As specialists in 100% natural hair transplants, KSL Clinic often speaks with clients desperate to restore their youthful, rich, and thick hair but concerned about whether it will be obvious they have had a hair transplant. The great news is that our talented surgeons and technicians deliver natural results with zero indication whatsoever that you have had a hair transplant procedure.
The best hair transplant process may depend on a thorough assessment of your hair loss, growth patterns and scalp health. Still, by using your own follicles extracted carefully from other areas, we redistribute your own hair rather than using fake or synthetic hair replacement methods.
Once healed, your hair transplant is seamless, often using the FUE transplant procedure, which involves no stitches or incisions, no scarring, and requires precision grading of each individual follicle for a faultless, invisible result.
Key Takeaways
- Unnatural-looking hair transplants are often the result of low-quality procedures or a lack of aftercare and supplementary hair restoration therapies, which are often used to augment the outcomes and expedite recovery following a transplant.
- The key to a hair transplant that looks completely natural, with no deviation in hair colour, texture or growth direction, is to consult a skilled, accredited and experienced hair transplant surgeon who will customise your procedure to your hair loss concerns and desired appearance.
- When performed correctly, hair transplants are safe, pain-free, and permanent. They are an effective solution to a wide range of hair loss symptoms, including alopecia, a receding hairline, and loss of facial hair such as eyebrows and beards.
Understanding Why Hair Transplants Vary in Quality and Appearance
Great hair transplants can be transformative and have a tremendous impact on the happiness, self-confidence, and esteem of the individual. Roughly 40% of all people who undergo a transplant do so because they perceive thinning hair or hair loss as unattractive, and 33% choose a transplant to restore their confidence.[1]
Of course, like any clinical procedure, much depends on the skill, technique and efficiency of your selected hair transplant provider. We often recommend a Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) transplant as the safest solution, and that is guaranteed to create a natural result – provided the procedure is completed correctly.
FUE hair transplants are widely successful, and surveys have found that most patients define their FUE transplant as scoring 7.8 out of 10,[2] where 10 is a flawless, perfect result when using donor hairs from other areas of the body.
KSL Clinic is proud to hold sector-leading satisfaction ratings and countless fantastic testimonials, which demonstrate the importance of the quality of your hair transplant team.
An alternative method of hair transplantation, called Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT), is far more invasive and creates visible scarring. This method removes a strip of tissue from the donor site rather than individual follicles, so it is only suited in a minimum of cases where the donor area will be easily concealed.
Alongside the exact transplant procedure, it is also wise to avoid low-cost hair transplants, especially those performed overseas, where it may be difficult to verify the regulatory status or qualifications of the transplant team.
Natural Hair Transplantation: A Case Study
The easiest way to review the results of professional hair transplantation is to take a look at a real-life example. Gareth Gates, who shot to fame as a singer and songwriter on Pop Idol, contacted KSL Clinic to arrange a hair transplant in 2017, proceeding with a FUE hair transplant to address issues with thinning hair and an unsatisfactory hairline.
His now-healed transplant is entirely indistinguishable from his hair. Before-and-after videos show a remarkable change, augmenting a youthful, confident appearance.
We also recommend that clients considering an eyebrow or beard transplant review client testimonials, progress videos, and photos to get an idea about the achievable results or to inspire their own hair transplantation procedures.
Bianca Gascoigne, TV personality and model, noted that overplucking her eyebrows as a younger person had meant they would not grow back, leading to paranoia. Her FUE transplant in 2020 was a complete success, with outstanding results and a luscious, full, natural brow line.
Dr Konstantinos
says, “Before-and-after pictures are a great reference point since you can select a client, whether a celebrity or not, who has had a similar hair loss issue, hairline, or hair texture to your own. Having said that, each patient is different with his or her own facial characteristics, donor area, degree of hair loss, and expectations, and therefore they have different needs for hair transplantation. At KSL, we look at all these factors before performing a procedure to provide an individualised treatment plan. We like to publish reviews and videos since they give you a clear, realistic idea about what you can achieve and how effective hair transplantation is.”
Achieving a natural-looking hairline requires knowledge, experience, surgical expertise and an artistic eye.
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3 Steps for a natural looking hair transplant
Alongside reviewing past results and client stories, we’d recommend you always meet your transplant surgeon and the technicians who will work on your procedure in person, taking as much time as you need to ask questions and listen to their guidance.
Hair transplants are not an off-the-shelf service. Every transplant should be precisely mapped out well in advance, using a consultation to evaluate how your hair loss or areas of receding or thin hair are currently growing and how you’d like those areas to look.
During a consultation, your surgeon can appraise the availability and health of potential donor follicles, clarify how the procedure will work and the number of grafts they anticipate requiring, and run through the recovery process to ensure you can plan ahead.
Next, we’ll run through a step-by-step process, showing how you might expect your hair transplant with KSL Clinic to proceed and highlighting some of the things to avoid if you’d like a natural hair transplant.
1. Verify the Accreditations and Qualifications of Your Chosen Hair Transplant Provider
We’ve discussed the variations in results and reiterate the need to ensure that any hair transplant surgeon you consult has the right experience and knowledge to deliver the expected outcomes.
