About to Give Up :(

[KollegeKreed]

Hi again gentlemen. Tonight I shaved my head smooth for the second time in a week, but the first time since my original post. Obviously I have been reading the many posts on the board and though I know my head just does not like razors, I felt compelled to try some of the tips and tricks you all put forth. So, without further ado, my routine tonight was:

1. Buzzed the hair with #000 blade...it was a little too long to shave, i thought.
2. Went into the shower. Shaved my face first, with headslick for the first time - didn't find anything too special...
3. Ran my head under hot water for about 3 minutes.
4. Applied even amount of Headslick all over my head.
5. Using headblade original, two blade, shaved from front to back. Cut myself around the ears a couple times not knowing what to do with them.
6. Reapplied headslick. Shaved from Neck forward, then held blade like a regular razor, and did around the ears and the sides.
7. Jumped out of shower, ran my head under cold water for a minute. Once my head literally hurt, I shut the water off.
8. Patted my head dry.
9. Began damage control on the several bleeding spots on my head.

From the pics below, you'll see I did a real job on my right ear area. The other thing you will notice from the pics is that you can already see red razor bumps and irritation on my head. I am definitly at a point where I think I may just need to stick to buzzing as my skin just can't seem to find a way to tolerate razorshaving. Even with my face, I wait three or four days because of the intense irritation with any shaving between.

Here are the two pics of the back/side of my head. The pic for my profile is new tonight.

[img width= height=]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/kollegekreed/001.jpg[/img]


[img width= height=]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/kollegekreed/002.jpg[/img]


So, Im certainly open to any and all comments you have for me..particularly those of you new shavers who don't seem to be having any problems...maybe its just me??

[Marz]

Looks like you are either using too much pressure, going over the same spot too many times or not having enough lubrication (shave cream).

Thats what it looks like to me.

if not,

You may want to try triple blades or a fusion.

[Timmay]

Well first let me say...it doesnt look like you did a bad job at all.  We all went thru that the first time we shaved.  You just have to stick with it.  The razor bumps will soon be a thing of the past.  You have to remember...your head has never experienced shaving before...so it is going to take a while to get use to the idea.  Give it a week or two and you will see a huge difference...i promise.  You shouldnt give up just yet.....hang in there....it will get better.  And too...you have just now started using the headblade...you will finally get the feel for it and be able to go up and around the ears ..back to front up and over with ease.  It took me about 2 months before I could master that ....but you got it Bro..hang in there.
Timmay

[schro]

Hang in there.
Practice makes perfect, especially around the ears (tricky area).
I'll use my face razor (Schick Extreme3) for touch up around the ears. It's a little easier to get close to the ear than the HB and there's less chance of gouging.

Good luck,
Schro

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

I know it's heresy w/ some of the baldies around here that like the Headblade and even safety razors, but try Fusion.  I never got the hang of the Headblade, even though, as I've also stated many times, it is VERY attractive from a design point of view.  The Fusion blades, though expensive, are designed such that unless EXTREME pressure is used or you move it sideways, it's almost impossible to nick or cut the dome.  I've had fewer than five nicks worth talking about in more than four months. 

[zetaeffe]

I agree with saintc: try the gillette fusion, it minimize the risk of nicks
and irritation. Almost impossible to nick yourself with it.
Wait 2 days between shavings at first.

Try it, am sure you'll get to enjoy it

Francesco

[BALDANDRE]

Silly question, but what's the weather like around you, i know if it's a winter dry type thing, i will get a some slight irritation ..

i noticed that since I've moved to the northwest...try extra moisturizer and DAILY shaving!

try to keep it bro...you look good bald!

[WannaBePadre]

The bottom line is that different blades do different things to different heads. Atras irritate my head so bad that I bleed out of the pores. CVS triple blades give a really close shave, but also take off dime-sized chunks of skin out of my head. Quattro leaves me with nicks all over the place. Electric shavers irritate my scalp. I had a huge scab in the middle of my forehead from Mach III at the beginning of the summer (think Harry Potter). Fusion doesn't cut me at all, but isn't as close as Headblade triples with a Headblade Sport.

Unfortunately, it has taken me a lot of trial and error to figure out that Headblade triples in a Headblade sport is the best for me, and Fusion is a close second place. I've shed a lot of dough and a lot of blood over the past 3 years finding this out, though.

There is only one way to find the right blade ... trial and error.

[Koaa2]

Stick with it, gets better with time and practice. There will always be a nick at sometime, don't let it get you down.

[JDog]

Shaveme, When I first started headshaving, my head looked identical to yours in the photo. The red irritated marks on  your scalp are what I believe and theorize to be sensitivity cuts.

You see for the greater part of usually15-20 years or more, your scalp has NEVER made contact with a sharp razor blade. So hence the skin on your head is very sensitive and soft, much like the skin of a young child. It takes time for your skin to "toughen up" so to speak and get used to the friction and motions that the razor inflicts on the scalp. In time this affliction in my case went away after many headshaves(about 2-3 months of daily shaves).

I would just perservere if I were you mate, and take into account some great routines that are posted in the HEADSHAVING section of the forum.

One to always do is keep the scalp well lubricated and maybe even try shaving every few days to allow for the stubble to grow enough so the hair can be adequatley cut by the blade.

happy shaving mate!

[warhawk]

shaveme....don't give up on the headblade.  just keep at it and if it continues 2 give U problems...U might want 2 try the fusion (manual) razor.  whatever U do....please don't give  up.   

WARHAWK

[JDog]

I agree, the Fusion(Manual) is a great headshaving tool.

[shyslyguy]

I agree with JDog & the others. Stick with it & your scalp will get used to it with time. Mine would occasionally look like that, particularly if I shaved every day so I tend to shave every other day & that way I get no problems. Anyway, hope you stick with it for a little longer & I am sure it'll soon get easier for you. 

[danyroo]

Shaveme don't give up.......... for me I can only shave with 2 blades (Mac3turbo's) and (fusions) any attempt with others I'm screwed.. I gave up a few times myself but found myself coming to shaving. once sly you can't go back or you just refuse to go back.

So what I suggest is give yourself 2 days to recover, get a fusion then some fusion shave cream see below my process.

My methode is in front of the mirror before I shower

I put fusion shaving cream in a bowl and some headslick, mix it up good with my brush.
wet my head with warm watter, apply shaving cream with my brush,

then I start shaving don't apply pressure but one thing is to go slowly especially at first.

take your time, get to know the shape of your head.

once done clean up the counter.. cause the MS will be  hahah

then jump in the shower.  I was even worst than what you posted as pictures.
I'll see if I can find a post to show how many attempts and what I tried to fix the irritations

[Mikekoz13]

ShaveMe.... The blades made a huge differnce for me. I tried the ATRA Plus blades in the HB and wound up looking like Darth Vader with his helmet off.

I went back to the triples (HB or CVS3 brands) and get nice smooth, nick free shaves on the head. Remember, since you're a new head shaver, you will have to give your head time to become "seasoned".