# shave or buzz head for balding? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2015, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838 "2015-06-18T10:45:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838/41 "2015-06-19T04:39:24Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I’ll cut my husband’s hair with a #1 guard on the clippers - all over, including the sideburns. He trims his own beard and keeps it a bit longer than that. When the hair on his head gets to be about 3/8" long, I call him a hippie, and we get out the clippers. This is the easiest and cheapest alternative for us. At our age, easy and cheap are important! 😉 This is pretty much me. When I start looking like a “damn hippy,” my wife gets out the clippers, puts on a #2, and buzzes my head. I then maintain my beard to be the same length. Easy-peasy. My hair from crown to chin is just an even layer of fuzz. Then I razor shave the 12-24 sad little hairs sprouting in the middle of my forehead-- where my hairline used to be a decade ago. They’re just…sad. ---
**Author:** ![perc\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e68b1a/32.png) [@perc\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perc_1)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838/42 "2015-06-19T08:15:36Z")
I used to have hair like david becham now I have hair like Ami James… [http://andreshernandez.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/20130816\_AmiJames\_2047-1-600x900.jpg](http://andreshernandez.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/20130816_AmiJames_2047-1-600x900.jpg) [http://andreshernandez.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/20130816\_AmiJames\_2087-1.jpg](http://andreshernandez.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/20130816_AmiJames_2087-1.jpg) and note the clean shaven head and stubble beard there Kopek yes he may look as though he needs some arrest numbers under one of those pictures too but Ami gets the ladies! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![perc\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e68b1a/32.png) [@perc\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perc_1)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838/43 "2015-06-19T08:23:56Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I mean I never Bic’d my head with an actual razor blade but I imagine if I did you’d still that little "shadow " of hair so you’d know I wasn’t really bald. Ya you would still have the shadow… that’s actually what scalp micro pigmentation procedure simulates… I was talking about guys who are obviously balding and shave their heads. They’re not trying to hide the fact they’re just trying to make it look better. I’ve grown my hair out to like 2 weeks before… then I shaved it clean and it clearly looks better clean shaven. This: [https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/0e/96/d3/0e96d3865b51afac154b781658045f6c.jpg](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/0e/96/d3/0e96d3865b51afac154b781658045f6c.jpg) Or this: [http://www.splendidtable.org/sites/default/files/Andrew\_Zimmern.jpg](http://www.splendidtable.org/sites/default/files/Andrew_Zimmern.jpg) I rest my case. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838/44 "2015-06-19T10:13:04Z")
I had no idea scalp micropigmentation was a thing. Shaving your head if you are bald is fine, but tattooing your entire head to hide it is just ridiculous, I looked at some of the before/after pics and these guys look so goofy. ---
**Author:** ![perc\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e68b1a/32.png) [@perc\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perc_1)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838/45 "2015-06-19T10:59:06Z")
a good SMP procedure is completely undetectable and looks just like a full head of shaven hair… It’s usually the hair line that is too straight that makes it look strange. but some look pretty good [![](http://www.smpdebate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/excellent-smp-result.jpg) ](http://www.smpdebate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/excellent-smp-result.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838/46 "2015-06-19T11:07:15Z")
I’ll stick with the buzz. Shaving seems like too much of a PITA. My wife never buzzes it short enough for me, but she’s the one that need to look at me. She seems to think my skull wouldn’t be tan (duh) and odd shaped. ---
**Author:** ![perc\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e68b1a/32.png) [@perc\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perc_1)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838/47 "2015-06-19T13:55:18Z")
> [@diggerwam](#): > > She seems to think my skull wouldn’t be tan (duh) and odd shaped. there’s not much difference between a buzz and a shave… at a #0 or #1 buzz you’re skull shape is still completely seen. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838/48 "2015-06-19T13:57:16Z")
> [@perc\_1](#): > > a good SMP procedure is completely undetectable and looks just like a full head of shaven hair… It’s usually the hair line that is too straight that makes it look strange. but some look pretty good > > [http://www.smpdebate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/excellent-smp-result.jpg](http://www.smpdebate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/excellent-smp-result.jpg) And you don’t want the faux-hairline so low that it covers up the big “L.” ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838/49 "2015-06-19T14:03:34Z")
I shave but usually once a week, sometimes two. Debbie Davies had a song “Bald Headed Baby,” in which she talks about her man who “…knows how to please, top of his head looks like one of my knees…” ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838/50 "2015-06-19T14:20:37Z")
I buzz at home with clippers with no guard but extended as far as it goes without a guard. I should do it more often, but I end up going over with the clippers every few weeks. I don’t have the discipline / time in the morning to deal with shaving. A quick buzz is quick, looks fine and doesn’t look like I’m hiding it. I went bald in my mid 20s, and started buzzing it as soon as it started to look too thin, almost combover like. Didn’t want that look for sure. Now, I frankly love it…never have to dry my hair, never have to comb my hair. Only downside is sunburn, but I’ve gotten to a point where I ALWAYS have a hat in my car, so that if I’m going to be outside for any length of time, I put a hat on. If I don’t, my head fries FAST. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shave-or-buzz-head-for-balding/722838.md?page=2)