Help establish shave rating criteria?

[AshleyC]

What did you use today? And rate it from 1-10.

Yet we have no objective standards for what constitutes a "10". Or any other number. It's all subjective. What if there is a definitive set of targets to meet in order to claim a 10? Or an 8? Would this maybe provide a standard to work for? Let me demonstrate what I mean.

A rating of "1" You remember starting to shave, but don't remember the trip to the hospital or know why the nurse is asking if your tetanus shots are up to date.

Has anyone ever claimed a 1?

"10" Say...90% or better BBS? No nicks, weepers. No irritation. Just a bit of tingle to let you know the alum and AS is working.

The tough part is supplying the criteria for 2 thru 9.

A "9" is perhaps no more than one weeper or one patch of irritation?

If I draw blood, I don't feel right claiming a 10, after all.

An "8" is two cuts or a larger area of irritation.

And so on and so forth.

Or am I being overly pedantic? Or is it that I find New Years Day to be the most boring of days off? Boring, grey...and cold?

 

[brucered]

Feel free to use it yourself, but I can't see it being adopted or used on a wide scale.

That said, all my shaves are a 10.

 

[thombrogan]

My shave ratings are constrictingly binary:

Either I felt like a time-wasting imbecile or a time-wasting imbecile in physical pain

 

[silverlifter]

I think that the common scale: HBB, SAS, DFS, BBS is pretty good in terms of the result. Then there is the matter of the quality of the experience...

• HBB: Hopeless Blood Bath
• SAS: Socially Acceptable Shave
• DFS: Damn Fine Shave
• BBS: Baby Bottom Smooth

 

[gpjoe]

To me a "10" is a perfect BBS with NO TRACE of stubble when feeling anywhere, in any direction, with no blood, and no irritation.

Like unicorns and leprechauns, it does not exist (at least in my world), which is why I have never rated a shave higher than 9.x.

 

[Jay21]

The scale needs to be individualized for each person. The hair on my neck grows very flat and parallel to my skin, with one spot having a big swirl. I can never achieve a BBS there without severe irritation and the likelihood of lots of blood. The best I can hope for, and am pleased to achieve, is a completely sting-free DFS. That would be a 10. I could get a BBS, but the irritation would make the shave a 0 and something I’d never want to try again.

 

[spacemonkey42]

I'm with @gpjoe, a 10 is a perfect BBS, no trace of stubble in any direction on any part of my face. I've never gotten a perfect 10 and I doubt I will.

Most of my shaves were 7.5-8, but after a couple of years of working at it and finding razors that worked well for me, I am now getting 8-9.

 

[GlazedBoker]

What did you use today? And rate it from 1-10.

Yet we have no objective standards for what constitutes a "10". Or any other number. It's all subjective. What if there is a definitive set of targets to meet in order to claim a 10? Or an 8? Would this maybe provide a standard to work for? Let me demonstrate what I mean.

A rating of "1" You remember starting to shave, but don't remember the trip to the hospital or know why the nurse is asking if your tetanus shots are up to date.

Has anyone ever claimed a 1?

"10" Say...90% or better BBS? No nicks, weepers. No irritation. Just a bit of tingle to let you know the alum and AS is working.

The tough part is supplying the criteria for 2 thru 9.

A "9" is perhaps no more than one weeper or one patch of irritation?

If I draw blood, I don't feel right claiming a 10, after all.

An "8" is two cuts or a larger area of irritation.

And so on and so forth.

Or am I being overly pedantic? Or is it that I find New Years Day to be the most boring of days off? Boring, grey...and cold?

All of the above. But, I’ll be honest, you have way too much time on your hands.

“Only two kinds of people Red. Those that get busy living and those that get busy dying.”

Tim Robbins-Shawshank Redemption.

Shave well & live better in ‘24. And don’t sweat the little things…

 

[AshleyC]

Nah, I'm just bored. It was a boring day. As I said, New Years Day is my least favorite holiday.

I would like to have gone to the gym. Closed. A walk? Drizzle. And cold. Shaving with my new Futur was the zenith of my day. I watched 3 old "Columbo" episodes, and realized that the greatest Columbo episode was the one they never thought of producing.

Bob Newhart as the murderer. They could've had him try to establish an alibi using one of his phony phone call gags in front of a witness.

Yep...that was my day.

 

[Eben Stone]

To me a "10" is a perfect BBS with NO TRACE of stubble when feeling anywhere, in any direction, with no blood, and no irritation.

If that's the definition of BBS then I've never achieved one. I've always felt whiskers under the chin ATG.

 

[Leverspro]

My shaving vocabulary is intentionally simple. Good shave or bad shave. Similar to my words for wine. Bad wine and worse wine (I don't like wine).
Some people use a 10 scale every day. Not sure what they mean by it.

 

[Eben Stone]

Like @Leverspro, I also take a simple approach. A shave is either good or bad. My goal is to achieve a shave that is equal or better than my prior shave, in terms of closeness and smoothness and zero alum feedback. If I achieve my goal then it's a good shave, otherwise it's bad. I give myself some slack if I'm trying a new razor or blade. If I reach a plateau, then I buy a more aggressive/challenging razor.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

"10" Say...90% or better BBS? No nicks, weepers. No irritation. Just a bit of tingle to let you know the alum and AS is working.

That would not be a 10 for me, in fact it would be a major disappointment. I love a fierce AS burn after the shave and I am quite prepared to shave too close, or use a bit of pressure, in order to get it. The closeness of the shave, and smoothness of the finish, is of almost no importance to me, instead I value relaxation, quiet contemplation.... and a big burn

 

[spacemonkey42]

A 10 has to be the maximum possible, otherwise your scale would have to go to 11 or 12 or ... Like I said, I don't think I'll ever get a true 10, but things have to be measured vs that.

I also record number of weepers, the comfort during the shave, and a notes field for feedback/irritation/whatever else.

 

[Goblin]

If manage to clean my jawline and neck without causing any irritation, I am happy and would call that a 10 even if it's not BBS. That's not to say BBS doesn't happen.

I kind of prefer a rating scale something like this:

1. FAIL - Serious irritation / shave abandoned / bad cut, etc. This is one that will require a recovery period!
2. SAS - Better than nothing. Rescued from failure by skipping XTG / ATG on difficult areas to avoid serious irritation.
3. DFS - A mostly pleasing result. Maybe there's a small missed spot or some irritation / a lone weeper causing minor AS sting.
4. DFS+ - Closer than DFS. No missed areas but a few stragglers. Maybe one or two irritated follicles, but no AS sting.
5. DFS++ - Almost BBS except for a couple of stragglers. No irritation.
6. BBS - No sign of stubble when checking ATG. No stragglers. No irritation.

But this is my subjective rating as someone who struggles with irritation, and there's potentially not a huge difference between something I would classify a failure and a DFS except for the amount of irritation, i.e. I aimed for DFS when I should have compromised on SAS!

Someone else might have different descriptions and different standards, so whilst there is no objectivity to this type of method, if someone says they got a DFS++ it's enough for me to know that it meets their personal standards for DFS++.

 

[spacemonkey42]

I don't anticipate rating my shaves forever, but I have been doing this for over a year as I improve my technique and try different razors.

I don't use just one number to rate a shave - there are independent factors. One number is the result - a 10 would be perfect, as describe above. Then I roughly rate the comfort during a shave. I also rate the number of weepers. And I have a notes field where I say if there was feedback, irritation, or anything else to note.

These are independent, as one could get a BBS, but it was an uncomfortable shave with tons of weepers and irritation. That's a lot different, and less preferable to me than without that. Heck, I'm going for the 9 range with a comfy shave that gives zero weepers and no feedback.

 

[blethenstrom]

Shave ratings are very subjective by nature. It can even be difficult to stay consistent with yourself over a longer period of time. I am trying to stay consistent, but am I? If you can be somewhat consistent you can over time make some conclusions on if a blade/razor etc works better than another, but you can probably not look at one particular shave and make a judgement. It is all a game of averages.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

Probably needs to be calibrated to your individual goal. If a guy is looking for a quick, comfortable, single pass WTG shave with SAS results, and achieves it, he could call it a 10, even if the next guy does 4 painstaking passes and cleanups to achieve ultimate BBS, and also calls it a 10.

It all grows back, eventually.

 

[BigJ]

….

“Only two kinds of people Red. Those that get busy living and those that get busy dying.”

Tim Robbins-Shawshank Redemption.

Shave well & live better in ‘24. And don’t sweat the little things…

Great quote!! And Happy New Year!!

 

[bberg100]

Good or bad. Not much else. Some days are a bit smoother than others. Can't remember the last nick or weeper.