With the exception of a two-month stint I spent in North Dakota last year, I’ve cut my own hair once a week for the past five years, and I haven’t regretted a minute of it. If you want to change up your look and/or avoid having to waste an hour every other week at the barbershop, going cueball is a great way to do it. Here are some of the many benefits of shaving your head…
It saves you money.
Good quality haircuts aren’t cheap; the last time I had my hair professionally done, I was shelling out $15 every other week. A quality electric razor will cost you $40-50 up-front, but it pays for itself many times over; I’ve been using the same razor for four years and the same $4 bottle of clipper oil for nearly as long. The razor even survived a cross-country hitchhiking trip (yes, I really am that vain). All I’ve had to do to keep it working is replace the blade every so often and wrap electrical tape around a frayed part of the cord.
It’s low maintenance.
I spend exactly half-an-hour on my hair every week. Depending on how quickly your hair grows and what color it is, you may not even have to do that much. Additionally, you can skip shampooing every night; with no hair, the need to constantly scrub your scalp is lessened.
It makes you look younger and/or more masculine.
There is not a single man on Earth who looks good with male pattern baldness. Women and men both look at guys with monk’s rings—even young guys—and instinctively write them off as ugly old farts. Depending on how old you are, going completely bald will shave years off your appearance and make you look more masculine. For example, I turned 25 recently, but girls I meet in real life usually mistake me for a college undergrad. Not only that, if you already put a minimum of care into your appearance, it’s impossible to look like a pussy when you have a shaved head. The only guy I know who’s managed to pull that off is that loser from R.E.M.
That said, there are a number of downsides to the skinhead look…
It exposes you to UV damage.
Without anything to shield your scalp from the sun’s rays, you’re looking at some pretty painful sunburns—and possible skin cancer—if you’re fair-skinned and spend a lot of time outdoors. In fact, you can even get sunburned in the winter unless you live in a northerly location like Canada or Scandinavia; I once got a mild scalp burn during a biathlon in upstate New York. Get used to either wearing hats or rubbing sunscreen into your skull when you head out the door.
You become much more sensitive to the surrounding temperature.
The vast majority of your body heat is lost through your head, which is why it’s paramount to wear a hat if it’s cold out. Your hair does a decent job at keeping you warm; not having any will make it seem like your surroundings are five degrees colder than they actually are. This is an advantage when it’s hot out because you’ll be sweating less than your friends, but a huge disadvantage in autumn and winter. In my last year of college, I lived in an apartment with poor insulation; even with the heat cranked up all the way, I had to wear a wool cap indoors during the winter to keep from freezing.
Depending on your skin color, you may have to grow a beard to balance out your facial features.
A good rule of thumb is that the lighter your skin, the greater likelihood you’ll need facial hair to pair with your bald head. Black guys generally can get away with being bald and clean-shaven; many white guys who try to pull that off will look like cancer patients. If you can’t grow a good beard, you might as well forget about going cueball.
If this all sounds good, here’s my quick and dirty guide to shaving your head. Note that before you drop any money on expensive razors or other equipment, you should have your barber or hairstylist shave your head so you know what it looks like.
Get the equipment you need.
At the bare minimum, you need an electric razor, a bottle of clipper oil and razor brushes (which are usually included with the razor). My personal recommendation is the Wahl Professional 8110 5-Star Balding Clipper; as I said already, this clipper has lasted me four years without any issues. It cuts cleanly, doesn’t get clogged easily and is small enough to take with you on trips. Note that the Wahl clipper is wall-powered; if you don’t have any outlets in your bathroom, you’ll need to get a battery-powered clipper. Regardless of whatever razor you buy, it has to be a balding razor; regular razors will only cut your hair down to an eighth of an inch, not take it off entirely.
Most razors include a little sample of clipper oil, but it won’t last you more than a couple of uses. You need oil to keep the razor functioning properly and avoid cutting yourself, so make sure to pick up a $4 bottle of the stuff.
While it is possible to shave your head with a hand razor, I don’t recommend it because it takes too long—I’ve never been able to do it in less than an hour-and-a-half—and because the risk of cutting yourself is much higher. Additionally, you also run the risk of creating ingrown hairs with a hand razor.
Before you begin shaving, take your shirt off.
Hair on your clothes is a real bitch to get out, so it’s best to shave half-naked. Additionally, depending on your bathroom layout and/or hair length, you may want to lay some newspapers down beforehand to minimize the mess. You may also want to take a shower afterwards to wash off any stray clumps of hair that get stuck to your chest and shoulders.
Dab some clipper oil on your razor before you start cutting.
After you’ve applied the oil, switch the razor on to ensure that the oil gets spread evenly over the blades. This will pay huge dividends later.
