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BBS achievement unlocked - Have you found yours?

While nothing new to most here, but I think I've finally found my unicorn combo -- With my newly acquired re-plated Gillette NEW I also tried the Gillette 7o'clock Blacks (Super Platinum) and holy smokes!... finally, a truly comfortable BBS in 1 pass with a tiny clean up below the jaw.
For those keeping score, I also used Musgo Real pre-oil, cream, and balm. I'll be curious how the 7OcB's work in my Fatboy and Heritage.

How many of you stick with a known great shave vs. mixing it up for the sake of variation or the hobby?
 

EclipseRedRing

I smell like a Christmas pudding
I swap everything for every shave; I purposely try not to use the same kit for two shaves running in order that I use everything I own, which is too much. I don't care about BBS or even about the closeness of the finished shave as long as I look presentable, and more importantly, that I enjoy the process of shaving.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
Always the same razor, usually a PolSilver or Wizamet (virtually the same blade), but occasionally I dabble with a different blade.

I'm currently using two soaps: MdC and Canada, which is beginning to feel redundant as they seem extremely similar.

Always Thayer's w/aloe followed by Clinique moisturizer.

Brushes! This is the place where I get some variety. I alternate (don't take that too literally) SOC TSN LE boar, SOC Mistura (even though it's too scritchy) and SOC 2 band badger. I recently purchased a new travel brush (Muhle STF) and use that occasionally. I'll use the Kent BK8, SOC boar and Thater boar with the scuttle.
 
I put a blade in a razor and I leave it there and use a DE razor until the blade is done, this is a compromise that I have come to because I don't like keeping multiple razors loaded. I don't exactly use that loaded razor every day as I like to sprinkle in a wild card, but I don't load another DE anyway. I only have 3 DE razors that see regular use and that might mean several weeks straight. I do have multiple SE razors that the blades never wear out so those have to be stored loaded which is part of why I try to avoid that with DEs, plus DEs can't exactly be stored blade down for safety!

I mix things up a bit with the software. I use SV several times a week, every week. I usually have one or two artisan soaps, or creams, that I pick out and keep handy. I usually change them around every week. SV does better if it is used regularly so I only change the one I am using when I want to put it away for the year and move on to another scent. It's going to be very hard, as usual, to put away Tundra Arctica in about a month.

I grab brushes based on a combination of what will work for the day's soap and random preference, sometimes the synthetics when I am in a hurry.
 

Old Hippie

Somewhere between 61 and dead
I generally use whichever razor I'm on for two weeks/6 shaves. Then I bin the blade, which is usually the same blade (Astra SP). Usually sometime in the second week I'll start thinking about what I want to pull out next. Just going into Week Two with this round on the Superslant L3SB. Debating just turning it around and putting another blade in it after next week. Also I've been meaning to pull out the Wunderbar and see if the new techniques unlocked by the Superslant are transferrable (they are to the Konsul, I've got that).

Sometimes I get "bucked off" a razor, or use a razor that I can't use for a whole two weeks, or get a hankering to haul out my Gem Jr. Bar lather catcher and use that a couple times (or some other razor). When that happens I usually declare a Jubilee and use several razors until all the blades I've pulled out for different razors are done and binned, then go back to my usual every-two-weeks practice.

I've been using the same brush for about two years. I have others; just not motivated to change it. My usual soap is homemade and only the scent varies. I've done red cedar and peppermint and have a bottle of grapefruit essential oil that I'll use in the next batch. Between batches I often use Yardley Almond and Oatmeal soap, which I get for $2.20 a bar (and cut in half to fit in my mug).

At the moment I'm using up an Arko stick that was piffed to me about three years ago. I stumbled onto it and thought "Oh, what the heck. If it's great I'll get more; if it's not all that and a sack of chips at least it'll be gone." Then a couple more pucks of Old Hippie's Peppermint Trip soap to get through and I'll be making the grapefruit version. At the moment "Dope-Smack of Enlightenment" is the front running name option.

Although I am comfortable with my routines, to paraphrase @Ron R, "A guy has to know when to quit." Taking an occasional Jubilee to break up the routines a bit keeps things on track.

O.H.
 
While nothing new to most here, but I think I've finally found my unicorn combo -- With my newly acquired re-plated Gillette NEW I also tried the Gillette 7o'clock Blacks (Super Platinum) and holy smokes!... finally, a truly comfortable BBS in 1 pass with a tiny clean up below the jaw.
For those keeping score, I also used Musgo Real pre-oil, cream, and balm. I'll be curious how the 7OcB's work in my Fatboy and Heritage.

How many of you stick with a known great shave vs. mixing it up for the sake of variation or the hobby?
Sadly, I do both! :lol1::lol1::lol1:

marty
 
Like brucered's comment above, I, being a minimalist, stick with one of everything. My current inventory is:

Prep: The Cube 2.0 Menthol using Van der Hagen brush.
Blade: BIC Chrome Platinum Blade #4 of 100 Shave #8
Razor: King C Gillette
Soap: Noble Otter Lonestar (using nuked filtered water from fridge)
Brush: Noble Otter
Bowl: WCS Timeless Blue
A / S: Pinaud Clubman
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
I can achieve a BBS shave with every razor in my rotation although...a few are more efficient than others. There are four razors of nine that I prefer to use:

They are:

Blackland Blackbird SS OC
Wolfman WR1 .80 OC
Muhle R41 Grande SS
RazoRock Lupo .72 OC

The only razor of those four that I could use daily, if I chose to shave daily, is the Lupo. The others are a tad too efficient/aggressive for me to be a daily driver.

The other razors currently in the stable are:

Wolfman WR1 .72 SB
Wolfman WR2 1.15 SB
RazoRock Lupo .95 OC
DSCosmetic Z0
Karve Brass CB OC - C plate

These are used less often, but still grabbed on occasion.

Some razors I recently removed from my stable and have been relegated to a box in my bureau. I may thin the herd again soon.
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
@JCarr - interesting - wondering why you use the .72 Lupo more than the .95?

It's a good question. The only answer I can give is that it just feels better. And...honestly...I can only detect a slight difference between the two. But the .72 feels better to me. So, I guess it's just personal preference.
 
It's a good question. The only answer I can give is that it just feels better. And...honestly...I can only detect a slight difference between the two. But the .72 feels better to me. So, I guess it's just personal preference.
Sure, I was just curious. I had the .72 but sold or traded it (can't remember which) and now I only have two .95 baseplates (one OC and one SB). I can't decide whether I like the OC or SB variant better.
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
Sure, I was just curious. I had the .72 but sold or traded it (can't remember which) and now I only have two .95 baseplates (one OC and one SB). I can't decide whether I like the OC or SB variant better.
It's a great razor for sure. I think RazoRock hit a home run with that line.
 
I can get BBS, but not consistently, nor do I really work for it. I change up my razor/blade weekly and my software daily, so the combo changes regularly.

I have been not shaving on the weekends, so Monday morning has been three days growth and I can usually get BBS or really close to it. Otherwise, the other four days are DFS.
 
I get BBS most of the time while using one of my R41s or Fatip OC, if not it is usually DFS. I can get to BBS level with R89 or even maybe with Wilkinson TTO but it takes me to many passes and it work mostly with fresh blade. it is so much easier for me with aggressive razors.
 
I had a stroke almost a decade ago so I can't really get my right arm up high enough to stretch my skin, so a BBS is out of the question, but sometimes I can hold the razor where my index finger is free to stretch the bit of skin between it and the head of the razor. I save that technique for the ATG pass on my lower chin and neck.
 
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