Rant about concealers!!

[pawelg]

Hey everyone, this is my first post, although i read the posts on here quite regularly. i am 27 years old from germany, been suffering from a receding hairline and thinning on top since i turned 20. now i basically look like mr mcconnaughey in the mugshot, when im not using concealers and comb back my hair. i started to use minoxidil in 2004, after i noticed some receding hairline and slight thinning. the hairline stayed where it was, but the hair got thicker almost right away.i grew my hair slightly longer and went for the johnny depp look. it was awesome, because receding hairlines dont matter if you have normal density, you still look really good (johnny depp/jim carrey/robert de niro etc). the problem was, minoxidil quickly stopped working (after a little less than a year) and the problems resumed. in 2007 i finally startet using propecia, and i wish i had started back in 2004, because it pretty much brought things to a standstill, albeit without regrowth.

now, to get to the subject of this rant: i am using concealers now.

i startet with toppik, which is very limited and takes up ALOT of my time (30-60mins). now i personally think toppik sucks because it doesnt really make the hair thicker. it looks great from the front, but from the sides you can see through your hair. you can exactly tell, where the thinning is, everything is just darker than without the concealer. so i started using dermmatch. i like it, but its definitely not a standalone product. it takes off the contrast between scalp and hair, and while that again looks great from the front, it looks horrible from the sides. the only advantage compared to toppik is, that it costs less and lasts ALOT longer. i have ordered hair-tek and kerasome, and i will see how those work. however i dont expect miracles from the first, since hair-tek is probably the same as toppik. i ordered the kerasome solution, which is a gel or something, that contains real hair. that sounds alot better on paper than the sprinkle stuff, but im bracing myself for yet another disappointment.

now my point: what i really find terrible with ALL concealers that ive seen and tried is that they basically color the scalp, while doing absolutely nothing to thicken the single hairs. i did not find toppik to stick to the hair, it fell onto the scalp and looked terrible at the hairline. all of those concealers looked disastrous if you looked at your head from the side. now the problem with hairloss, especially thinning, is that it looks bad because of the hair being thin, so coloring your scalp doesnt change the fact, that your hair still looks thin. what we need is a concealer that really does double or tripple the volume of the hairs, otherwise it looks totally stupid. colored scalp, gentlemen, is not what we need.

now, this is my rant, and i could imagine that ive echoed alot of people on here.
i will try kerasome, i will try hair-tek, and if anyone is interested i will post pictures depicting all concealers one by one and in conjunction, as well as a before pic.

my ultimate goal is to get a hair transplant done. i have coarse hair and all i need is my density to be increased. i dont need a juvenile hairline. i would go for the johnny depp/jim carrey/charlie sheen look again. full heads of hair with mature hairlines that look classy. i think that would take 1000 grafts. the problem is the money.
im going to study while maintaining my day job, and that costs a lot per month. i am also a musician trying to make it big (lol), so looking good is important to me. now you know a little bit about me!

 

[pawelg]

i will. kerasome has arrived, but they sent me the powder by mistake. i complained, lets see what happens. i will post pics of the other concealers soon.

 

[Vinton Harper]

Let us know how your Kerasome does when you get it. I tried it years ago, and from what I remember it worked, but like most any other concealer, it wasn't a standalone product. It also has a very intense smell. Not awful smelling, but just too much, and it tended to hang around way too long.
You are right to send that Kerasome powder back, as it is worthless. They gave me a free sample of it when I ordered the other stuff, and the dark brown was way too light, and the dispenser holes were way too big and let a ton come out at once.

Haven't tried Hairtek so I can't comment on that. Good luck with it, though.


Have you tried Dermmatch, and then Toppik on top of that? I have very thin hair on top(I have a transplant on the hairline, but it too is very thin) and the Toppik and Dermmatch has worked very good. Yes, in certain angles you can see through the hair, but I have learned that if I keep the hair a bit flatter, it tends to minimize that see-through.