Shave one side of your head at a time.
You want to concentrate on getting all the hair on one portion off your head all at once. For example, I usually start with the right side of my head, move to the back, the left side, and finally the top for last. You can vary it up if you want—because I’m right-handed, I find it easier to start with the right side—but in my experience, the left and right sides are the most time-consuming to shave because your ears make certain portions of your hair difficult to access. If necessary, use your free hand to fold your ear back so you don’t miss anything. When you’ve fully shaved part of your head, run your fingers against the grain to ensure you haven’t missed any spots.
Be careful you don’t cut yourself.
Nicks and cuts are inevitable when you’re starting out, but you don’t need to make them worse. When shaving, move the razor in smooth, even strokes, and press it lightly against your skin so that it’s just barely touching. Also, be careful around bumps and moles, as the razor will all but shred them if you aren’t careful. I’ve actually had to have a dermatologist surgically remove several moles from my head because they were getting in the way of my shaving.
Clean out the blades regularly.
Hair will get stuck in the razor with repeated use, making it less effective. Use your brushes to keep the blades clear. Razors typically come with two, a large one for getting out huge clumps and a smaller, finer one for cleaning out individual nooks and crannies.
Remember to clean up afterwards.
A small but important detail. Fortunately, the clipper oil will cause your hair to come off in tiny little clumps, which will make sweeping them up a lot easier.
The skinhead look isn’t for every man, but if you’ve got the right stuff, shaving your head will make you considerably more attractive. Good luck!
Read More: How To Shave Like A Barber
I’m old enough that my beard is grey while my hair is still dark. I’ve done the shaved head with a beard thing before (looked like a stand in for MythBusters).
Any suggestions? Right now my hair is past my shoulders.
Stick with the shaved head look. At your age, there’s no downside to it.
Forney, I still remember that pic of you from your Portland sux article. Shaved head and goatee looked like you were stuck in the 90’s.
Matt Forney is the pudgy omega racist formerly known as Ferdinand Bardamu. A shaved head cannot fix Pudge-Face Forney. Here’s what he looks like while getting his mack on:
http://eradica.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/matt-forney-bardamu.jpg
Should we be taking grooming tips from Mattzo Ball the Piglet?
Hey now, let’s see you pull a hard 6 like that…
Yeah I see his point. You guys are as bad as the feminist cunts this blog rails against, shaming one of your own for something as trifling as his appearance – kinda makes you look like a gaggle of gossiping beta-phaggots.
Just saying.
You’re attempting to call me “racist” while linking to Eradica, a site run by a schizophrenic neo-Nazi living off a disability pension? And using a year-old picture to discredit me?
Please post a new picture… your still a pig Matt 🙂 and sexist. I read all your articles. I am sure the only thing you love is yourself.
Damn if these are the “Alpha’s” running the manosphere/redpill circuit we are fucked.
In no way shape or form is this guy an alpha I don’t care if he has a billion dollars in his account.
Shits embarrassing for the entire movement.
LOL, Forney is the ROK “Omega Man”
CHRIST! Some dudes love the cock so much that they just shave their heads to look like a penis every time they look in the mirror.
The goatee, however, is overkill. Girls can look past some fat, girls can get past Matt’s old age, maybe girls can even get past the old man glasses. But the dick-head and the goatee? I hear girls say all the time that a goatee is what downlow queers use to signal they are gay to other downlow gays. The goatee around the mouth is meant to imitate the vagina.
I’m not going bald, yet I’ve been doing the shaved head/goatee thing for a bit as of late. There are a number of advantages as mentioned above, but it gives you a unique look (you stand out in a good way without looking like a prat) especially combined with a bit of muscle, but moreso, it centers your looks. 30-35 years old is the sweetspot for men in terms of looks. You shave your head when you’re twenty, you look closer to 30. You shave your head when you’re 40 and you’ve grey coming in and you look closer to 30. Win.
I’d imagine another advantage of it is that if yous do end up going bald, you’re sort of used to it and don’t care so much. One lad I know went fully bald at 18 and it really did fuck up his confidence big time for example.
Protip: buy a safety razor. Saves you money, and makes you slightly more badass.
>The vast majority of your body heat is lost through your head. . . .
No, it isn’t; that urban legend was disproved a while ago. IIRC, it’s the result of a misinterpretation of an old us military study about cold-weather survival. The idea that the majority of body heat is lost through the head is the result of the test conditions, not reality.
Are you an idiot?
He’s actually right.
“The myth is thought to have arisen through a flawed interpretation of a vaguely scientific experiment by the US military in the 1950s. In those studies, volunteers were dressed in Arctic survival suits and exposed to bitterly cold conditions. Because it was the only part of their bodies left uncovered, most of their heat was lost through their heads.”
