Physical ways to cope with male pattern baldness

[Mens Rea]

Thought this thread is worth a shot.

I thought id add some insight into how i think you can improve your look to help mitigate any loss of physical attrativeness at the hands of the monster that is male pattern baldness.


(1) Firstly, i think your face shape becomes under great scrutiny when you hairloss passes say NW2/3. Here my first and obvious suggestion is that you should aim to reach your OPTIMUM weight with as little body fat as possible. That way your face will be in its most complimentary light possible. You can only do your best but this is vital imo. Even a few pounds can make an unbelievabel amount of different to your physical attractiveness.

(2) SKIN. You need to aim for good skin complexion and colour. I shouldnt adovate these but i'll admit that lately ive been using sunbeds a little (as the weather has been poor this summer). Obviously, more sensible would be trying to get natural sun. The result has been clear - i look much more "healthier". Long term of course sun beds arent an option, though.

(3) TEETH. Another important thing. Now i cant say you should go to the dentist and get your teeth professionally aligned etc because that is generally not financially feasible. What i would suggest though is TEETH WHITENING. I've used Crest White Strips whcih made a huge difference to my teeth (a natural difference). Lately ive got custom mouthguards off ebay and used them. My teeth are really nice and white as opposed to really yellow before hand, i get constant compliments on these babies! Try it!

(4) GROOMING. Another thing that becomes more critial is how diligently groomed you are. I know myself i can get very "scruffy" when my hair is down flat, greasy (diffuse hair can look terrible when uncared for!), unkept facial hair etc. The reverse however can completely change your appearance (obviously!...but dont underestimate the clean look!!). Nicely styled hair (whatever you have of it!)....NEVER let your hair get long if you dont have the hair for it, if you're past NW3 you should relaly be keeping your hair very short and tidy!! Lastly, as regards facial hair, try get a style of "designer stubble" that suits your face shape. Assuming you get facial hair, this gives you the opportunity to "frame" your face atleast on one side.


(5) Fashion. I find balder guys look MUCH better in smart clothes like shirts for example. Not that the casual look is bad per se, and this one certainly depends on the person, but i do think against that that word "tidy" becomes vital when you've lost your hair. I would also say "plain" with designer look is best for us dudes.


Thats it. Im doing all the above. Ill not pretend im Brad Pitt but i do believe im having more success with girls than even before. You see, girls and attracted to guys overall, not their HAIR per se. Yes, if you have nice hair you can use it to your advantage but without it certainly isn't game over it simply means you have to step up in other areas. Im certainly not giving up on my hair but keeping it short and keeping up with your regime is all you can do. Beyond that you should concentrate on the things that ARE in your control.

Again, speaking from personal experience (and ill admit im not "bald" yet) these things can completely change your look dramatically. Do not let yourself go just becasue your have been inherently disadvantaged in one area - surely its up to us to take the bull by the horns.

Anyway, i hope this is useful to someone, if not, i enjoyed writing it anyway because i know it to be factual

 

[Mr_T]

Good post Colin. I'd agree with all that. I suppose people who have a radically different style to what you've described would feel odd about changing their whole image.

I've considered going to sunbeds as I think a bit of colour can make a huge difference especially to a bald/balding guy. Not sure I fancy risking getting melanoma though and using fake tan is just plain girly.

 

[Mens Rea]

Good post Colin. I'd agree with all that. I suppose people who have a radically different style to what you've described would feel odd about changing their whole image.

I've considered going to sunbeds as I think a bit of colour can make a huge difference especially to a bald/balding guy. Not sure I fancy risking getting melanoma though and using fake tan is just plain girly.

Yeah i know, sunbeds aren't ideal. My inspiration though is my dad. When he was my age he was as white as a sheet but over the years (via holidays etc) he's turned very sworthy and has great skin.

So im trying to get a foundation to build on a natural colour The difference it makes imo is crazy but i would say its not an option to everyone if you're very pale etc. Everyone should care for their skin other ways too though.

 

[Hope4hairRedux]

Colin, great post.

Its refreshing to read something positive, but also something positive that relates to what you can actually do in relation to your lifestyle instead of just your thought process.

The best thing we can do is to start focusing on what we can change, not despairing over what we cant, as you say. Damage limitation definitely.

