Dubai: An "instant hair" solution for balding men has been drawing crowds at a Dubai beauty show this week.
Dozens of visitors with bald patches sat down to get a head full of "hair" at the BioThik stand during the Beautyworld show.
BioThik's Hair Building Fibre is powder-like and is simply sprinkled over the thinning area. A gentle pat-down covers up the bald patches and gives volume. The tuft of man-made hair stays put in windy and sweaty conditions after a Fibre Locking Mist is sprayed on.
You become bald again after a shower washes off the layer.
The Malaysian company calls the application the "30-second instant ‘hair transplant'". The fibre is made from the building blocks of natural hair - keratin protein - and comes in a dozen colours, including white and grey.
BioThik's business development manager Joe Thye said users should style their hair before applying the product, when the scalp is clean and dry. He said the 15mg bottle should last about 60 uses, depending on how thin the scalp is.
Thye added that the product is scalp-friendly and can be used by women as well.
The company is looking for a UAE distributor to make the product available here. It is expected to cost Dh135 per bottle (Dh190 with the spray mist).
Fair and ‘handsome'
Also on show are skin whitening creams - for men. One supplier said the global market for men's skin lightening products is growing at about 20 per cent per year.
The customers are usually young executives from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Gulf countries, said a manager from Stancos, a Pakistani cosmetics exporter.
"It used to be ‘Fair and Lovely' but now it's ‘Fair and Handsome'", said Stancos' marketing manager Zafar Khan, referring to two popular whitening creams for women and men in India. Fair and Handsome's brand ambassador is Bollywood movie star Shah Rukh Khan, who does not have light skin.
"This is a fairly recent trend, a lot of men with darker skin want to look lighter."
Khan said the creams usually take six to eight weeks to lighten the skin by two or three colour tones. He said there is no difference in male or female whitening creams except for a masculine or a feminine fragrance.
The show ends on Thursday.
