Examples of Female Hairline Variations

There are many types of female hairlines that exist in nature. It is important for every serious hair-transplant surgeon to study these natural variations before considering to undertake a hair-transplant procedure on a woman to ensure that the result is natural and also appealing.  Some of the basic tenants of a female hairline is that it is shaped in an opposite fashion to a man’s hairline, i.e., the hairs typically aim in a circle, known as a cowlick, in the center and sometimes with hair shooting straight backwards in this region.  Also, the fronto-temporal region is more rounded and closed rather than receded like in a man’s hairline.  Besides these fundamental elements that describe most women’s hairlines, there can be variations obviously.

Female Hairline Variations (from Dr. Lam's textbook, Hair Transplant 360)

In the three examples taken from my textbook, Hair Transplant 360, you can see that all three have a central cowlick and closed fronto-temporal angles as described.  However, there are subtle but obvious differences as well.  In the image on the top right, there is a moderate widow’s peak and a squarer configuration to the overall hairline shape.  In the image to the top right, the entire hairline has a very closed off fronto-temporal region making the hairline appear much rounder.  In addition, the cowlick is further recessed without a very strong widow’s peak.  In the bottom left image, the widow’s peak is prominent and tightly packed with a less prominent cowlick.  In addition, there are finer hairs in the fronto-temporal region making the hairline look as if there is a slight fronto-temporal recession even though there is none.

Samuel M. Lam, MD, FACS, a board certified hair transplant surgeon in Dallas, Texas. To learn more about Dr. Lam’s female hair transplant procedures, female hair loss, female hairline lowering, or to schedule a consultation please call 1-888-866-3388, or visit www.HairTX.com for more info. To ask Dr Lam a question please visit our hair loss forum.

The Female Hairline In Depth

One of my passions is female hairline reconstruction.  A large reason why is that it is one of the technically most challenging and artistically demanding parts of the head to do and to do right.  Unlike a male hairline in which all the hairs angle perfectly straight forward, the female hairline if done correctly goes in all different directions to make it appear as feminine and natural as possible.  In this article, we will discuss the two elements of a female hairline:  the macro hairline (overall shape) and the micro hairline (the details of how each of the angles are created when making recipient sites into which the hair grafts are placed).

The macro hairline, or overall hairline shape, in many respects is the exact opposite of a male hairline.  Men tend to have a more pronounced fronto-temporal recession with the curvature of the hairline aiming backward into these points of recessions.  A beautiful female hairline curves in the opposite direction with a rounded and closed fronto-temporal angle.  In addition, whereas it is important to create a conservative male hairline, a female hairline should potentially arc downward aggressively and be situated right at the forehead and scalp transition.  The goal is to create a rounded hairline to accentuate the beauty of a feminine face.

Female Hairline Restoration

Continuing on with the macro hairline, the hairline also consists of small protuberances that refine and break the linearity of the hairline itself.  In the midline a small widow’s peak will complement the female cowlick.  The design of the female cowlick will be reserved for the discussion of the micro hairline.  There can also be small protuberances approximately halfway between the cowlick and the end of the temporal hairline.  These are known as lateral mounds, a distinct entity found in many female hairlines.  These protuberances like the widow’s peak are only very slight:  take a look at women without high hairlines or without hair loss to observe what I am talking about.

The micro female hairline like the macro female hairline can be viewed almost as the opposite of the male hairline in many respects.  Whereas the male hairline typically is uni-directional, the female hairline is multi-directional.  Whereas the male hairline aims forward entirely, the female hairline principally sweeps to the side and back.  When designing a female hairline, the surgeon should look at ghost hairs (residual hairs that remain) as a guide or for female hairline lowering.  When there are no ghost hairs, the direction of the hairs behind the to-be-reconstructed hairline can be used as a guide for the design work.  In general, female hairlines sweep from the left to the right (in 70% of women) with the sweeping going in a whorl in the center of the scalp known as the cowlick.  The cowlick circles with the hair pointing backward toward the center of the scalp, which then must aim back forward as the hairs start to go back farther to the central-forelock region.  The hairs on either side of the central cowlick principally go to the side so for a left to right part the hairs from the left go across the hairline all the way from left to right and vice versa for the opposite design.  There are also less pronounced micro undulations in the female hairline as compared with the male hairline (what I termed the coastline effect in other blog articles.)  All of these nuances are important to remember as one designs a female hairline.  Matching experience with artistry is the key to creating both natural and feminine-appearing results.

Samuel M. Lam, MD, FACS is a board certified hair restoration surgeon specializing in female hair transplant procedures. To learn more about Dr Lam’s procedures please visit our website www.HairTX.com or call 1-888-866-3388 to schedule a consultation.

This young lady who was born with a high forehead and a receded hairline underwent a female hairline lowering procedure using a female hair transplant technique. She was kind enough to film herself every day for 10 days to show her recovery period.  Patients are very much interested not only in the outcome of a procedure but also in the nature of the recovery process and would like to know that information on a daily basis if possible.  This classification of a “video diary” helps a prospective patient explore the nature of the recovery from a first person perspective by an individual who has not been paid or compensated in any way for their appearance in this video.

Of note, this young lady did not suffer from female hair loss but was born with a high, less feminine appearing hairline and wanted to have a frame to the face that would look more feminine in nature.  There are two principal methods for lowering a female hairline:  one is surgical and one is by transplant.  We prefer the latter technique for several reasons.  First, there are no large incisions so there is no scarring in the hairline area.  Besides scarring, this type of incision can lead to prolonged if not permanent numbness in the area.  Second, the shape of the hairline, especially in the temple region, can be more artistically created, fashioning a female cowlick, lateral mounds, etc., which is not possible with a surgical female hairline lowering.  Third, the distance and degree of lowering can be better with a transplant procedure compared with an incision-based method.  Hopefully, this video provides you with a realistic understanding to the nature of the recovery process following a female hairline lowering procedure at the Lam Institute for Hair Restoration in Dallas, Texas.

This woman had a browlift and facelift that left her with a high, unfeminine hairline as well as scarring in the brow, temple, and the area behind the ears. This video discusses the pattern that Dr. Lam used to rebuild the hairline in a feminine design.  In order to understand how Dr. Lam achieves consistently excellent results, you have to understand the thinking process, strategy, and design that goes into every surgical procedure.  This short written post and accompanying video are intended to help a prospective patient understand the difference between the technique at the Lam Institute for Hair Restoration and elsewhere.

Female hairline lowering is a technique that can be performed for two reasons:  a woman who is born with a high hairline or a woman who has lost hair in that area.  The types of hair loss in the hairline can be caused by natural hormonal reasons like female pattern baldness or like in this case due to previous aggressive brow and facelift surgery.  This is why when Dr. Lam performs facelift surgery he never removes any hair because the result can be devastating and also it is simply unnecessary.  Hopefully, the details in design and execution shown in this video are helpful to understand how female hairline lowering strategy no matter what the cause may be is entirely different from other types of hair transplant procedures.

A female hairline is completely different and requires the skills and artistry to make it look natural when considering performing female hairline lowering. Female hairline lowering allows a woman with a high forehead or one that has recessed with aging or previous aggressive browlift to have a proper frame to the face and better stylability that is at once feminine and more youthful.  Please visit our Female Hairline Lowering procedure page for more information.

Dr. Sam Lam provides a narrative on how a female hairline should be designed for female hairline lowering in this accompanying video.  Female hairlines should be for a lack of a better word feminine in shape:  they should be rounded and closed in the temple area and have a cowlick in the center.  there is a natural revolving and rotating sweep to the hair that can be demonstrated in this close up video breaking down the elements of design that were undertaken.