NW 6 buzzed look

[Melvin- Admin]

3 minutes ago, Recession1 said:

Melvin, I’m actually impressed of how natural and dense  your frontal third looks buzzed down… if you had a buzzed head I wouldn’t think you had a hair transplant I would just think you had some diffuse thinning. Let me ask you this… let’s say you were going to buzz your head the rest of your life… would you rather have the current hairline and situation you have now or do you think it would look better clean buzzed with no transplanted hair?

If I were gonna buzz my head it would be better without an HT. Shaving is free, if you’re gonna do that, do nothing. Saves you a ton of time and money.

[Recession1]

But what if time and money was no object to you and you were simply making your decision off of cosmetic look? 

[Melvin- Admin]

2 minutes ago, Recession1 said:

But what if time and money was no object to you and you were simply making your decision off of cosmetic look? 

If it were cosmetic I would skip the HT and get smp. Getting an HT and buzzing has no cosmetic benefit for a NW6 IMO.

[Recession1]

I’m going to quit wearing you out here but how about transplanting all the grafts you have available to give the illusion of hair and then getting smp done in the crown around your existing transplanted hairs to give the illusion of a buzzed head density? I think smp has its place but I think getting a transplant to the frontal third looks way more natural buzzed than smp alone at the hairline. 

[Melvin- Admin]

In theory, it might make sense. But not in practice. You will see a visible difference in the front to the crown. The only thing this will highlight is that you’ve tattooed your crown. Hair is 3-D ink isn’t.

A better option is to get an HT, and grow your hair out. You can use your hair to cover the thin crown and use some hair fibers or hair powders. Cosmetically, this is the best option. 
 

[AB2000]

6 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

The horseshoe shadow kills this look. Even if you look okay in the front, once you’re turn around it looks horrible.

My objective when restoring from a high norwood was to have a fallback position if I had to buzz down.  Melvin might be more unique in how much frontal packing he had done.  It works great when you grow out your hair, with the framing at the front view of the face showing strong density, but it's limiting in the case where you get rid of it for whatever reason.

The way out of showing a horseshoe - where the donor band is noticeably more dense than where the hairs got moved to is either overharvest your donor with the FUE method so that the two zones look closely equal in density; or buzz down with no trim guard and keep it short every few days and don't let it grow out much longer than stubble.  Letting it go out for a week will reveal the MPB.  Something which might help is SMP into the crown, but even then, someone would need to keep on top of the buzzing regimen.

[AB2000]

5 hours ago, Recession1 said:

I’m going to quit wearing you out here but how about transplanting all the grafts you have available to give the illusion of hair and then getting smp done in the crown around your existing transplanted hairs to give the illusion of a buzzed head density? I think smp has its place but I think getting a transplant to the frontal third looks way more natural buzzed than smp alone at the hairline. 

Here's an example of the problem - this fellow's crown has very visible SMP dots.  I think this inking option is ideal when you use it for density, and not for filling in a bald area:

[Gatsby]

2 hours ago, AB2000 said:

I think this inking option is ideal when you use it for density, and not for filling in a bald area:

Correct! 👍

[mr_peanutbutter]

 

 

doesnt this mean you could still get out more folicles from your donor ? a thinner donor could be even more beneficial in that case since thr contrast between transplanted and non transplanted would be less obvious 

 

@Melvin- Moderator

Edited August 29, 2023 by mr_peanutbutter

[Melvin- Admin]

7 hours ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

 

 

doesnt this mean you could still get out more folicles from your donor ? a thinner donor could be even more beneficial in that case since thr contrast between transplanted and non transplanted would be less obvious 

 

@Melvin- Moderator

You can’t keep getting hair, otherwise you’ll have two balding areas. The donor is as important as the top. Bottomline, getting surgery with the idea of shaving is not a wise decision. It’s better to either shave, or get an HT and style your hair to make it look as best possible. 

There will never be a situation where the donor and recipient is completely homogenous.  It’s been mentioned several times, but I’ve yet to see one successful case. If you’re insecure of your top looking thin, can you imagine your donor. You’re exchanging one issue for another.

[Turkhair]

You can style long hair and if it’s a decent transplant completely hide all the thin spots even give the illusion of density without even using hair fibers.

The horseshoe looks so apparent when buzzed down. And even if you shave it completely, there’s going to be difference in density especially in bright light. The few thousand transplanted hairs aren’t enough to make you look like you aren’t bald when shaved or with light stubble. 

 

It’s better to come off as completely bald or with hair. Impressing someone with your frontal hair to then surprise them with a huge bald crown is not a good idea.

[Recession1]

I am going to have to disagree with you guys on this one. I agree the goal of hair transplant is to have coverage and would rather grow it out and have full coverage, but there are some men who lose their front and keep crown and some men loose crown and keep front. If you look at Melvins last procedure even with his head shaved all the way down right before transplant his transplanted frontal third frames his face and looks great head on. He looks better with transplanted stubble rather than no hair to frame his face. Just my opinion. 

