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How long does it take you to get a baby skin smooth shave on your face?
If you shave elsewhere, tell where and how long it takes to get a perfectly smooth shave there!
I have yet to get a smooth shave on my entire face, but I rarely spend more than 15 minutes on my shave
For a special occasion BBS shave, probably about 20-25 minutes. I very smooth, but maybe not completely BBS shave, about 15 minutes. I try never to hurry though. Those few extra minutes you might squeez out of a shave, I find somewhere else. ;)
Jordan
I don't try for BBS very often as it takes 3 passes for me and I have to go ATG normally I just do 2 passes which is usually very close and often almost bbs, I have one razor right now that will do it in 2 passes.
I've been getting quicker, used to take 45+ for two passes not including clean up, etc.. now I'm about 1 hr from shower, prep, shave, alum/aftershave and all of the clean up, that generally includes brushing my teeth too so runs about 30-45 mins on the shave 2 passes and longer if I do 3.
Just one pass, though I do go over each area more than once, often with a change in stroke direction. Normally about 20 minutes.
You guys sporting no facial hair that can do a BBS perfect shave across your entire face and neck to where all of your skin is squeaky when rubbed in all directions with no irritation and no nicks in 20 minutes or less from start to finish truly have my admiration.:bow
Chris L
I have a tough beard, and so I don't worry about bbs anymore. I get it much closer than I could with a mach 3, and I am happy with that. I enjoy the experience and don't worry so much about the end results anymore. I occasionally go atg to get bbs on special occasion, but it irritates my skin. It will usually take about 30 minutes to do so.
I was once asked this same thing (while I was teaching other to shave at college), but I've never really timed how long it takes me to shave. I don't rush, and I enjoy the experience.
As far as number of passes, my top blades will get me BBS in two passes + touchups. Unfortunately the hair between my jaw and neck grows sideways and/or down, so that requires a little extra attention.
I never actually timed how long it takes me to shave, but I know that I'm in the bathroom for less than 30 minutes, including shower, comb the part in hair, shave, floss, brush teeth and rub on deodorant. I have been shaving with a straight off and on for 28 years, shave everyday and go for BBS everyday. It takes me three passes: WTG, ATG, XTG. I strop before each pass and touch up the edge with 4 or 5 passes on a barber's hone about once a week, if not more frequently. I absolutely cannot tolerate pulling of any kind and frequent honing is the only way for me to keep the blade sharp enough for BBS. It doesn't seem to wear out the blade too much because I'm still using the original Dovo stainless steel razor I bought in 1980. When I first joined SRP, I was very intimidated by the high standard of honing that is practised here. It is possible that, if I really knew how to hone professionally, my razors would stay sharp longer but I'm not really willing to invest the time and effort, so I decided to salute the honemeisters and move on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chimensch
wow, you must take fast showers. When I was in my college dorm a month or so again, I'd lounge around for at least 20 under free, hot water.
Less than 5 minutes for me, but I have a moustache and goatee. I also don't care if there's some resistance from certain directions when I rub my neck afterwards. Life is too short to spend half of it rubbing your face in every possible direction! :D
James.
I've only been straight sharing for a couple months and to be honest I engirt to much to rust so it takes me around 30-40 min to shave.
yeah. and i get it from a mach3 alone. the straight is a different story though. lots of tugging. noob though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrisl
I voted 15-30 minutes but that's because I go over several areas, such as my neck between chin and adam's apple, several times. If I could stick to a two pass only shave I could do it in under fifteen and possibly not much more than ten minutes.
On MOST days it takes 15 minutes exactly. One pass WTG/XTG, one pass ATG, and one water-only touch-up pass. I've also started using cold water instead of hot for whipping up lather and blade rinsing, which saves a couple of minutes waiting for water to heat up (with the added bonus of saving energy). No hot towels, either. For me, they just take up more time, make a mess, and make my skin more prone to nicks and irritation. I like to simplify things as much as possible without sacrificing good results.
