Just buzzed from aNW3, not sure if it was the best idea.

[Plano]

Whatever makes you feel comfortable, do it. If you have to toss and turn at night thinking about your hair loss, I think you know what to do.

It's just hair, now stand tall and enjoy life. I'm about your height and I can confirm that I have gotten WAYYYY more compliments on being sly than negative reactions.

Good luck either way.

[oakdan5]

I wrote my first post before you put up pictures.

You seriously have nothing to look worry about if you stay like that, Oakdan. You look great.

thanks, I think it is the adjustment period, I will try to keep the look longer, it is really nice not having to wry about it and just to buzz it every couple days.

[oakdan5]

Welcome to SBG !  Buzzed down looks great !  Looks just natural recession - part of life so time to accept and move on.  I'm only 5'6" tall, so when I began balding it seemed like EVERYONE noticed my growing forehead - haha.  Keep us posted and we are here to offer support.

I think the buzzed down hides the recession a bit it is quite far back and I should actually have another pic that gets both temples more noticeable. It is nice certainly it is just that identity part I suppose of having hair, when it is grown it covers the recession more but it feels less honest I think..plus the middle part in the front is a bit thinner than the rest. I will exp and may stay this one, I really like how convient it is to roll out of bed and just go about my day w/o worrying about styling what I have left.

[oakdan5]

Welcome! Looking at the pics, the buzz looks pretty solid....but if you go all the way sly, your forehead may look smaller. I think you have the perfect headshape for sly myself. As far as the height issue, sly has no side restrictions. Nowadays, sly is so common, people hardly comment. Good luck to you in whatever you decide.

P.S. Have you thought about growing some facial hair? A goatee, a beard, or even just a mustache go well with a sly head; in most cases the two go hand in hand.....(especially a sly head with a goatee)

I think some facial hair would look good, however I am in the military so not an option right now. Iike having a lil facial stubble on the weekend gives a good contrast.

[isleepinthebuff]

What you have my friend is an annoying hairline! You aren't 'bald' as such but you also don't have the hairline for great hair.

How do I know this - we're pretty much hairline twins and from what I see. Your hairline is what mine would be like if I buzzed. I also have a small baldspot at the back too.

The problem is when you have hair on the top, and you don't want to be bald, there is a false sense of security you can grow it back but if you grow it back it's not the hair you want! When I started to suffer from MPB I was like "well just go if you're going" but it didn't it just went further back. lTo make matters worse when you buzz it shows your hairline even more because that's all there is to see and you can't disguise.

So what do you do? I spent a few years growing / shaving / growing . Always felt I looked better with hair but then the hair used to make me feel conscious especially when wet, wind or from behind. I'd then shave, not feeling happy so I'd grow again and then...... well you'd get the picture.

I went to a 0 and got used to it and then one Friday evening I shaved my head with a razor, I wasn't keen and thought I looked stupid, clippering had been bad but this was worse! So I grew back to a zero but then repeated this a few times...... from that point of view I then felt more comfortable not having a hairline in view. I was sly!

Every so often I think, oh I could have hair but I know I'd still have a small bald spot and a far back hairline so  my preference is to shave daily.

Shaving my head isn't a fashion statement for me. I'd like to have hair and I think I look better with hair but as I say it's rubbish hair so now I have got used to it, this is the best look for me. It's not about the feel of it, apart from when I shave I don't really sit rubbing my head. For me, this is the best way to disguise I'm going bald - ironically choosing to be bald is much better for me than bald happening. And that's what being sly is.


Hoped that waffle  helped in some way!

welcome to the forum

[slymyke]

Welcome! Looking at the pics, the buzz looks pretty solid....but if you go all the way sly, your forehead may look smaller. I think you have the perfect headshape for sly myself. As far as the height issue, sly has no side restrictions. Nowadays, sly is so common, people hardly comment. Good luck to you in whatever you decide.

P.S. Have you thought about growing some facial hair? A goatee, a beard, or even just a mustache go well with a sly head; in most cases the two go hand in hand.....(especially a sly head with a goatee)

I think some facial hair would look good, however I am in the military so not an option right now. Iike having a lil facial stubble on the weekend gives a good contrast.

I think if you grow a "soul patch" you will look like Jesse from Breaking Bad.  Then you and DanO (as Walt)  can go to events and autograph for the fans.   

[oakdan5]

What you have my friend is an annoying hairline! You aren't 'bald' as such but you also don't have the hairline for great hair.

How do I know this - we're pretty much hairline twins and from what I see. Your hairline is what mine would be like if I buzzed. I also have a small baldspot at the back too.

The problem is when you have hair on the top, and you don't want to be bald, there is a false sense of security you can grow it back but if you grow it back it's not the hair you want! When I started to suffer from MPB I was like "well just go if you're going" but it didn't it just went further back. lTo make matters worse when you buzz it shows your hairline even more because that's all there is to see and you can't disguise.

So what do you do? I spent a few years growing / shaving / growing . Always felt I looked better with hair but then the hair used to make me feel conscious especially when wet, wind or from behind. I'd then shave, not feeling happy so I'd grow again and then...... well you'd get the picture.

I went to a 0 and got used to it and then one Friday evening I shaved my head with a razor, I wasn't keen and thought I looked stupid, clippering had been bad but this was worse! So I grew back to a zero but then repeated this a few times...... from that point of view I then felt more comfortable not having a hairline in view. I was sly!

Every so often I think, oh I could have hair but I know I'd still have a small bald spot and a far back hairline so  my preference is to shave daily.

