MIAGuy

My impressions after a 2-day temporary SMP procedure at Hasson & Wong: Pros 1. The Look: It's been almost a week, and I'm still blown away by the results. It looks good - really, really good. Reactions include "It's so natural", "I can't believe it", "You look younger", "It makes your eyes pop". Even inches away from the mirror, it's virtually impossible to distinguish my real hair from the SMP hair - the blending is just flawless. My Plan B was to fall back on a full-cap, but assuming this doesn't fade in the near future, I'm sold on temporary SMP. Helpful hint: If you're going to go through the cost and pain, you might as well add some "accessories" to sell the bad-ass image : five o'clock shadow, tanning, athletic physique, and black fitted threads. 2. The Service: The technicians at H&W were total professionals - meticulous, caring and patient. We went for 10 hours on the 1st day, and I felt really bad, as the work is tedious, precise and repetitive. But she was ready to go after every break and sincere about wanting to do a good job. I would easily make the 9 hour trip to Vancouver again to get this level of service. 3. The Maintenance: My toolkit consists of the following: * Wahl Peanut * Beauty Medical Trico Serum * Beauty Medical Shampoo * Loreal Men Expert Pure & Matte Moisturiser <For nights out to kill the shine> Could it be any easier? Just buzz it down with no guard every day, and wet shave the face 2x week for a five o'clock shadow effect. Compare that to the madness of hair systems (glues, tapes, mirror slides, attaching, detaching, styling product, knot sealers, are-we-done-yet?), and it's a no brainer. Cons 1. The pain: As mentioned in other posts, there is pain - Not Director's cut, torture-porn pain, but constant 3/4 out of 10. Occasionally, it would spike to a 6, and I'd clench up, but the good news is that it dissipated quickly. The first night, my head was super-inflamed and felt like it was on fire, but fortunately it was Halloween weekend, so nobody thought twice about the red head. 2. The cost: SMP : $3,150 Air : $407 Hotel: $200 =============== Total = $3,757 Paperwork at H&W stated 8 to 15 months duration, so worst case scenario ROI = $469/month. However, I don't swim or spend any time in the sun, so I'm hoping - really hoping - I can squeeze 18 months. My long-term plan is either 1) annual touch-ups ($1,575) *if* it lasts a full year, 2) permanent SMP ($3,500), or 3) full-caps ($1500-$2000/year). 3. The baldness: The other day, I went to the bathroom at the office, and in glancing in the mirror, I looked bald - As in, complete chrome dome with no SMP hair. Only after tiling my head and leaning in slightly did I see the SMP hair. Same thing happened at the salsa club on Tuesday; I checked myself on a mirrored wall, and there was that damn bald head again. Bottom line is that depending on the type & intensity of overhead lighting and angle at which the light hits your head, you may or may not see it. I'd ballpark that 30% of the time, I can't see it. So is it worth it to have hair 70% of the time?