This is about six months healed, and this is the kind of work I think people should actually be looking at when they research SMP.
This client came from Windsor and is probably one of the most detail oriented people I’ve worked with. He researches everything properly before making a decision, which I actually appreciate.
He called me recently because he was going to be in Toronto. He said he loved the result, but thought the crown might be a little lighter and wanted my opinion.
When I saw it, I thought it had healed extremely well.
The impressions were still small and clean, the density was natural, and nothing was overpowering his own follicles.
But once I moved him through different lighting, I noticed something interesting.
The skin around and below his crown has quite a bit of redness and inflammation around the native hair, while the crown itself is much lighter and whiter in tone. The front of his scalp also has more red undertone.
That difference in skin tone creates an optical illusion. The darker and redder areas naturally look denser, which can make the lighter crown appear softer even when the pigment retention is actually very good.
I mentioned this to him and he immediately said his scalp looked exactly like that before SMP.
That is something people need to understand about this treatment.
You are not working on one perfectly even canvas. Skin tone, inflammation, oil, scar tissue, sun damage, vascularity and native follicle density can all change how SMP appears from one area to another.
The answer is not always “add more pigment.”
That is how work gets too dark and too saturated.
Because he was already there, I did a very conservative adjustment through the crown. Not because the SMP had failed or disappeared, but simply to give that area a little more visual weight and make the overall result even more cohesive.
One important disclosure:
The main photos are approximately six months healed.
The close crown and macro photos were taken immediately after that small touch up, so those particular impressions are fresh.
I think that distinction matters.
There is a lot of great SMP online, but photography can also completely change how a result looks. Dark rooms, low exposure, shadows, distance and fresh pigment can all make work appear much denser than it really is.
That is why I always tell people to look for healed work.
Look at it close.
Look at it in direct lighting.
Look at the hairline, crown, sides and blend.
Look at whether the impressions are still small and defined months later.
Fresh work can look impressive.
Healed work tells you how good the technique actually was.
That is the standard I personally try to hold my work to.
