I can still grow out my hair that covers my entire scalp, but I have noticed that the top has begun to thin out a bit. For the time being I'm shaving my head bald during the hot months (which here is Texas is like 8 months of the year).

I like the look and feel of it, plus I don't have to go to a barber every month or worry about styling my hair. My mother hates it, but I don't really care. In her mind, I would look best with a head full of hair slicked back and with a clean-shaven face, but I like the opposite of that. I feel it makes me feel more masculine and confident, especially after a nice shower.

I think it also makes me look more mature without looking too old. If I had a head full of hair and I was clean-shaven, I would look much younger, which is something I don't particularly care for.

Not really. Although when I was about 18, I saw a TV commercial and one of the men had a very short buzzed haircut almost bald head with facial hair and thick dark glasses and I though he looked cool. I thought it would be something I would want to try and now it's my current look!

Part of the reason I wanted it was because at the time I looked so young that I was getting tired of people thinking I was about 14-15 with my baby face. I didn't took the plunge until I was 39 or 3 years ago.

If I go a couple of days without shaving, my wife says it looks like I have frost on my head.  I know what you mean about the old man hair.  Mine is white too.

"Frost" is a great description! I typically referred to it as fungus.  The corners of my head are the worst. The silvery white hair reflects so much light it really makes the frost stand out more. But on camera at work for Zoom calls, the frost really shows but the hair on top of my head isn't even visible. It looks like i have full on male pattern baldness like a Norwood 7 because the light reflects the shine of my scalp.

Time catches up with most men.  I too started out BBC, but was almost completely bald a few years later.  Will you now stay sly bald year round?

My rule has always been that when I grow my hair out, I would shave it off by May to avoid any weird tan lines. This year I broke that rule. I waited until July. I let my hair grow all winter and spring. A buddy saw me earlier in the year and commented on how long it was getting and how white it looked. I honestly thought it was a silvery grey.

By the time I finally paid attention, I probably had about an inch and a half on top. Maybe 2 inches.  I knew it was thinning, but I convinced myself it looked good. I was styling it, buying hair paste, pretending I was pulling off some kind of look. I was kidding myself. I?d either cut it myself or force myself to go to the barber, which I actually hated going.

Then I came across a picture of myself sitting in my living room from early spring, maybe late winter. My first reaction was, ?Who is that old guy?? And then it hit me. It was me. I couldn?t believe how delusional I?d been, thinking my hair looked great. It wasn?t grey or silvery.  it was basically Anderson Cooper white and the thinnng was obvious.

So I decided to go shorter. I started with #2 buzzcuts. Still wasn?t happy. Tried a 1.5, then a #1. Still unhappy. It wasn?t the length. It was the color, the old man downiness of it. Two days ago I clipper shaved it. Still wasn?t satisfied. That?s when I realized it was simply time to shave it clean.

I broke out the razor, lathered up, and shaved it all off.

It felt great. The smoothness was back. The naked dome. Hair free again and relieved.

There?s something about a shaved head. It?s not just the smoothness or the look. It?s the feeling of being liberated from a crappy head of hair. I?m happy to be done with it. And with the 100 degree days, it felt amazing to rest my bald head on a cool pillow.

I?m back to being me.

Twenty years of shaving the noggin on and off, and at this point, I?m staying switched on. 20 years ago, I  stared out as BBC and now I?ve succumbed to old man hair.

Happy Fourth. Celebrate by being hair free.