Thread: 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.

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.

+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.

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.

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.

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.

Originally Posted by MrShavedHead

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

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.

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

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.