In some cases, you may need a specialist, such as a hair transplant expert who has completed successful beard hair transplants or who can advise on the right transplant technique to address hair loss linked to a medical condition.
High-quality hair transplant procedures are bespoke and specific. The surgeon and technicians grade every extracted donor follicle at a microscopic level to determine the angle and direction of growth and where each hair should be implanted.
Many substandard, cheap, and overseas hair transplant providers do not have the expertise or equipment to offer this level of precision, which is why so many hair transplants look highly noticeable or result in hair that grows in the opposite direction.
KSL Clinic’s surgeons are all General Medical Council-registered professionals and our clinics are registered and regulated by the Care Quality Commission—we’d advise looking for these benchmarks from any provider.
2. Using a Hair Transplant Procedure That Creates Natural Results
We’ve discussed the different types of hair transplants you might choose between, and we normally suggest FUE transplantation since the lack of scarring, incisions, or stitches is highly preferable. As hairs are extracted using an advanced tool that measures just one mm across, the rest of your scalp and hair is undisturbed.
You might also wish to enquire about a hair transplant to help conceal areas of scarring, either following a badly performed hair transplant or due to other injuries that have impacted the appearance of your hair.
As with any transplant, this process should be based on examining your hair and assessing whether healthy follicles could be reimplanted to achieve the look you want.
3. Plotting a Bespoke Hairline to Suit Your Facial Characteristics
Everybody has a unique hairline, and whether your hair grows naturally higher or lower on your temple, with a V or W shape, or has changed over time, it is important to discuss your perfect hairline with your surgeon.
For example, some people have a natural widow’s peak and would like to restore hair that has receded from their original hairline. Others might have always had a pushed-back hairline and want a hair transplant to reduce this growth and augment their face shape.
Creating a customised hair transplant design and seeing exactly how it will look when fully healed is incredibly important. This ensures that you can make informed choices about your transplant before the procedure.
4. Arranging Sufficient Recovery Time for Proper Aftercare
Finally, the recovery period is key to achieving the best possible results, especially during the first two weeks, when the newly implanted follicles need to be properly protected. Exposure to sunlight, chemicals, and abrasion could be detrimental.
Any reputable hair surgeon will provide complete aftercare guidance and discuss the recovery timescales in advance. Many of our clients like to schedule their hair implants at a time when they can take a short break from work and from any upcoming events or occasions when they might be tempted to cover their hair.
Additional therapies for hair loss, such as platelet-rich plasma therapy, can also be useful in stimulating faster tissue regrowth and recovery. This treatment is ideal following a hair transplant and uses the bioactive compounds in your own blood to catalyse faster renewal and improve the health of your skin.
Independent Advice on How to Achieve a Natural Hair Transplant
The first step to proceeding with a hair transplant is to book a consultation with your nearest KSL Clinic. Each consultation is free of charge and does not obligate you if you change your mind or decide a hair transplant is not for you.
A consultation is an opportunity to learn more about our work and the hair transplants and therapies we offer, have a chat about the hair loss issues that are causing you concern, and evaluate the right solutions to achieve the hair you’ve always wanted.
If, for any reason, we feel a hair transplant isn’t appropriate, or you are keen to find an alternative, we can also explain how other therapies and treatments work and suggest solutions that will contribute to thicker, healthier hair growth.
How to Get a Natural-Looking Hair Transplant: Frequently Asked Questions
Do the Follicles Implanted During a Hair Transplant Look Like the Rest of the Hair?
In short, yes, hair follicles implanted during an FUE transplant are extracted from other areas of your head – usually a discreet location to the side or the rear of the scalp where your hair is growing well.
Unlike an artificial or synthetic hair transplant or hairpiece, which can differ in colour, texture and growth direction, your transplanted hairs are your own, so they look identical to the rest of the hair you have.
The detail involved in follicle grading is a key aspect of this process. Each follicle is inspected to ensure it is the right density, thickness, and shade, and the follicle is implanted in the right place so that all the transplanted hairs grow in the same direction.
What Can I Do to Speed Up the Recovery Time After a Hair Transplant?
We recognise that many clients are keen to see their finished transplant result as quickly as possible, although it is never worth skipping aftercare instructions since this is likely to slow down regrowth or impede the natural look of your finished transplant.
Instead, we suggest you discuss the options with your transplant surgeon, looking at therapies and treatments that aid in natural healing, scalp and hair health, and the appearance of your skin—ensuring you look your best and have a perfectly natural transplant without delay.
How Does Transplanted Hair Grow?
Once your hair transplant is complete, you’ll need to care for the newly redistributed follicles for the first two weeks. During this time, your scalp will heal from any initial soreness or redness.
New hair gradually begins to regrow, noting that some shedding is completely normal and part of the transplant regrowth process. At around three months, or roughly 90 to 100 days, the implanted follicles will start to grow new hair at the normal rate, which continues to develop over time.
Most clients achieve a finished result within 12 to 18 months when they have a full head of hair, beard or eyebrows as they had hoped.
