Sly Bald Guys Forum

Head Shaving, Grooming & Care => Trimming Your Head/Hair => Topic started by: dabassman40 on July 30, 2007, 07:59:46 AM

Title: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: dabassman40 on July 30, 2007, 07:59:46 AM
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on how to get rid of dark roots when I shave. I use the Mach3 and it is smooth, but my dark hair sticks out way too much. I have a rare skin condition where my hair falls out in spots. It is pretty embarrassing. It looks like a map of the world from outer space.

Thanks,
Dusty
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: PBurke on July 30, 2007, 08:02:43 AM
welcome dusty. i really can't offer any advice but a couple other members may be able to. so i just wanted to say welcome.
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: dabassman40 on July 30, 2007, 08:09:15 AM
Ok. Thanks for having me. I will keep checking for replies. Talk to you later.
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: wpruitt on July 30, 2007, 08:42:54 AM
welcome dusty
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: dabassman40 on July 30, 2007, 08:53:34 AM
Hi there. See, I want my head to look like that. I wish I had a photo of mine, because it is freaky. I need to find out a way to either lose all my hair or hide the color of the roots.
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: frank_m on July 30, 2007, 09:24:52 AM
are you saying that you want to get rid of the shadow in the places where you hair hasn't fallen out / patches?

Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: dabassman40 on July 30, 2007, 09:34:42 AM
Exactly. But my is all patchy because of a rare skin condition I have.
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: frank_m on July 30, 2007, 09:50:05 AM
that's a tough one, the only thing i can think of (and i've never tried it) is

http://www.scalptweezing.com/    that's all i can think of
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: Tyler on July 30, 2007, 10:16:45 AM
Hey Dusty, there's been one or two guys on the forum that have the same condition as you.  When you shave, try shaving both with and against the grain.  See this topic on our shave routines: http://www.slybaldguys.com/smf/index.php?topic=923.0

It should provide you with various different things that you can try to minimize the shadow. 

Just remember, that we tend to be more critical of ourselves and notice more "faults" than others.  So, the patchiness that you see after shaving may be extremely noticeable to you, but not very noticeable to others.

Oh, and welcome to Sly Bald Guys!!
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: dabassman40 on July 30, 2007, 10:23:29 AM
Thanks. It looks pretty painful. I thought about waxing. The guys in the office said that after a while, the hair will just stop growing. I can't imagine that would be true. Women shave their leg hair their whole lives and it keeps coming back. Has anyone heard anything about how the body will just stop growing hair on your head if you keep shaving it? It just doesn't seem realistic.

Tyler, thanks and hello. Everyone that sees my head says it looks like a disease. I am critical of myself but I think this is really true. I shave every direction possible. Doesn't help.

Looks like the Earth from Space, huh?
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: Paul on July 30, 2007, 02:11:03 PM
Welcome aboard Dusty, glad to have you with us.  With your condition can you get a good tan at all?  It could be possible that the shadow would be less noticable to you if your skin tone darkened up?
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: zetaeffe on July 30, 2007, 02:42:55 PM
Hi there. See, I want my head to look like that. I wish I had a photo of mine, because it is freaky. I need to find out a way to either lose all my hair or hide the color of the roots.

hello Dusty,
guess you suffer from alopecia...
Somebody already told you, the only way to get rid of the shadow is to get
rid of the hair itself, www.scalptweezing.com is the right place to visit...

I actually went for it mysel, tweezed out full head of hair ... it can be done
but is very painful, maybe in your case having already half hair gone
it will be less painful.

Anyway have to warn you: usually hair grows back
even after some tweezing sessions... I have been tweezing for more than
9 months now, twice a week, and still have hair growing back, even if
sparser... in your case I guess there woul be the risk that hair won't grow
back at all, so if you go for it you should consider that it could be
permanent and that you will have to stay totally bald forever...
don't know if you are ready for that....

If you are ready to run the risk then read www.scalptweezing.com,
thre you can fine all the info about the method suggested to greately
reduce pain, i.e. using plastic tape to mask thin hair strip to tweeze...

if you need further info feel free to write back,
also if you wish to chat my nick is zetaeffe on yahoo messenger

good luck
Francesco
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: Tyler on July 30, 2007, 02:49:38 PM
Hey Dusty, thanks for posting a pic.  I haven't seen many cases of this in real life and the few that I have weren't as noticeable as yours.  I'll see if I can ping one of the other guys with Alopecia to see if they can offer up any more advice for you.
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: warhawk on July 30, 2007, 11:29:40 PM
dusty.... welcome 2 the sbg forum.  glad that u found us.  the only answer that i have 4 u is that u should get an appt. with a dermatologist.  anyways... sorry that i cannot contribute anything else.  keep us posted & c ya around the forum.

