From Shaved Head To Full Hair - Experience ?

[Rooftop93]

Hi. Sorry for unappropriate words, i'm not native from an english-speaking country. (France).

My context :
I'm 34 year-old, and have shaved my head since the age of 22 as my Alopecia was getting bigger and bigger. (Currently, I'm NW7, but with lots of thin transparent hair above).

=> I want to do lots of changes in my life, and think actively to wear a hair system.

3 questions:
1/ did you ever go from shaved/bald to a head full of hair (with a hair system), and how did you justify it (or not) to others ? Did you accept this hair system "publicly" or did you keep the secret and justify by another way ?

2/ I will likely try a job experience abroad, perhaps in America or Asia,.. where nobody knew me before. What would be your advice : to accept it (if the question of hair was asked) or to lie ?

3/ Did you ever have girlfriends who were aware of your hair system, and how did they react to this ?

Thank you !!

 

[Rooftop93]

No one ? If no one has an advice on this or had such an experience, do you know if there is a famous forum specialized in hair replacement/ Hair system ? (where I could find similar stories) Thank you !

 

[Noah]

Hi Rooftop

Sorry you didn't get an answer earlier. I went to a system from thin hair bulked out with lots of Toppik, and it was fairly imperceptible, so I can't speak from personal experience to the scenario you asked about. But I have spoken to other guys about this, and so I will try to give you an answer from second-hand information as best I can.

1. Clearly if you are going from slick bald to a full lustrous head of hair overnight people are going to know that you have done something. A few rather stupid people might believe that it is a transplant, but anyone with any intelligence, or anyone who is bald himself, is going to know that it is a hairpiece. There are a few guys who have the balls to just put on a piece because it makes them look better and acknowledge that that is what they have done. More commonly I think guys put on the piece realising that most people will know, but they don't acknowledge anything. If people say anything about the attractive new look they just smile and look mysterious. People eventually lose interest and move on if you don't fuel the topic. There is pretty well-known Vlogger called Karim Metwaly who has done this. He was slick bald and then he published a vlog posting to say that he had "got back his hair" (no detail about what that meant). To those of us in the know it is obvious that he is wearing a hair system, but he has never acknowledged that, and after a period of querying what he had done (which he never responded to) his fans seem to have moved on.

2. If you get the chance to make the transition in a way that no one sees, it is worth taking it. These systems are genuinely undetectable nowadays, certainly to see and with a bit of care also to feel, so it is possible to wear without anyone knowing. In the scenario you mention, i.e. you move away for work and make the transition - there is a very good chance that no one will notice and you will never be asked that question. If you are asked the question - are you wearing a hairpiece? - you are doing something wrong. Even so, in my experience the best policy is not to respond to a question like that. Everyone with any taste understands that if a young guy is wearing a hairpiece that is not something he wants to discuss publicly. It is like asking a woman "how much did you pay for your fake tits?" or "are you OK eating steak with those fake teeth?" No one with taste and discretion would ask that, and therefore anyone who does ask it deserves distain rather than an answer. Smile politely and turn away to find someone more worthy of your conversation.

3. I have not (to my knowledge) had anyone discover my hair system since I started wearing the fine lace systems (before that, when I was with a salon is a different story). During that time I have had maybe 12 girlfriends, none of whom have spotted my system. But in two cases I told them myself. In both cases they said they hadn't suspected anything, and in both cases they were fairly positive about it and continued to date me. Other guys I have spoken to about this have said the same thing. We agonise about what women will think when they discover we are wearing hair, but the women themselves are pretty cool about it. Women are used to artifice to enhance appearance, and are chill so long as it looks good. That at least has been my experience and the experience of the guys I have talked to.

Noah

 

[Rooftop93]

thank you very much Noah. Regarding the second point, yes I agree with you that majority of people will not ask "do you wear a hairpiece?".... but actually,... this theme could be approached by a different and positive way : "you have such beautiful hair !! "
In this case, what could you answer to this ? It could be a very embarrasing observation because you know the truth. And what if they ask you, "how do you do to have such beautiful hair?" lol

Last question : you never confess the truth to your close friends?

 

[Noah]

This is a very personal decision which everyone must decide for himself. For me, most of the value of the hair system is from people accepting it as my real hair. I want to be viewed as a normal guy with a nice head of hair, not as a bald guy who has invested in a very convincing hairpiece. So for me the answer is no. It is my private business and I don't discuss it with anyone.

