BBS is just as controversial as pretty much anything else related to shaving. Some folks barely have any whiskers on their face and for them 2 pass shave is more than enough to achieve a BBS while others have to do a lot more than that and even then their faces still have a permanent black dots which they can't remove no matter how much they try.
My definiton of BBS is that when i'm done shaving, my face feels around 95% extremely smooth and the 5% is barely noticable mostly in some parts on my neck, chin and moustache. Since I have only one face equiped with one type of skin and whiskers, I can only imagine what others might consider as BBS, but if they feel like they have achieved one, then that's that matters.
There are other definitions like DFS (damn fine shave) and CCS (close, comfortable shave) and lots of folks are happy with them and they don't give a damn about BBS. Keep in mind that people back in the day when DE razors were popular and pretty much everyone was using one, the 3-4-10 pass shaves as well as BBS, DFS, CCS and many other things never existed back then and I bet most folks back then were doing one pass shaves with maybe a little bit of touch up and that's it.
Some folks are even rubbing cotton on their faces as a test if they've achieved a BBS or not. I'm not judging anyone and I really don't care what others are doing. If whatever they are doing it working, then good for them.
Thank you for this post, as I can relate. I just did a shave today that some parts would be considered BBS, while other parts DFS. This is because I am one of those folks who have difficult course thick wiry whiskers, and they grow out densely.
This means that even after doing a WTG, XTG, and ATG, enough to knick myself in places in the process, I still didn't achieve a BBS everywhere, and I don't think I ever will. Also, I might be running into a new issue where the blade is getting dull, its kind of hard for me to tell.
Since I am a new DE shaver, I don't have much experience, except for the first experiences that I am going through now. But my face can be a real pain to shave. Cause I don't just have to deal with my course hair, but I am also deal with tiny moles on my face that I keep knicking.
So for me, while I do prefer a BBS shave most certainly, I have to accept, that I just have one of those faces where its not easy to achieve that. I got to work hard to get a BBS, and I more often then not just end up cutting myself in the process. Todays shave is proof of that after doing all those passes.
So I agree, if its too much difficulty trying to get a BBS just stop. This is what I am going to have to train myself up on. Cause while I want a BBS, well, sometimes my face says no, so ya. It is what it is. Truth is, a DFS is already better then anything anybody got back in the 1940's with a DE razor.
Just as you said, the technology of DE razors back in the day were no where near as good as today, and folks didn't have all the options available to them that we have today. So most folks got less then a DFS back in the day, and what would that be anyway, whats less then a DFS, I don't know lol.
Maybe like your saying, making just one or two passes?