Rosy cheeks and baldness?

[TheFlyingFinn]

Hi guys!  Great forum you have here.  I have a question and would love some feedback.  

I'm 29 and not losing any hair yet.  Instead I'm here because I have some issues with my skin and scalp.  I've had seborrheic dermatitis (basically more pronounced dandruff) since high school and despite going to see dermatologists, nothing seems to clear it up.  It's not massively severe but the flaking in my hair certainly annoys me and gets me down.

Shaving my scalp would likely solve the problem because shaving my beard area prevents the skin condition from flaring up there very well indeed.  Some other people have already posted about that happening for them on this forum - that's how I found you guys in google!

The thing is that I have a very slightly flushed/red complexion with rosy cheeks and very pale skin (I can't tan at all and don't really want to use tanned moisturisers).   So I wonder if shaving all my hair off would accentuate that.  My hair is dark and probably gives some contrast in my face, making the rosiness stand out less.  Does anyone have any thoughts on what effect going sly (is that the term? :p ) might have for pale, rosy complexions?

[sailor61]

My guess is removing the dark hair will lessen the contrast and make things appear less apparent with the rosiness.  Now it sounds as if you're basically contrasting dark with light and highlighting the light with shades of red.   

You don't say how long your hair is currently, short may make it look a bit lighter but won;t really help with the dermatitis.

Personally I would go for sly - it'll always grow back.

[Mikekoz13]

I agree with Sailor.... I think the contrast will be less with a shaved head.

As for the SD... we have a moderator on here withthe same condition. Shaving his head indeed stopped it. At one point he started growing his hair back for his wife and the SD came right back. So he shaved again and has been SLY ever since.

[TheFlyingFinn]

Hi, thanks for the replies, Sailor and Mike.  It's much appreciated!  I guess my main concern is that if I shave my hair off, my head will be a very pale canvas and so any rosy cheeks will stand out more.  So I quite like the contrast with my dark hair because I've a feeling it distracts attention from any  redness and makes it less apparent.  I'm curious what you guys think about that.

My hairstyle at the moment is just a regular short back and sides job.    Any length of hair at all is enough to set off the SD, so yeah I think it'd have to be totally shaved if I wanted to do that.   It's mainly a question of whether it makes me look very red and pale.  And because of the skin condition, I don't really want to use moisturisers that tan my skin, unfortunately.

[sailor61]

Take  a room, paint it black and white.  Then put a piece of red furniture in it.

What stands out the most?  It's the red.

Remove the dark and leave the red - yes it still stands out but it is only contrasting to one color now.

If you're unsure about going all the way - shorten it up and see how it looks.

[The Noggin]

Also keep in mind that your head will not look completely pale. Since your hair is dark there will be a noticeable shadow.