Thread: Head shaving anyone??

Does anyone have any tips on head shaving? Should I use a SR for face and safety razor for head? I find it very easy to shave my head with a safety.

I use both a safety razor and a straight for my headshaves depending on my mood. I suppose I tend to use the straight more often these days.
Try to search out Jimbo's video of it, it shows how a skilled user can do it.
The Pastor, another member here has a couple vids of it if I remember correctly.

It really isn't any harder than with the DE, but take it nice and easy

If you head shave every day as I do,headblade is hard to beat.

I too use both vintage safety razors and straight razors for my spud, depending largely upon my mood or if I'm in a hurry. For a long time, the straight was strictly a face razor then I finally put my foot down and said, "You know, it's about time you learned to use a straight on your melon." I then went through a spell of almost exclusively using the straight for my weekly "haircuts". Even though I was completely comfortable using a straight on my face, the initial head shaves bore a striking resemblence to my initial face shaves (a little nervous, felt awkward, etc.) There's a really neat, totally Zen sort of thing when you're running the straight out of sight on the back of your head. Tips? It's going to feel really awkward at first, if you've been using a straight on your face long enough to be good at it, that little voice inside your head will let you know when "a little awkward" turns into "No Dude, try that and you're gonna cut the crap out of yourself." Take it slow and easy, mind your blade angle and pressure and after 5 or 6 head shaves you should have the routine down. Once I took off with it, I wondered why it seemed like such a big deal and what took me so long to try it. Aside from being great fun, it's a great way to stretch out the weekend Hollywood shaves. Good Luck!

I do exactly that; DE on my head and straight on my face.

I started with a straight for my head shaves but found that my edges weren't lasting as long as I would like, so I switched to DE where I get about three two-pass head shaves per blade.

Same as commiecat, used straights for my daily head shave but they loose there sharpness rather quickly, occasionally I use a DE but most of the time it's a Feather straight with replaceable blades, gives me a real good shave in one pass. I get about 10 head shaves out of one blade.

Originally Posted by 1OldGI

It's going to feel really awkward at first, if you've been using a straight on your face long enough to be good at it, that little voice inside your head will let you know when "a little awkward" turns into "No Dude, try that and you're gonna cut the crap out of yourself."

This sums it up. Just started shaving my dome last weekend. First shave I used both DE and a straight. Getting the whole head down with the straight is going to take some practice.

Yes, that is the main point I think - practice. There is also, for most, a psychological barrier to overcome when they consider shaving their head with a straight due to the issues surrounding visibility, particularly at the back of the head.

From a straight razor point of view, shaving your head is in fact an easier proposition than shaving your face. The head is, generally, one gently curving surface with no sudden angle changes. In addition, the skin on the head is generally thin and taut and so requires less stretching than the face and that stretching can be achieved for some areas, especially around the neck, by simply moving your head. This makes it ideal for straights (or any other razor for that matter).

Of course there are areas to be careful around. For me, these are just common sense areas with common sense solutions:

(1) Ears. Be careful around the ears. If you pull the skin up toward the top of your head away from the ear with your other hand, you can get the blade as close as you need to the top of the ear attachment point without running the risk of nicking it. Behind the ear is somewhat trickier - I pull the ear forward with one hand and then carefully use the tip of the straight to get any hairs behind and toward the top of the ear. After that I get any remaining hair there with a vertical blade moving back and down.

(2) Neck. I am lucky I do not have skin rolls at the back of my neck, or if I do they are not pronounced. If you do, you must try to make the area as flat and taut as possible. Use your other hand to stretch, put your chin on your chest and move your head left and right, etc.

(3) Back of the head. You cannot see it in the mirror. I know this has worked for some people, but I would recommend against a second mirror unless you are really sure you know what you are looking at. It is better, IMO, to simply work on firstly overcoming the mental barrier (maybe by taking small steps until your confidence grows) and then the technical barrier. How you overcome your mental barriers is your own thing and I really don't have much in the way of generic advice for that. The technical barrier is easier: you must lock in the angle with your wrist initially while learning and trust that it will be OK down the back of the head. Once you get more time in the cockpit (as it were) you will find that you can feel the angle through the edge and you will make small adjustments without needing to see the blade.

Two other points: First, I've never noticed my blades dulling at a different rate between head and face shaves, but I may have finer hair than others. I certainly have less hair than others . Second, nicks bleed a lot on the head. Styptic or similar may be necessary to staunch the flow, but I suppose that is no different to the face.

It all takes time and practice, but I think it is well worth it if you are a head shaver.

James.

I have tried to do my had with the straight a few different times, each time however by about halfway through the blade is too dull to continue. I've given it up in favor of using the DE.

I think the problem is that I have fine hair, but it's remarkably thick. I have two or more hairs growing from every follicle. I figure it's better to go through three DE blades every time I do my head than dull one of my straights to unuseable. I'm a little envious of you guys that can do your heads with the straight.

I don't shave my head all the time, but when I do, I use a HeadBlade setup. I also like to lather my head with Musgo Real using a good badger brush.
Good Luck and enjoy the process.

Ken