Hey everybody. I had been contemplating it for a while, and this weekend I finally tweezed my entire head. It was very painful (obviously), although as I went I sort of got the hang of making it the least miserable as possible. I didn't use the "tape" method that
www.scalptweezing.com suggests (I tried but found it awkward). Eventually, I just ended up moving very slowly so that only a very small area was being tweezed at anytime. A few times (like when I was almost done with a session and wanted to be finished), I would just power through and go a lot faster (it was pretty freaking intense, but I only did it when I had a small space left). I also found that pulling the skin tight with your free hand and taking a huge breath and exhaling slowly while tweezing a new area seemed to help with the pain also. It took a really long time (probably 5 to 6 hours each day, with small breaks of course), so I also found that brining my laptop and some dvds into the bathroom with me also made the process more pleasant - or at least less unpleasant (not really pain related, but certainly kept my mind occupied). Also, I didn't use any pain meds or anything (I'm considering this the male version of natural child birth!)
I did it over Sunday and Monday (I didn't work today). On Sunday, I did the top, sides, and the upper back (from about the ears up). Today I did the lower back (ears down) and cleaned everything else up. I missed a few spots and wasn't as thorough on some place yesterday, but I got the hang of it and the lower back I did today is completely smooth. The upper sides and upper back (near the crown) were probably the most painful for me (most people say above the ears is the worst, although I actually found that place to be mostly okay). I had some breakage in those areas (I think mostly because I wasn't as "good" at it when I did them because they were some of the first places I did), but I cleaned most of that up today. I also only had about 3 day of growth when I started, so it's possible there are a few hairs that were too short. While I have a "full" head of hair (no mpb) my hair in general, and on top in particular, is pretty thin (my scalp is easily visible even w/ a regular haircut), the hair on top came out pretty easily (I guess the little guys just gave up and didn't even bother to put up a fight). I'm curious to see what the regrowth will be up there (I'm not concerned, I don't plan on regrowing my hair ever bc it looked terrible as thin as it was).
I don't mind shaving and plan to still shave sometimes (I'm looking forward to it as this will make the few spots that were a little too short or broke complete smooth ), although I'm going to wait a few days because my scalp is still a little tender.
My scalp was pretty red after I finished an area, although it faded after about 1 day (as others have said). I don't know what kind of irritation (if any) I'll experience as things start regrowing, so my plan is to just keep up with my post-shaving routine (exfoliate when a brush at night, then wash with benyzol peroxide face wash, end with astrigent and anti-bump moisturizer), to hopefully minimize any irritation that does occur.
I have more pictures, but couldn't figure out how to make them small enough to post them, so I just change my profile pic so you can at least see somewhat of how it looks. If anyone (I'm a mac user) can help with this, let me know... Otherwise, I would be happy to email them if you are curious.
I'm very happy with the results, and I can't stop walking by mirrors just to look at it!! I'm not sure where I'll go from here (maintenance-wise). I want to see what the regrowth will be like and how long it will take before I need to re-tweeze, or if I'll just continue shaving (Depends on what the shadow is like with the regrowth).
Anyway, questions are welcome. Would I recommend this? Well, I will admit the pain was pretty crazy, but I guess I'm just a bad ass (haha). Also, once I decide to do something, I generally do it despite the obstacles (not to mention that you couldn't really stop w/ half a head of hair!). That said, I'm glad I did it. It was one of those things that I had wanted to do for a long time and I just decided now was the time.