BBS: great but irritating.

[ShaveAddict]

Hi,
since 2 days took the decision to aim for BBS when i shave.
In fact it's been 9 months since i use a DE and never went for BBS, fearing the irritation and bumps.
I wasn't satisfied anymore whit DFS, still feeling stubbles here and there after shaving.
I didn't had any irritation while shaving like that but i wasn't feeling i had great shaves.
So i pass from 2 pass North-South, to drastically go for 1 pass North-South, 1 ear to chin angle, 1 East-West on the cheeks and 1 ATG both on neck and cheeks.
I was happy whit the result , feeling absolutely no hairs left on my face, a great feeling.
Now it's been 3 days i shave like that and BBS each time, but it comes whit a price to pay: irritation and razor burn.
I was asking myself if i should continue shaving like that.
The problem is i don't know if my skin will adapt to that new way of shaving , or if it will get worse and i will be stuck whit irritation and bumps all my life.
Let me know what you think about that.
Thanks.

[sodajerk]

Daily, I do 2 passes except upper lip and chin which get 3 and get BBS without any irritation. As you know, however, beards are different.

Looks like you've been shaving a while and this may not mean much but make sure you have a good, slick lather and re-lather each and every pass. No quick stokes over any area without new lather. I'm constantly telling myself "don't do it!" Another thing I did/do is subconsciously increase pressure when trying to be sure I get BBS. Changed soap and blades?

Not much help I know, but fixing those two things (lather & pressure) eliminate all irritation for me.

[Go West Young Man]

Try focusing on perfecting the 3-pass (WTG / XTG / XTG the other way) shave until you get the best irritation free shave of your life. Then you can slowly start changing the angle of the last past by 5 or so degrees every day, working up to making it an ATG pass.

At some point, you're going to hit the sweet spot where results balance out perfectly against irritation and then you've found your shave pattern. It may not be technically ATG by the books, but if it works for you that's all that counts.

[ShaveAddict]

Try focusing on perfecting the 3-pass (WTG / XTG / XTG the other way) shave until you get the best irritation free shave of your life. Then you can slowly start changing the angle of the last past by 5 or so degrees every day, working up to making it an ATG pass.

At some point, you're going to hit the sweet spot where results balance out perfectly against irritation and then you've found your shave pattern. It may not be technically ATG by the books, but if it works for you that's all that counts.

Thanks for the advice,
and by XTG do you mean ear to chin or east-west pass?

[cvac]

On your XTG passes, you may want to try angling your razor slightly. That is, if you are doing a chin to ear pass, go Northeast and Northwest in relation to the angle the hair grows. Then skip the pure ATG pass. That might get you a little closer than DFS but not quite BBS with less irritation. Personally I never go for BBS as my face can't take it.

[ShaveAddict]

On your XTG passes, you may want to try angling your razor slightly. That is, if you are doing a chin to ear pass, go Northeast and Northwest in relation to the angle the hair grows. Then skip the pure ATG pass. That might get you a little closer than DFS but not quite BBS with less irritation. Personally I never go for BBS as my face can't take it.

Thanks i will try that tomorrow.
The problem is, once you felt the feeling of a BBS you kind of get addict to it.
That mean no 5 o' clock shadow.

[rdeakle]

One thing I've learned you have to watch for when trying to go BBS is that if you still feel a small amount of stubble, dont go back and get it. After you apply your aftershave, and your pours close, and your skin looses some water, the hairs will be sucked into your face, and it will feel BBS. This will prevent you from keep going back and back and back and giving yourself some real irritation and ingrowns etc.

[cardboard]

On your XTG passes, you may want to try angling your razor slightly. That is, if you are doing a chin to ear pass, go Northeast and Northwest in relation to the angle the hair grows. Then skip the pure ATG pass. That might get you a little closer than DFS but not quite BBS with less irritation. Personally I never go for BBS as my face can't take it.

