A shadow of your former self . . . but in a good way
After more than 25 years of cutting hair off, Adrian Barclay is now tattooing it back on. The award-winning Invercargill hairdresser has also become a scalp micro-pigmentation artist.
Come again? It means he’s trained in the meticulously delicate task of tattooing the shaded look of closely cropped hair follicles on to the pates of the bald and balding.
The result is a shadow effect restoring a hairline.
Done right, it’s nothing like a painted-in-ink coat.
‘‘It’s got to look natural . . . undetectable even close up, ‘‘ Barclay says.
‘‘We’re not into helmets or Lego hairlines
‘‘Your existing hair will match the follicle treatment in colour and density, as long as it is kept buzzed or shaved short.
The treatment has been around for more than a decade, and Barclay himself was an early adopter after his own head developed a central highway.
‘‘I lost a lot of my hair from my late 20s, right up the middle of my head.’’
So he had the work done five years ago.
And how did people react? Pretty much didn’t notice. The Venom salon owner did encounter some curiosity about why he didn’t grow his hair long, given his work as a stylist and his far-from-provincial reputation, which includes being named New Zealand Hairdresser of the Year at the prestigious Hair Expo 2009 in Sydney.
Nowadays he gets a real kick out of telling people that some of his hair follicles are tattooed on.
What’s the difference really?
Even if you can sport this look without raising, ahem, a shadow of a doubt, a question does arise.
Why bother? What difference does the shadow really make?
Aesthetically, having a hairline changes the face quite a lot.
But more than that, we’re talking about very personal and human reactions, Barclay reckons.
A hairdresser needs a passion to help people with their confidence, and being able to take control of your appearance is part of that.
There’s a reason a lot of people wear makeup, colour their hair, have Botox or get tattooed eyebrows.
This is the age of cosmetic appearance; feeling good, good, living the best life you can, feeling great about yourself.
‘‘It can make a big difference to how we feel and experience our world.’’
These advancements in appearance medicine and permanent makeup are available for us to look younger, feel better and – yes, he’ll go there – maybe even live longer.
So, okay, you’re not going to be sporting a mullet, a mohawk or 70’s-length hair any time soon. But the cropped look is a classic one.
‘‘I think we’ve all moved on as a society where having a shaved head is seen as being a thug.
‘‘You’re more like a sports star or a pop star now.’’
‘‘Your existing hair will match the follicle treatment in colour and density, as long as it is kept buzzed or shaved short.’’ Adrian Barclay
How does it feel?
Yes, yes, but come on. Surely we’re talking about stabbing the top of the head rather a lot. That has to hurt, right?
No, says recent client Alberto Costa.
‘‘People think it’s like a real tattoo, but it’s not as painful. I’ve got a few tattoos, but this doesn’t hurt.’’
Little pricks and a pretty mild burning sensation but that’s about it.
From Brazil, he’s been living here for the past 11 years and has just finished his treatment.
Now 35, he’d started losing his hair when he was about 18.
‘‘I was a little bit self-conscious, so I had a hat on all the time. Daytime, night-time – everywhere.’’
It reached the stage where people sometimes struggled to recognise him under his headwear. Which can make a guy feel a bit anonymous. Indistinct.
He’d heard of the treatment and looked into it, but the prospect of making two or three trips to Wellington or Auckland was enough to have him shelve the idea, until his wife Kelly realised Barclay was now licensed to carry out the procedure locally.
Now that he’s just finished his two-and-a-bit sessions, he’s found people kind of notice his look has changed, but in a way they can’t necessarily put their finger on.
And without getting all forensic about it, Barclay says he can’t visually separate his own work from Costa’s own follicles.
For his part, we can colour Costa happy. Quite simply, he prefers this look.
‘‘It makes me feel good about myself.’’
A challenge to learn
For his training, Barclay turned to the creator of the Shadow Clinic, Ricky Hancock, who trained in London and brought the technique to Australia and New Zealand.
Constantly up for a challenge, Barclay has recently had to overcome a serious one himself.
Even now he’s not completely sure how he developed a neck injury that debilitated him for three months, and has required nearly two years of rehabilitation work, learning how to use his body and tools in different ways.
That work continues. It’s just something he’s had to get used to living with. But he’s never been short of ambition and his interest, once it’s been engaged, tends to get a tad obsessive.
Which is perhaps just as well. It turns out learning cosmetic tattooing isn’t for the faint-hearted.
For the client it’s a real act of trust.
This is a long-term look, after all, so you’re hazarding more than the $900 to about $2300 that the treatments typically wind up costing, depending on the extent of work needed.
Barclay’s hardly a stranger to performance pressure in his job.
He’s an international hair artist for L’Oreal, and undertakes professional shows on stages where there’s a high risk of failure for the unprepared.
Learning this new skill ranked up there with the most challenging parts of his career so far.
You’re not just doing dots on someone’s hair. It’s a specialist technique.
We felt the need to ask on your behalf – amid all that fine detail has he ever been tempted to pull a Where’s Wally trick and make just one single identifying mark, like a signature of some sort? Apparently not.
Though this is a painstaking discipline to learn, the work itself is far from dull.
Sure, there’s often a bit of blokey banter but, when things settle down, the process has its own exquisite fascinations.
‘‘Now I find it therapeutic, and meditate, work.
‘‘I love seeing the look come back; the hairline coming through.
‘‘And then the look on guys’ faces, seeing themselves for the first time with their hairline recreated. For some people it’s pretty emotional. They haven’t seen that hairline for 20 years, and it’s back forever.
Some of his clients have been in their 60s. Not a problem. Pigments are chosen to match natural hair.
Low-key beginnings
Barclay has been doing this work for just over a year now, having determined to keep the beginnings fairly low-key. ‘‘I didn’t want to make a big noise about it.’’
First, it was important to be certain about the market response and how to integrate the work into his responsibilities as a salon owner and hairdresser.
But now, with his first 20 local clients being treated, the momentum is building. He is respectful of their right to privacy but he’s noticed most of his clients don’t really care that people know.
Even so, he smiles at the thought that there may now be others out there who have a full head of hair, but choose to keep it scrupulously short because that’s the look they prefer. The more wellknown this technique
And for his part ‘‘I can’t stop looking at bald dudes and visualising them with a full hairline.’’