Thread: Baby-Butt Close on first Pass?

Just wondering whether it's reasonable to expect baby-butt closeness on the first, with the grain pass? I'm asking because if the answer is yes then I'll know I have a technique problem that I have to work on. In my case I have to make 3 passes to get baby-butt closeness, 2 with the grain and 1 against.

Assumptions: a quality 6/8, 1/1 or 1/2 hollowed razor honed by people such as Lynn, Bill, etc. A 3 day growth which amounts to light stubble since I don't have a heavy beard.

I would guess that most if not all
require 3 passes for a BBS shave.
I know that I have to do 3 passes.
I don't have a heavy beard either.


Terry

Yes, very reasonable. The only thing your missing that I needed in my toolkit was a few years of practice and a very good understanding of prep.

for ultra smooth I can do it in two passes, but if your talking about it being so smooth that you cant tell that your face has the ability to even grow hair when you touch it all day after the shave...its 3 passes, for me anyway.

I would say 2 passes is the minimum to get BBS unless you have a really fine beard. It also depends on how many days growth your dealing with. I find if I have two days I get the best shaves with the minimum of passes.

a everday shave I only have to do 1 pass everywhere except my chin. For a BBS shave it takes 2 passes

It takes me 3 passes for a real BBS shave, where you can't detect any hair. 2 passes for a reasonably clean shave.

Duke,

One of the most important things I learned when I first started using a DE was a bit of advice from Joe Lerch. The key to getting a great shave is multiple passes, with the goal of each pass to REDUCE the stubble. Not eliminate it. If you try for a perfect shave with one pass, you are applying a great deal of pressure, with the end result being red, irritated skin, that will probably include a few ingrown hairs. One other thing I had to learn, and it took time to accept, is that a great shave is one that looks good and one that your are satifisfied with. I've had to learn that every shave will not be perfectly smooth. But a perfectly smooth shave with red, blotchy skin is not a great shave, just a smooth one. Those two tidbits of advice mean I geat a great shave 9 out of 10 times. The final thing I will toss in, and this is my big pet peeve, is the use of N-S, S-N, E-W terminology. To work on getting a great shave, you need to understand the growth pattern of your beard. Just shaving straight down, straight across and straight up will still result in irritation. The key words to learn are "with the grain, across the grain, and against the grain". That means that each pass may result in strokes of different directions. But learning the growth pattern will help result in a great shave. I promise.

RT

Thanks for all of that. So it appears that my needing 3 passes is not unusual at all. Good. Also, it seems my technique isn't at fault either. I also learned that even with a great razor sharpened to the highest degree by the pro's it still will take 2-3 passes to get it BBS, which is what I always strive for. That's all very useful information, and I thank you all for providing it.

I wouldn't make 3 passes a daily ritual if I were you. It will cause a cumulative irritation effect. I do 2 passes daily, with about 2-3 3 pass shaves a week, when I'm working with one of my favourites or when I have a special occasion on that day.