Head shaving with a straight, an ongoing saga

Entry #1

I'm sure some of you saw my first post about my first straight razor shave. Needless to say that I was hooked after that first shave. I also shave my head. Partly because I look better without hair, and partly because I'm only 28 and going very bald.

Last night I took a shower and got ready to shave. I stropped my borrowed razor, thanks again Lazarus, on my recently purchased Poor Mans Strop from Whipped Dog. I shaved my face, and got through 2 passes with ease. It was my first time trying the ATG pass. Man that's going to take some time to get down. Gotta really work on stretching the skin in the right direction. Once I finished my face up with the Fusion I decided to move north.

I've gotten fairly comfortable holding the razor while doing my face. The head is another world. I lathered up just the top and sides to start with. Doing the top of the head WTG is really ackward as you have to start at the back of your head and come towards the front. Once I got the razor at the right angle I slowly lowered it to my head and started shaving. WOW. This felt really weird and wonderful at the same time. I didn't stretch the skin at all and the blade just seemed to glide accross my scalp. I finished the top WTG pass and thought I might as well try the sides.

Moving to the sides of the head is another strange feeling. You are trying to get your hand and razor in the right position while trying to see what you are doing. You almost have to be a contortionist to get this to work right.I could partially see where the blad was going to hit, but figured I'd just go slow and concentrate on the "feel" of the blade. Now I know why so many guys talk about the "feel" of the blade against your skin. When you can't see what you're doing feel is all you have. It was amazing how just a slight angle change made the blade feel completly different. This was a real eye opener for me. On my face I had always been able to see the angle the blade was at and adjust as needed. Having to "feel" the blade mad me mush more aware of it's positioning and cutting action.

Anyway, back to shaving. having finished the right side of my head with a WTG pass I moved onto my left side. This was even trickier as I was also having to use my left hand which I'm still learning how to completely control. Things were going good until I lost concentration for a split second and I nicked the top of my ear. Wasn't much of a cut, but what a bleeder. Never knew that my ear could bleed so much. Since I don't yet have a styptic pencil, I know and I'm going to get one, I just continued on with the shave and wiped the blood away as it came out.

Having done the top and both sides I thought a shot at the back was needed. This didn't go so well. Even though I was trying to stretch the skin and pay attention to the feel, the razor just wouldn't glide smoothly. It was real jumpy. I stopped pretty quick and finished everything up with the Fusion. All turned out good and my ear didn't even bleed for that long.

Few notes from the shave though:
1. Still need to work on lather. Hopefully the ToBS that I've ordered will help out with this, though I think I might need a different brush as well.
2. A stropped razor is a nice thing to have. It makes it so much easier to shave.
3. Stropping between either the face and head, or halfway through the head is probably needed. I think the jumpyness on the back of my head was from the razor starting to get dull, at least what is considered dull with these sharp things. Also see #1, my lather had started to dry out and that didn't help either.

Overall I'm very happy. I am actually looking forward to shaving now. Before I would shave about once a week. I did this because shaving always hurt and I always got so much razor burn and ingrown hairs it never seemed worth it. Now I'm enjoying it. Yes it does take a bit longer, but I'm sure as time goes on and I get more practice I'll get faster and more efficient. My wife is also liking the fact that I'm shaving more often.

I'll keep updating this thread each time I shave my head so I can see how I'm improving and just to keep everyone up to speed since I know there aren't many people who shave their heads with a straight. Thanks for the great site and all the amazing information.

Nice writeup on the headshaving experience. I was a regular Fusion headshaver for a while, so this is interesting. My only comment on the lather is, it's probably not the product or the brush, but the technique. I'm not trying to diss your technique, just speaking from what I've seen in my vast experience of 9 straight shaves and a bunch of de shaves. Not much, but I have learned that, as a noobs, most shortcomings are on technique, not gear. Keep going and thanks for sharing!

I'm sure it is my technique, as I know that I'm a long ways from a lather pro. I just mentioned the new stuff as my current cream is almost gone so I had to order the ToBS anyway.

Well, you can't go wrong with that stuff. I haven't tried it, but the reputation speaks for itself. I've been Oman T&H sample kick lately.

Sounds like you are doing pretty good for your early shaves!

Take a look around the forum - there are lots of guys who shave their heads with straights on here and some of their posts might help with some of the issues you are having. No need to reinvent the wheel! :D

James.

Not bad for a beginner at all, I don't use straights for head shaving anymore, they loose there sharpness to fast. I prefer a Feather straight with replaceable blades. It stays sharper longer and because the blade is much smaller then a normal straight it's (for me) easier to manoeuvre around the head. It's all about practise, after a while you will shave your head just as easy as your face. For me the back of my head is a bit harder to shave, it seems that the hair there is much tougher then in the front or the sides.

I head shave. For me it requires much shorter strokes. I don't much look at myself in the mirror anymore, and for that reason, would say learn technique on the face first, before venturing above the side burns

i also am a head shaver there are nice videos about this on SRP.
I lather up face and the head at the same time so the lather can soften the head hair more.
Than WTG on my face and then shave my head. the same way on my second pass. works for me.

Thanks for the tips guys. I shaved again on Saturday night, but the wife was rushing me a little so I didn't get to attempt the head with the straight again. Still trying to work out hand positions for the ATG pass on the face. Not sure my joints can go into the positions it seems I need. I'm going to watch a few more videos to see the hand position other guys use. Hopefully I can try again tonight and actually attack the head again.

I've got a cousin who shaves his head and recently mentioned that he's thinking about switching to a straight razor for the task. I'll have to send him the link to this thread: really nice write-up, cdrewferd!