head shavers...

just checking in since its been a few months now since I started shaving my head and I've tried a few different products now...

favorite razor to shave my head: gillette guard

favorite oil/cream/gel thus far: bee bald shave cream

I've tried numerous razors on my dome now and the gillette guard seems to be the best. I like that it's light, it's only 1 blade, it's open comb, it can pivot on the head and they're relatively cheap to buy. I've tried several DEs, an injector, the razorock hawk, multiple different multi-blade carts (although to be fair, they were the knock off versions of the 'real ones') and a headblade sport. The headblade sport is a novel idea and it makes quick work of shaving your head, but the carts are expensive and it's incredibly easy to gunk up quickly...

as for the oils/creams/soaps/gels, I've tried a few. I tried traditional soaps with the brush - they dry out on my head too quick for me to be bothered with them. I like oils from sir hare or traditional coconut oil but they REALLY gunk up the razors. With the gillette guard, it's not as bad though. for the brushless creams, I've used cremo and now bee bald. cremo works pretty well and it's slick while bee bald has a nicer scent to it for me and it seems to be slicker. I have a gel coming in from amazon tomorrow called tomb45, I believe. a lot of barbers use it so I'm curious to see how it does. it was cheap enough to give it a whirl...

Andrew, do you find that artisanal soaps, also, dry your head, or are you referring to the standard commercial ones?
I have never noticed any dryness with artisanal soaps as long as they are well-hydrated.

Andrew, do you find that artisanal soaps, also, dry your head, or are you referring to the standard commercial ones?
I have never noticed any dryness with artisanal soaps as long as they are well-hydrated.

it would of been all artisan soaps...I don't think I own any commercial soaps.

anyways, the effort wasn't worth my time when I could lather on some cream from a tube in a matter of about a minute...if the cream was getting a little dry, I'd just wet my hand and rub it into my scalp and boom, rehydrated lather again.

I use our BTRC oil and soap combo everyday on my dome. Anything from our own closed comb to the Muhle R41. Never dry. Top off with our balm. Soft and smooth.

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it would of been all artisan soaps...I don't think I own any commercial soaps.

anyways, the effort wasn't worth my time when I could lather on some cream from a tube in a matter of about a minute...if the cream was getting a little dry, I'd just wet my hand and rub it into my scalp and boom, rehydrated lather again.

That is unfortunate, in a way, as there are a plethora of great performing and smelling artisanal soaps, but if what you are using is working, then, all of the best.

How many head shaves per cartridge with the Guard? ?

FWIW I always use an oil mix either as part of a soap lather/oil shave sequence or as an after shave balm, works well for my head.

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Shoot, my head is the only thing I shave, so I am quite glad that I don't find artisanal soaps and splashes drying. I tried oils and didn't really like it for shaving, or post shave for that matter. I just use good soap and whatever splash works that night, either matching or complimenting, or sometimes completely unrelated. Can;t smell the soap much after the shave is done anyhow, so it doesn't matter much...at least to me...

The reason I looked into traditional wet shaving is because the cartridges were killing my head. Horrible irritation and a plethora of ingrown hairs just made me really uncomfortable.

I'm glad I found traditional tools, though, and even more glad I found people that were interested in restoring and using these older, vintage pieces of kit. I was always fascinated by straight razors, and now I have a reason to own and maintain many!

I'd love to see a few comparisons between the One Blade Core and the Gillette Guard. I'll be doing that myself when back in the US.

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I found a lot of soaps drying out on me early on. Two things made a huge difference there. Moving to synthetic brushes, and loading WAY more soap. Like 3 - 4 times more than I had been using. I think early on I was trying to conserve soap. Once I built up a small rotation and I was trying to use them up faster, I started getting much better lather.

I also found a few of the more popular price-effective soaps (Arko, Williams, VDH, etc) were extremely drying, no matter what I did with the lather. I just stopped using those.

I say use what works. If you feel like you've experimented as much as you want to and you're enjoying your current setup, then stick with it. If you want to come back to soaps sometime, then try some of the suggestions here.

I also found a few of the more popular price-effective soaps (Arko, Williams, VDH, etc) were extremely drying, no matter what I did with the lather.  I just stopped using those.

I don't believe they use as many oils/butters as the artisanal ones and the stabilizing agent they use for the lather might play a factor in this, also.