakeDC]

Most guys don't even worry about BBS shaves for maybe 6 months of shaving so your ahead of the game. Just slowly experiment with the strokes to improve those areas that need attention. You will get your result with more shave practice.

BigSpender is right, things will fall into place, mostly on their own. JimmyHAD gave me some advice once and I found it to be the most helpful shave advice. He said something like: "The less you try to get a BBS shave, the better your chances are of getting one.". What I feel he was talking about was pressure from the razor's edge on the skin. Any pressure forced on a tough stubble spot will result in some burn. IMO I think that my face has a limited amount of passes willing, before I get some razor burn of my own. So I do WTG, and then move right on to ATG. Be mindful of your hair's growth pattern, and lots of face stretching really works best with DRY finger tips on DRY face skin. And yes, stropping between, or before certain passes, helps and is very commonplace.
Things will click for you soon, be patient and good luck.

[jpm7676]

I dont sweat BBs shaves. If i do go for a BBS that means the next morning there really wont be a need for me to shave and I like to shave EVERY day. Its my zen time

[PhatMan]

KenL,

If the shave is comfotable, then don't worry about BBS.

I used to be obsessive about BBS; experience has now tempered this and I am now quite happy with a very comfortable shave and take whatever level of smoothness it chooses to give

Beacuse the direction of growth of the whiskers varies on your face, it is not always possible to get BBS in all directions with 'normal' strokes of the razor. Some people are lucky in this respect, others are not.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

[Bnick]

I dont sweat BBs shaves. If i do go for a BBS that means the next morning there really wont be a need for me to shave and I like to shave EVERY day. Its my zen time

I agree with you JPM now that I have started shaving with a SR I look forward to shaving it is very relaxing to me. I don't care much about the bbs just as long as the shave is comfortable and if is smooth enough when you run your hand wtg and xtg. I have only been doing this for a month now and can not even think about going back to disposable or cartridge shaves. Stick with it.

[KenL]

Thanks everyone for the reassurance. I just wanted to make sure that it's a normal step along the way. I have a lot to learn and as was said, as long as the shaves are comfortable, I'm happy, but still experimenting. I think that I have a lot to learn in all areas, especially skin stretching. This morning I let the lather sit on my face a bit longer than normal, about 2 min and had a great shave. That was a relief because I strop at night and shave in the morning and last night I got home really late from work and stropped. I was worried that my stropping was poor last night because I was so tired. I guess I did alright because today's shave was the best of the week.

Thanks again,

Ken

[Alembic]

This morning I let the lather sit on my face a bit longer than normal, about 2 min and had a great shave.

Hi Ken,

You stumbled onto something important here. It takes a lot of shaves to develop a sense of "normal". Once you know what normal is for you, it is easier to identify mistakes you are making or incremental improvements you want to make.

If you have no idea what "normal" is, you don't have a baseline to compare your changes and improvements to.

Just keep shaving and this will all be revealed to you.

David