Not a traditional barbershop cut, the hair tattoo for hair loss is the fastest growing answer to baldness, with more than 500,000 men worldwide having now had the procedure. So what is a hair tattoo exactly and is it worth all the hype?
The term ‘hair tattoo’ sometimes refers to a barbershop request where designs are cut into the hair, however in this context we are talking about the hair tattoo for bald men, a hugely popular hair loss cover-up that hundreds of thousands of men worldwide have now chosen.
The technical term for this type of treatment is scalp micropigmentation. Calling this a hair tattoo is a little misleading as the process is much more involved than a regular tattoo, and the technique is entirely different. This is not the kind of request you want to make at your local tattoo parlor.
Simply put, it is a process where thousands of tiny pigment deposits are placed into the upper dermis of the scalp. When completed by a skilled practitioner with specialist training, the result is a highly effective illusion of a full head of shaved hair.
Due to the nature of this procedure, it doesn’t matter how much hair the man has lost already. Unlike hair transplant surgery, hair tattooing is not reliant on a supply of donor hair. This means men who have lost most of their real hair can still have a hair tattoo, even if they have experienced total hair loss through a condition like alopecia.
It depends. When the hair tattoo for bald men is performed by a skilled technician, and the client keeps their remaining hair shaved, yes, the results can be extremely good.
Two forms of hair tattooing, one permanent and the other temporary, were developed around the same time in 2009 in England and Italy.
However, permanent cosmetic artists have been experimenting for much longer than that, with evidence of scar camouflage or density additions taking place in the 80’s and 90’s.
This is now a multi-million dollar industry with an estimated 300,000 people worldwide having had the procedure.
