New and not 100% confident of being bald

[BaldAdam]

Hello Bald Brothers.

Name is Adam if you cannot tell from my username.  I'm 32 years old, married with an amazingly beautiful daughter.  I've been slowly balding since I was 18 years old and being Polish I cannot bring myself to shaving it all off.  If you are not aware Polish folks like me seem to have rather large domes LOL.  My mom is always mentioning to me "Adam, if you shave ya head and you workout you'd look like dee Transporter guy"  Shes Polish so I had to change the quote up to show that accent of hers lol.  But I dont know, I dont really see it, maybe not yet cause I need to lose some lbs and get toned some more.  I'd love to have a full thick head of hair like I had in high school but these are the cards we're dealt with right.  Wish I had a choice to trade up my cards but beggers can be choosers as they say.  

Here are a couple shots of me and my sweetest angel

me being bald and stuff


my wife and I in vegas


the sweetest thing ever

[mrzed]

Adam. Welcome.

Both my father's parents were Polish. He was first generation in the US. Yes, large skulls run in the family. It's hard for me to find a hat that is large enough to fit.

I'm Bald By Choice for 18 months now.  I enjoy the look. No complaints from anyone about a big bald head.  The greatest terror was for a few minutes after the first swipe of the razor blade across my head. No turning back. Well, that was 18 months ago. And still no turning back.

Bald is beautiful, even on a Polish guy with a large head. From your pictures posted, you'll rock the bald look. No need to worry.  Nice looking wife and daughter. I have three daughters.  (all adults now). Two still live at home, and #3 is planning to return home in May 2014 at least for a short while.

[mrzed]

you already have the beard. Your thinning hair on top is ready for a buzz and then shave.  It will look good. You've got all the components to be a SBG.  Let me encourage you to proceed. You'll wonder why you waited so long.

[Cave Dweller]

Glad you are here, Adam.

I heartily applaud your attitude.

As is said often on this board, if you have that itch to shave it off, it is not going to go away until you scratch it. 

Don't feel alone, though.  A lot of us hesitated for months before we grabbed the razor. As Mr. Zed  already said, a commonly heard lamentation here is "why did I wait so long?"

I also think you are going to rock the Sly look. It is a feeling you will not believe.

[BaldAdam]

Thanks dude.  The encouragement is well received but as of now it keep it low and tight atleast until I get back from vacation (Florida here we come)  

Should I take clippers to it and then 'bic' it?  Im just afraid of making my head look like New Jacks due to inexperience shaving my head;

[mrzed]

Enjoy your time in Florida. Here's what I'd recommend.  Clipper your hair as short as you are comfortable with.  Thus let the sun in Florida give you a jump start on the head tan.  A clipper/buzz no guard should let in enough light/sun to get you going on a tan.  Then you won't look so 'white' when you shave your head.

As for D day,  you'll want to clipper to no guard all over (well, not the beard, necessarily).  Then use a good, fresh multi-blade razor WITH the grain. Your head will be tender at first. Going with the grain is easier on the scalp than against the grain, although not as smooth.  Give WTG a few days before trying ATG. 

Schick Hydro 5, Gillette Power Fusion Pro or the like are good choices. The multi blades seems to help prevent nicking yourself. Keep the blade perpendicular to the direction of motion. Don't press too hard. Take your time.  My first head shave took about 45 minutes. Just very cautious. With practice that will come down to 5-10 minutes.

And I'm a fan of headblade razors, but don't recommend them for Day 1. They have a little learning curve. But once you've got it, they move along very nicely and are fun to shave with. 

[Sir Harry]

Welcome, Adam! It's normal to have concerns about shaving your head, people who join have them all the time! (head size, cutting themselves, pale skin, etc.) Your current buzz does not look that bad, and you could take gradual steps like many of our members do, starting with, say, a 2-guard, then you can go 1.5, 1, .5 and then no-guard (the last possible step before taking it to the skin) If you go all the way and you don't like it, you can always grow it back to where you have it now. Good luck, welcome to the forum, and beautiful family, BTW!

