Hawthorne86

It's amazing how important NW1 or at worst NW1.5 is for actors. Just having a strong hairline makes them much more appealing to look at onscreen and more believable in leading man roles. Even a well-concealed NW2.5 looks weak, wispy, and lifeless in comparison. Look at Bradley Cooper. He went from best friend roles to leading man once he got his hair transplant. And obviously Steve Carrell's hair could have been worn differently in S1 of the Office but they intentionally gelled it and slicked it back to expose his recession and thinning, which emphasized his character's "sleaziness." By S2 they toned down Michael and made him more sympathetic, which worked out well with his hair transplant.

Sting has rocked the heavy recessed temples look for decades. By the mid-80s he was already NW3 and somehow has held onto most of his hair for 35+ years afterward. I'm not even sure he's had a transplant because he's got extremely recessed temples now, so maybe he's just that really rare guy who holds onto a NW3 for half his life.

Yeah I got "lucky" for sure. At 21, I was pretty sure I was going to be bald by 30, or even 25. My temples went from being a little receded and weak to GONE almost overnight. But my density was still really good so I could style to cover it. But having a full-on receding hairline that young and that quickly was terrifying. At 33 I've lost some density in my forelock and my temples have gone back further. I also think I have some minor thinning directly behind my forelock. So I'll probably end up with the true "island" in the middle. My dad had a thinning crown and is now NW5 in his early 60s, which my brother inherited. Seems like I got my maternal grandfather's pattern, which was a Jude Law pattern. Super receded but an intact crown. It's funny...my college roommate at the time also started noticing hair loss around 20-21. We both had some creative styling going on and would joke that we would have combovers by 25. But his hair hasn't changed much either since his mid-20s. It's a little thinned out but he has a better hairline than me.

I was a junior in high school. I was in a shop class that was pretty much all guys. The teacher was really laid back and was talking about losing his hair and told everyone to enjoy theirs while they still had it and added that his started with a receding hairline before it got really bad.. So naturally all the guys started inspecting their hair and hairlines. I remember looking at mine in the mirror in the classroom and noticing that one of my temples was actually slightly receded. Maybe NW 1.5 on that side. Another kid saw my hairline and said "Oh man, you're definitely gonna be bald!" So that triggered my "awareness" of my hairline. Before that I never thought about it. By the time I was 19 or so I had noticeable recession on both sides but still very thick density. I wore my hair down and it didn't look like there was any hair loss at all, so even though I was a bit freaked out, my appearance still looked good. By 21 I was NW 2.5 and panicking. That led to me going on and off of finasteride multiple times over the next few years. At 24 I met the girl who is now my wife and I stopped worrying about hair loss so much. However, I did have to quit fin for good because it was messing with me, and in fact, I was still dealing with some side effects when I first met her. Fast forward to 2020 and I'm turning 34 soon and NW 3. No meds. So thankfully my hair loss has been slow. Unfortunately, it has continued to progress, and now I have to be really creative with my styling and haircuts for it to look decent. I'm waiting until age 35-36 to get a HT to fill in my temples, as I believe that's a pretty good age to determine exactly what type of hair loss I will have and to be a little more assured that I won't be super bald at 45 or something.