Today I called Stiefel Laboratories head office and I found out that they have been purchased by Glaxo Smith Kline. Apparently Stiefel was the largest independent pharma company in the world. Anyway, I spoke to a representative at the company and they have not been making Polytar for at least a full year. The reason is because one of the key ingredients in Polytar AF is not available and GSK has been having trouble finding a supplier. I told the woman on the phone that I am hoping for it’s return soon and she said that they’ver received hundreds of similar calls and while she doesn’t know the actual ingredient that is unavailable she said that she’s told it is the ingredient that makes Polytar AF so effective. While I have no idea if this is true or not it does make sense because Polytar AF is a simple coal/tar based shampoo but it does work better than anything else on the market so this makes sense.

She asked me to call again in a few weeks and they may know more as they’ve had a few potential suppliers come forth so as I learn more I’ll update the blog. Keep your fingers crossed!

So there is a pending case coming up of BHT that I read about on one of the forums. This young man that is obviously suffering from very aggressive hair loss as a young age is contemplating going in for many thousands of body hair grafts. I’ve warned this young man of how unnatural BHT looks and never looks as natural as scalp hair. In short , body hair on the head looks like, well, body hair on the head.

Now he has posted that his doctor told him that since finasteride has shown anectdotal eveidence of slowing body hair growth that he should STOP taking finasteride else it may make the final result wind up with less overall growth. WHAT????

So effectively what finasteride is supposed to do, and does quite well, is fight further hair loss and stabilizes the hair that remains yet this doctor wants this kid to stop finasteride else it will inhibit the body hair growth on his head? I have an idea. How about not taking this gullible kid’s money and tell him to get a real hair transplant with real head hair for a natural result and not stop taking finasteride so he is locked into coming back over and over for more and more body hair so he can continue to look more and more unnatural! Mother of God!

In one session Dr. Wong used 4564 grafts to recreate both sides and the frontal hairline. The after photos were taken fifteen days post-op. Final results will be shared in eight to twelve months.

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The patient has fine hair which is very dense everywhere else on his scalp. It is an accepted fact that finer hair requires more density and this is especially true for this patient as only high density will allow the transplant to blend effectively and naturally into the patient’s existing hair. The result is four years post-op from one session of 3328 grafts.

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The second reason why this is a good thing is because Jason’s celebrity status brings into the light the proper exposure for modern day surgical hair restoration. This will serve to dispel the stereotype that hair restoration still consists of the “plugs” that everyone always thinks about when anyone mentions the phrase “hair transplant”.

However, the thousand dollar question is; is Jason Gardiner’s hair transplant really as full and dense in reality like seen on television? The other morning he appeared on a popular UK morning show called “This Morning”. He appeared with his surgeon to discuss the procedure and his final results. Now, first off, the results look quite good of which I am very happy for Jason. He discussed the psychological trauma he went through from dealing with his hair loss and he talked about how the hat he’s worn over the past eight months has been a crutch to lean on. I can relate to this. However the result itself is grossly misrepresented . How you may ask? Jason Gardiner’s hair transplant procedure consisted of 3501 grafts. After careful examination of the available photos around the web Jason falls somewhere between a NW5A and a NW6 on the Norwood Hamilton hair loss chart. 3501 grafts will NOT give the coverage and the density that he showed off on television. It is simply impossible as the end result I saw looked every bit as if he had native and original pre-hair loss density. How is this possible? Is the result just that good or is there something more nefarious at work here? I claim the latter.

What I saw when Jason was showing off his great result was a lot of makeup. More specifically Jason Gardiner was using what is known as “concealer”. This includes, but is not limited to, products such as Toppik, Dermatch, and Couvre. These products are used by untold numbers of men and women in the entertainment industry on stage, in film and in television and they work very well. They area also available online for anyone that just wants to give their hair a temporary boost. I say “temporary” because these products need to be washed out at the end of the day. They are easily applied and make a for a very convincing result. Knowing what I know about hair restoration there is simply no way that 3501 grafts on an area of hair loss as large as that found on Jason Gardiner before his hair transplant could give a result with that much coverage and that much density. I am by no means accusing Jason Gardiner of intentionally misleading the public. Far from it, actually, as his life revolves around the fashion industry and he is used to wearing make up on television and for public appearances (as all celebrities are). I think he thought it was a natural requirement and in fact was most likely insisted upon by his agents, the show’s producer or any of the other “powers that be” that have a say in his public image. Regardless, the public presentation of Jason Gardiner’s hair transplant result as being anything other than an enhanced version of what is possible with hair restoration is simply wrong and I wish there were a way for his true result to be revealed. I think the only way that that will happen is if/when a paparazzo photographer catches Jason in a candid moment when the last thing he expects is a camera catching him as his true self. However, if Jason Gardiner actually ever reads this I’d be more than happy for him to respond and talk about the real nature of the result he shared on television. In fact, if he were to reveal his true result and it is actually as dense as it was on that show I’ll donate 1000.00 US to any charity of his choosing. If it is not as dense as it was during his unveiling then he can donate 1000.00 US to a charity of my choosing. The challenge is on.

This is a post about my friend Antonio Graceffo. He and I have known each other for over 20 years (college roommates) and he was instrumental in pulling me out of little ole east Tennessee so that I could see the world. Antonio is a pioneer of sorts. He has been traveling SE Asia for the past ten years learning and documenting countless martial arts styles, primarily the indigenous styles of the various countries in SE Asia, and learning about local customs and languages everywhere he goes. He has been labeled as a “martial arts anthropologist” as he is making a big contribution, perhaps the biggest, in preserving these potentially soon to be extinct forms of the martial arts that are overshadowed by more popular styles that get more press and exposure in the media.

For instance, he has helped to preserve the ancient martial art form from Cambodia known as “Bokator” and was so thorough in the documentation that he has worked with The Discovery Channel ( as well as History Channel, Black Belt Magazine, etc.) on various projects about Cambodia and the surrounding SE Asian countries because of the knowledge he has gained from his experiences. In addition he has been documenting the plight of the Shan State people of Burma (Myanmar) and their struggle for survival against the oppressive Burmese government. This is only the tip of the iceberg as Antonio has hundreds of stories to share on his Youtube channel, his blog and his (several) books available on Amazon.com.

If you watch and learn anything from Antonio do him a favor and donate to his cause as he does not make much money doing what he does and could always use the help to continue traveling and filming throughout SE Asia.

Click this link to make a donation to Antonio through Paypal.

Here is Antonio’s Youtube Chanel with (at the time of this writing) almost 350 videos.