Concealer Reviews

Vinton Harper

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From an unbiased user.

I've used many a concealer and I just thought I would post what I personally liked and didn't like about each of the ones I have tried.

Dermmatch-hairloss makeup in a disc: Pros - Inexpensive; blends toward the hairline well; scent is tolerable and non-lingering; relatively easy to apply; stays on long.
Cons - Doesn't really thicken the actual hair too much as it says it does/can see through hair in certain light; can be messy for your sink.
Bottom Line - One of the better concealers out there, though not if you have lost too much hair or too short of hair or are slick bald anywhere like on crown, even if you cover with longer hair from top(Dermmatch can be seen). Good though for what it is – scalp makeup.

Kerasome-goopy hair thickener in a bottle: Pros - Easy to apply; thickens hair well; stays on long; hard to see through hair.
Cons – More expensive/and uses up faster; heavy scent(takes long to dissipate); messy for your hands(although washes off pretty quick).
Bottom Line- I like how Kerasome makes it harder to see through the hair, so it does thicken pretty good. Like Dermmatch, can't be used as a stand-alone product on a balding crown though. As I
have said, there is a heavy smell which will linger for awhile depending upon how much you use, but in any case should not last longer than a day. That said, the smell is not that unpleasant. It kind of smells like a heavy scented hair gel or hair spray.

Couvre-pasty rub-on hairloss hider in a tube: Pros – Good at hairline.
Cons – Heavy makeup smell which lingers, possibly forever; not very easy to apply.
Bottom Line – I would sometimes use a little dab of Couvre when my hairline wasn't looking quite right and it blended it pretty good. However, the tremendous scent of Couvre forced me to stop using it in any larger amounts. I can't really say if Couvre is worth it for the money as I quit using it not long after I tried it. The other thing I didn't like about it was that they provide no applicators and you have to use those triangle sponges or something else and I just found it difficult to squeeze the right amount of Couvre onto one of them and difficult to spread it around my head and make it look good.

Prothik-spray-on hair thickener: Pros – Quick and easy to apply; pretty cheap; does pretty well as a stand-alone product, including crown area.
Cons – VERY messy; vapors are unpleasant to nose and eyes.
Bottom Line - This stuff will mess up your bathroom, but it is a spray so there is really no way around that. I must say it does do an excellent job in giving hair a thicker look, even when you comb through it after applying. Can look kind of unnatural sometimes and gives a kind of dull, dead-hair look, but you can always use a shiny hairspray or shine enhancer(I sometimes use Hask shine enhancer) to help with that. Overall works pretty good, but I just wish it weren't so messy. I also wonder what breathing in those fumes could do to your lungs if you use it regularly.

Hairsoreal-sprinkle-on hair thickener in bottle: Pros – Relatively quick and easy to apply; see-through bottle lets you know how much you have left; inexpensive; lasts a long time.
Cons – Not good for hairline.
Bottom Line – Works well, especially on crown as long as you have a little bit of hair there. And I swear, I would keep using it and using it and the bottle never seemed to empty. I still have about
half an inch left in my first bottle which I bought about a year ago. I'm kind of hoping it is a bottomless supply. Although I just now bought another bottle of it just to be safe.

Nanogen-another sprinkle-on hair thickener in a bottle: Pros – Relatively quick and easy to apply.
Cons – More expensive and smaller bottle; non-transparent bottle makes it hard to gauge how much you have left; not good for hairline.
Bottom Line – I started using Nanogen after I read about how more natural looking it is than other sprinkle-on concealers like Toppik and Hairsoreal, and after all I just wanted to try something different. So after using Hairsoreal for awhile I decided to give it a go, and I thought at first that it did look more natural, but then after going through two bottles of Nanogen and going back to (my old bottle of)Hairsoreal I discovered that they are not really all that different, natural-looking-wise. Nanogen does hold a slight edge against Hairsoreal in that it has smaller fibers which may make it harder to detect(under a microscope maybe), but I've found the difference is negligible and in my opinion not worth the extra money you pay for Nanogen(and less product) versus the very good results of Hairsoreal(and a LOT more product).

