The AlopeciaBoy Network
Living Life Alopecian Style!
Touching Up the Little Spots
Girls have easy access to eyeliner pencils and mascara tubes, so you can use what's in your purse or on your dresser. Guys, who don't already have one left over from Halloween, are going to have to find a pharmacy and do a little shopping.
Try to find an eyeliner pencil that matches not only your hair color (medium brown for people with light or fair hair, and charcoal gray or black for people with darker hair colors), but also matches your skin tone.
Then find a friend to help you, or you will have to use a hand mirror in front of your bathroom mirror so you can see what you're doing.
Wherever you see spots, you are going to color in the smoothness with your eyeliner pencil or mascara brush. Using a waterproof eyeliner pencil or mascara will help keep the color touchups from smudging off or streaming down.
This works up to the point where your spots are the size of a dollar coin, if the spots are well separated or spaced apart. Otherwise, it's going to start looking suspicious.
Blending Shaved Heads
When we get tired of hiding our bald spots, people with alopecia tend to reach for the clippers and just shave it all off. At one point or another, you are going to just get frustrated, throw the wigs away and rejoice in your hairlessness. So when you do shave your head, you may see patches of hair showing up around your smooth skin aras.
What to do? The easiest is to purchase a home hair bleaching kit and dying your old hair roots a lighter color to help match your skin. People with brown hair or darker skin can purchase a second color to apply once the hair has been bleached to help match the skin tone. I have beige skin, so I used a light brown almost beige color to blend the patches of hair with my smooth spots, but by that time I had hardly any hair left on my head whatsoever. Don't be afraid to try out different hair colors until you get it right, if you're interested.
Alternative Solutions
Another option is to undergo a lazer hair removal treatment process on the patches of hair you have left. You might want to second-think this option, because your hair might not grow back in the lazered areas, but at least you won't look patchy.
I haven't heard of anyone sugaring or waxing their heads but I'm sure it wouldn't (well, it would a little I'd think lol) to try.
The Hairdos for Special Occassions
School or family photos are those times when people who do have hair left are just trying to find a style that covers the bald spots for the amount of time it takes to take the picture or hang around at the event (prom, dinner, movie, etc).
For those people who don't opt to buy weaves or wigs, what way do they hide the awkward spots on their heads? Try combing your hair in an updo style, for girls - brush your hair in an 80s style, using a clip to hold your larger mass or length of hair over the smaller hairless spots. Girls can even go to pharmacies and buy little clips of hair to blend in with their own - experimenting with different colors can be quite fun for people who are open to suggestion and open to a little fun! Guys with a little bit of trendiness or adventure in them can do the same thing - you can even buy short hair lengths to clip onto your baseball cap if you feel like having a long bang on your forehead or a small ponytail at your back (also clips well to bandanas).
Color Your World
Can you dye your hair without fear of losing what little you have left? People always lose strands of hair when they dye their hair - it's natural for you to lose the same amount you lost before you got your alopecia when you dye it again.But try not to dwell on it - hair is vanity - it can be combed, brushed, clipped, curled - but it isn't the end of the world if you lose it all. Try something different once in a while to get used to not having any, that way when you do lose all your hair you won't be dissappointed or frustrated for nothing. We only live once, right!
So have fun with whatever choice you make - just keep that bright smile on your face!
Me, during Totalis process.
Body by Alopecia
Hair Shedding
Body by Alopecia
All information, images and audio remain intellectual property of Nathan Paul Prince, unless otherwise stated. Public educational use permitted.
No reproduction of website content without expressed written permission of the author or photographer.Information ©Nathan Paul Prince . com 2004 - 2009