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/dec/17/medicalresearch-humanbehaviour
SILENCE! I’m not going to indulge your pathetic hive mind. There are differences between experiential evidence and simply quoting or referencing a news article. First, nearly all mainstream news is faux news and not even worthy of polite consideration on my part. Secondly, it is obvious and personally evident, that if you go outside on a cold day bareheaded you will suffer moreso from heat loss and temperature fluctuation, due of the high vascularization of head. That’s where your brain is, might want to protect it… Unless your a fucking IDIOT!
There are many more relations to the brain, behavior, and hair that I will literate in a separate post
“Unless your (sic) a fucking IDIOT!”
Touché.
Ugh. Another total airball. Shaving with clippers WILL NOT take away the monk-ring. It just doesn’t cut close enough, and looks half-assed. You need to use an actual razor, like a Mach-4 or Quatro or whatever. The better the razor the less likely you cut yourself. Also, you can get lotions for de-shining and sunscreen (check Head Lube).
This is totally true. I started with clippers, but moved to the razor. It cuts way closer and is actually faster and easier to use than I thought…
Still use the clippers on the ol’ nut-sack now-and-then 😉
Razors here too. Works better with no shaving cream for me.
What if we have lots of hair like Roosh?
I prefer to think of being bald headed and clean shaven as looking more like Lex Luthor than a cancer patient.
Depends on your build.
160+ lbs – Luthor
< 160 lbs – Chemotherapy
Been shaving for years now…
My problem is an oily scalp. It can really grease up to the point that I’m scared when some chick might want to touch it. A couple hours after washing it’ll oil-up again…
Any tips?
Stop shampooing for a few days.
I’m serious.
Scalp oil build-up is in part due to shampoo over-use. Your body naturally secretes oil to protect your hair and scalp, but shampoo washes it away, creating a cycle where your body overproduces oil to make up for the loss. If you wash your hair with nothing other than water for a week, your scalp will return to normal. Works for me.
I need balding clippers. But for now I use Shick Extreme 3 disposable razors. The sell huge packs of them at Sams Club where I live. They actually flex to the contours of your head. I shave in the shower it takes me maybe 5 minutes max for my head and face.
Fuck that. I’ve been giving myself haircuts for the last 8 years, and these aren’t shavings, they are real hairstyles. It’s tough at first, but you get better over time. My rationale is that I’d rather be responsible for my own mistakes than have to blame some dumb barber. Also it’s a thing of pride, as well as shaving tons of money. For the last year I have gone past just different clipper settings, and actually do most of the styling with a scissor. All you need is a big bathroom wall mirror, and then a small handheld mirror so that you can see the sides and the back. Then you just need go hand control, patience, and practice. At first they might take 45m-1hr, but now I’m done with a good high and tight/ fade in a half hour.
A Wahl Guard 1 (1/8″) clipping always seems easier and faster than the whole shave-it-all hassle.
Eh… Hairstyles might be the whim of fashion and society, and women.. (Lolz).. BUT let it be known that the shaving of heads was reserved only for SLAVES in previous ages. And also let it be known, that those who run Hollywood, see even popular actors as nothing but mere slaves. The link is there and proof exponential once your aware of it, but that might take wisdom and… hair.
In ancient times, and times of more natural knowledge and ways, it was also customary to cut the hair of conquered foes to distraught their force of will… I could go on and on, with personal experience and examples, but it would take an adept (or anyone initiated into the occult) to be able to keep up.
I’m an expert in nutrition and yes, that’s all in your head(hair), too…
HERE is an article that is a good, largely verifiable introduction to what I am talking about regarding hair:http://www.mrsikhnet.com/2009/06/08/your-hair/
(This article is GENIUS, as it provides a link between the shaving of legs and insanity in women.)
I just found this one and have yet to read:http://www.sikhnet.com/news/truth-and-hair-always-assert-themselves
Genghis Khan subjugated China through cut locks and bangs on women.
http://www.3ho.org/articles/all-about-hair-yogi-style
Feeling sorry for you saps, so I’m going to keep them coming.
I just found an EXMORMON website with 3 hair links. If fucking Mormons can break the conditioned ignorance from their life-long religion, then I’m sure you can, too…
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,821222,821387,quote=1
The Indian trackers in Vietnam story is my favorite:
http://www.sott.net/article/234783-The-Truth-About-Hair-and-Why-Indians-Would-Keep-Their-Hair-Long
Self explanatory:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_trim_our_hair_in_accordance_with_the_socialist_lifestyle
Last link was a repeat of the yoga one:
http://www.zengardner.com/the-spiritual-nature-of-hair/
Damn the internet is a haven for the walking wounded and various misfits. Fornay’s article is logical especially if one is going bald; better to go cue ball. Vin Diesel is da shit right now, aint he aint no slave and I don’t care how many obscure blogs you want to quote.
