Patience finally pays off! After DE shaving for around 4 months now I finally got that elusive BBS. And without any irritation!
I've always come close but two spots on either side of my neck always seem to give me a problem. I've tried 3 passes, 4 passes (XTG both ways) and the method shaving forms but while it's always reached near BBS, I could always feel those two spots while rubbing my face.
I've watched Mantic's advanced shaving techniques and have tried both blade buffing and J-hooking but it didn't seem to help much before. What did the trick for me was blade buffing over the spots while changing the angle - I started blade buffing over the spot with the angle as one side of a V at the start and finished with the angle at the other. While doing this, I also applied lather with my hands in between changing the angle (like stretching the mix in method shaving) to avoid shaving dry over the spots.
Strangely enough, I'm on my 5th shave with my Gillette 7 O'clock greens (Indian) on both my head and face, which would probably exceed the equivalent of 10 face shaves. I've also started hand stropping the blades before every use to see if this helps the longevity of the blades, which is why I've used this blade for so long - I usually toss the blade after two shaves. I find that the blade seems gentler after the first 2 shaves (head and face) and it's possible that this helped me blade buff in multiple angles without irritation. Everything else in my routine was pretty much the same (EJ Best Badger, Merkur HD, GFT Violet Soap and Musgo Real No.3 AS to finish up and check the burn level!). Now I hope I can get this more often!
Now excuse me while I get back to stroking my face!
I've always come close but two spots on either side of my neck always seem to give me a problem. I've tried 3 passes, 4 passes (XTG both ways) and the method shaving forms but while it's always reached near BBS, I could always feel those two spots while rubbing my face.
I've watched Mantic's advanced shaving techniques and have tried both blade buffing and J-hooking but it didn't seem to help much before. What did the trick for me was blade buffing over the spots while changing the angle - I started blade buffing over the spot with the angle as one side of a V at the start and finished with the angle at the other. While doing this, I also applied lather with my hands in between changing the angle (like stretching the mix in method shaving) to avoid shaving dry over the spots.
Strangely enough, I'm on my 5th shave with my Gillette 7 O'clock greens (Indian) on both my head and face, which would probably exceed the equivalent of 10 face shaves. I've also started hand stropping the blades before every use to see if this helps the longevity of the blades, which is why I've used this blade for so long - I usually toss the blade after two shaves. I find that the blade seems gentler after the first 2 shaves (head and face) and it's possible that this helped me blade buff in multiple angles without irritation. Everything else in my routine was pretty much the same (EJ Best Badger, Merkur HD, GFT Violet Soap and Musgo Real No.3 AS to finish up and check the burn level!). Now I hope I can get this more often!
Now excuse me while I get back to stroking my face!
