Hair fibers, sometimes known as hair concealers, are a hair loss treatment that uses the power of particles themselves to make your hair look thicker. While this method sounds pretty futuristic, it’s actually quite simple. Unfortunately, hair fibers aren’t sci-fi enough to be an actual cure for hair loss. Rather, they’re a labor-intensive concealer that creates the appearance of more hair than there is. That means that your hair loss will still persist despite all the work it takes to apply the fibers.

How Hair Fibers Work

Toppik, Caboki, Boldify, Febron, Elevate, Mroobest, etc. There’s a long list of hair fiber brands out there. In each box you’ll find a tube full of keratin-based powder. You put it directly on your hair and it sticks to your hair follicles. The positively charged particles in your hair will attract the negatively charged particles in the hair fiber to keep the two connected. Voilà! You’ve got the appearance of thicker hair…in theory!

When Hair Fibers Don’t Work

You need hair for the hair fibers to stick to, which means that if don’t have hair then the fibers won’t work. Hair fibers don’t actually stop, slow, or reduce hair loss. So, if you have severe enough androgenetic alopecia then your hair loss is likely to reach such severity that the hair fibers will no longer do their job. What is androgenetic alopecia? Oh, it’s just what causes 95% of male and female pattern baldness.

Hair Fibers Are a Hassle

You cannot apply hair fibers in a humid place, like in your bathroom right after you take a shower. So if you’re one of the countless people that start their morning with a shower, you need to find a new place to apply your hair fibers! You can’t apply hair fibers unless your hair is completely dry, but your hair also has to be completely clean. So, good luck figuring that out!

Now you’re shaking fibers for hair loss concealment and consistency. However, how close to your head you shake depends on the brand! Then, you gotta pat the fibers down to bind them further and tenderly wipe excess fibers away to eliminate fall out. Make sure not to get any on your clothes, and remember not to touch anything or you’ll make a mess!

There are accessories you can use to more effectively apply hair fibers. This may make your hair fibers look better, but it also means adding even more steps to what’s becoming a pretty involved process. How long can you really keep this up?! Before you answer, remember that the question is in part answered by your own hair loss because, again, if you don’t have enough hair this product simply won’t work.

You Must Avoid Water

Heavy rain, swimming, and sweat will wash your hair fiber away. Uhh…so you can’t go in a swimming pool or have a dip in the ocean? You can still hang out, though! You just need to come up with an excuse for why you can’t swim (or at least dip your head underwater).

Here’s a downside: working out. You’re likely going to have to wash the hair fibers out. And then reapply them after? Or wear a hat out. And forget about saunas, and you better not risk a hot tub either. What about really spicy food that makes you sweaty enough to wipe your brow, a very hot day? The list continues…

Hair Fiber Side Effects

Even Topik, one of the most popular brands of hair fiber, advises washing out the fibers at the end of every day if you intend to use their product daily. Why? To avoid irritation and side effects like itching and redness. But even if you do that, some people still have adverse reactions to hair fibers if they’re using a brand with other ingredients.

Some hair fibers contain ammonium chloride, a preservative. The effects of this product are accumulative, and the effects are even more pronounced if you use it daily and if you use a lot of it. Some side effects include regular headaches, acute muscle aches, and even heart palpitations!

When Scalp Micropigmentation Is Better

When you don’t want to deal with the hassle of hair fibers or you simply don’t have enough hair to use hair fibers, then scalp micropigmentation might be the solution you’ve been looking for. The best scalp micropigmentation results will make it look you just got a fresh buzz cut, which goes great with any look! And you can enjoy a dip in the water, working out, and spicy foods without any fear of your scalp tattoo washing off!