Damn the internet is a haven for the walking wounded and various misfits. Fornay’s article is logical especially if one is going bald; better to go cue ball. Vin Diesel is da shit right now, aint he aint no slave and I don’t care how many obscure blogs you want to quote.
Damn the internet is a haven for the walking wounded and various misfits. Fornay’s article is logical especially if one is going bald; better to go cue ball. Vin Diesel is da shit right now, aint he aint no slave and I don’t care how many obscure blogs you want to quote.
Hell no, I love my glorious Asian mane.
Been shaving my head for sixteen years and aside from a set of really good clippers, I have found the Remington Titanium screen shaver to be the best. I want to use a razor but I am black so I get terrible ingrown hairs with a razor( learned the hard way). The Remington cuts just as close as a razor , and is quicker than clippers. For 24 hours after using the Remington no monk shadow.
Very nice piece. I started losing my hair after college. Since, then I’ve been shaving it down to a #1. I’ve had more luck with women sporting the Pep Guardiola look than I did when I had a Brad Pitt hairline.
I’ve been shaving my head with a razor for about 7 years now. Every two days to keep it looking good. The easiest way to get the job done is to do it in the shower, a bit of cheap shampoo or conditioner for lubricant and you’re set. It adds only a few minutes to your regular shower time.
I’ve been shaving my head with a razor for about 7 years now. Every two days to keep it looking good. The easiest way to get the job done is to do it in the shower, a bit of cheap shampoo or conditioner for lubricant and you’re set. It adds only a few minutes to your regular shower time.
Hair replacement that works:http://www.hishairclinic.com/
Fuck that. This whole article is about the advantages of shaving OVER having hair, especially fake hair costing a couple grand.
Monk hair is indeed a bad look, but a shaved head is no better IMO. Bald is bald.
Wrong. Monk hair looks weak, like someone resigned to what life’s dealt him. Shaved looks way more powerful (for most at least).
Powerful, but not attractive. I’ve never been attracted to a bald man, and I’ve seen plenty of them.
I started shaving my head in about about 17 years ago. I suddenly *existed* to women, who started opening me of their own accord, and have never looked back. I’ll go with what works.
Admittedly, I’ve got the head for it. I have the angry veins in my temple thing happening, so always look pissed off.
Yeah, and how significant is your one, single opinion with the bigger picture taken into account?
You narcissist.
Funny this article comes up the day I decide to go as Walter white for halloween. I’ve already got the goatee, now I just need to find something that actually works to clear up the small bit of psoriasis I have on my scalp. Any ideas other than steroidal cream or psoriasin?
He forgot to mention how sensitive your scalp is.
I think for me was about 1.5mo till my scalp got used to being shaved.
Up to that point my head has small bumps all over due to my scalp not being used to it. Sort of like small hives all over my head.
Also staying bald takes more work then getting a hair cut.
I was shaving my head 3x a week of so. Hair cut wads once every 2mo.
When you hair grows back it will go from smooth to sandpaper to velour to hair.
When you do grow your hair back, for some reason the hair on the sides of you head grow back faster then the top.
Also at times, your hair my not fully grow back evenly.
Just a fyi…
I have been shaving my head for years. My hair line really started receding my junior year of highschool. Over the years I used a variety of clippers. For the past couple of years I have just used a razor. It sucked at first but I can shave my head in about 7 minutes.
Also, if we look at history yes some societies shave heads as a way of humiliation. But, if one looks at armies such as that of alexander the great you will notice he instituded the shaving of the head for battle. Also, before an execution the executioner shaved his head. Enlightened monks shave their heads in a ritual context.
I find long hair to actually be easier, with none of the disadvantages of a shaved head, or a short haircut. I had to shave my head once a week in the Army, and I remember the cold head issues, as well as scalp sunburns on occasion.
With my hair long, when I need a haircut, once every few months, I just tie it back in a ponytail and snip a couple inches off. It doesn’t take a lot of time to wash, either, and I don’t have to waste time going to the barber. I really can’t think of a disadvantage, it’s cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter, feels better.
You mentioned that it takes you an hour and a half with a hand razor. That’s possible if it’s your first time but after 2-3 weeks of shaving in the shower every two days, that time gets cut down to just 10 minutes once you get your technique sorted. All you need is soap, a disposable razor and a shaving brush, same gear as for shaving your face 🙂
I see your point,but think about this.. What is a Lion without a mane?..
http://www.somethingawful.com/weekend-web/bald-haunted-furries/1/
Matt Forney needs to hit the gym more and live more by the Red Pill ideals he espouses on here. Fackin LOSER