Hair Loss Options

There are four real options for hair loss. Most men only know about two.

Transplants get advertised. Pills get advertised. The other options don’t, so most men never hear about them — including the one that works when a transplant isn’t viable.

This is all four, laid out plainly. What each costs, what each involves, and who each actually suits.

We fit hair systems, so we’re not a neutral source. But a system is right for some men and wrong for others, and the point of this page is to help you work out which you are.

What a hair system actually looks like.

Before and after. Fitted, cut and styled in one appointment, colour-matched to his own hair.

Look as closely as you like.

Got a question before you go any further? Message us on WhatsApp — ask anything you like. No appointment, nothing booked, just an answer.

Option one: a hair system.

A custom-made hair piece, bonded to the scalp with a skin-safe adhesive. The base is ultra-thin and sits flat against the skin, with hair individually ventilated so it grows in the direction your own hair would. Colour-matched to your existing hair and cut into the style you want.

No surgery. No recovery. You walk out of the first appointment with a full head of hair.

It isn’t permanent, and that cuts both ways. It needs maintenance every three to five weeks as your own hair grows underneath — a commitment you keep making rather than one you make once. But it also means you can stop, change your mind, or change the style.

Once fitted, it stays put through showering, exercise, swimming and sleep. Most men tell us the surprise isn’t how it looks. It’s how quickly it stops being something they think about.

What it costs.

Systems themselves vary, because you’re choosing the piece. Most men land around £500 to £550, and one typically lasts five to six months. Custom-made systems cost more — worth it if you need a side parting, a double crown, or curly hair matched properly, where an off-the-shelf piece won’t do.

Maintenance is £95 to £105 per visit, every three to five weeks.

The fitting itself doesn’t vary much. What changes the total is which system you choose, and we pass that cost straight through.

Who it suits.

Extensive loss where a transplant isn’t viable. Anyone who wants the result now rather than in a year. Anyone who doesn’t want surgery. Anyone who wants to be able to change their mind.

Who it doesn’t.

If a scheduled appointment every few weeks sounds like a burden, be honest with yourself about that now. It’s the one real demand a system makes.

Option two: a hair transplant.

Surgery. Follicles are taken from the back and sides of your head — where hair is genetically resistant to loss — and moved to where you want them.

Done well, the results are permanent and it’s your own hair growing. That’s a genuine advantage nothing else offers, and if it’s viable for you it deserves serious consideration.

What tends to get underplayed: it’s a surgical procedure with a recovery period, results take up to a year to show properly, and you’re limited by how much donor hair you have. If your loss is extensive, there may not be enough to cover it. Many men need a second procedure. And if your loss is still progressing, you can end up with transplanted hair surrounded by continuing loss — which is why surgeons often want you on medication alongside it.

What it costs.

Anywhere from around £2,000 for a small area to £10,000 and beyond for extensive work. Cheaper abroad, with the attendant risk of aftercare being a flight away. These figures are a rough UK guide — get a quote for your own situation.

Who it suits.

Good donor hair, stable or medically-controlled loss, a budget, and comfort with surgery.

Who it doesn’t.

Extensive loss with a limited donor area. Anyone who wants a result next month rather than next year. Anyone who doesn’t want surgery — a completely reasonable position.

Option three: medication.

Two main treatments, both aimed at slowing or partially reversing loss rather than replacing hair that’s already gone.

Minoxidil is applied to the scalp and available without prescription. Finasteride is a daily tablet and needs a prescription in the UK. Many men use both.

Both work best early. Neither restores hair from an area that’s been bald for years. Both need to be taken indefinitely — stop, and any hair you kept because of them goes.

Finasteride has a recognised side-effect profile that some men find unacceptable and others never notice. That’s a conversation to have with a GP or pharmacist, not something to settle from a website. We’re hairdressers, not clinicians, and we’d rather point you to one than guess.

What it costs.

Roughly £20 to £50 a month combined, ongoing, depending on treatment and supplier.

Who it suits.

Early stages, wanting to hold on to what you’ve got.

Who it doesn’t.

Significant loss already. Medication doesn’t bring hair back from an established bald area.

Option four: do nothing.

The option nobody advertises, and the right one for a lot of men.

Hair loss isn’t a medical problem. If it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t need solving — plenty of men reach that conclusion and never think about it again. Shaved short suits a lot of faces enormously well.

What it costs.

Nothing.

Who it suits.

Anyone more bothered by the idea of maintenance than by the hair loss itself. Also worth considering in the very early stages — a year of watching before deciding is not a wasted year.

Who it doesn’t.

If it’s genuinely affecting how you feel about yourself, “just accept it” is advice that costs the person giving it nothing. You’re allowed to want to do something about it.

Would anyone be able to tell?

The question everyone asks, usually not first.

Properly fitted and maintained, no. Modern systems use ultra-thin bases and individually ventilated hair specifically to remove the tells — the hard front line, the flat uniform colour, hair that sits on the head rather than growing from it. From two feet away it’s indistinguishable from natural hair. From two inches away, it still is.

The honest qualifier: that depends entirely on the fitting and the upkeep. A system in the wrong colour, or at the wrong density, or cut without care, announces itself immediately. This is a craft, and the result depends on who’s doing it.

What to ask before you commit to anyone.

Hair systems are an unregulated corner of the industry. Some of the men who come to us have already been somewhere else and had a poor experience — and almost always, the warning signs were there at the start.

Whoever you go to, ask these:

• What exactly am I paying for, and how often? Get the system cost and the maintenance cost separately, along with how often maintenance is needed. A single monthly figure can hide a lot.
• How long should this system last? A well-made system should give you five to six months. If you’re being replaced far more often than that, ask why.
• How is the colour matched, and who decides the density? These are the two things that make a system look obvious when they’re wrong. They should be discussed with you, not decided for you.
• Who cuts it, and are they a trained hairdresser? Fitting and cutting are different skills. A system can be fitted competently and still look wrong because nobody cut it properly.
• What happens if I’m not happy with it?

If any of that gets a vague answer, that’s your answer.

What a consultation is actually like.

Most men take a long time to make contact, so here’s exactly what’s involved.

It’s free, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes, and there’s no obligation at the end of it.

It happens in a private first-floor space with its own entrance, separate from the main salon. No waiting room, no other clients, nobody else present.

And it goes at your pace. We’re not going to talk at you for twenty minutes. Most men arrive nervous and with no idea what to expect, which is completely understandable — it’s a big step and there’s very little honest information out there. So you ask, you probe, you go at whatever tempo suits you. We’ll cover whatever you want to cover: how it works, what it feels like, colour matching, what you’d actually look like, the day-to-day of living with one, the maintenance, the cost.

And we’ll tell you if it isn’t right for you. If a transplant suits your situation better, we’ll say so. We’d rather do that than take on a client who’d have been better off elsewhere.

Where we are, and why men travel.

We’re at 4 East St. Helen Street, in the centre of Abingdon in Oxfordshire. Free parking at Drayton Road car park, a short walk away.

Most of our hair system clients don’t live in Abingdon. There are very few salons outside London doing this properly, and we’re independent — you see the same people every visit, and nobody here is working to a sales target.

We’re in Abingdon, not Mayfair, and the prices reflect that.

If you’re travelling, we have details for the journey from Oxford, Reading, Newbury, Swindon, Witney, Banbury, Bicester and Cheltenham.

Still deciding?

Most men sit with it for a while before doing anything.

If you’d rather just ask something first, send us a WhatsApp — it goes straight to Mike, and asking a question doesn’t book anything.

If you’d like to come in, the consultation is free and takes about 15 minutes.