My mom is 100% Scandinavian (Danish) ancestry. My sister and I were born with blond hair and blue eyes. Through the years, my hair turned light brown; my sister kept her blond color.
Growing up, my mother cut my hair at home with clippers and an electric razor. It was cut very short. Before she cut the top, I asked her to leave a Mohawk so I could see it in the mirror. In high school, I grew my hair longer and wanted it cut by ‘professionals’ in town. My hair grew straight. When I grew it long in the back, it would curl a but near the shoulders. I would use whatever shampoo was in the bathroom at the time. I remember brands like Prell and Johnson’s Baby Shampoo.
One year I wanted my hair to be more blond, so I used a product called Sun-In. It is still made today and you can buy it on Amazon. You apply it over weeks and your hair gets ‘yellow-ish’. I never should have done such a vain thing. The color looked silly next to my dark eyebrows.
Once I started a professional career in my 20s, I had my hair cut short, around the ears, and nothing on the neck. I wanted a ‘rat tail’, but never went through with it. In my 30s, I let it grow longer in the back. But this is when my hairline started to recede. I knew it was coming; my father lost his hair early in life and my hairline was always high. When my hair started to turn gray in 1998, I had it cut really short.
About 2010, I decided to shave my head. I shave it once a week. So nice not to have to shampoo or use a hair dryer or carry a comb.
Now my eyebrows are starting to turn white. I occasionally pluck the stray ones. I looked into dying them with something like Just For Men, but after reading the side effects and possible dangers of using such a product, I decided to just accept whatever color they wanted to become.
Progression of Hair Style / Loss
The following paragraph is narration for the set of portraits of me published below.
1972 – 1974: I wore glasses. I changed to a less nerdy style in 1974, then decided I didn’t need to wear them. 1976 – 1979: I wore my hair over the years. 1983: I tried to grow a mustache. Should have never tried. 1984 to present: The haircut is short and never over my ears. 1992-1997: I grew it long in the back. 1998: Hair starts turning gray on the sides and back. The long hair in back didn’t hang well anymore, so it got cut off. I went a few years with a short chin beard and mustache. 2000: The bald spot was becoming noticeable and the top was thinning. 2006: I started to carry more weight. You can see it in my face. The hair was mostly gray now. 2010:, I started to shave my head every week.
Hover over an image to see what year it was taken
