Thread: seemingly dumb question

I have a couple of areas where it takes extra work to get it all. Immediately under the jaw line on the right side but not on the left. Both left and right hollows around my wind pipe. They do require extra attention to get BBS but I can get there if I want to. With straight or a Merkur slant DE and a Feather blade.

I can always feel some stubble of I run my hand straight up.

I usually do two passes. After three I'm very closely shaven but can still feel something atg.

Directional bbs is a nice concept.

Michael

well I just got done with four passes (note to self time to change blades) wtg one xtg and one buffing atg... I can still feel atg stubble but my cheeks are super smooth wtg at least... and slightly razor burnt.

I think if I focus more on my chin and jaw line where I still have real stubble I will be happy. anyways I love the buffing technique now and Im starting to develop a feel for the J- hook thanks all.

I have to ask, when you feel stubble on your cheeks.... are you pressing hard against your skin? because in that case, I guess, you will always feel some stubble... unless off course, you slice your skin off below the hair follicles (and I will strongly advice against it, because it might sting )
with DE and straights we cut the hairs so they´re flush with the skin, ... (or very close to) so when you dig your fingers in, I believe you will always feel a little stubble.

I might be wrong, but the way I define a BBS shave, is when I run the backside of my hand against my face and only feel very smooth skin. (like a grandparent do with a child)

I just shaved about an hour ago and when I rub my hand vigorously all over my face I feel no stubble.

Hi, Gunsandblades,

My take on this is that it's VERY personal. Why? Because our beards grows at wildly different angles--not only in the sense that mine grows differently than yours, but that different areas of one's face feature differently-growing hairs (direction-wise and angle-wise).

So, it's very likely that there are parts of your face that you can easily shave against the grain, others that you can't. And chances are that these are not the same for me. So it's not a one-size-fits-all question. For instance, I can shave my cheeks against the grain, ditto with my neck and jaw-line--but I may very well forget about doing so with my chin and with my upper lip. Know your limitations. It's all a matter of the angles at which your beard grows.

Old-school barber pedagogy texts show that knowing and understanding the direction of the growth of a customer's beard is paramount. That's why--as I said--it's hard to give a universal rule about shaving against the grain, even about your own face. Angles vary between areas--and what you may be able to do (say) with your cheeks, you may be prevented from doing with another section of your shaving area.

Bottom line: know your growth, and know the sharpness of the angles at which your beard grows. And to top it all off, know how to stretch your skin, and how that affects the angle of your beard at the moment in which the blade meets hair.

Best of luck!!!!!!

Tom

For me, the skin is completely smooth when I'm done. I go back and touch up areas if there's even a slight feeling of stubble after applying aftershave.