The Pillow Test: Ok, so I did not really pillow test these concealers scientifically, but I always read on these forums people asking if the concealers come off on pillows and I have to say that all of them do, especially the sprinkle-on ones. I have stains from every one of these concealers on my pillow(it used to have a white pillowcase, now it is black) :wink: . The worst offenders are the sprinkle-on ones though, probably because the back of my head where those are concentrated more is in touch with the pillow more. I really can't say which of the other concealers comes off more on the pillow(because there is such a varied smattering of dark browns there) but logically I would probably say that the ones like Dermmatch that you basically paint on your scalp between your hair would rub off less. Nevertheless I do recall there being a little Dermmatch on my pillowcase when I first started using it alone.

Rinsing Them Out: I thought I would add a little section on how easy, or hard, it is to wash some of these concealers out of your hair. Dermmatch is probably hardest to wash out, especially if you have it in for more than one day. Couvre is a close second. Kerasome doesn't give me too much trouble, and the sprinkle on ones like Hairsoreal and Nanogen are no problem to wash out at all. I think Prothik wins out here in this category though just because it can do more in terms of coverage than the sprinkle-on
concealers and it washes out easily to boot.

The Bottom, Bottom Line: I'm not really going to recommend one of these concealers over the other. I will let you make that choice based on your preferences and different hair colors and styles, which can make a difference in how these concealers look on you.
I will tell you what I do now though, regarding my concealer regimen:
I first put Dermmatch on my balding areas on top of my head and the crown area, and then blend some forward toward the hairline.
Then after combing that through I put on some Kerasome in the places I know I will want the hair to look thicker. Then I blow-dry that and comb through again.
Then I style my hair the way I want it(mostly just straight back, as I have had transplants in front) and sprinkle on some Hairsoreal on the crown.
Then hairspray everything. Then usually hairspray some more just to be safe. Ok, then a little more hairspray.
Then go and hope nobody notices either my transplants or the concealers I have been using.
The next day I usually just have to add some more Hairsoreal to the crown area(Damn that pillow!!).
Sometimes I will spray on some Prothik instead of the Hairsoreal, but only if I want to clean the bathroom that day. :)

I hope this has been helpful to somebody.
 

Bash

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Thanks dude. Much appreciated :) .

I use dermmatch myself, and it does a real good job. But I feel that I need something to 1-thicken up the hair, 2-is fast to apply, 3-stand alone product. Would you recommend hair so real?
 

Vinton Harper

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Bash said:
Thanks dude. Much appreciated :) .

I use dermmatch myself, and it does a real good job. But I feel that I need something to 1-thicken up the hair, 2-is fast to apply, 3-stand alone product. Would you recommend hair so real?
You're welcome!
If you are using it with Dermmatch then I would definitely recommend Hairsoreal. Now as a stand-alone product I wouldn't, unless you don't have any thinning in front and only use it in the middle and back(crown) of your head, because it works great back there.
I have noticed some of the fibers dropped down on my forehead after I have used it too near my hairline, so I think the farther you keep it away from your forehead the better.
Oh, but if you are looking for a stand-alone product that thickens up the hair and is fast to apply, and you don't mind your nose and eyes burning from the fumes for a little while, try Prothik if you haven't already. Just don't tell your wife/girlfriend(or whoever cleans the bathroom) that I recommended it. :)
 

stereomike

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Combing in Dermatch

Do you guys have any advice on what I can do or what I can use to brush the dermatch through my hair. Wth the dermatch in, the comb pulls on my hair and rips some out which is really not what you are looking for when you are thinning.

Help!

I do like dermatch and thinks it does a good job. Even stays in when it gets wet which is nice.
 