As I said, if you are getting those searching questions, you are doing something wrong. I honestly don't get them, and there is no reason why you should get them. Undetectability is a practical reality with modern hair replacement technology.

 

[Hairy bear 2]

Hi. Sorry for unappropriate words, i'm not native from an english-speaking country. (France).

My context :
I'm 34 year-old, and have shaved my head since the age of 22 as my Alopecia was getting bigger and bigger. (Currently, I'm NW7, but with lots of thin transparent hair above).

=> I want to do lots of changes in my life, and think actively to wear a hair system.

3 questions:
1/ did you ever go from shaved/bald to a head full of hair (with a hair system), and how did you justify it (or not) to others ? Did you accept this hair system "publicly" or did you keep the secret and justify by another way ?

2/ I will likely try a job experience abroad, perhaps in America or Asia,.. where nobody knew me before. What would be your advice : to accept it (if the question of hair was asked) or to lie ?

3/ Did you ever have girlfriends who were aware of your hair system, and how did they react to this ?

Thank you !!

Hi

I did exactly this, full shaved head for years to system! I worried myself into the ground about it!
I pretty much dropped big hints to my closed peeps what I was doing/ big changes happening. Had to wear a baseball cap for 8 weeks to hide the 'wings' I was growing!
Mark one, custom order I waited so long for...heap of sh*t ! 6000% density ventilated into a thick thick hessian sack and stuck down with 5 mm thick tape, then the finally a really really bad cut in! I'll post some pics

Almost in tears I ripped it off the next day and played frisbee either that indestructible rug!! Prepared to shave my head and forget as best as possible I went back to them for answers, 'a fix' or money! I got 'a fix' !

A stock lace peice hacked up to my template and cut in well, I LOVED IT! Instant confidence, ' f*** it I'll show this off!' I looked great! My one dream girl gave it the thumbs up! As did everyone else!

Be honest and open with your inner circle and the rest can guess! If it looks good it looks good man! You lose a tooth, you get a fake one! Same deal! We only want to look 'normal'
I'm now for the most part 'diy'ing'. Bought 2 systems from Eric .03 skin med light- grad hairline, they looked BRILLIANT, but lady why cut to shape and cut in in Singapore ripped it after 4 days when cleaning! Her glue ( a clear one ?) didn't work on me . The other and my original lace I lost when pissed . And she gave me a pu/ lace free, which I re tape and attach myself every week!, custom Swiss lace coming soon!

Going to keep trying diy as much as poss, removed cleaning and retaping is easy enough, the lace has a stitch right up the Middle I use to check for square and I use my little front tuft as my ref. 4 fingers from brow almost. Hits and misses, but only a couple of total disaster needing a redo ( wonky). It's a bit over size, so covers with some 'forgiveness' in placement and a bit left on back to allow for front fraying retrim.
( yup easily felt / discovered) if touched
I'd love to be at Noah's level, perfect template cut spot on to bald section and fine lace glued at front, but I'm not confident with glue or in exact placement, I only have a normal bathroom mirror too.

But absolutely do it man, 7-8 months and I haven't been a laughing stock, or looked down on! But that first RUG! I was ashamed that day I was jealous of bald men, and men with the Patric steward look I had this horrible f*****g rug double side taped to my nut, not a great start but typical for my life!!

Good luck man

Daz

 

[Hairy bear 2]

@Noah
I read you said it could be a problem about pulling hair out . Sometimes I'm a bit rough with removal and cause I'm sticking to some of my hair and it sticks to tape when removal, am I making my bald area bigger by doing this and killing my bio hair?!
I'm a bit worried now, I don't want to go the full cap route
Can you elaborate on the hair pulling / bald thing please?

Ta

 

[Noah]

Hi Daz - I haven't anything profound to say really. Wearing a system shouldn't affect your natural hair; the only exception being traction alopecia if the system is pulling on your biohair. Pulling could be caused by a clip attachment or the old-fashioned Hair Club weave, where they braid your natural hair and then attach the piece to the braids. But it could also be caused by pulling a glued or taped system off without releasing the bond properly with alcohol. If you do that, you are pulling your growing hair up by the roots, and just as with a clip attachment, if you do it often enough the hair will stop growing. The answer is obvious - soak the glue or tape well, and then give the alcohol time to work before pulling off the system. As well as protecting your growing hair, you are also protecting the system, because pulling it off before the bond is properly loosened risks pulling the hairs through the base, which shortens the life of the system.