At first, one tries to reason with the universe and thinks that this thing can be managed, and hey, it can at first, right? You're only young, still have years to go to reach the likes of the bald old man or uncle. Like, it doesn't take much to fix a widow's peak, just a bit of growing of the hair on the sides of your head, and a shit load of wax to blend this into the edges of the peak. Problem solved! ... or averted...!
But then the center of the hairline on your forehead starts to gradually thin, and thin, and thin, and thin... until you think that 'Nope, this can still work. I can still save this. Just grow the length out! Make the hair look thicker!' Now the fun part... The hair just stops growing... like at all.
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You then try all these special treatments, hoping they'd get you by. Maybe they'd even start a revolution, and your hair would grow back. But nada! Nothing! Cash more cash wasted on useless crap.
Sitrep - It's like your local football ground in the summer, all patchy and dried up. There's no watering it. There's no fertilizer. Yes, let's just be real about all this. Let's be true to ourselves. All that those gimmicks on TV do is give one false hope. If you want to spend hundreds on implants, go right ahead.
You then take a walk about, down a suburban street, or your favorite place to reminisce on the good times... when you had killer hair.
Light bulb moment - 'Why don't I just give myself a crew cut? Number 1 maybe?' And yes, for a good 6 months, we are all smiles right? Essentially, still having hair, but so short that from a distance, it looks like we just went all 1990's Bruce Willis. It's all good! BUT... if you skip those 1 or 2 days of crew-cutting, your head starts to look like your local railway tracks. Just not a good look. So you keep cutting away, every day, maintain the look. Hey, for all intents and purposes, there isn't much to cut, honestly. But then it gets repetitious, very repetitious.
You also want a closer cut, something that really gives an outstanding, comfortable and clean look. Light bulb moment number 2 - 'I have a massive collection of DE Safety Razors, why don't I just shave my head?'. Low and behold, that was the answer, and a fantastic choice it has been ever since. If you have a collection of DE Safety Razors, and are going bald, or just like the bald look, it really is a very cost effective, maintained and clean look that has stood the test of time. It is truly timeless, and if you have the correctly shaped scone (head) for it, you'll be laughing all the way to the bathroom... for that shave!
I must admit, at first, it was a tough decision to make once I had that light bulb moment. I mean, I really enjoy and look forward to, all my DE SOTD (Shave Of The Day). I have countless shaving soaps, creams, Razors and blades, and to put them to further good use, this decision seems like a no-brainer. The only hurdles you need to jump when gearing up to head shave are that:
- You need a REALLY slick lather - Most important for blade glide. You do not want to have dry lather that allows your blade the stutter and get stuck on you scalp skin, causing nasty cuts on your head. These hurt like a bitch, and not only that, sting for days depending on the severity. You might be able to escape from this with the face, but not your head!
The best soaps / creams that require little to no effort for slickness by nature, allow for excellent peaky lathering, but are also cheap, are Mitchell's Wool Fat Tallow shaving soap and the newly released Gillette Pure shave cream ($18 AUD and $8 AUD respectively).
Both have excellent, masculine scent profiles, both are extremely slick, both have amazing scent profile as well. Some would say Mitchell's requires more effort to lather, due to hard water. I say, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), as I found with hard water, I never had an issue either in lathering this up. For ease of use though, and if you're just beginning, use Gillette Pure first, as with this, you'll have no issue. Also look at most Stirling Soap brands, mostly found here at Artisan Arcade in Australia! - You need a sharp, but smooth DE blade - For me, this is a no-brainer, especially for head hair, which is thick and more coarse than facial hair, but also for me, having thick hair on the sides of my head. Also for irritation, you need a smooth blade that allows your blade, along with the slickness of the cream, to just guillotine those head hairs off without any pressure. Any blade made in Russia, the home of efficient DE blades, is key.
I personally love using the Gillette 7 o'clock Super Stainless (Gillette Green) DE blades or the Gillette Nacet, as these have proven to me, time and time again, that when compared to others in their class, nothing matches with comfort, sharpness, and smoothness.
In this game, you have the luxury of buying numerous, CHEAP, DE blades (100 for around $18-$30 AUD) on average for most brands, the Gillette Greens being around $30 AUD, with each blade giving you 2-3 head shaves. BUY AND TRY! There are numerous sample packs you can buy from many specialty shaving shops out there, see what floats your boat! - You need an efficient razor - Now this is the contentious part of shaving. I myself have just got into this, although as I have been a DE shaver for a while, I have to say that it didn't take long for me to find a true, efficient razor for my head. I have around 40 or so. But again in this game, YMMV!
At first I used the adjustable Parker Variant, and thought this would be a good option as it is adjustable levels of aggressiveness, has a safety bar, and is very hard to cut yourself (on your face). What I did not realize is that the head is a whole new ball game. your head has so many different contours, edges, and direction of growth. As with any wet-shaving venture, one must always MAP out their head for these nuances. Shave with the Grain, then against the grain on the second pass.
I sliced my head to bits as I did not do this myself, and needed a good 2 weeks for my head to heal before I could shave again. Yes, an efficient shave, but too much emphasis needs to be made on the angle of the head, the short handle on the DE as well.
I then Googled "Best razor for head shaving" in YouTube and found Another Cut Above. Chris Maden is an awesome bloke, trying and testing numerous head shavers out there. He is also a fellow DE shaver like us, has a decent following; so it seemed a logical to see what he uses. For a while, he used a Karve CB razor (Quite expensive) which is a beautiful CNC Machined stainless steel razor. He then found and used what would then be my go-to razor, the Leaf Shave Razor. This thing is so unusual, so mechanical looking, something you'd find in a surgical room, but obviously used for shaving. This Razor can take up to 3 Half DE razor blades of your choice, and is placed into their own magnetic razor holder in the razor head. The bottom-most blade to the base of the head is most aggressive, the middle is medium, and top is mild. The head has a pivot function, as to work with the contours of your skull.
Did I also mention that this thing is has a 3.5 inch handle, which is easy to just clasp in your palm and go for it. It also allows for what I like to call is "careless shaving", whereby it is absolutely so hard to cut yourself. You can also go over the same spot a few times without causing irritation! Chris has said, and I agree, that this is his go-to razor, his champion of sorts for shaving his head. It makes quick work of it, and I agree wholeheartedly. - You need patience! - Head shaving is a different game, especially with the points mentioned above. This is why you need patience. You will make mistakes, you will cut yourself, and you will most certainly cause irritation. But don't give up. Once you master this type of shaving, you will get quicker, more efficient, and will never go back to rotary razors of any sort. That, I can GUARANTEE!!
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