John-Jonne Smith enjoyed a flourishing head of hair for much of his life. The young millennial rocked different hairstyles and loved switching them up: a curly afro one week, two-strand twists the next, micro braided braids and a variety of braid designs.
But when Smith was 18, during his senior year of high school, his hair began to thin.
“That's when I first realized it, but I was in denial,” he says. “Everyone knew me for having hair and different designs. I even learned to braid my hair as a child and sometimes helped my friends and cousins iron and braid their hair during class.”
By age 21, a harsh reality had become inevitable: Smith was in the beginning stages of permanent hair loss caused by androgenetic alopecia, which affects an estimated 50 million men in the U.S. by age 50. Doctors told Smith that sudden hair loss was hereditary, which didn't provide much comfort considering the men in her family had full heads of hair well into their old age.
Still, there is a growing silver lining: In today's digital age, the once-silent experience of a man privately processing going bald or secretly seeking cosmetic alterations… of temporary hair units (also known as male hairpieces or “male units”) to hair transplant procedures in cosmetic surgery centers like Türkiye – has entered widespread consciousness. Combo video of barbers transforming their male clients with male units have racked up millions of views and sparked lively comments online, where men share candid testimonials about how hair loss shook their confidence.
After his diagnosis, Smith frantically added hair powder and Rogaine to his daily morning and evening routines, attempting to hide his baldness from the eyes of others.
Life is full of obstacles, he says, recalling a fateful day in Los Angeles he spent as a substitute teacher in a class of eighth graders. While the class was outside during a break, an unexpected rain fell. When Smith and her class ran back to the classroom, strands of the hair she had started the day with were blown away, while other strands fell across her face.
Actor and filmmaker Smith, who lives with male pattern baldness, has turned his hair journey into creative inspiration.
(Marcus Ubungen / Los Angeles Times)
“Kids were pointing and yelling like, 'Oh my God, sir, what happened to your hair?' I checked my phone, looked at the camera and gasped,” he says. “I thought, 'Who did this? Who did this to me? trying to minimize it. Thank God I wore a hoodie that day and just put it over my head.”
The high school students showed no mercy: the barbecue was abundant. Fortunately, Smith did not have to return as a substitute teacher at school the next day.
“Using Rogaine and hair powder was my pain for five years,” says Smith, who describes that period as a losing battle that ultimately led to self-acceptance.
“Being bald is fine, but going bald is horrible,” says Stuart Heritage, journalist and author of “Bald: How I Slowly Learned Not to Hate Not Having Hair.” “It sounds like something very exaggerated, but it's almost like a little grief when your hair falls out. There is fear of the unknown and they go through the five stages of grief.”
However, becoming a member of the global hairless club isn't all doom and gloom and identity crisis, says Heritage. Your personal maintenance routine becomes much faster. Additionally, not having hair can be a refreshing point of connection between men who have experienced hair loss.
Jesse Armstrong, creator of HBO's “Succession,” tells a story about how he realized he was going bald. Larry David does the same.
(Charles Sykes / Invision / Associated Press)
“If you can talk to a bald person about how they went bald, it's always fascinating,” Heritage says. For example, when Heritage interviewed Jesse Armstrong, creator of the hit HBO series “Succession,” about the season three finale, the topic came up.
“I hope you don't mind me saying this,” Heritage says. “He was at university and one of his professors came up behind him and slapped him on the bald head. And that was the first time he noticed he was going bald.”
Then there's Larry David, whom Heritage interviewed for his book. “I think he was playing softball and he was wearing a cap,” Heritage says. “He took it off to scratch his head and realized he was just running his hands over the flesh.
“The stories are there; They just need a little push to get out,” he says. “Bald men would love to be able to talk about it, but I think they feel quite restricted by the boundaries of traditional masculinity.”
For Smith, an eye-opening moment for both her appearance and her art came during the COVID-19 pandemic, as she was figuring out how to develop a solid body of acting work. “I was trying to figure out what my niche was,” he says, recalling the questions that helped point him in the right direction: What is my story? What am I ashamed of? What am I trying to hide from the world?
