What is Hatfishing?

If you’re starting to lose your hair, you might feel tempted to hide your hair loss with a hat. This phenomenon has been dubbed ‘hatfishing'- when you’re exclusively posting pictures of yourself wearing a hat on your dating profile or rocking up to your first date with a cap on.

Feeling self-conscious or stressed about hair loss in this way is completely normal. Nearly half of all men said they felt self-conscious about their hair loss in a recent survey by LloydsPharmacy. To help themselves feel more confident, 27% of men start wearing hats more often, while others grow facial hair or work out more once they start noticing hair loss. Only a few seek treatment options when they first start noticing thinning, with about 11% of men starting to use Minoxidil and 14% choosing Finasteride as the first resort.

When it comes to dating, men feel hair loss hurts their chances. Over a third of men surveyed chose to wear a hat to a first date, and 15% cancelled a date due to nerves about revealing their hair loss to their date. But you don’t need to kiss your love life goodbye along with your hairline.

Is Hair Loss… Hot?

As it turns out, yes! A Superdrug found 41% of women in the UK said they find hair loss sexy, and 71% of women said it had no impact whatsoever on their love life. Men agree, with the majority (68%) responding that their date’s hair (or lack of it) didn’t change the way they felt about them.

Even though 89% of men perceive a negative stigma around hair loss, the Superdrug study found lots of men and women who are attracted to men see baldness as a positive trait. In fact, when participants were asked what word they most associate with baldness, one of the top responses was ‘sexy’.

What’s less attractive? Trying to hide it. In the Lloyds Pharmacy study, 48% of respondents said they prefer honesty, compared to a measly 6% of people who said they would want their date to disguise their hair loss with a hat. At some point, the hat must come off.

Choosing Sons

If you’re not ready to embrace a number one all over - as enticing as some ladies might find it - hair loss treatments can help. For personalised recommendations of the best treatment plan for your hair loss, you can take our consultation here.

If you would prefer to let nature take its course, don’t let it stop you playing the field.

Remember, most people don’t see hair loss as a red flag in dating. Just don’t be a hatfish.

All of our blog articles are reviewed by our Medical Director before publication.