Embracing Your Baldness
Identify the cause of your baldness. The first step to making peace with your baldness is to understand the reasons behind your hair loss. Everyone sheds hair each day (some of us more than others), but it is not significant enough to actually be classified as hair loss. The exact cause of hair loss usually relates to one of four factors: genetics (family history), hormonal changes, a medical condition, medication side effect. If you are suffering from significant hair loss, but you don't know the cause, you will definitely want to find out. Ask your doctor to help you figure out the reason, and you'll be better equipped to embrace your baldness. If you are worried about hair loss, pay attention to your diet. Poor nutritional habits can be one reason that you are thinning on top. Also, pay attention to your emotional health. Stress can be another factor.
Deflect negative comments. Sometimes strangers can ask you seemingly random personal questions. If your confidence is taking a beating because people have questioned your hairstyle "choice", try learning an effective way to respond to nosy people. One method is to ignore them completely. Pretend you didn't hear the comment and then you don't have to acknowledge it, even to yourself. You can also confront the person by explaining that you prefer not to explain anything about your personal appearance. Either option will leave you feeling more confident than if you choose to brood on the insult.
Acknowledge the benefits of baldness. Not only is being bald beautiful, but their are some really positive results! For example, many people see baldness as an indicator that the person with no hair is socially mature and has increased social status. That's a great perception for people to have of you in the work place. People also tend to associate baldness with physical strength. Save time. Being bald can drastically reduce the amount of time you spend grooming in the morning. Instead of blow-drying, brushing, and styling, simply moisturize and add sunscreen and you're out the door! The extra sleep you'll gain each morning will surely boost your mood and your confidence. Save money. Although you do still need to care for your bald head, it is going to cost significantly less money than caring for a full head of hair. Just ask anyone who has forked over a healthy amount for highlights that will fade after only two months.
Find someone you admire. The world is filled with inspirational, powerful, beautiful people--and many of them have no hair! If you don't know someone personally that you can choose as your personal bald hero, there are plenty of famous people for you to look up to. Do some reading and find someone who you admire, both inside an out. Many of the most powerful people in history have been bald, so you'll have plenty of choices. Are you interested in politics? Look up Cory Booker. If you're a sports fan, just look at Michael Jordan!
Appreciate your health. If your baldness is the result of a medical condition, it can be especially hard to deal with. You're already going through plenty of emotional and physical changes, so it can be hard to accept one more big change when losing your hair. Although it can be really difficult, you can try to have shift your perception. Instead of thinking, "This chemo made me lose my hair!", try thinking, "This chemo is obviously having an impact. I can see that by looking in the mirror!" Positive thinking (and feeling more confident) can actually improve the way you feel--both mentally and physically.
Gaining General Confidence
Compliment yourself. Focus on your positive traits. Did you do well on a big project at work? Congratulate yourself! Can you see results since you started going to the gym? Mental high-five! Each day, try to think of at least one thing that you like about yourself. This will become a habit, and will have a great impact on your self-esteem. Soon, you'll even feel more confident about being bald!
Strengthen your mind. By stretching your mental muscles, you can find new reasons to be proud of yourself. Try learning a new skill or language, playing word games, and meditation. All of these activities are shown to increase mental dexterity. The smarter you feel, the better you'll feel about yourself in general. Intellect is directly related to your confidence level. As you strengthen your mind, you will also strengthen your confidence level. You will start to realize that your baldness does not define you--you have lots of great qualities.
Avoid negativity. Try to avoid negative thoughts. But don't get mad at yourself if you have one! Instead, accept it, acknowledge it, and move on. Eventually, you can train yourself to have fewer and fewer negative thoughts. It will also help if you strive to place yourself in positive situations. Surround yourself with supportive friends and family who think you are great! Try doing positive affirmations in the mirror. Look at yourself--bald head included--and tell yourself that you look great and feel great.
Act confident. Hold your head up high and walk tall. When you meet a new person, look them in the eye, smile, and offer a firm hand shake. These are all ways that you can appear confident. And evidence tells us that when you act confident, you will also begin to feel confident.
Present your best self. Maybe you don't quite feel confidence in every part of yourself. It will come with practice, but for now, enhance the parts of yourself that make you feel strong and secure. Pick out your favorite outfit and paste on your best smile. If you are confident in parts of your image, that feeling will spread until you eventually feel an overall increased level of confidence. Soon you'll be showing off your baldness with the rest of your positive traits.
Enhancing Your Look
Invest in a quality wig or toupee. Losing your hair can be an emotional as well as physical loss, particularly if going bald is related to an illness. You can feel better and increase your confidence if you find yourself a great wig. Wigs come in all imaginable styles and colors. Before selecting your wig, spend some time flipping through fashion magazines to find a style you like. A quality wig is important because it will look more natural and also require less care. Choose a style that you are comfortable maintaining. To find the right wig or toupee for you, ask for advice. Before you start shopping, ask a friend if they have any advice on where to go. Another great resource is your hairstylist--ask her opinion! Consider choosing two wigs--one for everyday use and one that is just for fun. Put on the fun wig (which could be a funky color, for example) when you need to feel happy and need an instant mood boost.
Find some new accessories. If you don't want to wear a wig, there are still many ways that you can temporarily cover your baldness. As you gain confidence in your baldness, you'll probably need fewer of these options. Even if you choose a wig for work, you will want something more comfortable to wear at other times. There are many great options, such as hats, scarves, and turbans. The most important things are to make sure you find one with a proper fit (measure your head) and one that is comfortable. After you've checked those boxes, feel free to jazz it up and have fun! Treat hat and scarf shopping the same way you would treat shopping for any other clothing item--as a way to show off your style and reflect your personality. Choose some items that make you look great--that's an excellent confidence booster.
Care for your skin. Maybe you want to cover your baldness, maybe you don't. Either way, taking excellent care of your skin is going to make you look and feel better. Most people don't realized that when your head is shaved, you still need to use shampoo and conditioner. There are lots of nearly invisible hairs on your head that still need to be cleaned. You will also want to make sure to use plenty of sunscreen, everyday. Keeping it moisturized is also really important. Treat the skin on top of your head as respectfully as you treat the rest of your skin. You'll look better, be healthier, and your attitude will reflect that.
Consider replacement therapy. Hair replacement therapies such as grafts and transplants are a more permanent solution if you really don't want to remain bald. However, they are not for everyone. The most common candidates for replacement therapy are people of any sex who are genetically disposed to pattern-baldness, and people who have lost some or all of their hair as the result of an injury (such as burns). If you think this might be for you, you will want to consult a doctor to get more information and to better understand the procedure. Do your research. You want to find a dermatological surgeon with an excellent reputation. Make sure to ask questions about the procedure itself, recovery time, and potential side effects. Use other methods to feel more confident. Remember--bald is beautiful.
Use make-up. There are many products you can use if you are dealing with some smaller patches of baldness. One product is a firm powder which you can put on your head to reduce the appearance of baldness. It also coats your hair to make it appear fuller.
Get rid of thinning hair. Many people suffer from thinning hair for a variety of reasons. The common reaction is to hang on as tightly as possible to what little hair you have left. However, you will feel more confident if you take matters into your own hands and just get rid of thinning hair. Going bald is usually more attractive than other methods. In other words, skip the comb over.
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