Retire from 8 to 5 

In late-November, we suddenly noticed S’s hair thinning and K’s crown bald patch growing. Surely it has been going on for awhile, no doubt exacerbated by daily stresses, running around a toddler and not getting nearly enough rest as we need. But none of these can be helped right now, so we decided to explore available options.

Entire a red-light helmet – As ridiculous as it sounds, after a lot of reading, and debating, two cost conscious individuals spent £334.99 for The Higher Dose red light hat via Healf. The hat itself is great. Looks no different than a regular cap (when S forgot to remove it during a video work meeting, nobody noticed), and has a built-in timer for 10minute stop to avoid accidentally zapping yourself with an overdose. We have been using it for about 3 weeks now, promptly for 10minutes a day, as the recommended dose.

If this was not enough, K also decided to take yet another drastic step of purchasing a hair-loss oil via Hims. Let’s be very clear here, Hims is meant for men only. It is not meant for women, but S is willing to be a guinea pig for a trial and save womenkind’s hair. The oil contains Finasteride, which blocks DHT, a hormone that causes hair loss, and Minoxidil, which stimulates hair follicles. The concoction is available as a spray and oil, but after watching a few videos of the spray K was not confident all of it would seep into his head, and he went for the oil instead. S was happier too, since the spray might cause the bathroom to be more sticky and harder to clean. It was a true win-win. The photos of regrowth, replenishment, rejuvenation and hair magic on Hims website, from a variety of Hims customers, was enough to convince us to drop £180 for 6month supply. At 1ml of oil each day, and 5min of massaging to the scalp, was added to our routine 1week after the helmet entered our lives.

As engineers, we dislike the idea of trialing multiple solutions simultaneously. Ideally, one needs to trial a solution, measure its impact and then trial the second solution, preferably after reversing the impact of the first solution so as to return to baseline. But this is not a laboratory, this is real life, and its one’s hair, and correlated self-confidence, at stake.

Now the big question – does any of it work? Can red light and Hims oil combat hair loss epidemic that has taken over our house? K is trying hard to not closely inspect the football ground on his crown, and S tries to not look at the widening road lane on her head. We’ll keep you updated and let you know in a few months if a combination of these products has worked for either of us. Fingers crossed, we see new sprouts, making our vanity purchase worthwhile!

Update February 2025: Over two months of dedicated daily use of Hims oil and the red hat. While neither of us see new sprouts, the hair fall has definitely slowed down. Not so much sticking to the hair brush, or in the shower. Positive signs hopefully!