Until yesterday I used to have long hair. Due to unusually high tempetures I started having problems with the skin on my head. So, to avoid problems. I shaved it clean and it will remain that way until the skin in treated.
Now that I’m bald, I now know what’s it’s like. It sucks. My old hair suited me perfectly. It was messy just the right amount, perfect length, made me look different than the rest and handsome as hell. Every girl would look at me where ever I went to. Compliments floating over the air, jealous looks from other men etc. etc. It made me feel powerful.
But most importantly, it suited my personality and clothing. It was perfect! But now it’s gone. I hate bald me. I will never look back at this bald version of myself.
It feels weird. I don’t feel that bad but still it’s disheartening.
If you attach so much of your personality and self-worth on your hair, this is probably for the best. Time to do some inner-reflection and figure out something a bit more meaningful to tether yourself to.
Like his/her massive balls for talking about it somewhere instead of letting it affect other areas that were fine.
There was a study done by a university a while back that had hundreds of randomly selected women rate headshots of men from 1 to 10 in various stages of hair, from full thick head of hair to completely smooth bald.
They plotted the results and found that the full head of hair pictures averaged the highest, as you would expect. Then as the baldness increased, the average ratings dropped extremely quickly.
However, once the pictures got to the 100% bald men, the average ratings shot back up nearly identical to the full head of hair pictures.
The conclusion of the researchers: if you care about being perceived as attractive to women as a balding male, you need to commit to one or the other hard. Either get hair transplant surgery, get a high quality hairpiece, or commit to the bald look hardcore and shave it butter smooth.
The worst thing you can do from that perspective is to let the balding hair just kind of grow out all partial/thin.
I guess it’s the classic stereotype, the thing the majority of women are attracted to is confidence. So if you’re going bald, commit hardcore to the bald look, embrace hats, jewelry, and clothing that emphasizes your head shape and face, experiment with facial hair styles if you can grow it.
Keep your skin clean and your head held high. Lots of sexy bald guys out there, your worth as a person isn’t held in your hair.
My balding grandpa dressed like the classic dorky old man; shorts pulled up over his belly, tucked-in baggy polo, socks pulled up to his knees with dad-sandals, and a dirty trucker cap worn crooked on his head with giant yellow-brown glasses. But damn if he wasn’t the most confident man I’ve ever met. Humble, calm, but super hard worker and very driven, also honest as the day is long. Married happily to my grandma for over 40 years until freak cancer took him early.
Hundreds a people from all over the country came to his service, the amount of lives he had positively impacted was incredible. So many people pulled me aside to tell me what a great man my grandpa was, it was powerful.
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On the same plot, there is a massive spike in attraction to the partially bald head of Stavros Halkias.
Older guy here, went bald in my 20s. Let me say this: while going bald or becoming bald sucks ass, being bald is fine. I had lots of thick hair, and when it started going away and I didn’t look like me in the mirror anymore. I figured women would find me less attractive.
What I learned is that it takes a while for your self image to catch up to your reflection in the mirror. One of the shitty things for most people about going bald is that it happens over a long time, and when you’re used to one level of baldness, it gets worse. But eventually it levels out.
There are women who aren’t attracted to bald guys (and that’s fine, attraction is subjective), but it turns out there are women who are especially attracted to bald guys, and that the vast majority of women don’t care. Doing things like having a comb-over or wearing a toupee are often a turnoff, but I think it’s as much because of the associated lack of confidence than the look itself.
I can sincerely say that I wouldn’t want my hair back today. The look suits me and it’s easier to deal with.
The only bit that really sucks about being bald is if you don’t wear a hat you get skin cancer.
Or if you do it in the cold, you get the mother of all brain freezes after a while.
On the other hand, direct scalp access can come in handy for various medical things, and on a hot day I love splashing cold water on it.
Yeah, true, there’s an increased risk, and I’m not as good about it as I should be.
That’s exactly it. There was a grieving process for a few months as I came to terms with it, but now I don’t think I’d go back if given the chance. I’m a bald guy, I look good bald and can make bald jokes whenever the ice needs breaking.
As someone who suffers a receding hairline since he was 19 and is now 30, shaving my head at 20 was one of the best decisions of my life. It’s mostly a confidence issue, as others have already stated. Look at some bald celebrities like Dwayne Johnson, Patrick Stewart, Jason Statham and so forth… They own their look and they look good. If it’s only a temporary thing for you, know that hair will grow back soon.
How to deal with it?
- Sunburn and skin cancer risk is a big issue. Always use sunblock, I personally prefer spray and gel over cream.
- Headwear is obviously important too for protecting your scalp. Whatever you prefer: caps, bandanas, different hats. Choose one that fits well on your bald head, that means a little smaller than those you used with a full head of hair.
- Exercise is, as someone else already pointed out, very important when you rock a smooth dome. Looking fit and improving your posture can do wonders for your self confidence.
- Accessories and jewelry play a very big role too for bald people. Bracelets, necklaces and big aviator sunglasses usually look great.
