How many of us have stopped seeking perfection?

SABOTEURw said:

Interesting. I picked up my game BECAUSE I could tell the difference I mean...why invest money in "specialized shaving" unless I strive to be the best I can at using what I invest in?

Not that there's anything wrong with settling for less. I was there myself. But when my mastery increased, my goal increased. It became counter intuitive to not offer myself the best shave I could get.

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I definitely try to get the best results I can, but I no longer irritate that little tricky spot on my neck trying to achieve BBS everywhere. I prefer to have BBS in most areas and settle in that tricky neck spot. Everyone is different, but to me the possibility of irritation is no longer worth it. Id rather have a DFS in that area and no irritation. Visually no one can tell the difference. Heck even I cant visually tell the difference. The only way I know I got BBS is by feel. But I am the only one that rubs my face at 4am after a fresh shave. When I leave for work my wife is still sleeping and by the time I get home that BBS is long gone.

I've never sought perfection, only joy.

For me, comfort trumps closeness. I'll almost always try to get a perfectly close shave, but I'll stop short if I feel it's going to cause irritation.

ZJ68 said:

For me, comfort trumps closeness. I'll almost always try to get a perfectly close shave, but I'll stop short if I feel it's going to cause irritation.

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Understandable. But there seems to be common acceptance that closeness equates to discomfort which isn't necessarily true. This is not to say that all men can get close shaves, but it seems men occasionally convince themselves they can't get closer shaves. It proved valuable to me to challenge that assumption and I was rewarded for my effort with learning how to get consistently close shaves without discomfort.

Highspeedlane said:

"Perfection" for me was to be able to reliably complete a two pass plus touch up morning shave that resulted in no nicks, cuts or irritation and would get me through a 10 hour work day having shaved at 4am.

I achieved that goal with a couple of different razors and blades and now just enjoy the ride.

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This! This is what I am "chasing," a CCS to DFS every day without adding too much time. As much as I am enjoying learning technique and sampling all the samples, the reality is I work 12 hour days in a retail pharmacy. I need to look clean, and I don't want 5 o'clock shadow when I have 5 more hours to work! And I want to enjoy my shave. And I want to get a decent amount of sleep. And I want.... The Queen song is now running through my head, "I want it all"!! Hopefully you all won't mind my adding that to your internal music player!

In seriousness though, what Highspeedlane wrote is what I really want. Well put, sir!

Eric

Mischief said:

DFS for me! You can try for BBS until your face is irritated beyond belief.
i think that many claiming they get BBS are really get a good DFS.

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+1. Nearly every one of my shaves is a nice DFS. BBS usually by dumb luck. If deliberately go for the BBS I'm rewarded with irritation. So I figure that since I'm not required to have a BBS, I'm a stay at home father and could go full on yet I if wanted, why cause undue pain and suffering to my face.

azwetshaver said:

I definitely try to get the best results I can, but I no longer irritate that little tricky spot on my neck trying to achieve BBS everywhere. I prefer to have BBS in most areas and settle in that tricky neck spot.

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That tricky neck part right in the center? I get that too! I wait until my days off to tackle it. Took care of it this morning.

I was in London recently and was able to get into Taylor of Old Bond Street for a shave. It was a great experience! My cheeks were glassy smooth all day and into the next.

But, the problem spots I struggle with myself - jaw line and lower neck - were really no better than I usually achieve. No irritation, but not BBS.

Nazeem shaves at one of the top shops in the world all day, every day. If this is what he can do, it's what I should be going for too.

Like others here, I'm learning to relax and try to replicate that shave with no irritation.

SABOTEURw said:

Understandable. But there seems to be common acceptance that closeness equates to discomfort which isn't necessarily true.

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I don't think it's closeness that causes discomfort, it's overshaving trying to get close that causes the discomfort.

Mischief said:

DFS for me! You can try for BBS until your face is irritated beyond belief.
i think that many claiming they get BBS are really get a good DFS.

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+1

Perfection for me is a shave that feels great and looks good. It is hard for me to grasp the concept of BBS vs DFS. Every day I enjoy my shave, get a smooth face, and the wife tells me how smooth it is. if I rub my hands along the jow line and going agains the grain I may feel some slight stubble but I feel I always will. To me a true BBS shave is sort of unobtainable. I am happy with what I get and lovin it.

Happy Thanksgiving

ZJ68 said:

I don't think it's closeness that causes discomfort, it's overshaving trying to get close that causes the discomfort.

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I don't think it's over shaving that causes discomfort, it's failure to use a light touch that causes the discomfort.

i do 2 pass first atg then xtg and thats it usally everything is BBS but my adams apple but its not big deal can barly notice if i try BBS near my adams apple its always bright red.

SABOTEURw said:

That tricky neck part right in the center? I get that too! I wait until my days off to tackle it. Took care of it this morning.

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Mine is right of center. There is about 10 hairs that all go in different directions. No matter which direction I go, its ATG and WTG at the same time. I have to shave everyday for work so irritation free is a must.

I've pretty much gotten there, so I don't strive to go better than perfection. BBS every morning or so close as to make no difference

rockviper said:

My whiskers grow back pretty gosh darn quickly ('tis true!), so I do a 2-pass NS+SN shave and am more than content with my DFS/CCS face/neck combo result. After all, no matter how smooth I get at 5:30am, I still have to shave again the next morning.

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That about sums it up for me, too.

I don't think that getting BBS on EVERY shave is realistic for me, so DFS is just fine. As others have mentioned, only I can tell the difference. Although I do love it when I manage to get a comfortable BBS result.

That said, I find that I get regular BBS shaves on my head. The skin up there doesn't require the same stretching, and there are fewer sharp corners to negotiate.

If we rated steak like we do shaves, "well done" would be perfection and we would spend a great deal of time justifying why rare, medium rare, medium well or well was our preference.

Who does that?

What eludes us is not the closeness of the shave, but why we feel the need to justify what's comfortable for us...like one level of closeness is better than another.

Whatever level of closeness you find comfortable is indeed perfection.

Close and comfortable (dfs)...I do a three pass shave. Why? Well anything less is less time doing something I enjoy! A three pass if done right=quality time minus irritation.

SABOTEURw said:

This whole acronym thing screams of competition. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn this came about because a group of guys got drunk and started bragging about who had the better shave.

Then if THAT wasn't enough, they upped the ante by asserting who among them achieved the better shave fastest.

Makes you wanna holla, "SHUT UP AND SHAVE"...but what would be the fun in that?

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If talking about shaving then nobody is drunk enough. When drunk I'd expect to hear much more racy conversation! Like talking about "shave".

I don't know what a BBS is and not going to feel some other dudes face to find out either. I shave daily for utilitarian purposes. I enjoy it and I suppose perfection to me is what some are calling DFS.

Using DE is old hat to me but thanks to this forum I picked up done Darn Fine Suggestions that has made shaving much more enjoyable.