Shadow Free!

[allegrodonfuoco]

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. 

[BALDANDRE]

Thanks bro...I bet it's awesome now not having a shadow...I've always wanted a totaly shadow free bald dome..keep us posted!

Looks great!

[slyatlast]

Wow - that takes some commitment and dedication.  Keep us posted on the results

[allegrodonfuoco]

I got the pics to work

[DJ_Bald]

Hey allegro...
Pretty cool man. Looks good. I did the tweezing myself but only on top where it was thin.  It definitely kills the shadow and took a LONG time to grow back and it seems to be much thinner than before.  Couple things...although actually doing it did hurt...I was able to tolerate it. I did not push the epilator right against the skin...I just sort of skimmed over it lightly. This made it 1000 times more bearable.  You said you were only red for a day...I was red for like 3 days so your fortunate in that regard.  Overall good job man...the little part I did took awhile...the whole head would definitely take hours.  Someday when I get time off from work maybe I will tackle the rest.  Man the things us guys do to be bald !

[justinlane]

But how long does that last? What is the upkeep on it in other words.

[allegrodonfuoco]

DJBald - Thanks for the great comments!  I agree that not pushing too hard was really important for the pain!  Just beware, the sides and back hurt worse than the top if you try it!  It's the same kinda pain, just more intense (for me).  I think I thought it would go faster bc I started with the top... I was like, oh piece a cake, I'll have the whole head done in two hours!  Didn't quite work out like that... haha

As for as upkeep, it depends on how fast the hair regrows.  I have a few spots where not all the hairs are gone (either bc they broke or bc they were too short).  You can't really see them unless you look really close, but I'm going to keep going over the spots each day until they're completely gone.  I've already gone back over those spots a few times and gotten more of the hair each time (it's much less painful grabbing just a few hairs, so going back over those spots is fast and pretty easy).  It's actually kind of interesting, because can go over a spot that looks completely bald, and the epilator will still grab tiny little hairs that you didn't even know where there.  I'm actually kind of impressed by how well the epilators work.

I'm hoping w/ another day or two of going over the not perfectly smooth areas, I can have every single hair completely gone.  After that, I'll probably just go over spots when I start to feel a little regrowth.  Just depends on how long that takes.

[adam_r_todd]

I'm impressed!  That is some commitment.  Hat's off to you.  (No pun intended.)  You definitely have no shadow.  I'm jealous, but too big of a wuss to go through it.  And I don't have 5-6 hours.

[GASlick]

I think it looks great!  But like SlickA, I just don't have that time commitment.  LOL

I am so jealous though.  I would love to be shadowless!

[allegrodonfuoco]

Updated pics...  My skin has "recovered" from the tweezing... It's much less tender and has taken on a bit more "shine" (although the lighting in these pictures is much different which may be part of it).  The back has a little redness from some retweezing I did today, but other than that, the skin tone has calmed and evened out a ton since yesterday when I took the first round of pictures.  Tonight I got pretty much all the leftover hairs from the first round, and now it really feels smooth!

Hope you like the new pics!

[GASlick]

It looks really good!  Just for kicks I told my wife about it and asked her to try it on me.  Honestly, it didn't hurt that bad.  She tried in on different parts of my head.  She said, "Wow, this is going to take a long time!"  I told her about two 6 hour sittings.

I'll keep my shadow I think, my adult ADD won't let me sit that long.   

[GaryT]

Looks great man!! Two questions, where do you get an epilator and what kind of money are we talking?

TIA

[GaryT]

Never mind! I just checked out your link and I think it has all the info I'm looking for!

[FrankR]

There's no denying the smooth, shadowless dome looks amazing on you.  As for me, I think I'll keep my shadow as well.  Does that make me a commitment-phobe?   

[D.A.L.U.I.]

There's no denying the smooth, shadowless dome looks amazing on you.  As for me, I think I'll keep my shadow as well.  Does that make me a commitment-phobe?   

Not at all, all things considered, I think I'm content w/ my "shadow" even to the extent that it evidences my decision not to be a "bozo circle" guy.  I see too many potential problems w/ this, and problems are not what this is supposed to be about.