Are there different grades of BBS?

[JanVanDerVoort]

Exactly!

If you found a razor that does what you need it to do, and you are happy with it, no need to try out other's. I myself was hoping that I would be eternally happy with my Feather AS-D2. Its a great razor and all, but it just didn't make me happy in the end. Now that I have the Rex Ambassador, its a literal game changer now. I am truly happy and content with my Ambassador, don't need anymore.

Some folks in here love collecting razors, and thats fine, more power to them! But I am not in it for the collecting. Now, when it comes to soaps, I admit, I will be buying more of that, I do like my soaps. And I never thought there would ever be a day in my life, that I would have ever said that! But were not talking about bar soap here, were talking about shave soap, the soap of the God's, brought to your face, to make you feel younger, or maybe thats just a placebo. Either way, the lathering up moment is the zen moment of the shave for me.

You know, even with soaps I might have reached my final leg...
Performance-wise I till have to see a soap that doesn't do the job, except for a small experiment with an Aleppo soap.
I hear a lot of people claim tallow is a necessary ingredient. What about Proraso?
My first soaps were classic Tabac and Proraso Green. I still love both.
I went through some woody scents (TOBS Sandalwood), some spicy/bay rum scents (Bundubeard Spicy Passage), almond (Cela), tobacco (Razorock Santa Maria del Fiore) and then I bought Proraso White. I really do love the smell. It was my first citrusy soap. I now have a tub of Master Soap Creations Citrus Melody (mentholated) and I'm just blown away by the scent. I really seem to like citrus.
I'm sure I'll continue using my Martin de Candre Original (Lavender) and might eventually get their Agrumes soap. But besides that? Where else to go?

 

[JanVanDerVoort]

Where else to go you ask? Well, ARKO, my good boy

Indeed, how could I forget?

Don't you just love companies with less than a handful of scents (or just that one finger ;-)
You must be super confident in your product!

 

[Phoenixkh]

I have several razors in my rotation. They're all excellent...I can get a BBS with all of them. A couple are a bit more difficult to achieve a BBS than others. However, for me, there are variations of BBS. Immediately after the shave, I can tell that I've achieved a BBS result, but it's the length of time it lasts that's very telling. For example, I can get a BBS with my Lupo razors and I'll start to feel stubble in the early afternoon around 2pm-3pm. I can use my Wolfman WR2 1.15 and the growth will really start to get noticeable around 4pm-5pm. Now, my WR1 Wolfman, the growth will really start to be noticeable in the late evening around 6pm-7pm. The same goes for my DSCosmetic Z0...growth is noticeable in the late evening. For my Karve and Game Changer, the growth is noticeable around noon. So...all of them can achieve a BBS result, but how deep did it go? The noticeable return of whisker growth tells the tale.

I notice that with my Claymore Evolution. If I use the Feather ProGuards, I don't feel any whiskers for what seems to be ages. I just started trying the ProSoft Guard blades. They are more narrow so they don't protrude out the same amount as the other Feather AC blades and give a milder shave. I can get my face smooth... but after 7 or 8 hours, I can start to feel my whiskers show back up. Funny how that works.

 

[Rocket 1]

The following is my personal experience:

FEEL wise, a BBS is basically where I can't feel roughness against the grain.

LOOK wise, there are different levels for me.
I have dark black stubble and light olive skin so I'm plagued with something I refer to as "post-shave-shadow".

My aim is to minimise this post shave shadow, that's when I consider it a true BBS.

I only use Wizamet and BIC blades as they work very nicely to minimise the shadow.
Many other blades give BBS feel wise but leave a darker shadow.

I should mention the blackbird has become my favorite razor as it's a very deep cutting razor that helps minimise the shadow, without inflaming my skin!

I have the same motivations regarding "post shave shadow" and beard/skin tone as @nav describes . And coincidentally, after a few shaves with my new Blackbird Ti (with a Bic), it has become the first razor to minimize that shadow in my more problematic and dense areas.

 

[nav]

I have the same motivations regarding "post shave shadow" and beard/skin tone as @nav describes . And coincidentally, after a few shaves with my new Blackbird Ti (with a Bic), it has become the first razor to minimize that shadow in my more problematic and dense areas.

Excellent! Glad you've discovered this combo!

I've now been using the blackbird/BIC combo for several months and I really just can't reach for any other razor!

I've never experienced such a light post shave shadow than with this combo.
The BBS smoothness is also the longest lasting.

The magic doesn't end there...the blackbird does all this and never leaves my skin feeling raw, despite being used for my daily 4 pass shave!

 

[Rocket 1]

Excellent! Glad you've discovered this combo!

I've now been using the blackbird/BIC combo for several months and I really just can't reach for any other razor!

I've never experienced such a light post shave shadow than with this combo.
The BBS smoothness is also the longest lasting.

The magic doesn't end there...the blackbird does all this and never leaves my skin feeling raw, despite being used for my daily 4 pass shave!

Exactly! I thought for sure after extra passes it would be incredibly irritated. It was not. My lower neck line, shaved with multiple passes, appears not affected. No feedback from AS splash. What is this sorcery? I do wonder if the blade curvature is part of the reason. I did try Perma-sharp today but I am not sure it is a fit. I have some Wizamets on order as well.

 

[CCS]

Are there different grades of BBS? No. BBS is BBS. A lesser shave is something else (NTTAWWT).

