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Client of the Week #3 Before coming to Ahead Ink this client had 2 sessions with a permanent SMP clinic but the pigment did not hold well and was virtually gone after a few months (likely due to improper technique/application). The client requested we keep the same hairline design but go a bit more aggressive. The pictured result is immediately following 3 passes. This client remarked he felt he had stepped into a time machine and looked 10 years younger! Thanks for looking!

This client had an unsatisfactory result from a transplant many years ago. Unfortunately he was not just left with poor yield but also a keloid scar. Thanks for looking!

Thanks Irishsailor! Good to see you on the forum!

This local client (a musician in a popular band) was so pleased with his new hairline that he asked to be a model for Ahead Ink. More pictures and video testimonial coming soon!

Very natural! Does this patient intend to address his crown as well?

Thanks Bill and JJ! I don't think there is any perfect solution to hairloss. That's why it is important, as JJ pointed out, for those of us in the industry to continue to try and improve the products that currently exist and invent new ones. Thankfully there are smart, innovative, ethical people out there doing so every day, and there are forums like this to help showcase them.

Thanks home1212! More thickening examples coming soon....

Hey Shampoo, Correct, the pigments in Beauty Medical Brand Tricopigmentation are designed to not just fade but disappear completely from the system. This happens for two reasons: 1) The pigments are only injected at .5mm (upper dermis). This is a superficial injection and some of the pigment will simply exfoliate out with layers of skin. 2) The way the pigments are composed contributes to the other half of the disappearing equation. If you were to take Beauty medical pigment and put it under a microscope you'd see that the particles which comprise it are all perfectly round in shape and 15 microns in size. This is due to the pigment going through a stringent filtration process. These particles are small enough to be expelled by the body's cell defense system through natural processes. In contrast, if you look at tattoo pigments under a microscope you'll see all different shapes and sizes of 20+ microns. The tattoo pigment is designed to sit in the dermis because the particles cannot be expelled.

Hi Azazelgs, Sorry for not replying to your email, I wasn't ignoring you, it was sitting in my spam folder (see attached photo below). Yes I do recall speaking to you a few years ago but don't really remember all of our conversation. You can remove Trico with a laser, however you want to do your due diligence and find a qualified technician. Shampoo, From what clients report to me many permanent SMP clinics actually do not offer Thickening procedures and will turn them away. Even with temporary/Trico I usually require that the client be mostly transplanted, on meds, or that there is no evidence of advanced thinning happening any time soon especially if we are going to take an aggressive approach.

Thanks jj! I use a medium brown as my base and can then adjust the tone to be lighter or darker. Once injected it tends to take on a slight grey hue and is meant to mimic the greyish tone that hair has when shaved down.

Hi Bhilt, Thanks, referrals are always appreciated! Thanks Bill and Wylie! And yes, I was trained by Milena Lardi and use all Beauty Medical products.

The word “cheap” should NEVER proceed any type of surgery.

This client had both strip surgery as well as FUE and felt he needed just a bit more density. We addressed the entire top as well as parts of the side and back including the donor scars. This result is featured after 4 passes done with a three-point needle. Thanks for looking!

Thanks guys! Shampoo, I have many clients who travel from out of town. Unfortunately the fade time is an X factor with temporary SMP. It will depend on external factors (sun and chlorine exposure being the two main culprits), as well as how quickly your scalp exfoliates, and how fast your body might absorb and expel the pigment. The average I'm seeing guys come in for touchups is between 1-2 years. However, within the last year I began using a 3-point needle with depth set a bit deeper than .5mm specifically for Thickening Effect clients. The first two clients pictured were actually treated with this 3-point needle approach, whereas I believe the other examples got the single-point. I have some more recent 3 point clients I'll be posting this week....

