How often are you asked for advice by your balding clients? Androgenic alopecia (male pattern baldness) is the most common cause of hair loss affecting up to 70% of men and 40% of women. Yes, there are fantastic growth products out there, as well as great powder cover ups, but YOU are also in the position to cut and reshape the hair to make it look thicker and fuller. To best address this senstivie subject, you can actually begin with terminology. Andrew Carruthers, Director of Education for Sam Villa, makes it simple, referring to balding spots as ‘light areas’.

Here he offers tips on making the hair look thicker and fuller:

1. How to make thinning hair look thicker: "First and foremost, product is not an option, it’s a necessity," he says. Carruthers applies Redken Cerafill Dense Fx™ for thinning hair to his client’s wet hair.  "The beauty of this styling product is that it plumps up existing hair to increase each hair’s diameter. The end result is like gaining 9000 more hairs! The product is applied at the scalp in the area where hair loss is evident and massaged gently at the roots.  Then, it’s blow dried into hair using fingers, creating a more exposed cuticle, which gives the illusion of thicker hair."

·       Begin in the crown and blow dry hair toward the back of the head with the Sam Villa Light Professional Ionic Blow Dryer with concentrator nozzle to direct the airflow

·       With fingers, lift hair up and off the scalp while blow drying

·       As hair dries, it starts to fill in and mask the balding areas

2.How to balance the dense and thinning areas: Most often the light area is in the crown and above the parietal ridge. "It's usually contrasted by density at the parietal and below, so it's important to use a tool that can visually balance the light and dense areas of the hair.  The Sam Villa InvisiBlend Shear is designed to safely and softly eliminate density leaving the ends of the hair very soft and light. No two hairs are cut to the same length, which eliminates all cutting lines."

·       Working with the teeth of the InvisiBlend Shear toward the head, go through the dense area to remove some of the bulk – the direction of the teeth influences the direction the hair moves

·       The goal is to achieve balance of the dense and thinning areas for an airy look and feel

·       Use a point cutting technique for cutting into the crown to avoid any blunt hard lines

3.How to finish thinning hair: "When hair is dry, apply a product with a matte finish and hold factor like Redken For Men outplay texture putty to accent texture and hold volume.  Rub a small amount of product into the palms of hands and barely touch the top of the hair to apply product to the ends.  Note:  Don’t apply product on the scalp and don’t use oil-based products that can weigh hair down."

Video: http://www.samvilla.com/pro/blog/male-pattern-baldness-learn-how-to-cut-and-style-hair-to-create-the-illusion-of-thicker-hair