Male pattern baldness affects the top of the head; the crown and the hairline, but the back and sides will highly likely remain thick and full. As will your eyebrows, facial hair, nose hair, and if you have an abundance of hair on your body, you may well have some at the top of your back, shoulders, neck and chest.
The point being made here is that even if you lose the hair on your head, it’s not a problem at all, mainly because there is absolutely nothing wrong with being bald. But I will say this, it’s important to step up your grooming game a little, particularly when it comes to your face and head in general. Typically, a large focal point of a man’s head is his hair, so when you lose all your hair, the focus is drawn away from that, and directed possibly towards your bald dome, your skin, your eyes, your nose, your beard, ears… whatever it is. So it’s important for bald men to ensure they are keeping their grooming in check, because in a way you’re more on show now than before.
In this article I will touch on a few points that I think are important for bald men to take a little more care over. I’m not saying you need to become overly obsessive about any of these (expect perhaps sun care), but just focus on a little more than you might already be - and if you already do all of these things already then you're already a bald gentleman so keep it up.
Skin
The first on the list and probably the number one thing to focus more on when you’re a bald man is your skin. I’ve mentioned this in other articles before and that’s because it is really important, not only because it’s good to take care of your skin anyway, but as bald men, we have a lot more skin on show – and it becomes more of a focal point. If you have flaky, rough, un-cared-for skin, it’s going to be really obvious. Personally, I am not one to overdo the skincare routine and I certainly don't have an endless row of largely overpriced creams and lotions, but the bare minimum should be at least wash, and moisturise if needed. So how can you actually take better care of your skin?
Wash, exfoliate and moisturise
This is your number one priority in terms of generally taking care of your skin. You should be washing your face at least once or ideally twice per day (I usually wash mine as soon as I wake up, and again before I go to bed). This does not take a lot of time so it’s certainly not difficult to get into the habit of doing. Do it alongside brushing your teeth and you won't even notice, or do it in the shower. Personally, I think washing before bed is actually more important as you need to wash off all the pollution and dust and sweat that you’ve collected during the day, otherwise that sits on your skin all night and you rub it into your face and pillow as you sleep.
Bonus tip here, wash your pillow cases twice as often as you wash your bedsheets - you spend 7-8 hours a night every night with your face pressed against your pillow, if your pillow cases are dirty then you're subjecting yourself to that dirt all night.
Exfoliate and moisturise maybe every other day. I’ve seen a lot of people say you need to do this every or even twice a day, but I find that exfoliating every day can be a little abrasive on your skin, so what I do is exfoliate every other day while I’m in the shower. After I get out the shower, I get some moisturiser on all over my face and head. For me this is a good balance, but I live in a very hot and humid country, so I find that I don’t need to moisturise every day. If you live in a colder, drier climate, you might want to moisturise every day to protect your skin from drying out or cracking – when I was still living back in the UK, I was moisturising every day in the winter. The other reason is that it will save you a little money over time as I know using all these products daily can add up.
Drink more water
You’ve probably heard this before but I’m going to reiterate the point that you really need to be drinking enough water. Not only for skin health but for effective hydration and body health. The human body overall is made up of around 60% water, so you really need to be giving yourself enough. Water hydrates the skin to keep it looking healthy, without water, the skin does not have the energy to control and repair itself. Dehydration also means that your body will store more water, not knowing when it will next be getting any – this causes what we call “water weight”, which is a slight bloating, making you look fatter than you actually are.
Wear sunscreen
Many of us may want that nice tanned skin, and I even wrote an article on this topic not long ago. But what I will say, and what I said in my article too, is that you need to be responsible when it comes to sun exposure, as it can be extremely damaging and flat out dangerous. UV rays from the sun are extremely harmful to the skin so you need to protect against them responsibly. If you go out in the sun, be sure to put a little sunscreen on your face – which is where the skin is very sensitive. You’ll also want to put sunscreen on your head and you now don’t have that protective layer of hair there and your head points directly upwards towards the sun. Sun damage is permanent, it will make your skin look older, more marked, and can lead to cancer, so it is vital to take proper care whilst out in the sun.
Stop smoking
It’s 2024 and we're all too aware of how bad smoking is for us, we can’t hide behind 1950s Mad Men style adverts anymore saying that cigarettes are healthy, or they’re cool or not as unhealthy as you think they are. I smoked for 15 years but quitting was the best decision; it is just so bad for you in so many ways. And it is bad for your skin too, that smoke lingering on your face, all the carbon monoxide and other impurities being absorbed into your skin, it’s not good for you.
If you’re currently a smoker and interested in quitting smoking, I honestly think the best way is mind over matter and just stopping cold turkey. Over the years I did the cutting down, the only smoking when drinking, the only smoking at work. None of them ever worked. What did work for me was reading Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking and just giving up completely overnight – it’s been more than 7 years now and I haven’t had a single cigarette.
Eyebrows
Being some of the remaining hair on the top half of your head, as a bald man it’s important we get our eyebrow game on point. Now there’s a difference between going to a salon and getting a wax or a thread and just plucking a few stragglers from the unibrow.
One thing I will say is don’t over pluck your eyebrows, otherwise it’s going to become quite obvious and as a powerful bald man, that’s not what we want. But it is important to get rid of the unibrow – and this takes literally a few minutes a week, which we can all spare.