[Melvin- Admin]

4 hours ago, Recession1 said:

I am going to have to disagree with you guys on this one. I agree the goal of hair transplant is to have coverage and would rather grow it out and have full coverage, but there are some men who lose their front and keep crown and some men loose crown and keep front. If you look at Melvins last procedure even with his head shaved all the way down right before transplant his transplanted frontal third frames his face and looks great head on. He looks better with transplanted stubble rather than no hair to frame his face. Just my opinion. 

But why would you waste thousands upon thousands of dollars to look bald. There’s no way in hell I would’ve spent all this time and money to look bald. If you’re gonna shave, do nothing. If you’re gonna get an HT. Grow your hair out and do everything possible to look like you have a full head of hair. 

[Joseph James]

3 hours ago, Recession1 said:

I am going to have to disagree with you guys on this one. I agree the goal of hair transplant is to have coverage and would rather grow it out and have full coverage, but there are some men who lose their front and keep crown and some men loose crown and keep front. If you look at Melvins last procedure even with his head shaved all the way down right before transplant his transplanted frontal third frames his face and looks great head on. He looks better with transplanted stubble rather than no hair to frame his face. Just my opinion. 

I'd be interested in seeing people who do this if there are any 

[Turkhair]

5 hours ago, Recession1 said:

I am going to have to disagree with you guys on this one. I agree the goal of hair transplant is to have coverage and would rather grow it out and have full coverage, but there are some men who lose their front and keep crown and some men loose crown and keep front. If you look at Melvins last procedure even with his head shaved all the way down right before transplant his transplanted frontal third frames his face and looks great head on. He looks better with transplanted stubble rather than no hair to frame his face. Just my opinion. 

I don’t think you’ve even considered the donor area. It isn’t a pretty sight. A NW6 for whom you’re thinking this plan doesn’t have the donor area to rock the shaved look after covering both front and crown or even just the front. It will look thin and with visible scars grossing people out. 

[Al - Moderator]

Millions of men go back for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th hair transplant to add density and buzz or shave their entire head down for the procedure. Some of them even comment that it doesn't look so bad especially after about 2 weeks when it's growing in with a nice short buzz look just before it all sheds. None of them ever end up keeping their head buzzed later. They all end up growing their hair out. Why is that? If once the new transplanted hair grows in wouldn't at least some of them buzz their entire head if they thought it looked better that way? Yet none of them ever do. OK, maybe there's one in a few thousand, so you can probably find someone if you really looked, but basically they all grow their hair out after seeing it buzzed down. So before you think of specifically planning on doing that, you should think about why there isn't anyone else doing it. Now maybe someone reading this might be the 1 in 10,000 who really would like it better buzzed. That's great if it works for you, but don't play those odds that you will be that 1 person when you are starting out on the HT journey. 

 

[mr_peanutbutter]

16 minutes ago, BeHappy said:

Millions of men go back for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th hair transplant to add density and buzz or shave their entire head down for the procedure. Some of them even comment that it doesn't look so bad especially after about 2 weeks when it's growing in with a nice short buzz look just before it all sheds. None of them ever end up keeping their head buzzed later. They all end up growing their hair out. Why is that? If once the new transplanted hair grows in wouldn't at least some of them buzz their entire head if they thought it looked better that way? Yet none of them ever do. OK, maybe there's one in a few thousand, so you can probably find someone if you really looked, but basically they all grow their hair out after seeing it buzzed down. So before you think of specifically planning on doing that, you should think about why there isn't anyone else doing it. Now maybe someone reading this might be the 1 in 10,000 who really would like it better buzzed. That's great if it works for you, but don't play those odds that you will be that 1 person when you are starting out on the HT journey. 

 

one example i could think of is michael mando from breaking bad

 

then we have other example where a guy is opting for a low density transplant which can end up looking better buzzed then grown out

 

 

 

i disagree with the suggestion that you should just get an smp if you opt for buzzing because sadly smp alone often look fake, especially outside due to the lack of 3d 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by mr_peanutbutter

[Al - Moderator]

Those examples are using body hair, SMP, or both to enhance the look.  Sure if you use enough grafts from all over your body to get it to look full and add some SMP to that, of course it could look good buzzed, but that wasn't the original idea of this thread. 

 

[Melvin- Admin]

1 hour ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

one example i could think of is michael mando from breaking bad

 

then we have other example where a guy is opting for a low density transplant which can end up looking better buzzed then grown out

 

 

 

i disagree with the suggestion that you should just get an smp if you opt for buzzing because sadly smp alone often look fake, especially outside due to the lack of 3d 

 

 

None of these cases are Norwood 6. The difference in shaving from a Norwood 3/4 to a Norwood 6 is HUGE. A Norwood 3/4 doesn’t have the horseshoe shadow. 

That in itself changes everything. Its like when someone with no hair loss shaves their head and says it isn’t bad. Sure, its not bad when you have hair. But shaving with no hair looks bad. 

Now, as someone who’s a Norwood 6 and has several hair transplants. I know what provides the most cosmetic benefit. Getting a hair transplant, growing your hair for the “illusion” of density, and styling it in way the maximizes volume. Adding volumizing powders or using hair fibers is a must. If you do this than you will have the appearance of a full head of hair.

There is no way that’s possible if you buzz down, unless you use SMP. But it won’t look as good or natural. Because it will be clear where the transplant begins and the smp starts.  Hair is 3D and ink is flat. If you’re gonna spend years (I’ve spent a decade),and money (I’ve spent tens of thousands). You’re gonna want to make sure its a worthy investment. Spending all of this money and time to look like a bald guy with a hairline is not a good investment IMO. 

 

Norwood 6/7 side profile

Norwood 4 side profile. Lateral humps intact. No horseshoe shadow.

[mr_peanutbutter]

11 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

None of these cases are Norwood 6. The difference in shaving from a Norwood 3/4 to a Norwood 6 is HUGE. A Norwood 3/4 doesn’t have the horseshoe shadow. 

That in itself changes everything. Its like when someone with no hair loss shaves their head and says it isn’t bad. Sure, its not bad when you have hair. But shaving with no hair looks bad. 

Now, as someone who’s a Norwood 6 and has several hair transplants. I know what provides the most cosmetic benefit. Getting a hair transplant, growing your hair for the “illusion” of density, and styling it in way the maximizes volume. Adding volumizing powders or using hair fibers is a must. If you do this than you will have the appearance of a full head of hair.

There is no way that’s possible if you buzz down, unless you use SMP. But it won’t look as good or natural. Because it will be clear where the transplant begins and the smp starts.  Hair is 3D and ink is flat. If you’re gonna spend years (I’ve spent a decade),and money (I’ve spent tens of thousands). You’re gonna want to make sure its a worthy investment. Spending all of this money and time to look like a bald guy with a hairline is not a good investment IMO. 

 

Norwood 6/7 side profile

Norwood 4 side profile. Lateral humps intact. No horseshoe shadow.

i see, that post give some valuable insights

[Turkhair]

22 hours ago, BeHappy said:

Some of them even comment that it doesn't look so bad especially after about 2 weeks when it's growing in with a nice short buzz look just before it all sheds. None of them ever end up keeping their head buzzed later. They all end up growing their hair out. 

 

The scabs a week post-op made me look to have so much density hahaha, 6 months later if I shave you can see the horseshoe the density is clearly very different. 

 

[Criscross]

Look up these guys on instagram, both had transplant, both had SMP. But like Melvin mentioned before, none of them had a Nw7 pattern before. Both of these guys had bad transplant in turkish hairmills.   https://instagram.com/liammcaleese?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==            https://instagram.com/zacsmithfitness?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[Bucky O Hair]

On 8/28/2023 at 1:08 PM, Melvin- Moderator said:

In theory, it might make sense. But not in practice. You will see a visible difference in the front to the crown. The only thing this will highlight is that you’ve tattooed your crown. Hair is 3-D ink isn’t.

A better option is to get an HT, and grow your hair out. You can use your hair to cover the thin crown and use some hair fibers or hair powders. Cosmetically, this is the best option. 
 

I think SMP can work if you're applying the ink in areas where you have transplanted hairs.

I think where SMP looks fake is when it's done on an entirely slick bald area, where there is no 3D effect and it comes off extra shiny (due to the light reflecting off the slick bald head).

In your photo above, where you have your head buzzed down...I think SMP could work quite well to close that density gap between your safe zone and the balding zone.  The transplanted hairs you have in your vertex and crown will create that 3D effect and eliminate the shiny appearance, and the added SMP ink will close that gap.

Obviously, it's always better to grow out hair and use all that length to create density (like you do in your first photo).  But down the road, as your hair continues to thin as you age...SMP seems like it would be a great supplement to your hair transplant.  I think it would work (although I am intrigued by the use of body hair first for something like this).

 

 

 

[general-etwan]

To the OP:

In theory, you'd think that would make sense to do and produce a good look. But in reality, the math just doesn't end up working out that way. As Melvin posted his photos, you can see exactly what happens. It's just a reality that hair transplant recipient density will never match that of original donor area hair. And so if the entire head is buzzed to the same length, the recipient area is going to look thin/balding/lower density than the donor area. 

And then we want to say, well then keep taking more grafts from the donor area until the entire scalp is homogenous. Well, when the donor area gets to a certain point of extraction, the little dot scars become too bad looking. Hair transplant technology keeps getting better but it's still surgery and it's not completely scarless. So to keep the scars from looking too bad, enough hair has to be kept back there, and that's too high of a density for the recipient area to ever match.

So realistically, the best look should be some sort of fade/taper where the top is longer than the sides and back. That's how illusion of desired outcome is maximized.

Edited September 4, 2023 by general-etwan