How can I shave my own head with a straight razor?

Hi everybody,

I'm new on Straight Razor Place and I'm looking for advice how I can shave my own head with a straight razor. I shave my head for more than 15 years now but I normally use razors like Mach 3 or the Headblade razor. But if I want a real treat I go to a barber or a friend to get my head shaved with a straight razor. I have tried to do it myself but I have not been very successfuk with it.

Is anyone here experienced with shaving his own head with a straight razor? It would be very nice if you then would share your experience with me.

I'm looking forward to hear from you. Have a nice weekend and keep your head shaved as I do.

Welcome to SRP! A few of us shave our heads with straights. I made a video of mine once which you might find helpful.

You will need to be reasonably adept at using a straight before tackling your head. You must know how to hold a straight properly, and how to use it effectively on your face, because there are parts of your head you cannot see and need to shave using feel. My recommendation would be if you are new to straights, practice a few months on the face first before tackling your head with one.

Anyway, take a look at my video and if any questions arise post them in here.

Good luck!

James.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

Welcome to SRP! A few of us shave our heads with straights. I made a video of mine once which you might find helpful.

You will need to be reasonably adept at using a straight before tackling your head. You must know how to hold a straight properly, and how to use it effectively on your face, because there are parts of your head you cannot see and need to shave using feel. My recommendation would be if you are new to straights, practice a few months on the face first before tackling your head with one.

Anyway, take a look at my video and if any questions arise post them in here.

Good luck!

James.

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+1. Headshaver here as well and Jimbo's video really helped me. I'm not sure if it helped more in technique or motivation, though. :)

Definitely get your face down pat before trying the head. I still need to see where I'm going in the back so I use two mirrors when shaving the back of my head. I usually go 3 or 4 days between shaves and use a shower, conditioner and jojobo oil as part of my preshave routine.

My best advice would be to keep a styptic handy, especially when starting, as head nicks/weepers will bleed a little more than ones on your face.

Don't be too ambitious with it. Kind of like Lynn's recommendation to newbies shaving their face with a straight: start on a small area and only do WTG passes until you are more comfortable then gradually move on.

It takes awhile to learn the lay of the hair on your head and which angles are best to approach from. It also takes awhile to get a feel for the proper razor angle as you go over different areas. Take it slow and give yourself time to learn your head.

Be prepared to finish with your Mach 3 or headblade for awhile yet. I've been shaving my head for a couple of months, but still finish the back with a Rolls razor.

Hi James,

many thanks for your quick answer. I watched your video and it is great to see how you do it so perfectly in such a short time.

I will be patient and try again carefully to shave my head with a straight razor. Maybe I should start with the parts I can see in the mirror and use the other razors on the oparts I can't see until I get more practice.

I'll keep you informed about my progress and hopefully I can show a video myself one day shaving my head so perfectly as you do.

Many thanks again and have a nice weekend in your wonderful backyard (what a nice place that is!!!).

Greetings

It is a good idea to continue with my usual razors and start slowly shaving the parts of my head I can see in a mirror wiith a straight razor. Maybe I'll be asuccessful one day with using the straight razor for shaving the whole head. I never got the idea to use the rolls razor, I should get one and try that as well.

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Originally Posted by HNSB

Don't be too ambitious with it. Kind of like Lynn's recommendation to newbies shaving their face with a straight: start on a small area and only do WTG passes until you are more comfortable then gradually move on.

It takes awhile to learn the lay of the hair on your head and which angles are best to approach from. It also takes awhile to get a feel for the proper razor angle as you go over different areas. Take it slow and give yourself time to learn your head.

Be prepared to finish with your Mach 3 or headblade for awhile yet. I've been shaving my head for a couple of months, but still finish the back with a Rolls razor.

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Somehow my first reply to you disappeared somewhere in the depths of this forum. So here I want to thank you as well for your good advice. I'll keep in touch here in this thread and keep you informed about any progress.

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Originally Posted by commiecat

+1. Headshaver here as well and Jimbo's video really helped me. I'm not sure if it helped more in technique or motivation, though. :)

Definitely get your face down pat before trying the head. I still need to see where I'm going in the back so I use two mirrors when shaving the back of my head. I usually go 3 or 4 days between shaves and use a shower, conditioner and jojobo oil as part of my preshave routine.

