Shadow Free!

[Razor X]

What exactly is the game plan for maintaining this?  When the hair starts growing back, I assume that you have to let it grow out long enough to be plucked out -- or you shave it and eventually the shadow is back and you have to go through the whole tweezing thing again.

I'm just curious.  I don't think I could ever do it -- I don't think my skin would respond well to the trauma for one thing ,but there's no denying that the results are impressive.

[Antimidas]

My head hurts thinking about it, but I admit it made me consider it.  Maybe it if were a more permanent solution.

[allegrodonfuoco]

I think you could probably tweeze every day if you wanted to... The epilators will grab pretty short hairs.  There are downsides to this though in terms of your skin...

I had a lot of hairs that broke off in a few places when I did it the first time (I think it's because I was going too fast and hadn't really gotten the hang of it when I first started).  I've been going over those spots pretty much every day and I've slowly been getting everything that I missed.  However, the tweezing leaves your skin a little red and irritated for a while (at this point, it's only a few hours because there aren't many hairs). 

I actually shaved it for the first time a few days ago and the feeling was amazing...  Completely different and better than a regular shave. 

As far as my plans for upkeep, I think now I'm going to shave everyday and retweeze once on the weekends and see how that goes.  I haven't had much regrowth yet (except for the hairs that I didn't originally get), so I'm not sure how long it will take to get substantial regrowth...

I'm pretty much just figuring this out as I go along, so I don't really know exactly how it will work out... I guess I can be everyone's guinea pig (although i know a few others on the board have done it as well).

[Razor X]

  However, the tweezing leaves your skin a little red and irritated for a while

That would be a big concern for me.  My skin is sensitive enough as it is.

I actually shaved it for the first time a few days ago and the feeling was amazing...  Completely different and better than a regular shave. 

As far as my plans for upkeep, I think now I'm going to shave everyday and retweeze once on the weekends and see how that goes.

Will one day's growth really be enough for the epilator to be able to grab hold of the hair?

[allegrodonfuoco]

Based on my limited experience so far, it seems like the epilator will start grabbing stuff after one day... However, it won't grab everything, presumably because not all hairs grow at the exact same rate (or some other reasons... I don't really know exactly).

It seems like if you did it everyday, you would get some of the hair, but not all of it, so you would have to go over it everyday and keep getting the newly longer hairs.  I think you would get a better tweeze if you let it grow for about 2 to 3 days.  When I did the original tweeze, I had only 3 days growth and (once I got the hang of it), I was able to get it completely smooth.  As I said before, the areas I did first had some breakage, but once I got the hang of it, I was able to get the later areas completely smooth (those areas are almost still completely smooth).

This week, I'm going to experiment.  I'm not going to tweeze at all during the week (only shave everyday or every other day depending on regrowth).  I'll probably shave Friday morning, then skip saturday morning and retweeze saturday night and see how well that goes.

[Rusty Shackleford]

It seems like if you did it everyday, you would get some of the hair, but not all of it, so you would have to go over it everyday and keep getting the newly longer hairs.  I think you would get a better tweeze if you let it grow for about 2 to 3 days. 

The regrowth is the main thing that keeps me from trying it.  I really wouldn't want to go around with dozens of inch long strands of peach fuzz hanging out of my head, so it's nice to know the device can yank out very short hairs.  I guess since the hairs are so thin when they grow back it makes them easier to nab.  Another thing that would scare me is that I might get lazy from this and forget to maintain for so long that the peach fuzz gets long.

This is a great alternative for people who've considered lasering their scalp since that method never leaves you hairfree either.  Or even if you do want to laser it, this allows you to see what you'd look like completely hairfree before committing to those treatments.

[sellitman]

As long as I shave every day I have little shadow. As nice as it would be not having to shave everyday I don't feel the pain would be worth having. To each his own I guess. It looks good though. 

[ycartt]

Looks great! 

[BuzzKC]

The results are amazing.  I'm curious to see how you maintain this.  Seems like you'd have to have at least some regrowth for the epilator to grab the hairs.  I think ingrowns would be a huge problem, at least on my skin.  Keep us posted, looking good.

