Inspired by a celebrity, our reporter tries a simple solution. 

Our Japanese-language reporter Kouhey dubbed himself the “Thinning Hair Writer” seven years ago, and in that time he’s tried everything under the sun to promote new hair growth and restore his locks to what they once were. But even after all he’s done, though he hasn’t seen any major decline in his hair, he also hasn’t really seen any major improvement, either.

Obviously, it’s great that the thinning of his hair hasn’t gotten worse, and at some point, it’s probably best to love his hair for what it is, but to him, it would be nice to have something to show for all the hard work he put into improving his hair. That’s why he came up with one more thing to help combat the obvious thinning of his hair: getting a perm.

The idea was that if he curled his hair, maybe it would look more thick and voluminous, and although the chemicals used in perms are rumored to be bad for your scalp, Kouhey was willing to take this risk.

Kouhey’s inspiration for this experiment was the Japanese comedian Cunning Takeyama, who was once known for his thinning hair. “Was once” is the key term here, as for several years now, Cunning Takeyama has been perming his thin hair, and it looks much thicker than before. No one can know if in conjunction with his new hairstyle he’s doing AGA or other hair growth treatments, but looking at him now, you would never think he’s struggled with thinning hair.

▼ Cunning Takeyama and his perm

So…why wouldn’t a perm also be effective for Kouhey? Kouhey made a reservation at a hair salon and awaited the day of his experiment. But before we get to the results, let’s see what Kouhey’s hair looked like before.

The top of his head, as you can see, had some pretty clear spots where his hair was thinning and his scalp was visible. Kouhey couldn’t help but wonder how different his hair might look with a perm. On the day of his appointment, he arrived with time to spare at his local beauty salon.

Before beginning the procedure, Kouhey asked his stylist to take pictures of more angles of his head for him. First is the front.

Next, the side.

And finally, the back.

Then without hesitation, Kouhey asked the stylist to begin. They started with cutting his hair.

After that, it was time to perm. The stylist wound his hair up in rollers…

Applied perming solution…

Set him under the machine…

And repeated this process twice.

Then all that was left to do was to take out the rollers, and it was done!

So, how did it come out? After a final shampoo wash and some styling with hair moose, this is what Kouhey’s hair looked like:

First, from the front. You can hardly see the thinning parts! It looks really nice.

Next, from the side. While some of the thinning is still somewhat evident, wouldn’t you say it looks a bit refreshed?

And lastly, a look from the back. Here too, the thin spots stand out slightly, but you could also say that his hair looks as if it’s regained a bit of its youthful voluminousness.

When Kouhey got home, he took another picture of the top of his head for good measure.

Of course, this angle only serves to emphasize the thinning on the top of his head. However, compared to before the perm, the thinness looks much reduced! And this degree of thinning would be no match against Kouhey’s favorite miracle hairspray, Kurashi Rhythm’s Volume UP Hairspray, whose black color would easily disguise those little patches.

And with a good, healthy dose of Volume UP…

It’s done! Kouhey’s hair now looks thick and luscious.

While Kouhey may have relied a bit heavily on his miracle hair spray, even before using it, his hair was close to looking thick and luscious in its new style. As such, Kouhey feels confident in saying that getting a perm on thinning hair can enhance the appearance of its thickness.

Since we can’t all get hair transplant surgery like Seiji and we can’t all afford expensive hair growth treatments like Go Hatori, this could be a great way to boost your personal confidence if you suffer from thinning locks, so long as you understand the risks chemical perms may pose to your scalp.

Images © SoraNews24
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