A lot of you have requested pictures of clients who desired SMP for a thickening effect to enhance their hair transplants. For this type of procedure I employ a 3-point needle and will sometimes work a bit deeper than I would for a shaved look client. While this isn't the perfect solution (there's nothing like real hair) many of our clients are very pleased with the final product and report they are able to ditch their concealers/cover ups. ***I have more pictures that I'll be posting soon***

First of all, are you on meds? If not, the reality is that at 30 years old you will get a transplant and then likely want to have another in a few more years because you are on your way to losing more hair (judging by your current pictures and NW pattern.) I only say this so you are prepared for that, both mentally and financially. FUE vs FUT: My concern here is that you mention considering FUE because "the scar issue is a factor for me." Make no mistake, FUE creates scarring. In fact you're creating more scarring over a larger surface area than you would with a strip scar and thus doing more damage to your donor area. Why is this an issue? Well if you're destined for a high NW pattern, which you are, and you want a decent hairline with full coverage and adequate density from front to crown, then you'll likely need all your grafts available. The most efficient way to extract those grafts is to do as many strips procedures as your scalp/physiology will allow and then switch to FUE. Unfortunately, there is no perfect solution when it comes to donor/graft extraction. Strips can widen (especially when multiple ones are removed), and FUE can significantly thin your donor. Either option can create a problem that you didn't previously have. If I were you I would really consider the longterm ramifications of both procedures. Think about where you see yourself going in terms of hairstyle. Do you ever see yourself shaving your head or wearing it very short? Think 10, 20, 30 years down the road. Then you can make a decision.

Wow, very impressive!

Hey JJ, Yes my apologies I will post a bunch of Thickening clients next. I am a bit backlogged with preparing new before and after shots. There are a bunch of Thickening clients on our web site that you can view in the mean time.

Every Friday we'll be posting our Client of the Week..... This client was concerned about going too low and aggressive with his hairline. We decided on a conservative hairline design that really fit his facial profile, and he was very pleased with the outcome. Thanks for looking!

I would see a dermatologist to try and determine what's going on.

Hi Transhair, You always want to follow postcare instructions as closely as possible and exercise caution. However, I don't think it's anything to be overly alarmed about. Once the pigment is injected into the dermis it's not easy for it to just leak out with sweat. You should do your best though to baby your scalp for at least a week following the procedure while it heals.

"This looks really, really good. I find SMP to be really difficult to pull off, and you guys really knock it out of the park. Prison Break, for sure." Thanks pkipling! The key to these results is partly that I spent a lot of time studying how to design a man's hairline. This started with my own hairloss obsession and education, and hair restoration journey over 10 years ago. I became friendly with some of the world's best hair transplant surgeons (all through this forum) and studied what they were doing and how they designed hairlines. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Milena Lardi of Beauty Medical in 2011 at Dr. Alan Feller's office. I watched Milena work on a client from Seattle. Dr. Feller, and Dr. Lindsey, observed the work under magnification and both were blown away by the realism. He green lit me going over to Italy to train with Milena. The other key to the results you see is the product I use. The pigment is mixed with an agar that keeps the dots compressed/tight. Plus we only inject at .5mm (upper dermis) with a single-point needle. IMO this allows for the most natural-looking results--the tiny dots truly replicate shaved hair follicles. This also means that the pigment will fade and disappear 100% from your system over time through exfoliation and the pigment being absorbed and expelled via natural processes.

Here's a review from another happy Ahead Ink Client: "(Ahead Ink Owner/Technician) Erik is very good at what he does. Everyone tells me how natural the results look. I drove over 6 hours and it is well worth it. My friend told me about Erik's work, and the quality, and he was 100 percent right. My results are amazing!" --Scott S.

"Very impressive. Although, requiring 3 sessions every 1.5 to 3 years as touch up, surely a hair transplant would be a more financially viable option long term?" Dolph, most clients require just one session for a touchup.

Very nice results. It just doesn't make sense to me to require a touch-up every 1.5 - 2 years with a temporary SMP if I can have a "permanent" (we all know that even a "permanent" SMP isn't really permanent) treatment that requires a touch-up only every 4-7 years or even less. Thanks Glam! The clients who come to Ahead Ink are all very happy to come in for touchups. Many travel from out of state and out of the country to do so.