Hair care professionals: Is it safe to wax a head?

Factual Questions
1

This is inspired by another thread.

I’m bald and I shave my head. I don’t mind being bald, and I like the shape of my head, but I’m not very good about shaving as often as I would like. It takes a while, it’s hard to see the back side of the head and shaving cuts sting when I rinse.

So I want to wax it. I want a clean, shiny, smooth head. Can I do it?

Is it safe to wax the head?
If it is safe, have you waxed someone’s head?
How much or how little stubble should there be before waxing?

2

IANAHaircare-professional, but I would not recommend waxing the head for the following reasons:

  1. It will hurt like hell. If you’re thinking of waxing as an option to avoid the sting of a cut, dream on! In my experience, those parts of the body that have thicker hair (e.g. groin, pits) seem to hurt a heck of a lot more to wax than do areas with finer hair (e.g. arms). There’s a religious sect in India, the followers of which wrench their hair out manually twice a year or so. The process looks very, very painful. Really painful. Really, really painful. Did I mention it looked painful?

  2. Generally speaking, repeated waxing tends to reduce hair-growth in the waxed areas, both in terms of density and thickness. I doubt if that’s a good thing for your head in the long-term. What if you decide you want to change your hairstyle and it turns out your growth is all patchy? Disaster!

  3. Waxing is a messy process. Why? Because it involves things like wax and melted sugar. If you’re going to do your own head, I wish you luck with the back.

  4. Never in my entire life, in all four countries that I have travelled to, in all the hair salons I have been to, have I ever seen a scalp wax service provided. There has to be a reason why not, don’t you think?

3

I do think there has to be a reason more people don’t do it. I just want to hear what it is.

4

Wild guess: Most waxing that I’ve seen recommends something like a quarter-inch of stubble before you re-wax - in other words, significant hair growth. Women can wear thick nylons or pants to hide legs that are not-quite-stubbly-enough for waxing, but your head is another matter.