ive recently lost some hair and i know it will take a few months for any improvement. Im looking to get my hair cut very close (under grade 1.5), does doing so hide the thinning look? or do you need to shave it off completely?

im talking hair styles like these, should i go for it?

DO NOT shave it all off it will expose your baldness when the shadow starts growing back. I shave 0 on the sides and back. 1-2 for the top depending on how I feel. You'll have to keep it clean, cutting it once a week and maybe a touch up on the sides inbetween. Practice doing it yourself and you'll learn to mask the thinning very well.

I am really curious how you can get this look. Is this by trimming your hair with NO guard at all???

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Sep '10 Fin 0.8-1mg/day
June '05 Niz 2% 3x week

Those guys don't have any hair loss

I agree none of them have any hair loss.

I once tried shaving my head really short and did not like it at all. I basically looked bald.

I would however recommend getting a very short hair cut. I've been doing this lately and it looks better.

short hair cut for diffuse seems to work pretty well.

But what about receded temples? I am not so sure.

Beckham and Wentworth Miller (I think that's his name) seem to have shaved to a #2 guard, which leaves 6mm of hair

people here in these forums are obsessing, like everyone cares if you have hairloss or not. Cutting your hair short is not to HIDE your hairloss is just about what it looks better, given your hair condition.
And yes, most times short haircuts look far better than longer ones if your hair is thinning, that is if you have miniaturization. If you just have receeding hairline and besides that your hair is fine and healthy, then you are ok, otherwise keeping it long, just makes it look dirty and bad...
Another point is that you should judge by people that meet you for the first time with your new look. If you have long hair and then you shave it to No1 guard then people will be shocked no matter how good it looks. But people that meet you for the first time with this look, probably will think you look like a moron with the hair grown out, if they run into you like 5 months later with long hair. It's always like that and it always will be...

eddie, thanx for the info, i think i will try it coming summer...

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Sep '10 Fin 0.8-1mg/day
June '05 Niz 2% 3x week

I know, im just showing pics of short hair styles. I cant find pics of guys with short hair cuts and diffuse thinning!


Thats definitely not a number 2 guard. I would say its 1-1.5 for the top 2 guys and 1.5 for for beckham. None of them have it cut #2 or over.

My bad!

When you guys say grade 1.5 - how would you go about achieving that look? Surely it's either grade #1 (3mm) or grade #2 (6mm)? Am I missing a 4.5mm halfway house?!

Sorry to bump the thread, but shaving the head today and would like an answer!

the more hairloss you have, the shorter you should go.

Do you have a receding hairline? if yes, leave it long and get a bang to cover the temples.

Do you have diffuese thining with almost very little receding, got for it.

Maybe even get hair colour highlighter.
like if you hair is brown and you have a light color scalp, lighten your hair.

if you have a dark scalp and black hair, then go for it,, it work even better.

but if you have receded ahirline of more then nw2.5, is a def NO

buzzing down to that length doesnt exactly hide that a person is thinning, that style just looks better than a longer haircut, depending on the severity of the thinning/ recession of course.

u can hide the thinning definitely. it's what i've been doing for years. but you need to be crafty with the clippers. u can't cut it all one length or it will be obvious where the top is thinner than the sides. i generally shave it to a number 2 or so on top and gradually fade down starting way at the top sides of my head down to no guard on the very bottom. it's a great illusion, and since my donar area is cut so short at noguard where u can see scalp/skin, the top/crown at a number 1 looks thicker etc. just play around a little until u get the right formula.

the downside is if i want no thinning EVER to be noticable, i have to re-shave every 3 days or so, keeping things looking fresh/sharp...i find at that point is when u start to notice that the bottom looks thicker than the top.


edit: oh and make sure u have the proper clippers for fades if ur attempting that. it's hard at first. but u need the clippers that the blade slides, so that at each level or guard, u can clip it shorter and longer within that guard. so obv when ur fading u set it at the shortest guard for say number 2, and transition into the longest guard setting for number 1, and so forth.

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All Day I Dream About Hair

Propecia since early 2007
Nizoral since 2007

I been trying to do this, but as you say it's real hard! How do you get a good view of the whole of your head? Several mirrors?

it def takes practice, and i've had my share of goofs over the years, but no all you need, well, all i need, is a decent size hand-held mirror (basically the bigger the better). u can can fade the sides without the use of the handeld mirror obviously, just using the big mirror; this is where i generally start. and then when i get to the back, i turn by back to the big mirror, and hold the handheld mirror in front of me with 1 hand, and fade with the other hand. dependng on which side of your head ur fading (back-left, or back-right) ur gonna need to switch hands when your ready for the next side.

i know it sounds like a lot of work, but for me anyway, for starters, there's just no substitute that looks even remotely as good as this result, and secondly, once u get better at it, u can do it much quicker. but no the number 1 piece of advice i have, above all, is TAKE YOUR TIME!!! like i said can't tell u how many times i've goofed b4 a party or something and felt like complete sh*t lol...had to shave really close for whole head to fix it etc. so don't rush!

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All Day I Dream About Hair

Propecia since early 2007
Nizoral since 2007

I just went to the barber shop and got a 3 on top and 2 sides. My hair is only thinning on the crown, and before while it was short (about an inch), looked good from the front and sides. But one look at my head from the top revealed my balding. Now it's a lot less obvious.

Haha I won't! Really appreciate the advice, thanks man.