- Social: according to a study, fully bald people are usually perceived as taller, more aggressive and dominant than their counterparts. This isn’t only positive as it means a lot of people could feel intimidated by you too. Smiling and a helpful, open-minded attitude do wonders there.
In general: if it’s only for treating a medical issue and therefore temporary, don’t worry too much. You’re so much more than just your hair! And hair will grow back with enough patience.
Do you have a gel sunscreen you recommend?
As I live in Germany, my product recommendations might not be as helpful for anyone outside the EU. I usually get something for sensitive skin by one of our two biggest drugstore chains, ‘Rossmann’ or ‘dm’. They have their own brands which are basically the same stuff for both, just under different names. One is “sun ozon”, the other is “sundance”. Weird names, but both have a “sensitive skin SPF 50+ face fluid” that does the job. Sadly it isn’t a 100% reef friendly sunscreen. Since it also is similar to other sunscreen in that it makes your skin shiny, this sucks for baldies if you don’t want to blind everyone when the sun hits your dome. I usually combat this by applying the sunscreen together with a mattifying moisturizer (there are a lot of good ones for oily/combination skin).
Two general recommendations I can give though: one, avoid special “bald guys” cosmetics. Those are usually way more expensive than others and offer nothing more in return. Good face moisturizers are usually better. Two, witch hazel toners can really make a difference on your scalp. I feel like it helps to keep your skin smooth and bump-free and it will also help to close micro cuts from shaving.
Thank you very much!
Ich besuche Deutschland jeden paar Jahre als ich in Hamburg gearbeitet habe. Ich sollte nächste Mal ein paar Sun ozon Tuben kaufen.
No problem/gern geschehen!
Sun ozon ist die Eigenmarke von Rossmann, bei dm ist es Sundance. Der genaue Name von dem Sun ozon ist “med face Sonnenfluid LSF50 mit Feuchtigkeitseffekt”. Hoffe dass hilft 👍🏻
Own it
You put way too much value on your hair. You are the same person as you were before other than losing your confidence
I did some thinking and came to terms with it. I personally believe that everything in this life will come and go and I shall be happy that I had the privilage of experiencing. While I do believe that I am a mentally strong person, this was a kick in the balls. Perhaps I’m not as strong as I thought I was. The only material thing that I value is my hair. While this situation is temporary, the thought of losing my hair just me cry like a baby. Which I think speaks volumes because I can’t remember the last time I cried.
wear red and black pajamas everywhere and start drinking earl grey
I find whenever I make a drastic hair change that after a few days, I couldn’t imagine going back to the old style
It’s like if you shave a mustache. “Where’d your lip go?!” then 2 days later you look normal again.
You don’t, so appreciate the time you’ll have hair. Because once it’s truly gone, you’ll look back on this day and cry.
I’d just like to say, as an actually bald person, I think it’s okay. It suits me, it’s low-maintenance, and it’s nice in hot weather.
Exactly, Fabio here, is complaining about his hair.
Thank you butthole spiders! 🕷️🕷️🕷️
Bringa back Hats! Ive said this many times, but we need to bring Möre headwear into fashion. Hats go hard.
It’s all about attitude and confidence baby. I started losing my hair at 15, had a BALD spot by 18 and by 20 the hair on top was little scraggles. I owned it. People gave me shit for it but that’s typical when you’re abnormal. You learn to joke back and you’ll eventually realize it’s a minor issue and it won’t stop you from being you, which will be the most attractive part to anyone worth your time.
To echo much already said… As a dude that had magnificent curly locks. I wtarted balding at 18 and now have a hairline of an 18th century monk… If you can shave your head do that. I also have eczema…so that’s out. So hats and just being cool with it. If you try to hide it … people know. Just own that shit. Frankly ladies don’t seem to mind it… Personality goes a long way. Humor goes further
Getting older I can only say: looks are overrated. During my time I used to have all kinds of hair styles: metalhead with long hair, medium length, short hair, almost no hair, and right now I have like half a centimeter, because it’s so hot weather and I sweat a lot and felt uncomfortable. Last time I cared about “how do girls look at my hair” was probably in my teens but even then I went against the stream, because metalhead long hair was far from being desirable.
IMO you should focus less on how do other perceive you (your look) and more on how you feel yourself. Having less (no) hair has so many benefits I can’t even think of going back to anything longer than ~inch. Sure I might look dumb, but that feeling of air breeze on my skull is so refreshing I couldn’t care less. Another benefit is much easier care. When I had long hair it felt like a chore to use shampoo, conditioner and brush the hair while it felt almost instantly “in need” of the procedure again. Now? Tsssch, I use whatever: shampoo, regular soap or just water, fast rinse and hair are almost immediately fresh feeling and also dry (huge plus imo).
And the most important note. If you ever find/found a partner who is/was with you just because your fabulous hair, I can assure you it is/was not the right one.
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Hey, 40-seomthing here. Been bald since I was 19. Own. It. Go get yourself a nice hat and a mullet wig and give less fucks.
