Grooming Bald Heads - the best hairstyles and strategies

When you go bald, you need to change the way you groom yourself to ensure you look presentable despite the loss of hair. In the olden days, this meant the dreaded comb-over - but thankfully people rarely go for this option now.

Here are some strategies to deal with a bald head.

1. Have a close trim. Baldness is most obvious when someone has relatively long hair on the sides but a bald patch on the crown. Or worse, thinning temples but long hair at the back. Minimise the contrast by asking your hairdreser/barber to cut the remaining hair short. That way there are no big contrasts to draw the eye and you look neat and tidy

2. Shaving your head. Some men go even further and shave their heads entirely (the Telly Savalas look). However this option is very high maintenance. You will need frequent trips to the barber. And then there is the problem with stubble on your head as the hair on the sides regrows. Note also that shaven heads need products on it to protect the skin on the head (normally the skin on your head if protected by a covering of hair). Completely shaven heads can feel clean and fresh, but only go for this style if you have the time to maintain it.

3. Toupees/rugs. Some men don't want to accept their changed appearance in the mirror and wish to use a hairpiece so they look exactly the same as before. Much mockery is made of toupees, especially if they accidently come off. But hey, women often use hair-extensions and no one says a thing, and that's false hair too. We shouldn't be judgemental. Most toupees/wigs these days are of such high quality it's not possible to tell you are wearing one by looking.

Toupees work best for partial baldness or thinning hair. Go for custom-made ones so that they fit perfectly (ask your hairdresser/barber to recommend one). The next thing you need to decide is if you want to go for one made of real hair or synthetic hair. Synthetic hair toupees are cheaper. Then you need to decide how you want to keep it in place - if you still have existing hair on the sides of your head, clips can be used to keep the wig in place. Otherwise, adhesives are used to hold the wig on the scalp.

Instead of a toupee, you can get hair woven into your own (pretty much the same procedure that women use for hair extentions) - but note this will have to be done by your hairdresser.

You also need to consider your lifestyle before you go for the toupee option. If you do a lot of sport, or swimming or anything that makes the scalp sweat, toupees may not be for you, and you may be better off simply going for the close trim option detailed above.

4. Bald Sprays There are some bald sprays that you can get that fill in colour so that you don't look bald. This only works if you have a tiny bald spot on the crown of the head (most people don't look too closely at the crown, so you can get away with it). If your bald spot is big, this is not a recommended option - it just looks fake and silly.