BBS Confusion

[WetShaveSA]

Are there different degrees of BBS?

My thoughts were that if you could cannot feel any satubble in any direction then you have achieved this, althought quite elusive, I have achieved this state a couple of times, but here is the thing....

I am unable to feel stubble anywhere on my face, running my fingers in all directions, BUT... looking at my face, it still looks like there is a 5o'clock shadow even though I can't feel it.

Is there something wrong? When I was using my Mach3, once the razor burn/blood/rash had cleared, there was no shadow, although I could still feel stubble afterwards.

Been pondering this for a few days now, the only explanation I can come to ( assuming that BBS is the ultimate) is that with the Mach3 face hacker, the swollen skin was hiding the shadow, while now, the stubble is cut off cleanly at the skin surface without swelling... but it is probably a technique issue.

Any Ideas?

[media]

It will take a while for your face to get used to DE. I used to notice the same thing.
it will be back to normal in no time. Give it about 90 days.

[Rossmeister]

Well. In many cases multi-blade systems drag the hairs out of your skin. When they're finally cut, they're already dragged out more than usual, and thus cut below the skin.

This doesn't happen when you put one blade against the skin, unless you stretch your skin a whole lot.

This could be why. For some people with dark facial hair, it's hard to "hide" it no matter what they do and how they cut.

[talbotdale]

My understanding is that Mach 3s and the like actually lifted the whisker and cut it off and then "dropped it back in" to the follicle, thereby leaving no 5 o'clock shadow. If this were true, though, I am surprised that you would still be able to feel stubble even when you couldn't see a shadow.

With a DE, I get very close shaves, but I can still see whiskers. I assume this is because the blade does not lift the whisker, it simply cuts it flush with the skin. I'm not sure about this.

Quite frankly, I never minded my cartridge Gillette Sensor shaves. They were fast, close and comfortable. I simply grew tired of the price. The nice surprise has been since shifting to DE--and joining this forum--I have genuinely grown to enjoy the humble task of shaving.

[talbotdale]

Ha, great minds think alike. By the time I posted my reply, Rossmeister had just posted with the same answer.

Tal

[WetShaveSA]

Thanks guys, only have about 40 days DE shaving under the belt, will never give up, feels 100 times better than Mach3, found myself finding reasons not to shave to avoid the pain, now I can't wait to indulge every day.

Lets not even go down the price road.

I do have a dark beard and light skin, so this will also be playing a role, will continue as is, if it changes, good, if not, who cares, it FEELS great.

[Luc]

I always have the 5 o'clock shadow look... Regardless if it's BBS or not. BBS is smooth, no stubble in any directions. I think you made it. Lately, I'm having lighter coloured beard post-shaving...

[Hank21]

Prep. Go slow.

Shave for comfort.

[mstrunck]

I have an addition to the initial question of degrees of BBS:

Under what pressure of your hand?

I frequently get shaves that has no stubble feel in any direction, when running my fingers lightly over my skin, yet if I apply pressure to the fingers I will feel stubble going against the grain.

Is that BBS in your opinion?

[ltjaw]

I'm wondering the same.

[Hank21]

It's not worth trying to polish that area to
the same degree as everything else. If you
continue shaving you'll damage your skin.

Shave for comfort.

[jpkunst]

Actually, the situation that the OP describes is a little more complicated than "multiblades cut hair off below the skin and DE doesn't".

He says:


with a DE, I can still see stubble but I can't feel anything.
with a multiblade, I can't see stubble anymore but I can still feel it.


Sounds strange. I wouldn't have an explanation for something like that.

[Go West Young Man]

I have an addition to the initial question of degrees of BBS:

Under what pressure of your hand?

I frequently get shaves that has no stubble feel in any direction, when running my fingers lightly over my skin, yet if I apply pressure to the fingers I will feel stubble going against the grain.

Is that BBS in your opinion?


The answer is..... who cares? Are you happy with your shave? Is your skin irritation free? Do you see any stubble? That's the only thing you should be looking at when evaluting your shave.

[ltjaw]

The answer is..... who cares? Are you happy with your shave? Is your skin irritation free? Do you see any stubble? That's the only thing you should be looking at when evaluting your shave.

