Not Quite BBS

[Loochie]

Is it possible that for some of us BBS is not attainable?

I now have 4 shave ready razors and it seems that no matter how many passes I do I can't seem to attain the elusive BBS.

I've been using straights for 3 or four months. I strop like a pro. I have my angles right while shaving etc etc etc. Just can't seem to get it.

My beard is equivalent to small wires growing out of my face so that might be a factor.

Any thoughts or sage words of wisdom?

[Milton Man]

I'm sure others will have better ideas, but I'd recommend doing a very thorough pre-shave routine to ensure that your beard is extremely well hydrated. Maybe a pre-shave balm of some sort would help? Hot towels?

Here's hoping you get that elusive BBS - keep at it, I'm sure you'll find it sooner of later!

Mark

[SteveS]

Have you ever achieved BBS via any method of shaving? If so, achieving it with a straight is possible.

[Loochie]

Have you ever achieved BBS via any method of shaving? If so, achieving it with a straight is possible.

I've gotten close with some of those multiple blade monstrosities but not without a lot of irritation and ingrown hairs.

The only thing I haven't really tried is a preshave oil. From reading some of the posts it sounds like it may or may not actually help the situation.

[AFDavis11]

Here is what I think:

BBS is probably better attained without oils. I would suggest washing your face first. Experiment with different types of soaps. The idea is to wash the face with hot water and then add soap again and leave the soap on to break the coticule surrounding the shaft. Rinse again with hot water. All of this after a hot shower. Thats a soap wash to remove oils and another soaping and time to let the soap sit. Do not substitute lather for this step.

As the soap sits and degrades the outer shaft of the whisker, prep your lather. Hot bowl, etc.

The razor has to be honed on the highest grit you can attain. I'd say 12K is the minimum. Hone a lot on 8K and then 12K. The edge should shine bright enough to hurt your eyes when the razor is rolled under bright light. A hyper fine striated edge is essential. You might even need something crazy like .5 or .25 to attain the tiny striations needed. Most good honers can get there on 8K alone but this takes practice.

I'm not buying that you've got the angles down. To me that might just show that your missing how critical angles really are. Lets say for the sake of argument you've got the angles down. I've only been shaving for 5 years and your way ahead of me then. What I'm saying is that BBS is created by taking the "angle practice" to a whole new level. The difference in BBS and a non BBS shave is about 2 degrees. Think about that. Then again, you can get pretty close just going across the grain and ofcourse any hack can get BBS against the grain. But if you have the angles down, well you'd probably already have BBS under your belt too.

Learn how to use a scything motion, point leading. Be careful, you can remove parts of your face if your not careful with this.

Strop very lightly, not slowly, lightly.

Shave with a much lighter touch. Strangely, the lighter you shave with a straight the closer it is.

Learn to stretch the skin better. You actually need a third hand to straight shave yourself but you can make do by stretching the skin between your thumb and fingers.

Plan to strop 2 times per pass.

After you lather up, wait, about 30 seconds and then rub the lather into your beard and lather up again.

Shave carefully, unrushed. A BBS shave can take longer because prep alone requires much more concentration, and the focus you need to shave with the perfect angle is tiring.

Any area your not getting BBS is an area your probably shaving from the wrong direction in your stroke. You do not usually want to make a stroke in the natural direction that the blade, held in your hand, wants to move. Those strokes are for amatuers; here your talking about very advanced moves. Sometimes I hold the razor upside down and stroke backwards. Its hard but each spot of your face requires a specific direction to get BBS and its not usually the natural stroke your hand would want to make.

After about a week of practice like this you should be close to BBS over most, if not all, of your face.

[Loochie]

That is very very helpful and excellent advice. Definitely some prep steps in there I haven't been taking. While I use plenty of hot water and take a hot shower and use a hot towel a lot of time I just lather up and shave without just washing my face and allowing the soap to do it's job.

Thanks for the advice. I'll update everyone as I go.

I vote this should be a sticky (or a slightly edited form)!