Shaving my head isn't a fashion statement for me. I'd like to have hair and I think I look better with hair but as I say it's rubbish hair so now I have got used to it, this is the best look for me. It's not about the feel of it, apart from when I shave I don't really sit rubbing my head. For me, this is the best way to disguise I'm going bald - ironically choosing to be bald is much better for me than bald happening. And that's what being sly is.


Hoped that waffle  helped in some way!

welcome to the forum

You recognized it. I agree too, the hairline is much more visible now and why I felt kind of stupid about it...but at the same time I realize that this is where my hair is going. I can do the whole jude law thing for awhile..and maybe I will. The buzz right now looks ok because I have tanned all the areas around it. The bald spot in the back is more like a thinning spot and when I grow it out a bit it not really noticeable. I will experiment and see what happens.

[oakdan5]

One pic me at 24 with most of my hair at the time. The second pic is more what my hair looks like now grown out...this was about 2 years ago but give an idea with  the recession..it is a lil worse now but not drastic. That is the whole identity change thing, it is so weird..even when I grow my hair out now I trick myself into thinking I still have hair like when I was younger. It is stupid but I guess that is just how I am.

[MarshalArtist]

I recommend not going back to the first picture, but the second looks good as the buzz pictures.  You are the one that has to live with it, so take your time and decide what works for you.

[oakdan5]

I recommend not going back to the first picture, but the second looks good as the buzz pictures.  You are the one that has to live with it, so take your time and decide what works for you.

Lol yeah I agree also, If i tried to grow my hair like that now I would look terrible...that was after a hike anyhow. I always keep it short. I know I need to get over the hurdle and forget about this part of my life.

[oakdan5]

Whatever makes you feel comfortable, do it. If you have to toss and turn at night thinking about your hair loss, I think you know what to do.

It's just hair, now stand tall and enjoy life. I'm about your height and I can confirm that I have gotten WAYYYY more compliments on being sly than negative reactions.

Good luck either way.

Are you bald by choice?

[Plano]

Whatever makes you feel comfortable, do it. If you have to toss and turn at night thinking about your hair loss, I think you know what to do.

It's just hair, now stand tall and enjoy life. I'm about your height and I can confirm that I have gotten WAYYYY more compliments on being sly than negative reactions.

Good luck either way.

Are you bald by choice?

I am about in the same exact situation as you. Thinning/receding, didn't want to continue using tons of product/being self conscious about it/wearing hats frequently, so I just chopped it off. Hid under the hat for a while because I felt it aged me drastically at first (I am currently 29, been shaving for a few years), but came out from under the hat and have never looked back.

My confidence has soared, I have a beautiful girlfriend, life is grand.

If I grew my hair back, it would look exactly like your photos, only blonde, which makes the balding appearance worse.

I'm done with buying hair products, I just use the same razor/shaving cream I use on my face and call it a day.

Any questions/concerns/tips/tricks/etc, give me a PM.

[oakdan5]

Whatever makes you feel comfortable, do it. If you have to toss and turn at night thinking about your hair loss, I think you know what to do.

It's just hair, now stand tall and enjoy life. I'm about your height and I can confirm that I have gotten WAYYYY more compliments on being sly than negative reactions.

Good luck either way.

You look good with it. Do you tan? I am at that tired stage but still not feeling being the bald guy yet.
Are you bald by choice?

I am about in the same exact situation as you. Thinning/receding, didn't want to continue using tons of product/being self conscious about it/wearing hats frequently, so I just chopped it off. Hid under the hat for a while because I felt it aged me drastically at first (I am currently 29, been shaving for a few years), but came out from under the hat and have never looked back.

My confidence has soared, I have a beautiful girlfriend, life is grand.

If I grew my hair back, it would look exactly like your photos, only blonde, which makes the balding appearance worse.

I'm done with buying hair products, I just use the same razor/shaving cream I use on my face and call it a day.

Any questions/concerns/tips/tricks/etc, give me a PM.

[chgobuzzbald]

You look very good with the tight buzz or a shave would also look great which you should experiment with while you have it this short anyway. But think of it like this, we never knew you before and so someone just meeting you will not know this is any change for you and will not know you are bothered by it when compared to the hair you had years ago. That said you have every reason to be confident you look great now, just in a different way than you remember but others will not have any other image of you to compare it to. Believe me almost no one walks around today thinking about a guy that is bald or buzzed and that he must used to have had more hair. Being buzzed or sly is such a common hairstyle no one is pitying anyone any more so why pity yourself ? I can still grow like 85% of my hair but I love being either tightly buzzed, or with a shaved High & Tight or simply  a shaved head. I just love it now and would never have longer hair for any reason. No one new who meets me even thinks of me with liking or having much hair. I interviewed for a new job earlier this year deliberately shaved so they would never have any other image of me and I got plenty of offers. Find the confidence within with your new look and do not even consider you have lost anything because you really have not. You have gained a great new contemporary haircut either buzzed or shaved smooth. Try the razor and you will love the feel and the high forehead disappears completely.

[Plano]

I do think it's definitely necessary to get a nice tan going on to help with the ol white head syndrome. I haven't tanned in a tanning booth in some time, but I do sit outside and have lunch sometimes, and I am outdoors quite a bit, taking the dog on walks, etc, you get plenty of sun that way.

Your head color will blend into your typical darker skintone before long. If you like, go hop into a tanning booth. I used to go about 1-2x a week just to keep a constant semi tan.