The inspiration came after Smith saw the film “A Boy, a Girl, a Dream,” in which a character fights to release the work he created into the world. Reading the “Save the Cat” screenplay book, which guides storytellers through the process of how to structure a script, was also a major source of motivation for Smith to write, create and star in the short film “Bald” in 2020.
The positive reception to the project led Smith to create two seasons (14 episodes) of “Bald,” the web series, which aired on Facebook Watch in 2021 and 2022. Today, Smith also hosts a variety show on comedy. “Flippant” is streaming on all major social platforms and is seeking a pilot and working on a feature-length version of the short “Bald.”
Rhodes applies a hair kit to Smith's scalp. “Previously, a lot of barbers didn't understand or weren't willing to understand,” says Rhodes, who opened a barbershop inside his home.
(Carlin Stiehl / for The Times)
These semi-autobiographical works offer a glimpse into Smith's experience navigating identity, dating in Los Angeles as a bisexual man, hair loss, and discreet use of hair powders and male units, which the twenty-something also chronicles in his Instagram and TikTok accounts. . A recent Instagram post lists the benefits of sporting a bald head; other videos show a variety of hair transformations.
“It was awesome to know that people identified with what I posted,” Smith says.
Artist and barber based in Los Angeles. Jamal RhodesAlso known as Dope Barber, he is Smith's go-to person for haircuts and men's units. He has seen firsthand the growing acceptance of man-unit applications. “Previously, a lot of barbers didn't understand or weren't willing to understand,” says Rhodes, who began offering barber services in 2020, shortly after moving to Los Angeles from Houston.
He meticulous application process It takes approximately two hours and involves cutting the client's remaining hair. to prepare bald areas for hair strips. Each hair strip is tailored to the client's unique hair texture, then the hairstylist applies the hair strips to the client's bald areas, blending them into the existing hair.
“[Other barbers] “We were quick to criticize or mock what he was actually doing,” he says. Additionally, the men who came in didn't feel comfortable asking what they wanted in the open air of the barbershop. “I really wanted to give them that space to be who they are when it comes to their hair,” says Rhodes, who now runs his barbershop from his home.
For some, human units are a way to maintain a sense of familiarity and trust around their appearance. For an increasing number of people, hairpieces are a go-to option when they feel like remixing their look.
Jamal Rhodes prepares Smith's head for the hair strips. (Carlin Stiehl / for The Times)
Rhodes applies man drives to Smith's scalp. (Carlin Stiehl / for The Times)
It's fun to channel personal self-expression through your hair, says Smith, who adds that rotating hair colors feels like a mix of playing dress-up and sporting a visible mood ring atop your head.
So far, she's donned men's units in black, dark brown, and red for Paris Fashion Week, and after a difficult friendship breakup, she rocked two-toned platinum blonde, which she calls her “breakup hair.” and his “Kim [Kardashian] After Pete Davidson’s hair.”
Smith plans to test human units in mahogany, blue and green in the near future. “If you see something above my head, it's glued on and looks great thanks to Jamal,” he says. “We really work together to see what new things we can try next and [fun ways to experiment] with color.”
Smith's adventurous fashion taste also includes a wide range of headwear: vibrant fitted caps, flashy cowboy hatsberets and more. “It becomes a topic of conversation. Velvet, satin, etc. “I love showing off a black-owned business,” he says. “I'll wear a colorful hat as a pop of color for a neutral fit if I grow my hair out for a men's unit for the two weeks it lasts, or, as some of us like to call it, the 'ruff.' hair growth period.' Otherwise, I’m bald.”
As more stories about men dealing with hair loss become popular, Smith hopes people remember that whoever you are is okay. “You will still be able to live life and make money, do projects and make your dreams come true, no matter what that looks like to you. “This is my journey,” he says. “I didn't want to hide it from people, because I know I'm not the only one going through this.”
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1. The process, which takes about two hours, involves preparing the scalp, matching hair strips to the client's hair texture, applying strips to bald areas and blending them into the hair. (Carlin Stiehl / for The Times)
“It's fun to channel personal self-expression through hair,” says Smith.
(Carlin Stiehl / for The Times)