Vinton Harper

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Re: Combing in Dermatch

stereomike said:
Do you guys have any advice on what I can do or what I can use to brush the dermatch through my hair. Wth the dermatch in, the comb pulls on my hair and rips some out which is really not what you are looking for when you are thinning.

Help!

I do like dermatch and thinks it does a good job. Even stays in when it gets wet which is nice.
Yeah, it can pull your hair when you are brushing it through, but all of those type of concealers do that to some extent. I don't really know what to tell you. You could try a good brush. Or, I know that when I use the section of my comb with the farther-spaced bristles, it goes through easier.
 

Solo

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What about the new product Toppek Hair Fattener??


I´ve just ordered some. It´s cheap and seems easy to apply. Anyone tried it??

I´m not exactly needing a concealer, as I´m getting thickening from treatments in the crown (main area of thinning), and coverage is pretty decent by now. But I need something to add extra thickness and volume for it to be cool. What do you think about my choice??
 

Hairhope

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Vinton,

Absolutely fantastic review, you do a great service to people here with posts like that.

I have been using Dermatch for a about 6 months now, had almost 2000 grafts 13 months ago. As with most, denisity is always an issue with a first pass.

Dermatch is like a second pass hair transplant for me right now, I just got my first order of ProThik and look forward to using them in combination. Any tips on this?

Thanks again.
 

biff

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Nice one!

What do people find is the best concealer for the hairline?
 

Vinton Harper

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Solo said:
What about the new product Toppek Hair Fattener??


I´ve just ordered some. It´s cheap and seems easy to apply. Anyone tried it??

I´m not exactly needing a concealer, as I´m getting thickening from treatments in the crown (main area of thinning), and coverage is pretty decent by now. But I need something to add extra thickness and volume for it to be cool. What do you think about my choice??
Can't really say as I have never tried it nor heard of it. Sorry. Is that different from regular Toppik fibers?
 

Vinton Harper

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Hairhope said:
Vinton,

Absolutely fantastic review, you do a great service to people here with posts like that.

I have been using Dermatch for a about 6 months now, had almost 2000 grafts 13 months ago. As with most, denisity is always an issue with a first pass.

Dermatch is like a second pass hair transplant for me right now, I just got my first order of ProThik and look forward to using them in combination. Any tips on this?

Thanks again.
Thanks.
I don't really have any tips for you. It sounds like a good combination. The only thing I could suggest is to make sure you don't get the Prothik too near your hairline. Do that with the Dermmatch and fade it forward. But you probably already know that if you have been using Dermmatch for 6 months.

2000 grafts sounds like a lot of hair though, Hairhope. Are you sure you need concealer? The reason I ask is because I had about 900 grafts total(well, probably closer to 500 because those were from my original hair transplant doctor and the rest were done by those Bosley quacks and I don't really think they took.) and I didn't start using concealer until enough of my original(read non-transplanted) hair fell out and made my transplants more revealing. Which was in fact the reason I went to Bosley, to fill in my hairline more, but it didn't do anything. :evil:
Anyway, what I am saying is, I think if I had 2000 grafts I wouldn't be mucking up my scalp with concealers. I would let my scalp breathe and let the transplants mature more. I know you have had them for a little more than a year, but I think that is still relatively young for new transplants. But that is just a suggestion, and I don't know how concentrated or sparsely you had the grafts implanted so I don't know how dense your hair is, now or in the future when they mature even more, but if you could possibly live with how your transplant looks now, without concealers, that might be the better way to go. Well, better for your hair in the long run.
Good luck.
 

Solo

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Solo wrote:
What about the new product Toppek Hair Fattener??


I´ve just ordered some. It´s cheap and seems easy to apply. Anyone tried it??

I´m not exactly needing a concealer, as I´m getting thickening from treatments in the crown (main area of thinning), and coverage is pretty decent by now. But I need something to add extra thickness and volume for it to be cool. What do you think about my choice??

Can't really say as I have never tried it nor heard of it. Sorry. Is that different from regular Toppik fibers?