+1. I don't aim for BBS, but once in a while it's nice. On occasions only because SWMBO likes it once in a while.

[dpmtherrien]

Yeah, the BBS is a real tough sell. I find going for that leaves me with quite a bit of irritation, so its not worth it. I'll settle for the CCS and the DFS when it comes along.

[ShaveAddict]

It's 9 pm and i shaved at 8 am this morning, still BBS but still the face on fire
Tomorrow it will be a 1 North-South pass shave.

[nwman]

i suspect all the hype surrounding bbs on these boards contributes to more red and burning faces than any other single factor.

sure newbies need to learn technique but even a mediocre shave can be saved by knocking off early and not continuing to scrape away like grim death just so you can wear that bbs shoulder patch.

i performed more than one surgical skin peel on myself chasing the bbs dragon, but then i am nwman, Lord of the Idiots.

[Defend Tacoma]

With the exception of my neck, BBS is the norm on my face. I guess I didn't realize that I was lucky in that regard. My wife loves it! My neck only gets 1 wtg and 1 xtg pass which greatly reduces the hairs.

[DougK]

i suspect all the hype surrounding bbs on these boards contributes to more red and burning faces than any other single factor.

sure newbies need to learn technique but even a mediocre shave can be saved by knocking off early and not continuing to scrape away like grim death just so you can wear that bbs shoulder patch.

i performed more than one surgical skin peel on myself chasing the bbs dragon, but then i am nwman, Lord of the Idiots.

So true. I learned the hard way to do no more than three passes; any more than three and my face will pay for it. There's nothing wrong with a DFS, which still lasts me through my entire work day. It also gives me another shave to look forward to for the following day.

[jpkunst]

i suspect all the hype surrounding bbs on these boards contributes to more red and burning faces than any other single factor.

+1.

[moonshine44]

So true. I learned the hard way to do no more than three passes; any more than three and my face will pay for it. There's nothing wrong with a DFS, which still lasts me through my entire work day. It also gives me another shave to look forward to for the following day.

This is the way I look at it as well. BBS is a worthy goal, but not at the expense of my face. The act of coddling myself with a nice DE shave is reward enough in itself; the smoothness of the face is just an added bonus...

[slimman]

one thing i've learned you have to watch for when trying to go bbs is that if you still feel a small amount of stubble, dont go back and get it. After you apply your aftershave, and your pours close, and your skin looses some water, the hairs will be sucked into your face, and it will feel bbs. This will prevent you from keep going back and back and back and giving yourself some real irritation and ingrowns etc.

+1

[michiganlover]

+1.

+2

I am firmly in the camp who doesn't make a BBS my goal, and think overall a BBS shave is not worth it. My goal is a close, comfortable, irritation free shave. It's not worth the pain, and embarrassment of razor burn, and irritation to achieve a BBS shave, that nobody but you will ever notice.

Let me repeat that nobody but you will know if you have a BBS shave. If you think you are doing a BBS shave for the benefit of others, get that idea out of your head.

The average person you interact with on a daily basis is only going to notice your shave, if you meet one of two (or both) conditions:

1) You have large patches of visible stubble.
2) You have lots of irritation, and large visible cuts.

Note, that option 1 should not be an issue with even one WTG pass, as the first WTG pass should remove most of the visible stubble.

Why risk irritation, and pain for a result that nobody except yourself will care about?

[Go West Young Man]

Thanks for the advice,
and by XTG do you mean ear to chin or east-west pass?

'XTG' is across the grain of beard growth on your face, not any predetermined compass directions. You'll need to map your own growth to know exactly what WTG, XTG and ATG mean for you, remembering that it will probably change more than once on your face.

[nwman]

Why risk irritation, and pain for a result that nobody except yourself will care about?

amen, soul brother! your post should go out in an email to every new member the day they join.

SAY NO TO THE HOT FACE.

[mars]

I suspect your irritation has something to do with your refusal to replace "whit" with "with" in your posts. I know mine does.