Going bald. Balding. Losing your hair. These are phrases that can strike fear into the heart of a young man. Many of us inherit male pattern baldness. African American hair loss and African American hair loss products are searches that rank high on Google, indicating that many people consider this to be a problem. Estimates are that 20% of men in their 20s, 30% of men in their 30s, 40% of men in their forties, etc., will experience some level of thinning of the hair if not outright baldness. At the point when this starts to happen men are faced with a decision. Do you hold on or do you let go?
If you watch late night television, you might conclude that losing your hair is the worst thing that can happen to a man. Some see it as a loss of youth, or perhaps a loss of virility. The young studs with the hair get the women, after all. But is this true? After all, hair loss is associated with higher levels of dihydrotestosterone. Many see baldness as a sign of virility and maturity. Can you imagine Vin Diesel with hair? Michael Jordan, Samuel L. Jackson, and others are great role models for the bald look, that I have embraced. For African American males, baldness seems to be more accepted than it is for other races. This may be one small advantage we have. We have to take them where we can get them.
In my family baldness is a fact of life for the men. My brother started losing his hair in his teen years. I remember the day sitting in the chair at the salon (yes salon) where I was getting my hair cut, and the stylist commented the thinning she saw on top. I hadn't noticed it yet. Wow, did she deflate my ego. I was twenty-five years old I was proud of the fact I had been able to keep my hair for as long as I had. Twenty-five with hair in my family was showing some real hair longevity. I looked into "solutions" for baldness. At that time, there were not many. Minoxidil was about it. Minoxidil was too expensive for my budget. A thirty percent success rate, and lifelong commitment was more than I was willing to do. Too little chance of return for too much money and hassle. It was time to let it go. Today, there are better alternatives. DS Laboratories makes a host of products that are more effective than what we had available thirty years ago, don't require a prescription and are affordable. African American hair loss treatments are available now. With certain types of balding, nutritional supplements like our Ajuven Hair Growth Stimulator for Men can help. If you want to keep your hair, it's likely you can keep it. But, when you're ready, join us who have decided to embrace our beautiful baldness.
For me, I decided to let it go. It was a gradual process. For many years I wore a fade on the sides with my hair combed straight back. I kept going to the salons to get it cut. When the hair on the top got to a particular stage of thinness, I began wearing it the same length all over. I bought some clippers and started cutting my hair at home, saving myself a lot of money.
Finally, in my mid-50s, I decided to go with the clean look. My brother has had alopecia since he was young (not the one who started balding in his teens). My nephew also does. They shaved their heads. It seemed like too much work to me. I'm lazy. And, I'm cheap. I barely shaved my face more than once a week. Shaving my head every single day sounded like a chore I didn't want to take on. Combing my hair was a thing of the past. Wearing the wave cap at night was behind me. Maintenance was a simple pass of the clippers once a week or so. My morning routine included zero maintenance hair. I decided to give it a try. If I didn't like it, I could always go back to the clippers.
I interviewed people who shaved their heads. How often do you do it? What razor do you use? What shave gel do you use? Does your head get irritated? Do you get razor bumps? And, exactly how does one shave one's head? Do you get tired of shaving it every single day? They didn't think it was too much trouble. Owning Treasured Locks, I had access to our Aloe Shave Gel. It's a great all natural product for shaving that is also calming. I settled on a six blade razor after much research starting with the name brands, Schick and Gillette. But, remember, I'm cheap. I wanted to know what is the best razor for black men, at the lowest price. I researched Dollar Shave Club and Harry's trying to save a few bucks. I ended up finding Dorco razors on Amazon and Swipe, first at Costco and now on Amazon. Both are just as good as the name brands and are much less expensive, especially if you buy them in bulk. If you want to save some dollars, check out these low-cost alternatives.
I've been shaving my head for about three years and have fully embraced the bald look. My routine consists of Ajuven Botanical Scrub to clean my face. My skin is naturally oily, so I don't use a moisturizer. You might want to use our Ajuven Facial Moisturizer. Our Ajuven Aloe Shave Gel is excellent. I'm fortunate in that I don't have to deal with razor bumps. I've found shaving my head to be comfortable and painless. I've only had a couple of nicks in the three years. For more detail on exactly how to shave your head, see my article here.