Hey, Vinnie, definitely it´s different from toppik fibers, it doesn´t contain any kind of "add to hair" product, as I have understand.
It seems like a hair voluminizer , based in keratine, but the manufacturer´s description of the product´s method of action is quite strange:

Toppek Hair Fattener has an innovative nutrient delivery system that actually adjusts to your hair's ph to open the hair shaft and allow an infusion of body-building Keratin protein. After the protein-charged formula is absorbed, the shaft is then "closed down" to seal in the thickening proteins.

Actually I´m waiting for the product to arrive, I´ll tell you my impressions, but reading this I can´t tell if it has inmediate effect (if any) or if results comes with time, or if this is total bullshit.

I purchased the stuff as I don´t like the idea of a fibre (toppik-like) product, nor a "scalp-painter", as I practice team sports regularly and I don´t want to be involved in any embarrasing situation.

Also, the brand seems reliable to me, and that product is just what I wanted, a hair fattener that can add the tad of thickness that my hair is lacking without many application troubles and without leaving strange stuff in my head

I´ll try to post here my impression, as it seems that no one has tried it before (did a search and nothing came out).
 

Vinton Harper

Established Member
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Solo said:
Solo wrote:
What about the new product Toppek Hair Fattener??


I´ve just ordered some. It´s cheap and seems easy to apply. Anyone tried it??

I´m not exactly needing a concealer, as I´m getting thickening from treatments in the crown (main area of thinning), and coverage is pretty decent by now. But I need something to add extra thickness and volume for it to be cool. What do you think about my choice??

Can't really say as I have never tried it nor heard of it. Sorry. Is that different from regular Toppik fibers?


Hey, Vinnie, definitely it´s different from toppik fibers, it doesn´t contain any kind of "add to hair" product, as I have understand.
It seems like a hair voluminizer , based in keratine, but the manufacturer´s description of the product´s method of action is quite strange:

[quote:6645c]Toppek Hair Fattener has an innovative nutrient delivery system that actually adjusts to your hair's ph to open the hair shaft and allow an infusion of body-building Keratin protein. After the protein-charged formula is absorbed, the shaft is then "closed down" to seal in the thickening proteins.

Actually I´m waiting for the product to arrive, I´ll tell you my impressions, but reading this I can´t tell if it has inmediate effect (if any) or if results comes with time, or if this is total bullshit.

I purchased the stuff as I don´t like the idea of a fibre (toppik-like) product, nor a "scalp-painter", as I practice team sports regularly and I don´t want to be involved in any embarrasing situation.

Also, the brand seems reliable to me, and that product is just what I wanted, a hair fattener that can add the tad of thickness that my hair is lacking without many application troubles and without leaving strange stuff in my head

I´ll try to post here my impression, as it seems that no one has tried it before (did a search and nothing came out).[/quote:6645c]

*BUMP*
Hey Solo,
did you ever get that Toppik Hair Fattener stuff? How did it work out?
 

trapsource

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So right about Prothik. It is good because it dosent take long, just like a hairspray. It is good if you have thinning in the top and back but holy crap does it leave a mess. Brown residue all over the areas where you apply it
 

ShedMaster

Senior Member
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dermattch is very good for the hairline and I also love toppik. I have heard rave reviews about that 'sprayer' tool for the hairline that spreads the toppik out evenly. I haven't tried it yet though.
 

CCS

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When I read this, it seems there is stuff that will protect us from baldness discrimination on the job, but nothing even halfway decent for dating. All those products suck, from what I've read in this thread. I'm glad the woman I'm dating is short enough not to see my top, and that she is happy with night dates. I think I'll just wear a baseball cap in the day time.
 

s.a.f

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collegechemistrystudent said:
I'm glad the woman I'm dating is short enough not to see my top, and that she is happy with night dates. I think I'll just wear a baseball cap in the day time.

Wow I see this relationship going far, marriage?
 
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