Do you really like being bald?

[Nonick]

Amen!  Now I get more eye contact too! 

[Morthen]

I like being bald. but I dont like having to shave...at all

As much as I would love something that would just get rid of the hair once and for all -- I would miss the daily ritual too much...

Its a big pain in the ass imo to shave everyday

Sounds like a lazy mans way out. Shave every other day then.  I'm with Crafty on this, I actually like the shave.

I am extremely lazy. I hate shaving, but I hate having the velcro feel even more.

[Nonick]

I guess it's up to what you put in your head.  I enjoy shaving and look forward to it, because I know I will get rid of the velcro feel.  Smooth is so cool! 

[SpencerK]

Hey guys - new to the forum, site - would just firstly like to say "Hiii!"

Erm, do I like being bald?  I dunno, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't - well, "do not" is a hard term.  I suppose like all of us, I would have liked to have a choice.  I started to go bald at the age of 20, very early.  I can remember walking past cars, mirrors and looking at myself.  Each time I did, I have this horrible feeling of dread.  That was until I have shaved it all off.  I didn't go to 1, I just wet shaved it, and have been like that now for 14 years.   

I am in no way bothered about being bald.  I do have a rather large dent in my head though, it looks like have I have surgery (what most people say), it runs down the side of my head, as is a very deep cravass..  Still, my mrs likes the way my head is, so really that is the only thing that matters.

[Sgt. Pate]

This is kinda funny... there's a busy street I have to cross when I walk the dogs.  When I had a head full of hair I would stand in the crosswalk and watch literally dozens of cars go by an nobody would stop.  I would have to wait till there was no traffic and hurry across.

After I went Sly, I kid you not... someone always stops and gets the other traffic to stop within the first 30 seconds of standing in the crosswalk! 

[skinhead002]

Agree with your post 100% Fireman!! I always wanted to be completely bald and took the clippers and razors to my flat top in 1983(I'm fifty now). Liked the way you had first headshave in the barberchair.  While most barbers cannot get you as smooth as you can yourself, the experience is outstanding. Every man that shaves daily owes it to himself to get skinned in the chair occasionally. When asked the aforementioned questioned, I tell them that if I didnt like it I wouldnt shave my head every morning. I like being a permanently shaved completely bald man. No one would know me if I had any hair on my head.

I absolutely love the look and feel. Almost 53 years of age now (started shaving my head when I was just creeping up on.... I'd say around 51). Wish I would have done it a lot sooner!! First decided to give the sly look a try because of the unbearable N'Awlins heat here in the summertime.

Discussed going totally sly with the wife and kids beforehand- they weren't too crazy about it. Took my son to get HIS haircut one day and while he was getting his done, I grabbed the next chair and told the staff to "start shaving and don't stop until you see skull fragments!"  

Upon returning home and sticking my head through the door and saying "Boo!", I don't think I've heard so many "OMG's" come out of my wife's mouth in one sentence in all the 17 years we've been hitched!!    

Her "wife instinct" immediately kicked in and she initially she said she wouldn't speak to me until it grew back!

Right then and there, I began to grow very, very fond of my new look!!  (Hee...Hee...Hee...)  
But today-she wouldn't have me any other way but S-L-Y!!

Been sly ever since. Twice a day- EVERY DAY!! (once in the am; then again at night- that's the only way I can keep it super-smooth and the stubble down to a (ahem - pardon the pun) "bare" minimum!!

Yep- when I see someone up in age (70+) who is totally sly -  with NO trace of shadow or stubble, I can't help but have big admiration for their slyness and their ability to NOT have to shave every day, but still manage to have that "just shaved" look about them!.

It's great to be sly, guys -  it is this century's "long-haired look" of the 60's-70's revisited in the opposite direction!!   -LOL

- Cap'n Noodles -

So to those of you who may be"sly-newbies", or even "seasoned sly-veterans", who still may be concerned (or bothered by) what others may be actually looking at when (or if) you find them suddenly staring at you, here's some good friendly "SLY" advice to follow that I'm sure others here will agree with...

...Let'em stare and relish in the moment! It's a very good chance they're staring out of sheer ENVY anyway!!

'Nuff said!!

[CraftyGuy]

I like being bald. but I dont like having to shave...at all

As much as I would love something that would just get rid of the hair once and for all -- I would miss the daily ritual too much...

Its a big pain in the ass imo to shave everyday

Sounds like a lazy mans way out. Shave every other day then.  I'm with Crafty on this, I actually like the shave.

I am extremely lazy. I hate shaving, but I hate having the velcro feel even more.

I hear that.  I love the daily shave, but I would really love to stay smooth all day long!

[Bilko1]

Been bald more or less since my first proper head-shave back in summer of 2003. Wouldn't have it any other way.
Love being bald & seeing others reactions, too.