Its definitely true that the less fat you have on your face the more you can get out of your looks. Not always. But 90% of the time, people with 'thinner' faces look better, think of female/male models, celebs etc.

Right now I am really trying to become a bit more well dressed. Its hard to get the balance right though. I hate looking at those fashionista faggy guys that seem to wear all the most expensive gear, it comes across as faggy and snobby. Not masculine. On the other hand I dont want to look like a chump. Clothes are to show our status and our self respect.

I know people say this is stupid, but I think black guys(generally) have much better fashion sense. In not sure why this is. Whether it is the cultural perception that they are more 'groovy' or that we are conditioned to think like that im not sure. I personally think that is someting biological. They just( in the uk anyway) seem to fit clothes better. Thats all it is. Its like an effortless cool that most of us whiteys dont seem to possess!

I am trying to get a better dress sense but always seem to fail. I think its difficult party due to expenses and knowing what matches etc. Right now I am just going for a simple smarter attitude. Shoes are very important. No nasty white trainers. I reckon shoes are one of the most important aspects of dress sense.

 

[Smooth]

What?! this is like brad and water for CCS, he already broke that into science! LOL

CCS, share them with your list dude!

 

[barcafan]

Yes CCS, lets have that dissertation you've been working on all these years!

 

[Hope4hairRedux]

Whilst the OP had some pointers, I'd like to make the point that sadly, hair probably counts for about 50% of looks, with body shape/general health and dress sense making up the rest. So if your are bald/balding, even if you have all the other attributes you listed to a good level then it still may not really boost your attractiveness.

They may only help fractionally. If you dont look right bald, no style, or grooming will help im afraid.

Thats why there are so many older bald guys that just let themselves go. As the saying goes, theres no point in flogging a dead horse. Some older ones just believe that there isnt much point in trying to have a good dress sense, groom etc if they feel that no matter how much they try, their overall look is till pretty sh*t due to their baldness. They probablt just look at themselves and think, whats the point, I have to slave and always make myself look perfect in other areas when nw1s dont need to worry about anything.

Thats why I respect older bald guys who seem to maintain a good attractive aura to them. They have good skin, take care of themselves, and give across quite a positive vibration. But these guys are few. And that is what depresses me more than anything. Its that simply stastically and logically, Im more likely to become an ugly bald man then I am to become a good looking bald man. Its reality of that that depresses me.

 

[Obsidian]

If you say so Hope

 

[uncomfortable man]

Number 5 is a hard one to pull off with a bald head. I'm not going to dress like a business man or a GQ model everyday because my bald head makes me look strange in normal clothes. There are certain looks you can't pull of with a bald head and that says alot. As a matter of fact, a bald head clashes with most looks come to think of it. Bald guys who go out of their way to dress flashy get made fun of for trying too hard to compensate. People look at him like who does that bald looser thinks he is anyway? That is why I only wear mostly black, brown or grey...and always muted colors.

 

[thetodd]

So let me break it down. If you're bald, everything else about your appearance needs to be perfect.
Your weight, skin, teeth, clothes, etc,.
No problem...

 

[Mens Rea]

Whilst the OP had some pointers, I'd like to make the point that sadly, hair probably counts for about 50% of looks, with body shape/general health and dress sense making up the rest. So if your are bald/balding, even if you have all the other attributes you listed to a good level then it still may not really boost your attractiveness.

They may only help fractionally. If you dont look right bald, no style, or grooming will help im afraid.

50% of our looks? sheer bullshit. i guarantee you wouldn't think that if you if you werent in fact so absorbed by the fact you are balding. You are biased. A completely objective look into those would definately refute that. Hair is certainly a factor and it will have varying levels of % depending on the person in truth. But 50%? For a man? lol. If you think that your male pattern baldness has deluded you.

Thats why there are so many older bald guys that just let themselves go. As the saying goes, theres no point in flogging a dead horse. Some older ones just believe that there isnt much point in trying to have a good dress sense, groom etc if they feel that no matter how much they try, their overall look is till pretty sh*t due to their baldness. They probablt just look at themselves and think, whats the point, I have to slave and always make myself look perfect in other areas when nw1s dont need to worry about anything.