My best advice would be to keep a styptic handy, especially when starting, as head nicks/weepers will bleed a little more than ones on your face.

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Originally Posted by MrShavedHead

I never got the idea to use the rolls razor, I should get one and try that as well.

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You don't really need a Rolls... I just like it, because it's like a straight on a stick. ;)
You get that straight razor feeling, with a little bit of safety built in.

Well, there were mishaps along the way to get to that point, so patience and practice should be key considerations for you at this point.

I think that sounds like a good idea - do what you are most comfortable with. Good stretching on your head is just as important as on your face - if you can stretch the skin away from problem areas (like the tops of the ears) you can avoid danger.

Good luck - and I would love to see a video of your head shave in the future too!! :)

James.

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Originally Posted by MrShavedHead

Hi James,

many thanks for your quick answer. I watched your video and it is great to see how you do it so perfectly in such a short time.

I will be patient and try again carefully to shave my head with a straight razor. Maybe I should start with the parts I can see in the mirror and use the other razors on the oparts I can't see until I get more practice.

I'll keep you informed about my progress and hopefully I can show a video myself one day shaving my head so perfectly as you do.

Many thanks again and have a nice weekend in your wonderful backyard (what a nice place that is!!!).

Greetings

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Take it nice and slow as suggested earlier. I only go WTG with a straight and finish with either a Rolls or a DE. I tend to nick myself going ATG with a straight. My biggest problem when I first started was using bad lather. I can now work up a decent lather, but the vast majority of my cuts were from using a lather that was not slick enough.

Good luck to you man and congrats on the descision to start straight shaving your noggin.

Many Thanks for your message. What lather do you use then? Until now I have used the Headblade lather which works very well for the Headblade razor or the Mach3. I will try the straight shaving of a part of my head today and I'll report the result.

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Originally Posted by BigMallard

My biggest problem when I first started was using bad lather. I can now work up a decent lather, but the vast majority of my cuts were from using a lather that was not slick enough.

Good luck to you man and congrats on the descision to start straight shaving your noggin.

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I will be patient with myself and I'll try to use the straight razor on part of my head today. I'll keep you informed about the result.:confused:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

Well, there were mishaps along the way to get to that point, so patience and practice should be key considerations for you at this point.

I think that sounds like a good idea - do what you are most comfortable with. Good stretching on your head is just as important as on your face - if you can stretch the skin away from problem areas (like the tops of the ears) you can avoid danger.

Good luck - and I would love to see a video of your head shave in the future too!! :)

James.

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I too am a head shaver. I shave every other day unless I am going out and need to look smooth. I use the same razor I use on my face and always do my head first sometimes I strop between head and face. I use 5/8 or 6/8 razors. A good lather of TGQ or C.O. Bigelow/Porasso. I shave after the shower and use no preshave except lather up before stroping then relather. I run my first pass like you would comb your hair streaching to the top of the scalp then run an ATG pass with a thin lather usualy applied with my fingers. I then do my face and finish off with bay rum or clubman. If you make a mistake you will get immediate feedback.

Don

Many thanks for your reply. It's really great how many people have reacted to my question. I'll try to shave part of my head tomorrow with a straight razor and I'll report my either success or the immediate feedback I get from making a mistake.

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Originally Posted by junkinduck

I too am a head shaver. I shave every other day unless I am going out and need to look smooth. I use the same razor I use on my face and always do my head first sometimes I strop between head and face. I use 5/8 or 6/8 razors. A good lather of TGQ or C.O. Bigelow/Porasso. I shave after the shower and use no preshave except lather up before stroping then relather. I run my first pass like you would comb your hair streaching to the top of the scalp then run an ATG pass with a thin lather usualy applied with my fingers. I then do my face and finish off with bay rum or clubman. If you make a mistake you will get immediate feedback.

Don

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After all your good advice I tried the first time since I got a member of SRP to shve my head with a straight razor. I need some more practice and I would be thankful for any advice referring to my first attempt. See the straight razor I used and the video I took below. Many thanks to all of you.:)

photo:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...5139-dovo.html

YouTube - My First Try With A Straight Razor

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...5139-dovo.html

Check out Jimbo's thread

That's an interesting approach initially MrShavedHead. It looks as though you are actually using a 150 degree shaving angle. Or, in other words, you are using an angle that one would typically use with a stroke going from the forehead to the crown of your head. But instead you are going from crown to forehead in a scraping motion.

