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Safety Razors
RightfulSin
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I have decided to and have begun shaving my head bald. I bit the bullet and accepted my hair is going Whatever. I got a nice beard going. Anyhow, I am looking for advice in regards to shaving and keeping it shaved. Advice? I have not used a safety razors before, but have hear/read that they can get a really clean close shave. Thoughts on them?
"If nothing is impossible, than would it not be impossible to find something that you could not do?" - Me
RightfulSin on
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If you're talking about like a single blade razor they work decently enough, the biggest issue for shaving your head is you'll need someone to get the back of your head because no matter how good you are at blind shaving you'll miss some spots without aid.
You'll also probably want a traditional electric clipper unless you plan on shaving your head everyday.
pleasepaypreacher.net
No not that kind. A double edge safety razor. The one I think you mean is a straight razor.
Anyway, I do have a couple of suggestions born of experience, but fully realize my experience is not universal, so ymmv.
Having someone else help for the back helps to make sure you're getting everything on the back of your head, but that comes at the cost of learning how to shave the back of your head yourself. Preacher's right, you will miss spots in the back, but with practice, you can minimize that.
I started off by first buzzing my hair down as low as I could, then wet shaving. I went from that to using shaving cream, but that seemed to be pretty wasteful. I finally settled on shaving in the shower. It replaces the time I would have spent shampooing.
Another thing I'd suggest is paying attention to how fast your hair grows / shows as stubble. My hairline was so embarrassingly gone so young that I could not stand to have it show hardly at all, so I shave it every other day.
Now, onto your actual question. I just use a standard Gillette Mach 5. No muss, no fuss, works just fine. There are specialty razors for head shaving. I've never used one of those, so I can't give an opinion on them -- I did have a business contact at one of those companies, for a brief time, and was hoping to get a free one but that didn't pan out. I only mention it because they seem like good ideas, but not so good that I would spend money on them to experiment. There may be barber shops in your area that will shave your head for you, if you want to have a luxurious splurge.
One suggestion, make sure you know when your razor dulls. When mine starts to dull, I start to get bumps, almost like pimples, especially on the back of my head. One that starts, because I'm cheap (see not wanting to pay for shaving cream or pay for a head razor), I tend to keep using the blades for a bit, but I definitely see that I should change them out more often.
Going back to the bits that are likely to be missed, for me, with the shape of my head, the base of the skull tends to be the spot that is easiest to miss and leaves a little bit of fuzz. That hollow spot at the top of the neck below the little bump on the base of your skull, and then the small shallows on either side of the neck tendons are the easiest to miss. Again, a sharp blade will help with that. I think that the hairs/whiskers there lie down easily, so if your blade isn't sharp enough, it will glide over them. I think.
After shaving, let me tell you, you will always know where the A/C vents are. It may look funny for a little while until your skin tone evens out, so don't be too shocked at first. Get used to wearing hats a lot. My skin breaks out if I wear too my sunscreen, but that's really one that's specific to you individually. Knit watch cap type of head gear is great, but I am a lot more sensitive to type of material and quality of the cap. There are some (a former girlfriend gave me a great reversible alpaca cap) that I can't wear on days that I shave because there's not enough friction to keep the cap on.
That's everything I can think of at the moment. Hope I didn't overwhelm you, but like I say, I've been doing this a long time. Feel free to hit me with questions, but really, I would say just go for it, see how it works for you.
Welcome to the Bald Brotherhood! (Starts about (0:22)
Thanks for the post. I had done it and trimmed then shaved. Trimmed using the trimmer I use for my beard and them just used my cheapo 3 blade razor. It worked well but the reason I was wondering about the safety razor was to help with cost and waste. Also wanting to get a nice smooth shave with ease.
I bought 300 blades like 10 years ago and still have plenty.
If I was going every day or two and had the money I might spring for a Gillette Mach 67 or whatever they're up to now but as it stands I can get several years of use out of a relatively low number of economical safety razors, while the disposables never last very long and are much more expensive (and kind of wasteful what with all the plastic).
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
The cheapness of the blades is amazing, and one reason if you get a bad blade, don't like the cut, whatever, ditch it and swap to another. Blades are cheap no reason to stick out a bad pressed one
pleasepaypreacher.net
https://www.usa.philips.com/c-m-pe/oneblade-trim-edge-and-shave
But I guess the OneBlade somehow has Dual Blade Technology?
Which is not to say there isn't good expensive product, but there's plenty of shitty expensive product as well.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Also I'm sure you know this but be very careful only to pull the razor in firm, straight strokes, never sideways. It's something we all learned but it bears repeating. Scalp cuts can bleed a lot so it's best to avoid them.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I use a one blade safety razor, not the electronic one with the same name, on my neck and face from time to time, it takes feather blades, which are like 10 or 20 cents each.
https://www.onebladeshave.com/products/oneblade-core
The fucking blade packs will kill you with cost though. When I'd do my head I'd dull one after a single clean up. What I'd do is shave my face 3 times that week (every other day), then do my head after the final shave. After the the blade was done.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I use a new blade each week; at that rate a £9 box of 100 Astras lasts 2 years.
I don't think you need an ultra close shave on your head most of the time. Unless you're kind of into that? Muhle and Merkur make very good models that are widely recommended for people new to safety razors. They won't give you an ultra close shave, but certainly fine for headwork. Heads are bony and lumpy and bumpy; you want a more forgiving razor to start with IMO.
These days, I just use an electric razor. Good enough, but definitely not the same close shave a safety razor will get me. But I'm done in 5 minutes!
Meanwhile, my wife started using them not long after we moved in together and decided they were superior to her cartridge-based razors. Eventually I bought her a Vikings Blade brand and she's been pretty happy with it. She's still using the Feather blades that I bought 9 years ago.
My Backloggery
I was actually looking at the viking blades. Was looking over to find one not too aggressive since still new/starting out with head shaving.
EDIT: I pulled the trigger. I order the blade you linked. I had been looking at it for a few days now, it and a few others. Its due to arrive today so I'll give it a shot. Thanks all for the help/advice/input.
Also, resist the urge to shave against the grain.
My advice for the first time is to go a barber to do the initial shave. I was very glad I did.
I'm lazy and not very fussy so get by just using a wahl clipper with a #00 blade. I have a pretty high tolerance for stubble though. It's all about finding out what works for you.