"Flogging a dead horse"? "No point in trying"

Why would you want to make a bad situation 10x worse by letting yourself go? How is that objective? Clearly such behaviour is emotionally driven and weak.

As for your last sentence, why compare yourself to a NW1? This is the first thing that we struggle with when balding - comparing ourselves to others. But that is stupid. Everyone has different features, different skin, different hair, diffent everything.

Im the same is you - im extremely high maintenance. My thin hair, volatile skin and roundish face. My brother gets up in the morning or gets out of the shower and looks like he always look, i look like sh*t. Doesn't mean i should decide to look like sh*t all the time. Gotta work with that we have. I scrub up well with a bit of work, anyone can.

CONTROL THE THINGS YOU HAVE CONTROL OF. Feeling sorry for yourself comparing to someone else is loser mentality.

Thats why I respect older bald guys who seem to maintain a good attractive aura to them. They have good skin, take care of themselves, and give across quite a positive vibration.

Good. Me too.

These guys ARE few. Mainly because of the above limiting beliefs and demotivators that we face on the path.

But these guys are few. And that is what depresses me more than anything. Its that simply stastically and logically, Im more likely to become an ugly bald man then I am to become a good looking bald man. Its reality of that that depresses me.

THat is completely up to you. Being a NW1 or bald shouldn't (but often does) seems to create momentum one way or the other.

As i said though, this part is in our control. Im not saying become the stud bald guy but im saying we should atleast "wear" the look as best we can. Anybody that doesn't, doesn't really deserve too much sympathy - alot of those people if not had male pattern baldness probably would have had some other insecurity that would give them an excuse to exercise the abovementioned loser mentality.

 

[Mens Rea]

So let me break it down. If you're bald, everything else about your appearance needs to be perfect.
Your weight, skin, teeth, clothes, etc,.
No problem...

No. Not perfect. BUt you cant deny those other factors become MORE important given we are "down a man" so to speak.

Look, apply as many limiting beliefs that you want. It is what it is. If you are too stuck in your mind to know how to help yourself help yourself well thats unfortunate

 

[Oknow]

So let me break it down. If you're bald, everything else about your appearance needs to be perfect.
Your weight, skin, teeth, clothes, etc,.
No problem...

No. Not perfect. BUt you cant deny those other factors become MORE important given we are "down a man" so to speak.

Look, apply as many limiting beliefs that you want. It is what it is. If you are too stuck in your mind to know how to help yourself help yourself well thats unfortunate

He is right, I have sh*t teeth but very good hair. And you know what it made me realise from having bad teeth, that there are other physical attributes that are just as important as hair when it comes to attraction!

 

[Mens Rea]

Number 5 is a hard one to pull off with a bald head. I'm not going to dress like a business man or a GQ model everyday because my bald head makes me look strange in normal clothes. There are certain looks you can't pull of with a bald head and that says alot. As a matter of fact, a bald head clashes with most looks come to think of it. Bald guys who go out of their way to dress flashy get made fun of for trying too hard to compensate. People look at him like who does that bald looser thinks he is anyway? That is why I only wear mostly black, brown or grey...and always muted colors.

Yep. I dont want to misrepresent the reality , it can be a toughie for sure. Im not going ot give NW5's advice when im not there because this forum sucks for that.

Your last reference of "who does that bald loser think he is anyway?". Mate, you clearly think about what people think too much. Worse of it is, people act who they perceive people expect them to act. That is a fact. This is why people are much more "funny and confident" in their comfort zones etc.

FYou have to act the part too people are extremely receptive of your own self perseption so if you come across weak and insecure or whatever they will immediately sense this. Fake it until you make it i always say

 

[Mens Rea]

So let me break it down. If you're bald, everything else about your appearance needs to be perfect.
Your weight, skin, teeth, clothes, etc,.
No problem...

No. Not perfect. BUt you cant deny those other factors become MORE important given we are "down a man" so to speak.

Look, apply as many limiting beliefs that you want. It is what it is. If you are too stuck in your mind to know how to help yourself help yourself well thats unfortunate

He is right, I have sh*t teeth but very good hair. And you know what it made me realise from having bad teeth, that there are other physical attributes that are just as important as hair when it comes to attraction!