In the latter part of the video it looks like you are using a more typical stroke.

I think to get the best from the straight shave you should avoid the first kind of stroke - I am amazed it actually took hair off!

James.

Thank you to all who posted replies here. and especially thank you to Mr Shaved Head! i also rock the shaved head and do mine with a mach III. i ordered my dovo straight razor a few days ago and am now really encouraged to do not only my face, but also my head. it is nice to have a question and find that someone else has asked and gotten good answers. thanks also for the video.
Cheers!

I think the 150 degree angle is coming from missing practice and I agree that the second part of the video should be more the way I should do it.

I've got the feeling that it might be easier to have a straight razor with a shorter blade, mine is 7 cm long. Do you think it would help to have a shorter blade and if so can you recommend one? All offers of straight razors I've seen don't mention the length of the blade.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

That's an interesting approach initially MrShavedHead. It looks as though you are actually using a 150 degree shaving angle. Or, in other words, you are using an angle that one would typically use with a stroke going from the forehead to the crown of your head. But instead you are going from crown to forehead in a scraping motion.

In the latter part of the video it looks like you are using a more typical stroke.

I think to get the best from the straight shave you should avoid the first kind of stroke - I am amazed it actually took hair off!

James.

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I'm also very pleased about the reaction to my question. I will continue practicing with my DOVO or any other straight razor and hopefully I'll be as perfect one day as Jimbo showed it in his video. Have you seen it? It's in his first reply to my enquiry.

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Originally Posted by michaelh

Thank you to all who posted replies here. and especially thank you to Mr Shaved Head! i also rock the shaved head and do mine with a mach III. i ordered my dovo straight razor a few days ago and am now really encouraged to do not only my face, but also my head. it is nice to have a question and find that someone else has asked and gotten good answers. thanks also for the video.
Cheers!

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Congratulations, I can't view the video from work but the razor you used look fine to me. I don't have a special razor for my head I just use whatever I am using on my face that day. Also I have found that head shaving is a little harder on the edge and more frequent honeing will be required

Don

Thanks for your message. My video is not as perfect as the one from Jimbo. I'll keep on practising. I also use the Headblade, Mach3 and other razors to shave my head but now I'm really keen to get used to the straight razor.

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Originally Posted by junkinduck

Congratulations, I can't view the video from work but the razor you used look fine to me. I don't have a special razor for my head I just use whatever I am using on my face that day. Also I have found that head shaving is a little harder on the edge and more frequent honeing will be required

Don

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Well, you took the hair off, and there's no blood. I'd call it a success!

Because of my thick hair, and the lay of my hair I use the crown to forehead stroke when I shave. I use a much shallower angle on the razor though. You may find that stroke to be unnecessary for you.

First, congrats! I usually go from my forehead back when I shave, and on occasion I'll go from the crown of my head towards the ear (as if combing hair parted down the center).

Now out of curiosity, how are you wiping your blade off? To me it sounded like you were banging it around in some water -- and if that's the case then just be careful about hitting the edge.

Many thanks for your advice. I still need more practce to find out the right angle I use on the razor. I will continue practicing.

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Originally Posted by HNSB

Well, you took the hair off, and there's no blood. I'd call it a success!

Because of my thick hair, and the lay of my hair I use the crown to forehead stroke when I shave. I use a much shallower angle on the razor though. You may find that stroke to be unnecessary for you.

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Many thanks for the congrats. I was actually banging my razor in some water but I make sure that the blade doesn't touch the sink. The noise you heard was coming from the other side of the blade. But thanks anyway for mentioning it, I'll be careful.

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Originally Posted by commiecat

First, congrats! I usually go from my forehead back when I shave, and on occasion I'll go from the crown of my head towards the ear (as if combing hair parted down the center).

Now out of curiosity, how are you wiping your blade off? To me it sounded like you were banging it around in some water -- and if that's the case then just be careful about hitting the edge.

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well this thread has answered my first question when joining this forum

thanks for the vids :)

ian

As a new member on the forums it gives me some reassurance that one day ill be able to shave my head. And when i finally get to my head knowing there is a ton of support helps a lot thanks gentalmen.

Scott-G