It has taken about a year and a half to learn how to get a BBS shave in 15 minutes without bloodshed. The very first time I tried to shave my entire face with a straight, it took more than an hour and I looked like I'd been slapped repeatedly
13 mins, three passes, BBS, but I have a goatee so I get to skip the hardest parts.
I've only been using a straight razor for about a month and I voted that I never got a BBS shave last week. Since then I've gotten a sharpening kit and changed my technique to draw the razor slightly diagonally across my face so that it cuts rather than scrapes. Now I can get a BBS shave in two passes 15-20 minutes.
I have a tough beard so the only way for me to get BSS is to do 3 passes. Since the ATG pass irritates my skin I take more time on prep. 45 minutes to complete everything, including hot towel and a pre lather to moisturize my beard. I strop in between each pass. I usually do BSS about once a week, and it gets me smooth enough that I don't need to shave the next day, which I find awesome and impossible to do with any other razor.
Now that I'm shaving only my chin, 20 minutes. When I did my entire face, 35 to 45. And BBS was rarely consistent in all areas.
Depends on how long it takes the bleeding to come to a full stop...:y
I've been shaving with a str8 for only a couple of months and only have tried BBS a couple of times, and for this I used my DOVO shavette, my other razors are not as sharp yet. I need to be extra careful with the area under my lower lip or I could cause serious damage to my face.
Seven months!
Seriously, being in the tough beard group it takes me 3 passes, which equates to about 30 minutes.
With the standard straight razor it is 15 minutes: 3 passes. Two WTG and one ATG.
With the Iwasaki, when it is fresh off the hone, 10 minutes with two passes only.
After around 18 months of straight shaving I can get BBS on 3 passes done with cleanup and balm/as etc. in around 20-25 minutes on average which seems ideal to me.
On a lazy Sunday after breakfast I can spend up to an hour doing a "full monty" with showering, hot towels and so on.
Absolutely perfect BBS probalby can only be achieved by shavng three times and at the cost of considerable skin irritation. I get very close in one stroke against the grain on cheeks and neck and XTG followed by ATG in other areas. Some day I am more successful than others though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrisl
Normally takes me a little more than an an hour. That said, I shaved in under 1/2 that today, avoiding cheeks & damn fiddly bits behind corner of the jaw. Only been shaving with a str8 for a month though & today was the firsty time I've shaved on consecutive days.
The last BBS (months ago) probably took around 30 minutes or more. My mustache helps the time factor.
Normally it's just one pass with an immediate splash of water and second pass on any stubborn areas. That usually takes about 15 minutes.
I get an absolutely perfect BBS almost every day ... It takes me three-and-a-half passes: WTG, ATG, XTG and a SW-NE/SE-NW pass just on the neck, which is a little awkward. I used to have some irritation in the past but don't anymore since I started mixing sweet almond oil in the lather. I also strop before every pass.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kees
I have never gotten a BBS that totally pleases me (absolutely no prickliness when I rub my hand every direction), but I have been satisfied with my cheeks and jawline and only a little disappointed with my neck area for my absolute best shaves. I will call this BBS for the sake of keeping my spirits high. I've only been straight shaving for about 2 months now and I try to be patient. When I was using a cartridge razor, I was allowed to work when only shaving every other day. Now, I can shave every third day and because of this I consider the extra time I spend to be absolutely worth it. Of course I'm still working out the kinks in my technique and maintaining the edge.
All this said, I take anywhere from 50-75 minutes to do a full shave, striving for "my BBS." This is from a five minute shower to stropping (which takes me about 10 minutes so that I can be sure I'm not rolling my edge) to pre-shave prep to three passes (WTG, XTG, and ATG) and touch-up. I also have a very coarse beard and as I am still working out which angles are the most effective, so I use about 7-8 hot towel applications - lathering and shaving sections at a time. And, to boot, I have a goatee, so I haven't even had to deal with shaving the chin or around the mouth yet (that'll be a reality check if I ever decide to shave it). The upside is that, as I mentioned, I consider the time negligible and I have never had worse than very mild irritation.
Sorry for the long post and happy shaving, guys
Adam