[Timbo1941]

People tend to hide behind their hair, and to define themselves by it.   Getting rid of it all is not only liberating, it helps you to become more comfortable with who you are and lets you focus on other things.  It teaches you that there is more to you -- and everyone else -- than your haircut.

Oh, wow - words of wisdom. This is exactly my view but I didn't have the words for it.  I have been defining myself by my hair and a specific haircut. Getting rid of it would mean losing that. But it may mean freedom too.

Thanks for the advice - even though it wasn't meant for me.   

[xnewyawka]

"But it may mean freedom too."

That's exactly what it is Tim. Razor is dead on. Go for it, get it smooth and you'll experience what we've all found out.

Do I really like being bald? Hell yes I do!   

[joebald]

Hi I'm new here, I was a lurker for a while but now that I done the deed (the third time is the charm) I figured I would join in on the conversation.

For about 18 years of my life (I am 20) I had an Afro (me being a white guy you only can assume that it looked awful), as a matter of fact my siblings would call me Disco-man because of my haircut, but I digress. For most of my life I was content with my fugly hair until I went to college and got a normal haircut. Since then I wanted it cut shorter and shorter until I bought my own buzzer and started cutting it myself. I always wanted to shave it all but was afraid to do so until I was in a car accident on my way back to college about 10 months ago. It was then I realized "Hell, I could have died today without doing so many things that I wanted to do."
That very night I took my clippers, removed the guard and plowed them through the middle of my one inch hairy mess.

The next day I bought a head-blade and went for smooth.
As soon I was finished I was amazed at not the sensation of my hand feeling my head, but the skin on my head feeling my hand. It was then that I was in love with being bald.
The following day almost everyone I worked and hung out with either supportive of it, loved it, envied it or was indifferent to it.
It wasn't a permanent thing though, Christmas was a month away and my grandparents would have had a heart attack if they saw me Sly then. But after that I was different, I couldn't stand the thought of having hair longer than 3/8'', and the feel of 1" of hair was just unacceptable.

 In march, during spring break, I shaved my head again and still loved it, I even maintained it for a week, but being surrounded by a mess of negative opinion (my brother in particular, who is also my roommate and has a 4 inch mess of curly hair, so you can guess what his prejudice is) for that whole week and the fact that ingrown hairs suck, compelled me to quit.

Now after this summer I was getting stir crazy (living with parents with do that to a guy) I had (as of 8 hours ago) an inch of hair and I couldn't take it anymore. So, when I finally got back to college I buzzed to 1/4, and then I thought "its only two weeks of hair growth on your head, why not go all the way again." So I shaved it again.

All that was to say that, yes, after only 5 hours of being bald and a week's worth of experience previously, I love it a lot (definitely more so than the afro) and I miss being bald when I have hair on my head.

Perhaps now, with the money and time available to do so, I can compete the Sly 30 Day Challenge. Alas, the only real challenge for me right now is overcoming my family, because I am the only one out of all of them that dares to try be Sly (not even my uncle with MPB has tried it).

[Timmer]

I'm a guy that can wear my hair anyway I want.  Long, short, shaved.  I prefer to shave it bald.  It's cheaper to maintain.  It's comfortable.  I think it looks good.  My wife thinks it looks good.  When I shaved it last time, it was at a new job where no one had seen it that way before and almost everyone loved it. 

The people that are staring might be picking up on your own discomfort or they might be intimidated by the look.  For some, it's very extreme.  When you see someone looking, look back and smile. 

[phigg]

I've been sly for over a month now, I gotta say, I haven't seen anyone stare. 
Maybe it's where I live, it's not uncommon, really. I'm in the upper mid-Atlantic area, east coast USA, between Philly and NJ.
And that's even with all the scars on the back of my head.
Though, I also sport no facial hair, have no tattoos, and don't wear earrings or piercings either..

I guess mostly it depends on where you live and what the culture is like there.

[Rob]

Lets face it: being SLY is all about people staring a little: SLY is different: the dome shines like a beacon: its cool and cutting-edge (maybe some would say a little extreme) but its the difference that makes us stand out, and you just can't be uncomfortable with it because thats the benefit of being SLY: you get noticed!

I love being SLY and wouldnt have it any other way.  Its a way of saying 'hey folks: look at me!!' so you just gotta love it when people stare!

[thebaboun]

Let's put it this way: Being bald and shaving with a razor will suit me well, when I will be older 35 years old maybe, or whatever.
Being SLY is good on me, BUT I have to shave every two days MAXIMUM, have to make fit my clothes with my bald head. So it looks fine, but is a lot of work and I have to care about it.

Overral I would say yes....but my problem is that I am always thinking BAD about my bald head (not always but sometimes) and I know that some people just LIKE IT!