GLH Hair Thickening Spray (Hair in a Can)
Written by Vlad on January 18, 2011 – 7:24 pm - 5,827 views
We all saw those infomercials on TV in the 90’s – people with bald patches had them instantly eliminated with an aerosol spray. It looked like they were spray painting their heads. Most people I know chuckled in response to seeing the commercials, but I didn’t. Even though I had a full head of hair at the time, I knew I would eventually cross paths with “Hair in a Can”.
In 2004, I ended up ordering a can online for $16.
Why I Bought GLH Hair Thickening Spray
I started experiencing the symptoms of androgenic alopecia (male pattern baldness) at the age of 22, just as I was getting tired of having long shoulder-length hair during my surfie phase. I used to have to waste 1 hour a day each day managing it.
The hair started thinning at the front of the head, near the centre of the hairline, and then gradually it started on the side lobes as well. In 2004, I went to a Hollywood movie-themed fancy dress party, and I chose to come as James Dean from “Rebel Without a Cause”, so I needed slicked back hair, but I really wanted some more fullness at the front. I remembered good ‘ole “Hair in a can” so I found it online, in a brand named “GLH”, also known as “Good Looking Hair”. For the advancement of mankind, I decided to make myself a guinea pig. The product took a long time to arrive, so I ended up going to that party with my hair it its natural state, with some gel in it. When looking back at the party photos today, I don’t think my hair was too bad.
How Hair Thickening Spray Works
When you lose hair, what people notice most is the skin colour of the scalp becoming increasingly visible through the area of thinning hair. As hair loss often occurs in patches, people will notice a discontinuity in colour around the region, or a sudden change in the density of your hair. That is why diffuse hair loss, experienced by older women, is usually far less noticeable than pattern baldness in men.
Hair thickening spray can be likened to mascara, used by women to thicken up their eyelashes. It is effectively a spray-on mascara. The powder sticks to existing hair strands, expanding their width. It also colours the scalp, which prevents the flesh colour from being visible.
Applying Hair Thickening Spray
- You simply spray it around the bald/thins area until you are happy with the colour and consistency.
- GLH Hair Thickening Spray comes in many colours including black, dark brown, medium brown, light brown, grey and blonde. You should choose one closest to the natural colour of your hair. If you find that the colour is not an exact match, you will have to spray some into the surrounding hair to even out the tone.
- You should use a mirror, so you can evaluate your progress and know when you are done. Having two mirrors at 90 degrees to each other will allow you to see more of your head. If you don’t have a mirror, get someone else to do it for you.
- Once you are done, then use normal hair spray (the type you use to stiffen hair), to fix the thickening agent in place. This final step is omitted from all the demonstration videos I have seen, but it is crucial.
My experiences of GLH Spray
- When applying it, cover your clothes with a towel or rag, otherwise it will stain them.
- My hair is dark brown, so I ordered the dark brown spray, but it was still a bit too light for my shade, so I simply sprayed some into the surrounding hair at the front of my head, and all was well.
- When I looked at myself from a distance of 2 metres or more, the hair looked normal. As you get closer, it become more apparent that your scalp has been coloured and the texture of the filled-in areas is not the same as your natural hair. If your hair loss is on the vortex, which people usually do not look at, then this would not be as much as a problem.
- When it dries, the sprayed areas feel rough and a comb does not run easily through them. Don’t even think about letting your partner run their hands through your hair.
- The spray is designed to be water resistant, but wet areas will become gooey or sticky until they dry. Do not wipe your wet hair with a towel, otherwise some of the product will come off and stain your towel.
- When showering, I was able to wash out the spray using standard supermarket shampoos containing the surfactants Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laryl Ether Sulfate (SLES). It was difficult using using herbal or gentle formula shampoos.
My conclusions about Hair Thickening Spray
- Useful for one-off occasions, e.g. portrait photos, appearing on TV, acting on stage or presenting from a podium
- Also useful for fancy dress parties – you can change the colour of your hair by applying a different colour. Unlike dyes, it will wash out in the shower
- Not useful for daily life. If you are in your early stages of hair loss, approved medical treatment is likely to be effective. For male pattern baldness, the currently approved medical treatments are topically applied Minoxidil (Regaine), Finasteride tablets (Propecia) and hair transplants.
Example of a GLH Infomercial from the 90’s
Tags: hair, hair loss, spray
Posted in Beauty Products | No Comments »