 

[nav]

Exactly! I thought for sure after extra passes it would be incredibly irritated. It was not. My lower neck line, shaved with multiple passes, appears not affected. No feedback from AS splash. What is this sorcery? I do wonder if the blade curvature is part of the reason. I did try Perma-sharp today but I am not sure it is a fit. I have some Wizamets on order as well.

Wizamet is slightly less sharp than BIC but just wait until you experience the smoothness of the blackbird/Wizamet combo!

 

[razorfool]

There might be different levels of BBS and what I have concluded that you can achieve BBS with a DFS++ by just using some balm, maybe cheating to some but a lot easier on the skin. I shave in the morning and most folks will be a little dehydrated and that is when I have a shave. If I have a close shave the last thing I apply is a dollop of CeraVe moisturizing lotion(Scentless so not to conflict with aftershave scent) and it will retain the moisture and being the hair follicle is deeper below the skin surface is sort of buried as the surface skin hydrates(expands) after a glass or 2 of water.
This picture is a old archived photo taken with my UBS microscope (400X) 3 years ago I took of a BBS that has sort of sunken follicles as shown. The DE razor cut the whiskers flush to the surface of the skin with a sharp blade, but why does the follicle's look sunken?
It proves my thought that 1 hr after a shave it looks like this photo and you have a DFS++>BBS shave IMO.
Not sure you have a BBS just use a cotton ball test, cotton will hang up on whiskers protruding.
View attachment 1428253
Have some great shaves!

Ever have a problem with ingrown whiskers? This looks scary to me.

 

[razorfool]

Our sons are in their 40s now... so it's been a while since I felt a baby's bottom. I don't really think my face will ever feel that smooth.. regardless. That being said, I'm getting pretty smooth shaves with my AC Single Edge Claymore Evolution. And it's a joy to use.

I would love to feel confident enough to try a straight razor, but I'm not, no matter how many times people say I could learn. I did fine carpentry work over about 1/3 of my working years. I only relate that to say... I know my hands. They aren't what they used to be.

I find, after all my efforts, that chasing the elusive BBS is sort of a waste of time. The beard won't stop growing, and if it did, I wouldn't have any fun shaving anymore. I get close to BBS with my new Henson razor, I benched my Rex Ambassador and all the rest of aggressive razors, including the Beast (2011), and just kick back and enjoy the experience. Milder razors can be a lot of fun too, and if a BBS makes and appearance, so much the better!

 

[Ron R]

Ever have a problem with ingrown whiskers? This looks scary to me.

I rarely get a ingrown and I did have a bad one years ago and took photo's of it and how I removed it and ........

Ingrown Hair, How I dealt with mine.

I have been shaving for sometime with Cartridges, DE & SE razors. I don't recall ever getting a ingrown and it is a irritating experience to say the least. I ordered a tweezer kit that has not shown up yet and I wanted this painful hair out because it makes my shaves not very enjoyable at all...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[razorfool]

I rarely get a ingrown and I did have a bad one years ago and took photo's of it and how I removed it and ........

Ingrown Hair, How I dealt with mine.

I have been shaving for sometime with Cartridges, DE & SE razors. I don't recall ever getting a ingrown and it is a irritating experience to say the least. I ordered a tweezer kit that has not shown up yet and I wanted this painful hair out because it makes my shaves not very enjoyable at all...

www.badgerandblade.com

Thank you for the reply. Looks like a good procedure, I will keep for reference just in case.

 

[DrStrange]

Ever have a problem with ingrown whiskers? This looks scary to me.

I had a problem with ingrown whiskers when I used an electric razor.

 

[Psychtec]

Exactly.

I've long been of the opinion that a BBS shave is a myth. But that's based on my definition of it and the evidence (or lack thereof) I can feel on my face. The assumption is that it is typically defined as complete and utter smoothness of the skin with absolutely no feel of residual stubble regardless of the direction the face is rubbed. (Assuming also the well established facial hair of an adult to begin with.) From my nearly 45+ years of shaving, BBS such as defined is unobtainable. Regardless of how good of a shave I get, there are certain spots where I always can feel, against the grain, residual stubble under the surface - usually the two areas on either side of the chin. In the past I've driven myself crazy trying to get those areas - repeated passes in every-which direction, added pressure (!!!), dry shaving after the fact - but to no avail, and almost always with regrettable injury. (Actually the closest I've come, and I think I've actually achieved it, has been to go over those spots with an electric razor after wet shaving. Haven't done that in years though.) I have since received enlightenment from the shaving gods and I'm happy finish with a "good enough" and to try again next time. There won't be much difference in a few hours anyway.

Hercule

What do you think about this?

I agree with you 100%. I think the same way. The ways our face is with its many curves, your definition of true, BBS is rarely if ever achieved. With that said:

What about the phrase “BBS to me”?
This is not the true, traditional BBS, we all know about, and hope to achieve.

1. This could be done using any razor and blade type.
2. This may occasionally be achieved only with the first use of a new blade.
3. I can feel and hear, when I give myself “the best shave in a while”, BBS for me.
4. It takes a little longer than usual.
5. It took more effort and more time than usual.
6. There is more irritation than usual.
7. Yes this will still include some unshavable stubble, in those difficult to shave areas.
8. I call this, nothing I can do about it stubble.

This BBS to me, shave is different compared to my, “I did good shave”
That would be my usual don’t have to think out it, DFS shave. This is my average daily shave I am very pleased with.