Vinton Harper
Established Member
- Reaction score
- 4
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.
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.