Thread: Baby-Butt Close on first Pass?

I've seen several people boast about their razors and claim that they are so sharp, they can get a "baby butt" shave in one pass. I'm pretty skeptical, though.

When I try for one of those obsessively close shaves, one pass will never do it, no matter how sharp the blade. As someone already mentioned, the hairs grow every which way, so nabbing them all (and getting that "it doesn't feel like I have the ability to grow hair" feeling) requires you to shave in all sorts of directions, which doesn't seem to qualify as one pass.

That's why I agree with the "three pass" method.

The first pass is done with the grain; the second, across; the third, a selective against. With the right razor, this is my recipe for supreme smoothness.

I put it to use this morning with a 6/8 Wade and Butcher I had been neglecting for a few months. I forgot how sharp it was and was very pleased with the shave.

I'm putting in my vote for BBS in one pass. I think it depends, of course, on the razor, AND, how the one pass is performed. When I shave I do multiple mini "scything" strokes with the grain. This way allows me to get a BBS in one pass without any irritation.

Scott

i've been fooling around with the shave to see what i could get rid of (shaves were taking close to a half and hour). here are my conclusions, i'm sure to be taken with some salt, after a couple of months of shaving and honing my own razor:

actually it's only really one or maybe two conclusions.

---on my cheeks and neck, i skip the with the grain (WTG) pass and just go right to across (CTG), then against (ATG). for my shaves, it makes no difference whatsoever. the donut area is done the way everyone else does, except that instead of re-lathering between the ATG and the CTG, i just splash a little water on to re-wet what's left of the soap. actually, now that i think of it, i do that on the cheeks and neck, too. so here's how my shaves go, with no noticeable difference between this and the traditional three-pass method:

lather, CTG on cheeks and neck, WTG on donut area, splash water on whole face, ATG on cheeks and neck, CTG on donut, rinse, re-lather donut lightly, ATG on donut, then finish with touch ups using water.





it's a little unrelated, sorry, but here are a few of the other things i've tried that i'd like to pass along to other relatively new folks like me, who are looking to make those intial refinements to their technique:

--it really did make a difference when i started stropping before i honed.

--i have spent a grand total of eighteen dollars on everything that wasn't a razor, strop, or hone, and that 18 dollar total includes an eight dollar bottle of thayer's. in other words, just get a boar brush, a cheap ramekin, and buy some soap from colleen. patience and thought will improve your shaves a lot more than fancy preshave oils and all that other stuff.

--it really does help a tremendous amount to consciously reduce the pressure you are using as well as the angle. it is said all the time here, but i realized i wasn't really being careful until about it until recently, and i've noticed a dramatic reduction in irritation. go lighter and pass over it a few times in stead of trying to dig in and get it all in one pass.