This being the shave clinic/newbie check-in forum, I think the issue is more a clarification for the new shavers, a calibration or point of comparison of our shave against that of the more experienced shavers. Yes, I think most of us newbies are quite happy with our shaves. Our results will likely improve with practice, but to what extent? Should we content ourselves with what we are doing, or should we change things up for better results? I thought I was happy with my cartridge razor shaves. There was a quantum leap in terms of quality of shave for me on just my first few DE shaves. Will I see further dramatic improvement? This is why we newbies ask for clarification on the much used descriptor, BBS.

I should also mention that I agree with Go West, and this is the standard I have been using (i.e., personal satisfaction with shave). Still, these discussions are interesting and informative.

[Go West Young Man]

Agreed. But this being the Newbie forum, I kind of make it personal mission to counter the normal B+B OCD trends that can overwhelm a beginner. Shaving should be easy, but we make it unecessarily complicated a lot of the time.

[BlackBard]

Agreed. But this being the Newbie forum, I kind of make it personal mission to counter the normal B+B OCD trends that can overwhelm a beginner. Shaving should be easy, but we make it unecessarily complicated a lot of the time.

Total agreement. I think there is too much obsession about minutia. For example, I have been using soap and a brush for over 40 years. Every time I lather up it is a familiar but unique experience because there are so many variables at work. Maybe my brush is slightly more or less wet than yesterday. Maybe the bathroom is more or less humid that morning. There could be a little more or less soap loaded on my brush. For me, attending to these differences does not make it more complicated, just more interesting. It is the interaction of all these variables, requiring some adjustment or accommodation, that make my participation in the process enjoyable. Canned goo is so predictable that, even it it were as good as my soaps, I still would not want to use it.

As with driving a car, you can pay attention to the direction of the wind, condition of the road and traffic around you or you can just drive. The former is not more complicated, just more involving.

[ltjaw]

Shaving should be easy, but we make it unecessarily complicated a lot of the time.

Yes. I think if we posted the MMPI (personality test the shrinks use) for everyone to take, we'd find a bit of OCD at B&B. Thanks for trying to keep it simple and real for us newbs.

So the answer to the OP we're reaching is, BBS is whatever feels like a clean, comfortable shave to the individual shaver. And for many of us, BBS simply means I enjoyed the hell outta my shave today.

[WetShaveSA]

Thank you all for the info, I am going to try and answer as many of the questions as I can in one go, Pressure of fingers, fairly hard pressure, no stubble, SWMBO has checked and agreed, so if she is happy that it's smooth, then its BBS to me.

I was more concerned that I may have been doing something wrong technique wise, but it seems that a) it is too soon to judge, skin still needs to adjust. b) depending on darkness of beard, and contrast with skin, there is a good chance that the shadow will always be noticeable to some degree - which is fine.

As far as comfort and feel go, I have been shaving for 30 years, this is without a doubt the best shaving results I have EVER had. I would never have believed that using the "old" razor and blades ( and only one blade at that) would have been so superior to the modern, supposedly high tech solutions... clearly some things just cant be beat.


If the results remain exactly as the are now, I will be a very happy man, getting up a little earlier every day by choice to enjoy ME Time.


As a newbie, I just wanted to confirm that BBS is in fact not feeling stubble - ie, it is a feeling, not a look, look depends on beard/skin combo.


All the newbie advise mentions not to expect perfection at first, but there was no mention about the look, but thanks to all you helpful guys, I now know that some always have a shadow look, and others experienced this at first, but it went away after 3 months or so.

Now that I know that my technique is acceptable, I will just concentrate on fine tuning it. Didn't want to be fine tuning some sort of unknown bad habit.

All we need now is some method to increase beard growth so we can enjoy this indulgence more often, once a day just isn't enough.

[Luc]

I have an addition to the initial question of degrees of BBS:

Under what pressure of your hand?

I frequently get shaves that has no stubble feel in any direction, when running my fingers lightly over my skin, yet if I apply pressure to the fingers I will feel stubble going against the grain.

Is that BBS in your opinion?

I usually start with a light pressure but sometimes I apply a lot of pressure and still don't feel any stubble.

I would qualify the shave as BBS if you don't feel any stubble in any direction while applying the same pressure as when you shave (none).