Posted by Admin, on August 11th, 2010, under TRICHOLOGIST
by Phil Daoust
The way it was: modern men in crisis are no longer turning to a Porsche to sort them out. Photograph: Alamy
Car v bike Then: men in need of glamour headed to the car showroom for a topless MGB Roadster.
Now: they visit the bike shop. At Evans Cycles, £6,700 will buy a Pinarello Dogma 60.1 Sky Edition 2010 road bike. One happy mature owner says it’s “just a run-around to get me to and from work”, but it’s also good if you’re looking to show off.
Beer v marathon
Then: men of a certain age tried to prove they were tougher than their peers by drinking them under the table.
Now: they try to outrun, outswim or outrickshaw them, like Gordon “London Marathon” Ramsay, David “Channel” Walliams or James “Edinburgh to London” Cracknell. Is it about the taking part, rather than the winning? US researchers found that men were more interested than women in their final marathon ranking. Or, as Amby Burfoot puts it in the Runner’s World Complete Book of Running, “Men think sports are about beating the other guy.”
Leather v liposuction Then: men who wanted to look sexier squeezed themselves into leather trousers, the tighter the better: think Rod Stewart.
Now: they consult plastic surgeons. Last year, the number of male breast reduction ops almost doubled, while tummy tucks rose by a fifth and face lifts by almost a quarter. Moob jobs mostly involve liposuction, though sometimes a surgeon will have to remove “excess glandular tissue” as well as fat.
Pony tail v crop Then: men coped with hair loss by getting a transplant, growing a pony tail or simply combing over whatever was left.
Now: they shave their scalps à la Andre Agassi or Bruce Willis. Those really determined to hold back the years have their heads tattooed with fake stubble. “Cosmetic scalp pigmentation,” says the HIS hair clinic, produces “a natural cropped ‘buzzed’ hair style that is perfect for today’s modern stylish man”.
Real girls v match.com
Then: men worried about their waning attractiveness would hang around nightclubs trying to pick up women young enough to be their daughters.
Now: they hang around online dating sites, trying to pick up women who claim to be young enough to be their daughters. For all they know, they’re old enough to be their mothers. In fact, they may even be their mothers.
Posted by Admin, on August 10th, 2010, under HAIR LOSS FACTS
By Dr James Le Fanu
Dr James Le Fanu Photo: PHILIP HOLLIS
There are 193 species of primate, of which 192 are covered in hair – the sole exception, as the zoologist Desmond Morris observed, being ourselves, ‘The Naked Ape’. This is, of course, not strictly true, as some humans are hairier than others, but their covering is still insufficient to fill the role it serves in our primate cousins of cooling them during the day (by protecting skin against the sun’s radiant heat) and keeping them warm at night. Meanwhile, the hair that does remain on the head and face (in men) grows much more luxuriantly, causing problems of its own, requiring regular trimming and washing if it is not to become a greasy tangle.
While this pattern of hair growth in humans is a biological puzzle, there is no doubting its cultural significance as suggested by the adverse psychological consequences of its loss. This is particularly the case in those afflicted by alopecia, which can range in severity from a single coin-sized patch to involving the entire body, including the loss of eyebrows and eyelashes.
This is an autoimmune disorder where the body’s immune system attacks the growing hair follicles. The obvious treatment then would be to suppress this process with drugs such as steroids that can be directly injected into the skin (which can be painful) or applied as a cream, or preferably, a foam. But, paradoxically, the reverse approach of stimulating the immune system by applying a chemical (DPCP) that induces chronic eczema of the scalp seems, if anything, to be even more effective.
Meanwhile, more curiously, this is one of the few conditions where there is unequivocal evidence of the benefits of aromatherapy with a mix of the essential oils thyme, rosemary, lavender and cedarwood.