Exactly. If your face was clarried with acne and warts youd soon realise that baldness wasn't something people associated that bad compared to having v.bad skin for example.

I bet many people with crooked and big noses think noses are the most important face on their face. People are biased on their own limited experience of the overall picture.

 

[thetodd]

So let me break it down. If you're bald, everything else about your appearance needs to be perfect.
Your weight, skin, teeth, clothes, etc,.
No problem...

No. Not perfect. BUt you cant deny those other factors become MORE important given we are "down a man" so to speak.

Look, apply as many limiting beliefs that you want. It is what it is. If you are too stuck in your mind to know how to help yourself help yourself well thats unfortunate

Hey, I'm not denying anything. Everything said in this threads initial post was absolutely true. If one aspect of your appearance is subpar, you better hope that everything else is above average or that at least one thing is spectacular. I think you misunderstood the intent of my first post here. Your snarkiness was unnecessary, regardless. When it comes to my appearance, I do the absolute best I can with what I have to work with. It's not like I started losing my hair and then just let myself go completely. I actually went in the opposite direction and have made the most out of everything I can, from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.

 

[Smooth]

But 50%? For a man? lol. If you think that your male pattern baldness has deluded you.

What are you Colin? nw1? nw2?... if you claim to be higher then nw2 then plz post a pic because you clearly talking out of your ***, or just being plain stupid. you pick, either way, i have to agree that it can take atleast 50% and even more at some cases.

 

[thetodd]

But 50%? For a man? lol. If you think that your male pattern baldness has deluded you.

What are you Colin? nw1? nw2?... if you claim to be higher then nw2 then plz post a pic because you clearly talking out of your ***, or just being plain stupid. you pick, either way, i have to agree that it can take atleast 50% and even more at some cases.

That's very true. I once made a post about Andre Agassi and what happened when he started losing his hair and decided to shave it all off. He joked about how when he had long hair, girls would talk about how good looking he was, but once he shaved it they started calling him, "short, fat, bald, and ugly". Those are his own words, not mine. For some men hairloss isn't as detrimental to their appearance as others, but there are many cases where a guys hair makes a tremendous difference in the way he looks.

 

[Mens Rea]

But 50%? For a man? lol. If you think that your male pattern baldness has deluded you.

What are you Colin? nw1? nw2?... if you claim to be higher then nw2 then plz post a pic because you clearly talking out of your ***, or just being plain stupid. you pick, either way, i have to agree that it can take atleast 50% and even more at some cases.

That's very true. I once made a post about Andre Agassi and what happened when he started losing his hair and decided to shave it all off. He joked about how when he had long hair, girls would talk about how good looking he was, but once he shaved it they started calling him, "short, fat, bald, and ugly". Those are his own words, not mine. For some men hairloss isn't as detrimental to their appearance as others, but there are many cases where a guys hair makes a tremendous difference in the way he looks.

Duno

Agassi is a good looking guy with or without hair. Cerainly not short fat or ugly!

But on your point - Agassi is an exmaple of some guy who had slick long and should i say exotic hair. Of course in such a scenario losing that is going to have a huge difference on your appearance. Orlando Bloom would be another guy who uses their hair as part of their look.

BUT how many guys ever had hair like this to start with? Most normal dudes will have had normal short hair. Losing that is a bit different...

Im sorry but i just love how guys on here compare themselves to unrealistic comparisions. Its ridiculous. You have to go from your own starting point and in most cases that isn't too impressive to begin with.

 

[Oknow]

But 50%? For a man? lol. If you think that your male pattern baldness has deluded you.

What are you Colin? nw1? nw2?... if you claim to be higher then nw2 then plz post a pic because you clearly talking out of your ***, or just being plain stupid. you pick, either way, i have to agree that it can take atleast 50% and even more at some cases.

That's very true. I once made a post about Andre Agassi and what happened when he started losing his hair and decided to shave it all off. He joked about how when he had long hair, girls would talk about how good looking he was, but once he shaved it they started calling him, "short, fat, bald, and ugly". Those are his own words, not mine. For some men hairloss isn't as detrimental to their appearance as others, but there are many cases where a guys hair makes a tremendous difference in the way he looks.

TBH agassi looked like a :gay: with long hair.

He looks caveman now, I guess steffi likes that.