Beardventures

Thirty K

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How much does it cost to transplant hair from the back of your head to your face? Today, I learned the answer, it’s a lot of money. Thirty thousand ringgit to be exact. Well, that’s if your face is as sparse as mine and you have dreams of rocking a full beard like you front an easycore band.

Beard Game Strong

How did I find out? If you’ve been reading this blog for some time, you would know my obsession to look like a pirate. On a side note, it’s unfair to call it an obsession since I didn’t try every single thing — exercising and diet are a thing. But I did try Minoxidil and if that didn’t work, nothing else will. I don’t have any more hair follicles on my face.

A couple of weeks ago, I googled facial hair transplant and stumbled upon a website of DHI Malaysia. It was “the best hair transplant clinic” according to its listing on Google Maps. I dicked around the website, and there was no mention of pricing. Saw a form to fill up for a free consultation and I did.

Earlier this week, I received a text from the company asking me when I was available for a meeting with them. I had completely forgotten about the clinic by then so I thought it was spam. I had to go back to the website to remind myself why I gave up my phone number.

Curiosity got the better of me and I set a date for the meeting, which took place this morning. The consultation went well, with the doctor telling me that Chinese men usually weren’t there to get a beard (I laughed). It was straightforward and they explained the process thoroughly — if you’re curious you can read about it here.

They extract hair follicles from another part of your body (the back of my head) and implant them where you’d like the hair to be (my face). The whole process takes a couple of days because it is done by hand. Imagine planting thousands of hairs by hand, I can’t.

Then for a few weeks, you’ll need to take care of your scalp and face while you recover. If everything goes well, you’ll have a glorious beard for the rest of your life. They had a surgeon come in to draw lines on my face to estimate how many hair follicles were needed for the transplant.

According to them, my ideal beard would require me to move 6,000 follicles. At RM7 per hair, the process would cost RM42,000. But they were willing to give me a big fat discount if I did the operation in June — from RM7 to RM5 per hair. 30,000 bones to look like a rock star with none of the talent.

I thanked them for the free consultation and went on my merry way. Am I willing to spend the price of a car on my face? Not right now. Maybe one day I’ll hit the lottery I don’t play and secure enough dough for the procedure.

Either way, it was an interesting morning I don’t regret. It’s always cool to learn new things. Thanks for reading my blog.

7 months and done

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Last Sunday was a momentous date for me because of two things: I finally understood the feeling of rooting for a team and watching them win a tournament (all the other times I’ve felt like I’ve always cursed the team I supported by watching them). Virtus fucking Pro won the KL Major and I couldn’t be happier for them. FIrst Valve-sanctioned major of the season, and my favorite team ever since they put on a hero pool clinic at The Summit 7. That tournament turned me into a fan of the team. Anyway, I don’t want to bore anyone with the specifics, but they put on a great show and I hope to see them continue winning in the coming months. The best part about the event was probably walking around in a Virtus Pro hoodie because everyone at the venue seemed to be a Secret fan (there was a Malaysian player in their squad) – I enjoyed those salty tears.

Secondly – I’ve finally finished my Minoxidil course. All six bottles. It took me seven months, but I’m finally done with having to apply liquid on my face twice a day. Feels good not to be burdened by a regiment anymore. On the downside, I see no significant improvement to the state of my beard. I guess you just can’t make hair grow when there were no hair follicles to begin with. Where do I go from here? Well, at least I know Minoxidil doesn’t work for me and my next course of action would be hair transplants so… yeah, I’m not that bothered or desperate enough – looks like I’ll just have to live my life with a patchy, unimpressive beard. Oh well. On the bright side, it is more facial hair than some of my friends can grow.

Seven months ago, I also purchased my first Topre keyboard. The HHKB Pro 2 is still one of my favorite boards to type on. The sound, tactility, and layout – all amazing. I have yet to come across a better typing experience. Recently there have been rumors about an upcoming HHKB Pro 3, so I’m looking forward to that. Assuming there are significant changes to warranty an upgrade. My wish list? MX-compatible stems, built-in programmability. They could keep everything else the way it is and I’d be happy. I know people would like stuff like USB C (I’m not looking forward to having to buy more cables to replace the ones I currently own), heavier domes (an option would be nice, I’m not sure if I’d enjoy something heavier but I would definitely try them out), metal casing (I am honestly a fan of the keyboard’s plastic case – its sound signature and weight would be very different if it wasn’t made from plastic), and Bluetooth (a fine option as long as it’s optional).

In recent keyboard news, my Planck has finally arrived (after a long-ass wait) and I’m personally not the biggest fan of it. I’ll definitely have to spend more time typing on it. I know it’s not a popular opinion but at the moment, I feel that learning to type using an ortholinear board seems way more trouble than it’s worth. It seems very likely that I’ll be turning it into a giant macropad or selling it off. Will give it a thorough chance before I do that.

Two Bottles Left

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It’s been five months since I started my Minoxidil journey, and I’m down to my last two bottles (I ordered a pack of six). Unfortunately, my beard growth hasn’t been as spectacular as I had hoped. In fact, it’s been miserable – it feels like the chemicals didn’t make a difference. I just don’t have any extra hair follicles where I want my beard to grow. However, it’s supposed to take at least six months for it to happen – so I’ve got at least one more month of applying that chemical on my face before I can officially conclude that this experiment was a failure, and I wasted money purchasing the six bottles of Minoxidil.

Other side effects I’ve noticed from using it – I now have a flaky chin – which is essentially dandruff on the opposite side of your head (LUL). I’ve been using moisturizing cream and washing my face with a moisturizing wash to alleviate the problem, but I guess it’s not going to go away until I stop using Minoxidil. I think my face also gets bloated when I use it, which gives me sleepy looking eyes and a fat face for the first few hours of the day and night (I apply 1 ml of it on my face twice a day). I also feel extra tired in the mornings, but I’m not sure if it’s due to the drug or my lack of sleep.

Fortunately I haven’t had anything serious like chest pains or difficulty breathing. My heartbeat is pretty fast – but it’s only something I noticed when I started wearing a smart watch. I’m not sure if it’s always been that high, and if it is – I don’t know if it’s because of the coffee or cigarettes I consume. Maybe it’s a combination of all three. Haha.

I have also gained some weight over the past few months, though I think it’s likely due to my eating habits more than anything else. I have been trying out a lot of new places over the past few months.

I wish I had good news to report to everyone but unfortunately I don’t. Then again, maybe it’s going to take one more month. I’ll be using up the remaining two bottles before I come to a definite conclusion. Fingers crossed for some magic to happen!