[Mike]

I might have to try this atleast once. I have been thinking about maybe trying laser treatments but would have to try tweezing or waxing before to see what its like. It seems like in the summer my shadow is worse because my hair tends to darken in the summer.

[zetaeffe]

Allegro... here's what you can expect after almost 3 years of tweezing (will be 3 years next October).
Can't remenber if I had shaved or not in that pic... guess I had shaven 3 days before...
actually ALMOST no shadow at all...

[Razor X]

Allegro... here's what you can expect after almost 3 years of tweezing (will be 3 years next October).
Can't remenber if I had shaved or not in that pic... guess I had shaven 3 days before...
actually ALMOST no shadow at all...

Have you experienced any permanent hair loss?  I'd imagine that eventually some of the hair just stops growing back after being repeatedly yanked out.

[dawgfan]

One word... OUCH   

[aleutiancowboy]

Allegro... here's what you can expect after almost 3 years of tweezing (will be 3 years next October).
Can't remenber if I had shaved or not in that pic... guess I had shaven 3 days before...
actually ALMOST no shadow at all...

Have you experienced any permanent hair loss?  I'd imagine that eventually some of the hair just stops growing back after being repeatedly yanked out.

Allegro thanks for the post. What brand of epilator did you use? I purchased an Emjoli last week in order to try it out but couldn’t get any good results from it. I had let my hair grow for 2 days and the Emjoli didn’t seem to want to grab the hairs. I could feel it grabbing hairs in some place but not in others. Someone told me I needed to let my air grow for 5-7 days in order for it to work. The small amounts that were pulled out didn’t really feel all that bad. Yeah it felt like someone was pulling your hair out but it was a minor pain and didn’t last all that long. But maybe that was because I wasn’t getting much hair out.

As for the permanent hair loss from tweezing there is a condition called Traction Alopecia. Traction Alopecia is a common cause of hair loss due to pulling forces exerted on the scalp hair. This excessive tension leads to breakage in the outermost hairs. The 2 types of traction alopecia are marginal and non-marginal. In the initial stages, this hair loss is reversible. With prolonged traction, alopecia can be permanent.

Typically, traction alopecia is associated with sustained tension on the scalp hair. In theory, this phenomenon can also occur on areas where hair is constantly pulled out. Traction causes hair to loosen from its follicular roots; however, hair loss also occurs secondary to follicular inflammation and atrophy. Hair loss is often symmetric and along the frontotemporal hairline; occipital scalp involvement is less common. Vellus hair is usually spared in the affected area.

Traction alopecia tends to follow a series of progressive events. Initially, pruritus and perifollicular erythema may be present. These may be accompanied by hyperkeratosis, creating a seborrheic picture. Pustules and scales may form. Eventually, an abundance of broken hairs can be detected. With persistent traction, the follicles atrophy and no longer produce the typical long and coarse hair. Instead, thinner, fine, short hair is generated.

So yes some of the hair will stop growing after prolonged periods of tweezing. Tweezing should only be done by those who really and truly want to remain bald for life. It’s possible to tweeze for a few times without damaging the follicles for most people, however if you tweeze for six months or more permanent damage is very likely to occur and if you continue to tweeze the more permanent the damage will become. For me this is a plus and one of the reasons I am looking into this method. I do not enjoy shaving but love the sly look. I don’t have the money for laser treatments and am hopping this will be an alternative.

So I think now that I have seen and heard Allegro’s story I will give it another try. So I will start another post so that those of you who may be considering it (although it sounds like most of you are just wimps  ) will have 2 stories to compare and see if you would like to try it. Isn’t that what this site is all about? Helping our sly brothers find the look that makes them feel good and comfortable with whom they are.

[zetaeffe]

@Aleutiancowboy: you should wait AT LEAST 4 DAYS fot the hair to be long enough to be pulled out.
That way you are sure you won't broke too much hair and you will get the maximum effect.