I’m 46. I’ve been bald on top for at least 20 years, but my hair still grows on the back and sides. I generally have Mrs Snowman buzz it with a trimmer (guard off) every three weeks or so, when I start to go a bit Hulk Hogan. Even with the naked clipper blade, there’s always a “fuzz”.
I’m considering going for the shiny-headed shaven look. I tried this once before, many years ago. It didn’t go well, because firstly, I used dirt cheap disposable razors, and secondly, I tackled this tricky operation after a night in the pub. I looked, as one colleague kindly pointed out the next morning, “like Freddie Krueger”. I am keen not to repeat this experience.
I’m sure that we have head-shavers amongst us. What’s the best approach? Razor with shaving foam? Electric shaver? How do you do the bits you can’t see?
I use an electric razor (Norelco, if it matters). Quick and easy. As for the parts I can’t see, I just make a few passes over those areas, trying to cover it all a couple of times.
I use a buzzy thing called a Skull Shaver and Edge foam. I can’t vouch for it working better than some other brand of buzzy thing or whatnot because it was the first one I tried, and I was fine with the results. So that was that. I hit it at least once a week. Five to ten minutes, depending on how far out it’s grown since last time.
I use a disposable razor (two or three uses, at least) and good ol’ Barbasol. And I do it in the shower. Smooth as a baby’s bottom, as Mrs. CC occasionally comments.
I’ve noticed some electric dealies marketed specifically for DIY scalp shaves at Marshallaxx and Burlington-type discount stores. They seemed pretty inexpensive, $20ish and might be worth a shot. I only mention since it would never occr to me to look there.
I don’t shave it all the way down - I use a #1 guard on an electric shaver all around. My dome is bald enough to be 99.9% skin, the monk’s ring around the rest gets short enough to not need grooming, but long enough to not look like unkempt fuzz/scruff.
I don’t shave my head, but I have found that Thayer’s witch hazel, the version with aloe vera and without alcohol, works better than foam for a smooth clean shave.
Once a week or so I electric shave my head and face to one-eighth inch and clip my goatee at a longer length. Very manageable. I shave my neck with a razor blade once a week. That’s the only place I shave to the skin.
Yeah I think we are a somewhat lazy bunch. From last time it came up it seems more of us just do the buzz down with various time periods. Few seem to regularly go for the shiny head, mostly seeing it as more work than it is worth. The full shine also calls more attention to itself than I at least am comfortable with.
I’ve done it full shine on for periods of time mind you. Regular disposable razor and shaving cream. And sometimes even now I’ll dry drag a razor lightly across which gets closer than the buzzer goes but not shiny smooth. But mostly the buzzer.
BTW - between @boson, @DSeid’s avatar, and @jasmine’s vote, it seems like a substantial fraction of the posters to date indicate it’s time to get some well-trimmed facial hair (if you’re lacking so far)to go with your new, more aerodynamic lifestyle.
Lastly, my inexperienced opinion, but one of my close friends in college was losing his hair even then. When we caught up 8 years later (life, work, marriages, and his post-doc) he had figured the fight was lost even then, and went with (you guessed it) the Prof Xavier look + goatee: it worked in ways the bald head along may not have. So, yet another + goatee anecdote for your new look.
I use an electric on my face and just keep going, around 2x a week. I will occasionally treat myself to a wet shave (head and face) with a disposable blade and good 'ole Barbasol, usually in the shower, after running the electric. My eyebrows are the longest hairs on my head now, and I knock back the feral ones there maybe a couple times a month (the wife hates those). And I have a trimmer for ear and nose. You want to keep all those under control when you shave your head.
My one note about taking it all off, you will bang your head on stuff more. With hair, you have that split-second warning to slow down. Ouch! Also, start your hat collection.
On the other hand;
Given maternal grandfather was cue ball bald in his early 20s the outlook for PT was never one with hirsute prospects.
Advice from maternal grandmother: “There’s only one thing that stops falling hair … floorboards.”
I shaved my head for a few years, starting when my gf was facing chemo (she ended up not needing it). I preferred a glass-smooth head, so I shaved with a blade 1 or 2 times a day.
I’d start out washing my head with an abrasive wash. Exfoliating first meant a closer shave. Cheap shaving cream and an expensive blade (Mach 5). Witch hazel as an after shave.
The best part of this was splashing cold water on my head on a hot summer day. Immediate cool down. When I stopped shaving my hair grew back, surprising people who had only known me bald and assumed I was bald without shaving.
IMO, Headblade is the best option. It may take a couple of tries to get the hang of it, but they work very well.
If my hair gets longer than a few millimetres, I use clippers to get off the bulk and then shave with the Headblade. Headblade also has a couple of moisturizers for your shaved melon. One will give you a glossy finish and the other is a matt finish.
