Ciao everyone!

[ORTO]

My name is Sonny. I'm 25. I'm an artist, a DJ and a cook. I run a shop with my brilliant wife called Orleans Apothecary. I grew up in the American South with a Sicilian family.

I shaved my head for the first time a year ago after a few beers with friends. I was bet $100 to do it, so I did. I always had a full head of hair, but after shaving it completely, I found that I loved it. I kept it shaved for about two months, then let it grow back out. This summer I decided I missed not having hair, so I shaved it off again. This time I think it's going to be for good.

I don't like having my hair blown around by the wind or getting wet in the shower or when it rains. Most people think it's silly but it's my pet peeve. I also like wearing hats. Being bald just works better. Aside from that, I love the act of shaving. Plus, my wife likes it a lot.

The biggest difficulty for me is that I like to have my head completely smooth, but it's tough to get that smoothness without making more than two passes against the grain. The irritation is minimal, if any, but it's still time consuming. I have two burn scars on my head from falling into a Spanish fireplace when I was about four years old, and I was embarrassed by them at first, but now I embrace them. It's kind of tough shaving over those scars though. And it seems like my hair grows in weird directions in certain spots. On the top of my head towards the back, it seems like I have 360 degrees of growth direction. Probably normal, but annoying nonetheless.

I shave with a Mach III and a mix of shave soap and Gillette gel, applied with a badger brush. Seems to work nicely. I have a Merkur DE that I'm trying to get the courage to shave with, but with my scars and my head shape, I'm a little nervous.

Anyway, not to be too long winded, but I'm excited to find this forum. I'll make good use of it when I have questions for the pros.

Cheers everyone.
S. Ortolano

[xnewyawka]

Welcome Sonny, good to have you join us. Sounds like you really enjoy shaving, so keep it smooth this time!   

[Arnie]

Welcome to SBGs!!!

[Mikekoz13]

Welcome to the FOrum, Sonny!!!

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

Bienvenue mon ami--NO--It's "where y'at?
"

[tow]

welcome

[wpruitt]

Welcome

[Laser Man]

Welcome to the Forum. 

My hair grows in all different directions, too, so I have to do multiple passes (with, against and across the grain) to get a really smooth shave.  The amount of time really isn't too bad since it's once a day (and I don't have to deal with combing, etc. the rest of the day!) 

[ORTO]

Thanks everybody.

One guy told me he shaves with the grain because the 'against the grain' texture keeps his hats on. I just can't stand the velcro feeling when you take a shirt or hat off. I usually trust gravity to keep my hats on, but if it's especially windy, I'll just hold it.

But I definitely don't mind taking a little extra time to make sure it's smooth.

[Laser Man]

The velcro effect was one of the big surprises I had after shaving my head the first time.  I expected to go every other day, maybe even longer.  By the evening of the first day, I couldn't get over how much stubble there was.  Then I went to pull of my t-shirt and it was like I hit a patch of velcro!  Now it's a daily shave, sometimes two to keep the head smooth! 

[ORTO]

Haha, exactly! I have an old straw trilby with a nice liner and when I'd take it off, the liner would turn inside out. On cold days, wearing a beanie, it would be impossible to get on straight. Pure agony.

[Tyler]

Welcome ORTO!!

[tomgallagher]

Ciao ORTO