How to go bald gracefully
There’s a few things we men are rather precious about. Our partners, our kids, maybe the motorbike we purchased on a whim during a midlife crisis moment. And definitely, certainly our hair — only we don’t think about it until we start losing it. At that point, it becomes the most important thing on the list.
When announcing their engagement on Monday, Prince Harry and his bride-to-be Meghan Markle looked the epitome of a gorgeous loved up couple. However, some people on social media couldn’t help noticing that the Prince was going the same way as his brother William, with his hair looking decidedly thin on top.
I’ve just seen Prince Harry on the news and he looked like he had a big bald patch on the back of his head. Oh no. Not Harry, too.
Male pattern baldness affects approximately 30 per cent of white men by the age 30, according to a study from the Mayo Clinic, with the UK having the fifth highest count of bald men in the world (39.23 per cent of British men have either lost or are losing their hair).
Spencer Stevenson, who runs hair loss advice service Spexhair.com, calls hair loss a “hidden epidemic”. While you might not think it as horrific as losing your teeth or maybe even your legs, it’s certainly an unwelcome blow to one’s ego. “It’s a real psychological trauma in a way that’s difficult to explain until you’ve lost your hair,” says Stevenson.
Stevenson speaks from experience. At the age of 21, he had his first hair transplant. It left him in an even worse position, where the surgery was very apparent. He says it took a further 13 more surgical procedures for him to achieve his current situation, where the transplants are no longer apparent and he looks like any other man with a full head of hair.
“A lot of people when they initially start losing their hair go into a process of denial,” Stevenson says. “Hair loss is out of your control, and no one wants it to happen. So you start scraping around for solutions.”
One of these is Finasteride (Donald Trump’s hair loss drug of choice), which Stevenson says is the only fully effective treatment against slowing down the process. Originally used for the treatment of an enlarged prostate gland, results of the drug have shown a 30 percent improvement in hair loss after six months of treatment. There are downsides however: the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have received reports of depression among men (with or without a history of the illness) taking the drug.
Stevenson says men who start to lose their hair should first look into the medical and vitamin routes, and only then, if they’re still not satisfied, should they explore the hair transplant option. But you can see why many men jump straight into the surgeon’s chair: hair loss can bring a rapid loss of identity, and a scramble to act.
However, fighting against hair loss could be missing the point entirely.
Yes, losing your hair can be an ungraceful process, but then acting against nature’s call can make things worse. Picture, for example, Donald Trump’s (un)sly attempts at covering the top of his head with the hair from the side. Far better — and more sophisticated — to adapt to your new look as it emerges.
“No one likes a lawyer with three inches of hair on the side of their head and nothing on top,” warns Daniel Glass, barber at the Covent Garden branch of men’s grooming specialists Murdock. What Glass offers up as an alternative solution is gentle encouragement to gradually re-align your look. “By creating a new identity you can offset any confidence issues that may appear. I imagine most teenage kids would be a lot prouder of their dad if they shaved it off instead of still trying to grow it out on the sides.”
Glass says there are two options at the barbers for balding men attempting to re-work their crowning, albeit thinning, glory. First, the buzz cut, which would be a number 2 or 3 with the clippers on top and then the sides cut slightly shorter. Or you can go full Monty and get the Bic out the cupboard.
Crucially, you don’t want to go all-in at first go. Glass recommends you take a year to phase in this new look. “Start with a number 2 on your first cut, which still gives that definition of hair and still feels like the sides are covered,” says Glass. “And then come slowly down right to a 0.5 with the next, if you like that granular almost stubbly effect of hair, or a number 0, if you prefer a really clean look.
“When you’ve shaved your hair like that it always looks better matched with facial hair. That can be anything from designer stubble to a massive beard or even a moustache. Just having something below the nose takes a lot of attention away from the top. It frames the face better and stops you feeling like an egg.”
Stubble can also soften the shaven head look and make you look less Green Street, and more continental football manger chic a la Guardiola or Zidane. When you’re used to your new look, take another step to completely wet shaven head, with a cut throat razor (at a barbers of course, you don’t want to be spilling your brains all over the kitchen sink).
The important thing is to realise you’re not alone and the only thing that differentiates us men is whether we go bald gracefully or we’re caught kicking and screaming into slap headed retirement.