I am mostly doing WTG passes now. I can only do ATG with certain blades. But I find the smoothest blades dont go ATG for me, but give a very passable shave WTG and XTG. I will certainly be revisiting these blades now I am no longer chasing BBS.
I use blades from 60s up mostly, very few carbons but the ones I do use are remarkable.So how old is vintage? I recently unwrapped and shaved with a Blue Blade with King’s portrait on the blue wrapper. They put some steel in the blades back then.
I gave up chasing BBS a couple years ago. I came to the realizations that:
1-BBS often requires me to do 3 or 4 passes which led to a raw, red neck
2-In an hour, my face/neck will no longer feel BBS
3-No one can see if I have a BBS shave, but people can see a red, raw, razor burned neck
I now do 2 passes with a little touch up in a couple places on my jaw line and neck. My morning shave has gotten quicker, happier, and actually closer since I learned to focus on good technique for two passes.
I felt that way for a while, but then I realized that those guys have the whiskers of a hairless cat on a face of buffalo hide.I do admit, I feel a little less-than compared to the guys that get the BBS without the irritation, but man I've been trying for a year this December for BBS and as much as I try, the ingrowns hit me. Must. Step. Back.
One thing a barber friend of mine told me, we're not good judges of our own beards. What do we have to compare it to? Who else do we shave? He had a shop catering to a wealthy clientele, some he shaved every morning before they went to the office. He said that unless their beards were painfully obviously thin everyone thought they had a heavy coarse beard, but , again, like he says, average is called average for a reason.I felt that way for a while, but then I realized that those guys have the whiskers of a hairless cat on a face of buffalo hide.
One thing a barber friend of mine told me, we're not good judges of our own beards. What do we have to compare it to? Who else do we shave? He had a shop catering to a wealthy clientele, some he shaved every morning before they went to the office. He said that unless their beards were painfully obviously thin everyone thought they had a heavy coarse beard, but , again, like he says, average is called average for a reason.
Could very well be!I felt that way for a while, but then I realized that those guys have the whiskers of a hairless cat on a face of buffalo hide.
Chasing a BBS shave definitely lead me to over shaving especially at the bottom of my neck. Not sure if I have true whorls going on but it does get tricky for me to truly figure out WTG and ATG on my neck hence the irritation I think. So not chasing let's me step back a bit and just focus on avoiding the irritation. You just need to be fine with the feel of a little stubble, which I now am, cos it's way better than an ingrown hair.What I want to know about average beards is this: how common are neck whorls, where it seems impossible
A) to find a direction that is WTG or ATG
or
B) to get all the way to BBS.
I wouldn’t call those areas particularly coarse or heavy, but they are hands down the hardest to shave close. I don’t think they are particularly sensitive, but after I started down the perfect BBS road I always overshaved and irritated my whole neck.
You're right, that is the hardest area to shave close, but..What I want to know about average beards is this: how common are neck whorls, where it seems impossible
A) to find a direction that is WTG or ATG
or
B) to get all the way to BBS.
I wouldn’t call those areas particularly coarse or heavy, but they are hands down the hardest to shave close. I don’t think they are particularly sensitive, but after I started down the perfect BBS road I always overshaved and irritated my whole neck.
I get BBS everytime without chasing it. I think it's slightly due to my insensitive skin but mostly due to equipment. I have been keeping a daily shave log since 2013 tracking every little aspect and factor and ever since I went strictly vintage, razors and blades, I've been getting BBS every single time. No chasing, no weepers.Chasing a BBS shave definitely lead me to over shaving especially at the bottom of my neck. Not sure if I have true whorls going on but it does get tricky for me to truly figure out WTG and ATG on my neck hence the irritation I think. So not chasing let's me step back a bit and just focus on avoiding the irritation. You just need to be fine with the feel of a little stubble, which I now am, cos it's way better than an ingrown hair.
Ok I got you. And that makes sense. I'm getting more comfortable shaves for sure but you know that feeling when you're cutting just a bit more whiskers after two days? I kind of like that. Of course, this will be very individual and based on how much hair grows back and how fast it grows back. I'm still on the three-pass routine though.In contrast, I seem to have given up skipping days.
First, because my face is feeling great and not demanding a respite. I even shave on Sundays.
Second, now that I’m not constantly rating my shaves I can do two comfortable, effective passes really quickly if need be and get on with my day.
Cool seeing how folks tweak their routines for comfort!My new restrained discipline includes not swapping blades between razors and only keeping two DEs loaded at a time. I change blades when rotating in a different razor.
So the Wunderbar was ready for a rest. I got reckless and put one unit of my newly enlarged inventory of Hi-stainless Feathers into my Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Bakelite Open Comb Slant.
Aggressive razor + sharp blade = very close shave (whisper it, BBS). Which also featured the unnoticed reopening of an almost healed shave wound.
So my definition of ‘chasing’ now includes putting my most aggressive razors in the rotation. I had also queued up my Muhle R41. (Intending to Feather it too. I’m dumb, right?)
The fresh Feather fled to my Merkur 37C. The PBOCS is shelved until Thanksgiving. I am chastened and restrained, once more.
Btw, one of these days I'm going to get my hands on a Muhle R41 to see what that's all about.
For me, blood, mainly. I have to watch the angle as I set it on my neck. Might as well load it like this: