Do you chase BBS - at what cost?

[bald as]

Reading many shaving fora, many of the participants chase BBS often reporting 4 or 5 passes but then some, not all report irritation and emotional dissatisfaction.

What is the aim of your shave and what tells you enough is enough.

 

[khun_diddy]

Comfort and lack of irritation are priorities for me. I shave every day I generally shave at night so I'll have some stubble in the morning anyway and it is therefore pointless to chase a BBS.

I'm now consciously trying to reduce the number of passes I make to just two. I find this difficult to do because I love the feeling of a blade running over my face. I'm finding that SE razors get me pretty much shaved after one pass.

 

[Nick the Knife]

Unless it's a special occasion I'll try and work within the law of diminishing marginal returns to get the best 'bang for buck' (smoothness vs hassle/irritation) shave.

Generally this entails 1 x WTG all over, 1 x ATG on chin + slight cleanup/buff on other tricky spots. Does kinda depend on what razor you're using as with something agro like an R41 it'll be one and done, but with a Tech or SS you might do 3 passes. Irritation after shaving stinks and if I get it I've screwed something up.

 

[Glen]

I aim for as smooth as possible with 2 passes, sometimes both wtg, sometimes one wtg and then xtg. As I'm trying better blades I'm finding I don't need to go atg at all. Also, if I don't I can shave again sooner...

 

[Keen edge]

I shave every day, most of the time just two passes for a very good shave.
If I go to an official function, I will do three passes, which will give me BBS nine out of ten times.

 

[alfredus]

I (usually - if I had a sink in my bathroom) shave every second day. I need 4 passes due to my thick whiskers and a crazy growth pattern.

The good thing is, I don't have to chase much and a BBS above the jawline is the norm. Below the jawline I get without any effort a DFS - for a BBS there I have to do some buffing and only do that occasionally.

 

[Drubbing]

It's a waste of time to chase it. It grows back, and the only person that can tell is you.

I find the best shave is a WTG/XTG after a weekend when the beard has time to grow out a bit and soften. To then try and keep it a smooth as possible every day thereafter takes a third pass that I often CBF with.

No close shave is worth creating irritation for. It kind of defeats the purpose of enjoying shaving, and being well shaved.

 

[eggbert]

I can't even bf to do wtg/xtg any more. I pretty much just go north-south then south to north and get almost as good a shave as when I chase something really smooth.

 

[Mark]

Tough one. I always tell myself that a DFS is good enough by aiming for a close and comfortable shave. But most days like today I just don't want to leave any survivors. I don't get irritation so I guess it's not an issue for a fussy prick like me.

 

[Dale.Whiley]

Tough one. I always tell myself that a DFS is good enough by aiming for a close and comfortable shave. But most days like today I just don't want to leave any survivors. I don't get irritation so I guess it's not an issue for a fussy prick like me.

I find that now I have a reasonable technique with the straight, a daily 3-pass then tidy up around the neck does not cause irritation.