Widow’s Peak and a Mature Hairline
Hi Dr R.
We seem to be reading posts describing the concept of a mature hairline frequently enough for each of us to form many conclusions about his own hairline. However, the great size of my widow’s peak is causing me much confusion, especially when considering placement of the leading edge of the hairline in a possible hair transplant scenario.If a typical male person with a typical mature hairline shaves away his widow’s peak, will he still have a normal mature hairline, or will the hairline be higher than the average person without the widow’s peak? Or should we actually be asking, is a widow’s peak a result of a person having more hair or less hair than the average male person without a widow’s peak?
Maybe we have the definition of a widow’s peak confused. A widow’s peak is the small triangular point on the front middle of the hairline that extends downward as low as the highest wrinkle of the furrowed brow. I am about to publish an article on the evolution of the hairline, and in that article I point out that the widow’s peak is actually a genetic remnant in the middle of your childhood hairline. Yep, the widow’s peak is just a genetic hold-over of the juvenile hairline.
The widow’s peak has nothing to do with balding, and I can simply point to the actor Andy Garcia as a good example of this. He has a strong hairline and pronounced widow’s peak. In women, some erosion of the hairline occurs as they mature and 81% of women have a widow’s peak, which reflects a phenotype of their genes in that location.
With respect to a hair transplant, some ask to create the triangle widow’s peak, though some may not want it. It is merely a personal cosmetic decision / point of view.
The term ‘widows peak’ seems to have been corrupted over the years, especially in the UK. In the popular media here it tends to mean a guy with an NW3/4 who is receding. I always assumed it to mean the ‘Dracula’ like v pointing down in the midst of the front hairline (like Andy Garcia or Leonardo Dicaprio etc) – I have one myself about a cm or so long which juts into my forehead grooves.
If I shaved that off I’d probably be a typical mature hairline now.
I think the issue is with some men who have high foreheads and widows peaks. With a very high forehead the top wrinkle can be less obvious and the widows peak can confuse what the leading edge means I suppose.
Be interesting to read Dr Rassmans article on the hairline development.