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Thread: Shave the neck
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08-01-2006, 03:24 PM #23Originally Posted by thebigspendur
BBS is not a measure of closeness but a measure of cleanness. In other words, although we all use the term "close shave", BBS is really only a clean shave (smooth to the touch?). Closeness is measured by how long it takes for the smoothness to begin disappearing. So, you can get BBS with an electric and abrade your skin in the process. Or you can get it with a sharp DE or str8 and shave off a thin layer of skin. Although you experience burn in both cases, it's different. You worked diligently to remove every last hair, abrading your face with the electric in the process or shaving off some skin, but the sharp razors shaved much closer, and the shave will stay clean longer (a closer shave).
You can get BBS (almost- don't be obsessive) and you can get it every day without irritation. It's a matter of using a sharp blade (don't pluck the hairs out with the electric and tear the skin), and being gentle. That means reduction (progressive removal of whiskers) and not trying to cut to clean skin until you have a fine stubble. At that point you have much finer control of the razor so you can avoid shaving skin along with the whiskers.
One other thing that causes irritation is a steep angle of the blade to the face. You can understand that if you use the blade at a really steep angle (short of cutting yourself) it's more of a scraper than a cutter. Well that changes continuously, so there's a little bit of scrapng there all the time. The amount depends on steepness of the blade. The most gentle cut will be made by the blade being as flat as possible but still cutting. You need to experiment with each razor to see what will work for you, usually something around two spine widths off the skin. If you can do it with less, it's an advantage.