I recently saw my friend's wedding photos where I was the best man, from a month ago. It was quite shocking to see photos of myself amongst the groom and groomsmen, to see how far my hairloss has gone.
They're all NW1s with a bit of diffusion, not noticeable on camera. However, my nw3-nw4 was clear to see. The little part of hair on the front, becoming more like an island, and the obvious diffusion on my crown clear in the photos. I felt looking at the photos that my scrumpy and haggard recession and remaining hair had really aged me, or at least that visible hairloss is making me look older then I am. It's so clear to see how it ruins aesthetics versus the full-heads who just looked good. My hairloss was very noticeable amongst theirs. Some of the black and white photos looked better, but there is something about the colour photos which are very unforgiving for balding heads.
The realisation I had was that even a short haircut is barely going to hide this anymore. The island can be seen when my head is just a little tilted and the crown diffusion anytime the back of my head is in a photo. That's the problem, you just can't hide that anymore. Buzzing is the only way to reduce the problem outside of tattoos or transplants, the latter of which I'm not convinced by at all. I may reconsider tattooing alongside my buzzed top of head to create a denser looking scalp though, in time to come.
I spoke to my barber on Friday night when he gave me a cut and I opened up to him, that it might be time to trim it all, joking that it could be a 2020 project for us both. He said to grow out my beard and that he would try a 0.5 on the sides with a 1 on top, almost like a marines cut or something. He said I have a good head shape for it, which I'm not certain about, but nonetheless, I'm getting much closer to making the leap. I believe my facial aesthetics are quite good. My main concern are my pointy ears, but that could be somewhat offset by my beard growth.
People still say 'I have hair' and I'm fine, but it's honestly less about what others think and more about how I feel everyday and owning my choices. Being a prisoner simply to gradual hairloss over years and years is not a proactive, positive choice by any means, that much is clear.
I looked at these photos and could almost visualise myself being trimmed in those photos and looking much sharper. Intuitively I feel like the time has come. Grow my beard out and then go for it. There does come a time when trying to keep a hair style above trimming low becomes too much effort. I do feel a two week holiday and some sunshine would be a perfect way to 'christen' the new look though, shame its the middle of winter in the UK right now....!
