I moved to Brighton to start a 3 year university degree in 2016. It was my first time way away from the comfort of my family home and stepping into the exciting but unknown world of University life. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and explore new possibilities.
I was nervously excited and kept saying to myself “First impressions are key…be yourself and you will be fine”
That summer I had worked hard and spent a large chunk of my budget on updating my wardrobe wanting to look the part. I arrived at halls and unpacked as I wanted to be there first and get my bearings before meeting my new neighbours.
After unpacking, I looked in the mirror to check out my appearance with my new jeans and shirt. However, the first thing I noticed yet again was my hair and my receding hairline.
I had first noticed hair falling out on my pillow when I was 19. Having just won my battle with acne and starting to feel good about my appearance now this! Dad had a decent enough hairline so I was convinced that mine would be ok and I didn’t think any more on the subject especially as I thought that only men in their 40’s and 50’s lose their hair.
A few months passed and then one day down the pub my best friend joked that I was starting to lose my hair. It was just a flippant comment said after a few beers but it actually made me very self-conscious about my hair. As I went home I thought “is it that obvious?” I kept thinking “maybe everyone notices it?” I quickly rushed to the mirror and examined my hair, it was now a very real problem and I needed to take drastic action. After researching the causes of hair loss online I promised myself I would exercise regularly, not get stressed, improve my diet and grow my hair longer so I could style it to cover up any thinning areas. Yep that will sort it, and I felt content with my solution.
I grabbed my hair wax and quickly re-arranged my hair in the normal way before making my way to meet my new friends. Over the next few weeks I settled in brilliantly, got involved in all of the social events and met some incredible people. My vow of eating and living healthily had been sacrificed but that was ok as I didn’t want to miss out nor had the money to buy the food I had at home.
I had hardly thought much about my hair as I was having too good a time, plus no one would notice with the way I was styling it.
7 weeks passed and I needed to get a haircut as it was getting too messy. “Just a little trim on top please and grade 3 back and sides” I asked as I knew I had to keep it relatively long on top to cover any thinning areas. I hated getting my hair cut as I felt that my thinning hair was exaggerated when my hair was wet. As I left I was gutted – It wasn’t my usual hairdresser and they had cut more off than I wanted!
Returning to my room I was in front of my mirror again frantically looking at my hair, this was a nightmare! My hair was too short and I couldn’t style it in the usual way. If I could see it, surely others would? I thought back to the day my best friend joked about my hair thinning and it brought back all those horrible feelings. I desperately wanted to wear a hat but couldn’t as I was going to the opening of a new club night and of course what made it worse was the girl I fancied was going that evening too. I thought “Surely she won’t even look twice at me if I have receding hair.”
I went to the club night but spent the whole of the evening conscious about my hair especially as people commented “oh you have had your haircut”. At every feasible opportunity I would go to the bathroom to check on my hair and I felt myself getting very stressed about it. Why was this happening to me, I was only 20 yet my hair was thinning, why did none of my other friends have this problem? They all had full heads of hair and didn’t even seem to think twice about this. I vowed to myself there and then that I was going to do something about it.
I had looked online before but this time I decided to take the time to understand not only the causes of thinning hair but also the potential remedies. I was amazed at how many different options there are out there but felt a great sense of reassurance as they all claimed they could help.
I had seen famous people advertise hair transplants but ruled that out as they are expensive plus I felt confident that I wasn’t at that stage of hair loss yet. Some products sounded great but upon further reading I didn’t like the idea of any tablets having possible side effects including ones that could affect my love life. Equally I hardly had any money and a lot of options seemed quite expensive. After seeing some negative reviews on certain products I decided to not do anything about it, again.
After the first year of Uni had finished I returned home and went back to my summer job. I missed all of my mates and couldn’t wait to return back in September. One evening I was on social media and reflecting on my fist year. I went through my pictures and laughed away as I reminisced. But, laughter quickly turned into horror when I noticed a picture of me and my mates at a house party. This photo was taken outside under some lights and I could see straight away thinning across the top and my receding hairline as I was looking down. It was literally the worst angle and demonstrated everything to the wide world that I knew myself. I froze and wondered how many people had seen this photo.
Enough was enough….time to look online again and do something about it. After some more research, I came across 360 Hair Clinic. I was immediately drawn to their home treatment package because it’s £50 a month. That’s only a night out I thought! Plus I read that it could be delivered to me discreetly without anyone knowing and the products were branded in a way whereby no one knew I was addressing my hair loss. I decided to take the plunge and start my treatment. I knew there were no guarantees that my hair would magically grow back but I wanted to ensure that I had no further hair loss.
5 months have now passed and I am nowhere near as conscious about my hair and I don’t look at the mirror as much! My hair hasn’t miraculously grown back but after taking regular photos on my phone I have already noticed thickening of my hair on the top of my scalp and my hair isn’t falling out onto my pillow or shedding as much in the shower. Maybe it is coincidence but my hair already feels thicker as well.
I even noticed someone else had a 360 Optimum Hair shampoo bottle in their bathroom and I had a little chuckle to myself. Maybe it isn’t just me that is worried about hair loss then…