 

[pawelg]

hi,

yes i have tried dermmatch with toppik and one day it looked awesome, and the other day it looked really bad. but i think i know the reason for the differences. on the second try my hair was too short. my advice to anyone with a receding hairline is to have the sides and back cut disproportionally short, to leave long hair on top. once you apply the concealers, and flatten the hair like my fellow poster above said, it should be better.

i too heard that kerasome smells. is it more like gasoline or perfume? i always put hairspray on top so i would imagine that the hairspray would overpower any other smell, am i wrong?

i will post pics once my hair grows a bit longer, because i think the results are just way better. i think that was my main reason for the rant, if the hair is too short, the fibres have nothing to work with i guess.

 

[thetodd]

Dude, the only perfect concealer is REAL hair. And I'm not talking about a wig made of human hair. There is not one concealer out there that is going to be completely satisfying. First of all, the very fact that you have to go through a daily process of putting it on and taking it off is going to annoy you. Secondly, you'll probably be looking in a mirror constantly to make sure none of it has come off. Thirdly, bright light will more than likely reduce the effectiveness of whatever concealer you're using. Others might not realize you're using a concealer, but your hair won't look as thick under brighter lighting as it does under normal conditions.
Either get a good hair transplant or just accept that concealer use can be a pain in the *** and isn't perfect. Personally, I use hair-so-real fibers and have gotten used to the inconvieniences associated with it. It's just one more step I've got to take before going to work in the morning and I look a lot better with it than without, even in the sun.

 

[pawelg]

one day i will get a transplant. but i need to save up some 3000 euros first.
as to concealers in the sun, i always like to wear a hat outside, but indoors at work etc. it would be good take the hat off
how do you like hair so real?

 

[thetodd]

one day i will get a transplant. but i need to save up some 3000 euros first.
as to concealers in the sun, i always like to wear a hat outside, but indoors at work etc. it would be good take the hat off
how do you like hair so real?

In my experiences, hair so real works just as well as Toppik and is a much less expensive. Honestly, I don't know how the makers of Toppik and nanogen stay in business when there is a product just as good as theirs but half the price.

 

[BaldingInGermany]

^ Same here. HSR is awesome in my humble opinion. I am using it for almost 7 years now. I tried Toppik, Nanogen and some other fibres I forgot the name of. I find HSR is the best. It works even better than Toppik (for me) and it costs not even half the price. Great product. I apply it in combination with Dermmatch and it is doing wonders for me.

 

[pawelg]

i just tried hai-tek. its no different than toppik. it also does not bond with the hair and just colors the scalp. dermmatch does that better. im thinking of ditching fibres. they do not attach to hair, as advertised. ill try the kerasome solution and then im done. going to save for a hair transplant goddamnit.

 

[kejan]

Concealers can cause a lot of frustration. I found sometimes they would sit and luck perfect then on other days, they would look all over the place.

When my hair was longer last year. I used to wear both nanogen and dermmatch. Dermmatch was the original coat and I tried to fill in the bits that were severly thinning with that and then add the nanogen/toppik over the top. Have you tried all the different colours? My natural hair colour is dark. It's not black as in an Asian person would be black, but very very dark brown. It's quite common here in Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

I shaved my head to a 0-1. Have you tried this? I'm expermenting this year with hairstyles best suited to my current situation and at the moment, I've got a high and tight/mohawk type thing but not ruled out anything.
When I shaved my head, I used some dermmatch on the bits that look very thin (even after shaved) and had some reasonable success with it, and quite possibly will use it again.

When using it on a shaved or croped hair, I always found that if you applied it dry and even use your hands to spread it out to the areas that need covered is much better than the stick and the dermmatch being wet. Of course, don't try and paint a hairline or you'll end up looking Joey Lawrence, but you can use it on your hairline to buff it up a bit and you'll find (esp with a shaved head) there are very thin hairs that have not yet fully receded which you can use concealer on.
Only thing is!!! If someone wanted to touch your shaved head.. That's the only draw back about it.

I know your pain though. I went through similar symptoms. Hats 24/7 when I could. It was easier in Winter to wear a beanie as we get reasonably cold winters here.

Sorry, I'm going on and on a bit here, but I suppose my advice would be - keep trying new things. There's a high chance, we are going to end up bald at somepoint in our lives if we are receding and thinning. So, wear a mohawk, shave it down to a 2, grow a cesear and use concealers etc and see what feels best for you.
My hair situation isn't great at moment Norwood 3 with a thinning solar panel on top but why not try it all before it goes and I HAVE to razor it or keep it trimmed at the sides..