Your brows shouldn’t come further in that the side edges of your nose, so use that as a guide on how far you should be going in. As for the edge, this will vary and I think it’s less important, but if you have a few outliers then get rid of those. I wouldn’t suggest doing too much more than that otherwise you run the risk of over plucking. Remember that beauty is often perceived through facial symmetry, so the more symmetrical you can make your eyebrows, the better.
Teeth
Smiling is sexy, is makes you appear approachable, good natured and confident, so try to smile and make eye contact with people. But smiling means showing your teeth, so that means it’s important to make them look nice and clean and not yellow or stained or with bits of food stuck in them. Teeth look better when they’re whiter, that’s just a fact. But you don’t necessarily have to actively whiten them if you don’t want to, but it’s a good idea to take care of them and maybe choose a toothpaste that has both teeth protecting elements and whitening elements in it.
You can choose whichever one you prefer, and you can even do some research on this topic as it’s quite widely discussed, but I tend to use Sensodyne as I have bad gums and it helps to protect them whilst whitening too. Some toothpastes advertise rapid and aggressive whitening action, and while I have tried them myself or done too much research on this topic, I’d imagine that they might work, but they’re probably not protecting your teeth and gums in the same way that a more well-known and trusted brand such as Oral B might. Another easy win is to choose a good mouthwash that also has some overall protection but whitening in it too, this will just add that tiny little extra helping hand. Do bear in mind that using these products aren’t going to give you instant results, you probably won’t start noticing a difference for at least a couple of months of consistent use – so just switch to the right products (including a good quality toothbrush) and just be patient.
If you want to see quicker results, you can go down the teeth whitening route, either through your dentist or using an at home kit. At home kits are effective if used regularly and properly, but they can be quite bad for your teeth and gums, especially if you have sensitive teeth, so be sure to read the instructions carefully and ask your dentist if you’re not sure.
In the past, I have used the whitening strips, which are basically strips of thin plastic with a gel on them containing hydrogen peroxide – a bleaching agent and the main ingredient in teeth whitening. You put the strips on and leave them for 30 mins or so and over a few days/weeks they gradually whiten your teeth – they aren’t cleaning your teeth, they essentially just bleach the surface to make them appear whiter.
The other option are teeth whitening kits that basically combine a mouthguard and a type of UV light that you put into your mouth and hold there. The light is supposed to activate the chemical that then whitens your teeth. I've never used these so I can't say for sure if they're effective or not, but they do get some good reviews so maybe it's worth a try.
A final point on teeth, or in more general terms, is oral health. If you don't take care of your teeth and gums you may face problems in the future such as gingivitis, decay or tooth loss. It is also fundamental to keep your breath smelling good, it is extremely off-putting when you speak with someone who has bad breath and especially more off-putting if it's someone you're on a date with. Carry some mints or chewing gum with you if you're conscious of it, but you really should be addressing this at the source and just brushing your teeth and tongue regularly, visiting your dentist, and using mouthwash if necessary.
Beard
This has been spoken about plenty of times before on Bald World and other men’s fashion articles alike; but growing a bit of facial hair is an incredibly popular choice with bald men all over the world. Not only that, but beards are very much in fashion at the moment and have been for a few years. However, not all beards are created equal and it’s important to take care of yours and make your facial hair work for you and not against you. As a bald man, your beard becomes a much more distinguishable feature on your face, so you must be maintaining it correctly.
You can read more about beard styles in my other article here, but in terms of basic grooming, you need to be keeping it clean and tidy and trimming it properly. Carve out a good neckline and get rid of the excess hair below, line up your cheeks and get rid of any straggling hair above your cheek line. Most importantly, keep it clean. If you have a short or stubble type beard then this will become incorporated into your standard daily face washing, but if you have a longer beard you’ll need to be washing it with a special beard wash and also brushing it to keep it neat.
Excess hair
Keeping your excess hair in check is something that guys might not necessarily notice, but I can assure you that girls will. By excess hair we're talking about nose hairs, ear hair, untrimmed neck/shoulder hair and even the hair on your head that you maybe haven’t shaved off, either if you’re going for the stubble look or even if you’ve left the back and sides as they were before you went bald.
You need to keep these in check by shaving and plucking when necessary, there are too many grooming tools out nowadays to make any excuses. You can use a grooming tool for your nose and ears, or you can pluck your nose hairs, whichever you feel more comfortable with. I use tweezers to get rid of those few extra shoulder and nose hairs I have, along with my unibrow, but if you have more than that maybe consider other options such as shaving or waxing.
As for the remaining, horseshoe style hair on your head, if you want to leave it then that’s absolutely your choice, however I would strongly recommend keeping it short and very neat. I can almost guarantee that you’ll look better with all the hair gone so I would suggest shaving it all off, but that's just a suggestion and inevitably it is your choice.
Honourable mentions:
Nails – clip or cut your nails and toenails regularly, there’s no excuse for this.
Pubic hair – a controversial topic among some men but it has definitely become a much more popular option in the modern age, with grooming tools designed specifically for this job such as Manscaped. I would say that yes, you should trim down there, it’s just so much nicer for your sexual partners. However, I don’t think you need to necessarily shave it all down to the skin. I think a good trim is enough, keep it short and neat.
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