WARHAWK O0
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: zetaeffe on July 31, 2007, 04:56:40 AM
Hey Dusty, thanks for posting a pic.  I haven't seen many cases of this in real life and the few that I have weren't as noticeable as yours.  I'll see if I can ping one of the other guys with Alopecia to see if they can offer up any more advice for you.

Are there guys with alopecia in Slybaldguys??
Never seen them post... but could be wrong...
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: Shiny on July 31, 2007, 05:48:20 AM
dusty.... welcome 2 the sbg forum.  glad that u found us.  the only answer that i have 4 u is that u should get an appt. with a dermatologist.  anyways... sorry that i cannot contribute anything else.  keep us posted & c ya around the forum.

WARHAWK O0

Hey Dusty, you've come to the right place.  These guys are very supportive.  Tyler pm'd me to see if I could offer any advice as I am one of the member who also suffers from Alopecia Areata.  Thanks Tyler, hope I can be of some help.
Have you been to a dermatologist or has your doctor told you what it is that you have?  Any possible underlying factors that could be causing it?  I don't have a whole lot of confidence in Dr's nowadays but you should see one if you haven't already.  I suspect that my underlying factor is sleep apnea because of the undue stress that that not sleeping properly for 20+ years causes to the body.  I'm on a cpap machine now, since april and my hair is coming back very strong.  We'll see if it stays.
I went to a dermatologist a year ago and she gave me some cortisone to put on my scalp to bring back the hair.  I never used it because personally, I don't like the idea of cortisone but it may be something you might want to try.  You might like being sly but at least (if it works) you'd have a solid shadow.
For me, I found that a nice tan and a glossy finish was adequate.  You kind of forget about the patchy shadow after a while.
My patches were large so I think my shadow may have looked like a birthmark.  I don't know but that's what I told myself anyway... ;)
Well I hope that helps, that's about all I can think of right now. 
Hang in there bro, I know exactly how you feel.  (Lucky guys with male pattern baldness, they don't know how good they got it...  :x! ) :)
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: dabassman40 on July 31, 2007, 07:44:02 AM
Hello to everyone. Thanks for all the advice. I'll look a little more into tweezing, but man, it seems painful. I've tried tanning it since I cut off my hair 2 weeks ago. It is looking a little better. My concern is winter time when I am white as a ghost. Maybe I should leave Chicago and move somewhere warm. My condition is called lichen planopilaris. I used to go to a Derm. He gave me 20-30 shots of cortisone in my head every week to stop the rash and itching. They would work for about a day. He gave me some medicine to stop the hair from falling out but it made my skin itch on the inside. I would scratch the hell out of myself with scissors, back scratchers, or anything sharp. But, I found out that the only thing that would stop the itching was to soak really hot water. It was so hot, I could barely put my foot in the water. The meds stopped more hair from falling out, but would not regrow anything. So, all the smooth spots on my head are actually scars and hair will never grow there again. I stopped the meds because the side effects and here I am now. I finally accepted being bald forever, unless I want a Trumpover. I hear that the difference between my condition and alopecia is that I can't grow hair back where the scars are. I think that with alopecia the hair can come back? I don't know much about alopecia. If I had regular pattern baldness, I wouldn't feel so freaky, because the world is used to seeing that. So, that is why I could use any advice. I did contact my Derm, but he said that I will basically have to wait for the rest of the hair to fall out. Alright , I'm done for now. I know I hate reading long messages. Thanks guys. I gotta make it look like I am trying to get some work done.
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: zetaeffe on July 31, 2007, 09:07:58 AM
Dusty, don't know how you feel about being permanently bald,
but reading your msg I guess you have no choice about than now...
at this point instead of waiting for the rest of hair to fall
you should go for the tweezing and be done with it... that would
solve also the strange scalp shadow issue.
It will be painful but if you use the method describe on www.scalptweezing.com
you can do it...

Good luck
Francesco
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: dabassman40 on July 31, 2007, 09:13:03 AM
Francesco,

I will try anything. It's only a little pain for a little while. Oh well.

Talk to you later,

Dusty
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: BALDANDRE on July 31, 2007, 09:27:16 AM
Hey Dusty...

Thanks for posting the new avatar, it really does let us know what you're dealing with...listen to Francisco and get tips from him...tweeze it...it will even up and look awesome...

why not be totally bald...sounds like there is pain at first when you tweeze, but from what i've read and heard it gets better and less painful...I say give it a go!