 

[pawelg]

Concealers can cause a lot of frustration. I found sometimes they would sit and luck perfect then on other days, they would look all over the place.

When my hair was longer last year. I used to wear both nanogen and dermmatch. Dermmatch was the original coat and I tried to fill in the bits that were severly thinning with that and then add the nanogen/toppik over the top. Have you tried all the different colours? My natural hair colour is dark. It's not black as in an Asian person would be black, but very very dark brown. It's quite common here in Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

I shaved my head to a 0-1. Have you tried this? I'm expermenting this year with hairstyles best suited to my current situation and at the moment, I've got a high and tight/mohawk type thing but not ruled out anything.
When I shaved my head, I used some dermmatch on the bits that look very thin (even after shaved) and had some reasonable success with it, and quite possibly will use it again.

When using it on a shaved or croped hair, I always found that if you applied it dry and even use your hands to spread it out to the areas that need covered is much better than the stick and the dermmatch being wet. Of course, don't try and paint a hairline or you'll end up looking Joey Lawrence, but you can use it on your hairline to buff it up a bit and you'll find (esp with a shaved head) there are very thin hairs that have not yet fully receded which you can use concealer on.
Only thing is!!! If someone wanted to touch your shaved head.. That's the only draw back about it.

I know your pain though. I went through similar symptoms. Hats 24/7 when I could. It was easier in Winter to wear a beanie as we get reasonably cold winters here.

Sorry, I'm going on and on a bit here, but I suppose my advice would be - keep trying new things. There's a high chance, we are going to end up bald at somepoint in our lives if we are receding and thinning. So, wear a mohawk, shave it down to a 2, grow a cesear and use concealers etc and see what feels best for you.
My hair situation isn't great at moment Norwood 3 with a thinning solar panel on top but why not try it all before it goes and I HAVE to razor it or keep it trimmed at the sides..

thanks for the advice. yeah i think the haircut is the most important thing, like the foundation of the house.
however i like to think that i will not end up bald lol propecia is doing a fine job, plus some day i will get a transplant. in the meantime i have set out for a quest, to find the best concealer and spread the word on this forum to my fellow travellers lol

anyway, i will order fullmore and see how that works. it claims to actually thicken the hair, plus there is the kerasome solution still to be ordered, but ill do that next month.

my other experiments will include mixing gel with fibres and applying them to the hairs, without touching the scalp, and buying clip-in extensions (yeah i know, homo) and cutting them to my hairlength. i will keep you posted (literally). once i have some good results i will post my favorite pictures on here.

 

[kejan]

Good to hear, Pawel - like finasteride said, keep us posted on your progress. It's interesting reading different strokes for different folks regarding concealers.

 

[pawelg]

thanks guys, i am currently waiting for all those shipments to arrive.
i have ordered:
-the kerasome solution (which as written before got complicated)
-fullmore
-hair-tek

i already own toppik and dermmatch.

my experiments will include the regular use of concealers as well as combining them, mixing fibres with hairgel and seeing how that works, and the use of clip-in extensions made of real hair (it sounds homo, but could actually work very well).

by the way, in the growth&stimulants section i started a blog, detailing my return to minoxidil. i already posted the first segment introducing myself a little, tonight i will post pics of me without anything on, and then gradually i will post pics documenting my progress or lack thereof every couple of weeks. maybe some day it will be moved to the success stories sections, wouldnt that be swell? anyway, id like to see you all there.

so long,

pawel

 

[pawelg]

Cool man keep us updated!

I have had great results from Toppik, with the spray pump applicator, it sticks to my hairs great, not just the scalp!

do you use it on your hairline? that is my problem area and i just cant seem to get it to stick to the hair, it colors my hairline and crumbles all over my forehead. i agree its great on the crown, which is NOT my problem zone :dunno:

 

[pawelg]

Yes I do, it works great there for me, like I said I use the spray pump, and then I soak it with Loreal finishing spray and it will hold for at leats two days, on the hair!

weird, i use the ball pump thing as well and it falls right down onto the scalp. i do have way more hair than in all those infomercials, so there is hair to cling on to, but it just doesnt. anyway, im glad its working for you unk: