Is it possible to create a buzzcut look (0-1 guard) without SMP?

[SeekingStubble]

I have something like a norwood 4-5 without a bald spot. I'm 35 and I've been buzzing my head for most of my adult life because my hairline has been really bad since my late teens. I generally like the look, happy with my head shape, and don't miss growing my hair out at all since I have very fine hair naturally and was never happy with it even when it grew properly. However, the pattern of my stubble at my temples drives me crazy - it makes me look like i have a ridiculously large forehead and I'm always self conscious of that. I never considered getting a HT because I don't want any scars on my scalp, they would be too obvious with my 0 guard fine hair and would just make me more self conscious. I happened to read about body/beard donor sites though and it's making me reconsider. - would it be possible to give myself a solid norwood 2-3 buzzcut using majority or even 100% body hair with FUE? Are there any examples of this?

 

The person below is the only one I can find who did something similar, although a very different style from what I want. My hairline would still be much much higher than his with more donor hair density, and I would only consider SMP as a backup plan to be done very subtly. This guy basically went for a full head of hair, while I just want to have early career Jason Statham hairline instead of late career. Thanks in advance for any feedback!

 

 

 

[Al - Moderator]

Yes it's doable. There have been several people who have posted on here with buzzed heads months after having their hair transplant and some of them have looked very good. You have to make sure you go to a Dr who can correctly follow the angles and direction of you native hair because it's going to matter a lot more with your hair very short.

 

 

[SeekingStubble]

3 hours ago, Al - Moderator said:

Yes it's doable. There have been several people who have posted on here with buzzed heads months after having their hair transplant and some of them have looked very good. You have to make sure you go to a Dr who can correctly follow the angles and direction of you native hair because it's going to matter a lot more with your hair very short.

 

 

Thanks for the response. Do you have any suggestions for which doctors might be good at this kind of thing? I live in NYC and looked up the three recommended doctors here but can't find any examples like this - the patient galleries are all standard HT's where they load up the hairline with scalp hair then grow it to medium length to give illusion of volume. If you remember where you saw any of those several month post-HT buzzed pics I would love to see them too, all the threads I've looked at have medium-length hair like the patient galleries. 

[mr_peanutbutter]

11 hours ago, SeekingStubble said:

Thanks for the response. Do you have any suggestions for which doctors might be good at this kind of thing? I live in NYC and looked up the three recommended doctors here but can't find any examples like this - the patient galleries are all standard HT's where they load up the hairline with scalp hair then grow it to medium length to give illusion of volume. If you remember where you saw any of those several month post-HT buzzed pics I would love to see them too, all the threads I've looked at have medium-length hair like the patient galleries. 

maybe dr umar in cali

 

 

[Al - Moderator]

Here's one who still kept a buzz cut up until 5.5 months. I know there are others, but I'd have to spend some time searching.

 

 

 

[SeekingStubble]

9 hours ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

maybe dr umar in cali

 

 

Ah yes I did see this one, the effect could look good if he hadn't chosen such a straight hair line. Also hard to tell how well the SMP blends in that pic. The example in the video is probably the closest thing I've seen to what I could go for, and his color is closer to my dark blond too. I guess mine would just be a little less ambitious version of the pic below.

 

 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Al - Moderator said:

Here's one who still kept a buzz cut up until 5.5 months. I know there are others, but I'd have to spend some time searching.

 

 

 

Thanks for the example. His 1 guard looks a lot better than the 2 guard pics in my opinion. I'm surprised more people don't go for that look

[Bej520]

Have a look at my post, I’m not sure how to embed it here but I think you’ll find it useful. 

[Berba11]

On 6/4/2024 at 5:30 AM, SeekingStubble said:

I happened to read about body/beard donor sites though and it's making me reconsider. - would it be possible to give myself a solid norwood 2-3 buzzcut using majority or even 100% body hair with FUE? Are there any examples of this?

 

So, there's a couple of things here:

1. Body hair has some limitations: beard hair is typically thicker than scalp hair and isn't suitable for the hairline. Even at buzz cut lengths, it's extra chunkiness could stand out more than you'd want given it will be front and centre rather than blended in further back amongst native hair. Chest hair will have a decreased survival rate, though the calibre of hair is softer and closer to scalp hair than beard hair. You'd still not really want to use it at the front however. So to recreate the hairline and wear a buzzcut, you really do need to tap into the scalp donor and pick the finer single graft hairs as you still need that extra softness at the front.

2. I think you'd need a surgeon that has the artistry to create a hairline and graft placement that would work better for a buzzcut. If you look at the example @Al - Moderatorlinked to, you'll see that that guy's first 1-2cm of his hairline is very densely packed and then the density decreases fairly quickly. That's how it should be when restoring a hairline as it will look less see-through and more full when grown out. But that's the kicker here; HT's are usually intended to be grown out. For a buzzcut, you don't really want a noticeably more dense first centimetre or two as that extra density at short and exposed lengths will not mimic a natural balding or thinning pattern. If anything I'd imagine you'd want the inverse of this: a lighter density as it reaches the frontal hairline to create a softer, more broken up look with the density immediately behind it being no more than the density of the native hair. You don't want a crescent of dense hair along the hairline as per normal HT's, basically. The best looking SMP does this quite well - the hairline gets more and more 'dusty', feathered and light. It seems to me you'd need a surgeon to approach the hairline differently in light of the intention to wear a buzzcut. They key I think would be to not lower the hairline, but to subtly build out the forelock and maintain an even density (as best as possible), getting slightly lighter rather than more dense at the most frontal portion of the hairline. However, as per point 1, I don't think you'd be able to achieve this at the front using beard hair.

I know you're reluctant to tap into your scalp donor, but I'm not seeing anyway you can restore the frontal area without scalp hair. Whether those extraction would show would depend on how tight you wanted to the keep the buzzcut ultimately. In my own case, the extraction sites are pretty well concealed even at 1.5 grade. It doesn't require much length, provided the extractions site are nicely done and well spread out across the totality of the donor.

[Gatsby]

In all honesty if you are happy shaving your head (and you should be) and have the right shaped head (and you do) then I personally wouldn't recommend surgery. You currently have zero scars on your scalp. If you choose to use beard body hair then it will never behave the same as scalp hair unless it is mixed with scalp hair. Temples are difficult areas to correct and should never be attempted with anything other than scalp hair and even then it has to be the right scalp hair. You will be left with scars and once you start with SMP then you are committed to this look for life with regular touch ups every three to five years (although you can have this lasered off which is very painful I should add). What you are proposing is really what would be asked for a repair patient. I'm just saying all of this because I would hate for you to regret this a year from now if you were to attempt it. Dr Bhatti promoted low density FUE with SMP and this was with scalp hair that he no longer promotes. You're asking for a similar scenario with only beard/body hair. Which ever way you choose I wish you all the best but you really want to see lots of results that you are happy with. You can't go back once you have been cut. You are rocking a great look! 👌

[SeekingStubble]

On 6/12/2024 at 8:22 PM, Berba11 said:

So, there's a couple of things here:

1. Body hair has some limitations: beard hair is typically thicker than scalp hair and isn't suitable for the hairline. Even at buzz cut lengths, it's extra chunkiness could stand out more than you'd want given it will be front and centre rather than blended in further back amongst native hair. Chest hair will have a decreased survival rate, though the calibre of hair is softer and closer to scalp hair than beard hair. You'd still not really want to use it at the front however. So to recreate the hairline and wear a buzzcut, you really do need to tap into the scalp donor and pick the finer single graft hairs as you still need that extra softness at the front.

2. I think you'd need a surgeon that has the artistry to create a hairline and graft placement that would work better for a buzzcut. If you look at the example @Al - Moderatorlinked to, you'll see that that guy's first 1-2cm of his hairline is very densely packed and then the density decreases fairly quickly. That's how it should be when restoring a hairline as it will look less see-through and more full when grown out. But that's the kicker here; HT's are usually intended to be grown out. For a buzzcut, you don't really want a noticeably more dense first centimetre or two as that extra density at short and exposed lengths will not mimic a natural balding or thinning pattern. If anything I'd imagine you'd want the inverse of this: a lighter density as it reaches the frontal hairline to create a softer, more broken up look with the density immediately behind it being no more than the density of the native hair. You don't want a crescent of dense hair along the hairline as per normal HT's, basically. The best looking SMP does this quite well - the hairline gets more and more 'dusty', feathered and light. It seems to me you'd need a surgeon to approach the hairline differently in light of the intention to wear a buzzcut. They key I think would be to not lower the hairline, but to subtly build out the forelock and maintain an even density (as best as possible), getting slightly lighter rather than more dense at the most frontal portion of the hairline. However, as per point 1, I don't think you'd be able to achieve this at the front using beard hair.

I know you're reluctant to tap into your scalp donor, but I'm not seeing anyway you can restore the frontal area without scalp hair. Whether those extraction would show would depend on how tight you wanted to the keep the buzzcut ultimately. In my own case, the extraction sites are pretty well concealed even at 1.5 grade. It doesn't require much length, provided the extractions site are nicely done and well spread out across the totality of the donor.

 

On 6/12/2024 at 8:55 PM, Gatsby said:

In all honesty if you are happy shaving your head (and you should be) and have the right shaped head (and you do) then I personally wouldn't recommend surgery. You currently have zero scars on your scalp. If you choose to use beard body hair then it will never behave the same as scalp hair unless it is mixed with scalp hair. Temples are difficult areas to correct and should never be attempted with anything other than scalp hair and even then it has to be the right scalp hair. You will be left with scars and once you start with SMP then you are committed to this look for life with regular touch ups every three to five years (although you can have this lasered off which is very painful I should add). What you are proposing is really what would be asked for a repair patient. I'm just saying all of this because I would hate for you to regret this a year from now if you were to attempt it. Dr Bhatti promoted low density FUE with SMP and this was with scalp hair that he no longer promotes. You're asking for a similar scenario with only beard/body hair. Which ever way you choose I wish you all the best but you really want to see lots of results that you are happy with. You can't go back once you have been cut. You are rocking a great look! 👌

 

Thank you guys for the great responses. Yes it seems like I was pretty naive viewing beard hair as some miracle way to avoid head scars completely, especially since my issues are all about the hairline. Given my situation it would really be a standard HT with all head hairs, but without density packing at the hairline. If I still look somewhat balding that's actually fine with me - my issue isn't so much with balding itself as it is with the pattern of my stubble, that it makes me look like I have a giant forehead. If I was balding at the crown I would honestly never consider this, but with my middle strip thinning I'm going to eventually look like Teller from Penn & Teller which is just... not a great look imo. Other balding patterns that retain some whiff of hairline are way better with a shaved look, even at much more advanced stages. 

After doing a lot of comparisons I booked a consultation with one of your recommended surgeons here, Dr Dorin in Long Island. What do you guys think of him as someone who could work with what I'm going for and minimize the appearance of irregularity in the back? From what I can see the patients heal up very well, but nobody is taking pictures with 0 guard. I guess realistically I would have to set an expectation for myself that I could never go below 1 guard afterwards? Of course these are all questions I'm going to be asking him too and I'm sure he'll give me an honest assessment which will determine whether I should go through with this or not. 

Re: Being happy shaving my head as it is now - although in theory I am happy to buzz, with the current reality of my hairline I'm really not. The fact that I've been with my wife for the past 12 years (and don't need to date) has made it easy to ignore that I'm not okay with how it looks, but when we go out I wear a hat a LOT and don't really feel comfortable when I'm not wearing it. Honestly the main driver for me is that we had a kid recently and I don't want him to become conscious of the fact that I'm uncomfortable when he grows up. Hopefully I can find some kind of reasonable solution - I don't need a full head of hair, just a more aesthetic pattern

Also, I've realized that I'm actually a NW 3a. Makes a lot more sense because I didn't seem to match up with any of the standard NWs. The plus side is that I don't think I'll ever go fully bald (nobody in my family has gotten a horseshoe at any age, but lots of very high hairlines which progresses into thinning on top much later in life). Having some hair overall I guess gives me options even though none of is it is in the most important part of the head. 

Edited June 15 by SeekingStubble

[RTC]

If I had gotten a proper transplant first time round with good angles, I'd be walking around with a number 1 or 2 most likely. I dig the look. I think it can be done with a good procedure where correct angles are followed.

[HairLossHero]

I think you can get what you want with an FUE using scalp hair if the extractions are done well because you have a light skin color.

[SeekingStubble]

5 minutes ago, HairLossHero said:

I think you can get what you want with an FUE using scalp hair if the extractions are done well because you have a light skin color.

Are FUE scars less visible on fair skin? It seems like they are tiny white dots so that makes sense. The contrast between my hair and skin color is also very low (hair is like a washed out dark blond color when I grow it out) so it should not be that obvious where hairs are missing. 

[HairLossHero]

Yes the FUE scars will be less visible on fair skin. Even more so since your hair color is lighter as well. I think good extractions would blend in well with the natural hair loss spots you have above the ear in your picture

You could also consider putting body or nape hairs into the donor area afterwards as well to make it even less obvious. I don't think it would be necessary though.


 

[SeekingStubble]

5 hours ago, HairLossHero said:

Yes the FUE scars will be less visible on fair skin. Even more so since your hair color is lighter as well. I think good extractions would blend in well with the natural hair loss spots you have above the ear in your picture

You could also consider putting body or nape hairs into the donor area afterwards as well to make it even less obvious. I don't think it would be necessary though.


 

Interesting. It's good to know even in a worst case scenario where my donor looks sparse I could have it fixed with non-head hairs. I do have quite a high volume of underchin/neckbeard hairs, which I think would fit in very well on my head. They're only slightly coarser than my head hairs, and because I have fine hair all over my body they're about the same texture as the median Caucasian head hair imo. I think I'll talk to my doc about mixing in a few hundred on the top of my head far away from hairline as a test - whether or not they blend in well would make a big difference for my future plans. If they're not great it's probably one and done and I stick with a single transplant, but if they look good I might go for a full head of hair in the future by mixing them in. I also have lots of chest & other body hair with fitting texture but I would only use that as an emergency backup in the far future because of the survival rate and dormancy periods etc. 

Thank you for the feedback

[RTC]

I shaved my head a week ago and I actually like the aesthetic. There are still some glaring issues, like punch out holes in the back and lack of density in the front compared to original hair, but I am thinking to try and bolster the density in the front and do some donor restocking in the back. After that, I would be happy to keep my hair at a number 1 or maybe even a long zero. Buzzcuts with good hairlines are a good look and if I'm honest that was what I was shooting for with my first transplant. Good thread.