Take care ny bald brutha...you WILL have a perfectly clean, hairfree, shadowfree dome all of us will be jealous of! O0 O0 O0 O0
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: dabassman40 on July 31, 2007, 09:32:49 AM
I'm going to give it a shot. No pain, no bald crane. Nothing a little Southern Comfort can't fix. :XX
Later......
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: Tyler on July 31, 2007, 02:57:24 PM
Tweezing sounds like an option.  You can also look into laser hair removal.  You have very dark hair, so it could work well for you based on some of the other postings I've seen here.  In the meantime, get some more color and shine up the dome a bit.  Good luck bro!
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: YOSP on July 31, 2007, 04:30:50 PM
I think it was Paul that mentioned Peroxide. I have dark hair on the sides and was seriously giving it some thought, just afraid of potential irritation. Could work?
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: Shiny on July 31, 2007, 05:07:02 PM
Ya you're right the alopecia areata and universalis do come and go (the hair, that is) and it doesn't leave scars like you have.  It sounds to me like your best options are probably laser or tweezing but in the meantime you should definitely brown up and shiny up dude.  Best of luck to you and remember in the winter there is always sun in a bottle.
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: dabassman40 on August 01, 2007, 08:48:47 AM
Tyler, YOSP, and Shiny,
I called yesterday about getting laser removal. It is about $2000 but it is not permanent. It lasts a long time but they cannot claim it to be "permanent". I may try the tweezing. I thought about peroxide. We used to use it in the 80's when we were trying to look like Vince Neil form Motley Crue. It did change my hair but I thought it might irritate my skin. Did you ever get some on your fingers and the skin turns white? That would be a jacked up look. I am going to keep shaving, tanning, and shining. Oh, the lady at the laser joint said that they don't do many heads because it is so painful. Sounds fun!
Thanks guys.
Dusty
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: Tyler on August 01, 2007, 03:37:53 PM
I knew it was expensive, but one of the guys here did it.  I'll try to find his post.  Just want to give you all the info that we can provide bro!
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: Tyler on August 01, 2007, 03:40:28 PM
Here it is Dusty -  http://www.slybaldguys.com/smf/index.php?topic=1832.0 (http://www.slybaldguys.com/smf/index.php?topic=1832.0)

I'm not trying to recommend any technique, just want you to have all the information to make a decision.

Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: dabassman40 on August 02, 2007, 07:21:13 AM
Tyler,

I appreciate all advice. Don't ever worry sending too much info. I could use as much as possible. I'll check out the post now.

Thanks.

Dusty
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: Razor X on August 04, 2007, 09:46:53 AM
Tyler,

I appreciate all advice. Don't ever worry sending too much info. I could use as much as possible. I'll check out the post now.

Thanks.

Dusty

I'd definitely try tweezing if I were in your shoes.  It may be painful, but you don't have to do it all at once.  Just do a little at a time for as long as you can stand it.  From what I understand, once the initial tweezing is done, the maintenance is not that bad.   And as BaldAndre said, once you've done it,we'll all be jealous of your shadow-free dome.

Let us know how you make out.

Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: JDog on August 05, 2007, 07:23:38 AM
I pulled out my wifes Emjoi epilator the other day and after a few days of growth(blasphemy) I ran the epilator over the base of my neckline and the pain was quite bad but not as painful as I expected.

I'm sure if you did it over 1-2 weeks, it would be okay.
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: BALDANDRE on August 06, 2007, 09:38:58 AM
I pulled out my wifes Emjoi epilator the other day and after a few days of growth(blasphemy) I ran the epilator over the base of my neckline and the pain was quite bad but not as painful as I expected.

I'm sure if you did it over 1-2 weeks, it would be okay



Hey Jdog, you ever really think you'd do it? I think the results would really show well if you did it...but I know the reality it probably hurts like h*ll!
Title: Re: Removing dark hair when shaved
Post by: JDog on August 08, 2007, 06:54:18 AM
Andre it hurts like hell but I've felt worse pain! But it was only a small part. And being of  Mediterranean backgrounds and BBC we both could expect to have shadow but it seems you have found a real good way to cover yours up. Your shadow is almost non existant bro. O0

Even after a fresh headshave and application of almond oil,even my intense shine cant get rid of it.

I always complain about it to my wife and she says "Of course! You have shadow because you are not supposed to be bald!" and then I say "I love you honey"

We have that kind of marriage.