Thread: Shaving the head!!

So I remember several months ago some readers commenting/questioning how and if shaving the head could be done with a straight. Well I finally got up the nerve and have done it twice now. It is surprisingly easy. I must mention that I have never shaved my head with anything other than the straight, so I can't compare to a DE or Mach 3, or whatever.

The shave was actually quite simple. I applied all the same techniques as shaving the face. In other words, I used same prep as normal, lathered up my head really well and shaved the right half of my dome with my right hand, and the left half of my dome with the left hand. The first shave my hair was somewhat long (~3/4 inch) and I just dove right in. I know many people would advice starting with clippers, but I skipped that step as there is no way to clog a straight. The only problem with shaving the long hair was that it was a little messier than if the hair is already shorn. I thought shaving the back of my head would be a problem since I can't see back there, but it wasn't. It is very easy to tell if a spot is shaved by simply the feel of the blade. You can feel hair being cut if it hasn't been shaved yet, and then once shaved, the blade glides over your head quite smoothly. Combining this with 2 passes (both were with the grain), and missing spots was not a problem.

I must mention that I have not tried going against the grain yet on the sides of my head or the back of the head. I think this will be a little more challenging, and my blade needs to be rehoned, so I will try that later. The top of my head I went against the grain, and it was quite easy, but that doesn't count as I am pretty much bald there anyways.

One more difference I noticed is that it is much easier to use one long, smooth stoke running the length of the area shaved than to use lots of short, choppy, overlapping strokes. This especially holds true at the back of the head where you can't see what you are doing.

If anybody has comments, questions, suggestions, I will try them and let you know how it turns out.

a couple of my friends all shaved their heads for a swim meet and i offered to do it with a straight nobody took up the offer

cant Imagen why ???

Good one - I've been doing my head since I started using straights and I'm extremely pleased to find someone else who does it too (although I've never explicitly asked on the forum, so there's probably more out there). In some ways it's easier than the face, don't you think?. Although, I must admit I have to be careful around the behind the ears area.

I've tried against the grain on my head - it's tricky and, I've found, not particularly worth the trouble (especially if you stretch the skin as in a face shave on the "with the grain" pass). I do my head about three times a week - it doesn't take long and I like to keep it pretty smooth, so it's no bother.

And, we head-shavers get to use our razors more often than those poor slobs with a full head of hair (how I pity them...). That's gotta be a bonus!

James.

"And, we head-shavers get to use our razors more often than those poor slobs with a full head of hair (how I pity them...). That's gotta be a bonus!"

That is probably one of the reasons I started shaving my head. I had been wanting to grow out my beard for sometime, but I put it off because I always wanted to shave. Now I can grow and my beard, and still shave!!

Originally Posted by texan

"And, we head-shavers get to use our razors more often than those poor slobs with a full head of hair (how I pity them...). That's gotta be a bonus!"

That is probably one of the reasons I started shaving my head. I had been wanting to grow out my beard for sometime, but I put it off because I always wanted to shave. Now I can grow and my beard, and still shave!!

Or you could just grow a goatee and get the best of three worlds - head shave, face shave, stylish and manly beard. Works for me!

James.