This St.Paddy's Day, What Razor Should You Use When Shaving Your Head?
Naked Armor
Bring out your shamrock green and the Guinness because if there are any parties to look forward to this March, it would have to be St. Patrick’s Day.
Published by Naked Armor
It's the season for leprechauns to get drunk and be merry.
Here at Naked Armor, we look forward to the widespread beer parties and Irish-themed revelry. While it used to be a solemn Catholic holiday, it’s now an annual excuse for many of us to get drunk with, what else, Guinness beer, of course!
Having morphed into a cultural celebration worldwide, St. Paddy’s Day festivities attract millions of revelers. And like any major festival, it has also sprouted its own holiday traditions which are religiously done by the participants.
And one of these is shaving heads.
Oh to be sexy bald and tipsy on St.Paddy's Day.
Shaving Heads for Cancer Research
Every St. Patrick’s Day, people shave their heads to support the fight for cancer and to raise money for cancer research for children.
The event began in 2000 when three guys in a pub thought of shaving their heads on St. Patrick’s Day to raise money for child cancer research. They started with a goal of $17,000 and then blew it out of the water, eventually raising more than $100,000. Because it was so successful, they decided to make it a regular thing and put up a non-profit organization, cheekily named St. BALDricks Foundation to ensure that the money goes to cancer research for children.
It’s become so popular that it had become a thing every St. Patrick’s Day with other groups holding similar fundraising activities to raise funds for children. Shaving your head can be a daunting and personal decision but when it’s done in an atmosphere of fun and purpose, it’s a great way to make your St. Patrick’s Day celebration memorable.
What Razor Should You Use?
First things first, though. Before you start shaving all that hair off, you need to pick the razor that best suits you.
First off, let’s definitively say that a plastic disposable is so NOT the razor you should be using in order to shave your head. It’s not eco-friendly and you wouldn’t really want to piss off St. Paddy by using a razor that contributes to plastic pollution.
An electric razor won’t do the job either. Whatever the ads may want you to believe, an electric razor won’t give you a close, smooth shave that’ll make your head look like a baby’s butt.
So that leaves us with a safety razor and the straight razor.
Shaving with a Safety
Also known as a double-edged (DE) razor, the safety razor’s most distinguishing feature is its protective guard which helps lessen accidental nicks and cuts while shaving. This is the reason why it’s called a safety razor and for that, we’d have to thank Gillette for inventing it and making it available in the market.
The protective guard and its single blade makes the safety razor an effective tool for shaving hair closely without irritating the scalp. By comparison, a multi-blade razor will have more blade friction to irritate the skin because it has multiple blades.
The truth is, you don’t need many blades to give you a close, smooth shave. When you use a 5-blade cartridge razor, a single pass is equivalent to 5 passes with a single blade razor. Hence, it can cause 5 times as much irritation.
With a safety razor, you won't need to have the luck of the Irish
to shave away without accidental nicks or cuts.
A single sharp blade is all you need to get a close, smooth shave.
It also makes shaving a smoother experience. Multi-blade razors have gaps between blades so it tends to tug the hair making shaving painful. But with a safety razor’s single blade, the shaving strokes are smooth because there are no other blades to tug the hair strands.
The blades used by most double-edged razor blades today are also sharper. This means that they shave hair off easily and you don’t need to go over the same spot many times. That’s because they use medical grade stainless or carbon steel which can be honed to a fine and thin sharp edge.
Shaving your head can be a daunting and personal decision but when it’s done in an atmosphere of fun and purpose, it’s a great way to make your St. Patrick’s Day celebration memorable.
— D'Rock, Naked Armor Founder
Going Straight for a Shave
Known as a cutthroat in the old days, a straight razor is the only razor blade that can give you the closest shave.
Sure, the safety razor can give you a close shave but with that protective guard, it won’t be as close as a straight razor. A straight razor’s open blade and sharp edge gives you maximum contact with the hair strands.
The quality of the shave is also related to the angle at which the blade is situated to the head. Because a straight razor’s blade is not covered with a metal head, it has more versatility for different shaving angles. And since not every shape of the head is perfect, a straight razor can be maneuvered effortlessly in whatever angle to increase the quality of the shave.
Even a leprechaun would trade his pot of gold for something as luxurious as the Naked Armor Solomon Straight Razor.
It’s also more efficient. Because of the blade’s length, it can cover more area for shaving in a single stroke. In contrast, the safety’s smaller profile requires you to shave in small steps and might even require more passes to get everything right. This will increase the risk of irritation.
There’s a catch though. The learning curve of a straight razor is higher than a safety razor and you can't put your straight razor in your carry on if you are planning to travel.
Because it can also be a weapon when used improperly, you need to have major skills when you use a straight razor ESPECIALLY on your head. But when you master a straight razor, the rewards are great. You get to have the smoothest chromeball of a head that you’ll be the envy in your St. Paddy’s party.
Our Recommendation
If you’re in for just a decent shaved head without any cuts or nicks, then use a safety razor. It’ll give you a safer and smoother shaving experience. It’ll take a bit longer though because the razor head covers a smaller space but it’ll still give you a close shave that’s going to guarantee enough donations for cancer research.
You might even want to check out our very own Naked Armor Spartacus Sandalwood Safety Razor. It has a chrome tip for proper weight distribution and a handle made of sandalwood, the second most expensive hardwood in the world. It comes with its own shaving kit that includes an organic shaving soap and a badger-friendly shave brush. It’s everything you need to make your shaving a pleasurable and smooth experience, on your facial and body hair.
But if you want to have a really close shave so that your bald head looks and feels like a baby’s bottom, then by all means, use Naked Armor’s Solomon Straight Razor. It’ll give you the closest and smoothest shave there is. That being said, make sure your straight razor shaving skills are top-notch. Because, otherwise, you’ll risk scalping yourself bloody.
In fact, you can get someone else to use the straight razor for you. An hour spent at the barber shop will guarantee you the perfect shaved head. Or if there’s no professional barber nearby, just make sure that the person shaving you is skilled in using a straight razor. This way, you’ll get to enjoy a luxurious and comfortable shaving experience while doing your share to raise funds for research.
And if you’re looking for a fine, luxury straight razor, check out our collection of Japanese steel razors. They’re made in the tradition of Japanese samurai swords so they’re very sharp and very durable. They also have algum handles which is supposedly one of the legendary hardwoods used in King Solomon’s temple.
But most of all, our blades are uniquely designed to be versatile for all types of hair and skill levels. They are designed in between a full hollow and a half hollow grind. So you can use this to shave coarse or fine, thick or thin hair.
Check out our site for more awesome shave products. Happy St. Paddy’s Day everyone!
More Tips from Naked Armor
How to Shave Your Head With A Straight Razor For St.Paddy's Day
17 Things You Didn’t Know About St. Patrick’s Day
How to Wet Shave Properly with a Straight Razor
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