P.S. Mr Zed gave some great advice in the previous post. Adam, if you have a few extra minutes before you go on vacation, why don't you check out some of the other threads in the Introductions section. We have plenty of members that had their reservations before going sly, and most, if not all, are happier once they followed through. You're among friends here.

[BaldAdam]

Thanks for the replies.  I'm VERY sensitive to the sun so I will burn no matter what.  I apply generous amounts of almost prescription grade block all over and on my head as well to prevent burning so giving it color isnt anything I'm too worried about haha.  I'll mow the yard and within 30 mins I have color.  Rigth now I keep it at at a 1 all around, graduated from a 2 top to 1 sides now 1 all the way.  The beard I do by hand with scissors and stuff so thats good for now.  I'm still nervous though

[stasiu]

Powitam Adam !

Welcome to SBG and enjoy the group of guys and gals who offer advice and fun !

As you can tell by my name, I am Polish-American and blessed with a big bald head that is far from perfectly shaped.

We make the best of everything.  You certainly have two beautiful ladies in your life, so concentrate on that and your career and part with the hair ... you will enjoy the freedoms.

[BaldAdam]

Yep, can definitely tell the Polish name haha.  I think once I start to drop serious fat and put on muscle I'll have more confidence to do it, until then I'll keep it tight.

[Beachtuna]

I kept my hair short for many years before pulling out a razor. The moment I had finished I for the life of me could not understand why it took me so long to do it. Take the plunge and scrape that grape. You'll love the feel and look of it and I'll bet you'll rock the sly.

Don't forget to visit St Augustine while you're down here in FL. Best tourist trap around and my hometown.

[skram]

Thanks for the replies.  I'm VERY sensitive to the sun so I will burn no matter what.  I apply generous amounts of almost prescription grade block all over and on my head as well to prevent burning so giving it color isnt anything I'm too worried about haha.  I'll mow the yard and within 30 mins I have color.  Rigth now I keep it at at a 1 all around, graduated from a 2 top to 1 sides now 1 all the way.  The beard I do by hand with scissors and stuff so thats good for now.  I'm still nervous though

I burn pretty easily too and I find too much sun on my head leads to nausea, so I always wear a hat in the sun.

One thing you'll find after going sly is that it is much easier to apply sunblock to a smooth head than it is to a balding one! That was always an issue for me, ending up trying to cover the balding areas with sunscreen lead to greasy hair.

Mr. Zed has some good advice on the clippers, no guard and then shave. I was using clippers with no guard for a while before I first shaved. However, I did go straight to the HeadBlade (Sport model) and didn't have any issues there at all. I think I might have actually adapted to it better since I've never used a stick on my head and wouldn't even know how to approach doing that. And since it leaves my head as smooth as it could possibly get, I don't think I'll ever try.

What I did with the HeadBlade was to watch the videos and then try it out with the cover on the blade first to get used to the motion. The key with the Sport is to keep the wheels on the head at all times and put little to no pressure on the blade end.

[buddha]

One thing to remember is that a shaved head is no bigger than a head with hair. It's an optical illusion brought about by insecurity. In fact your head will actually become smaller by shaving and here's the proof. Measure your head circumference with hair right down to the 32nd of an inch or as close as you can get. Then shave your dome and re-measure. You will absolutely find that this process has decreased your hat size.
Second thing to remember is that it's only a haircut. If you absolutely hate it just wait a few weeks.....it will grow back and so will that bigger head.

[Ophiuchus]

Hi Adam

I am new to the site (2 days new), I just went smooth a couple weeks ago, I thought about it for a day and the next morning I did it.

I am also a big guy, Big Head, Currently a 2 tone dome, Just thought I would check it out see what I think about it.

Now I am wondering why I didn't do this years ago... Never Going Back - I'm a New Man 

I live in Florida and I also suggest that you wait until getting back home before taking it all off. The Florida sun is HOT. The first thing I did the day I went smooth was take a short 15 minute walk on the beach. Got sun burn on top of my head (was a little stingy) 

[mrzed]

Zakrzewski was my father's family name at birth.  Changed the name as few could pronounce it or spell it.

Understand it's a common Polish name.

MrZed.