I remember back in the very early days of HIS Hair Clinic when the company had only treated a couple of hundred clients, a lot of guys would call us up and ask if scalp micropigmentation could work for their skin tone.
Usually these guys were not of caucasian skin tone, and wanted to see examples of SMP on other guys of the same ethnicity as them.
Its a perfectly sensible request, after all if you’re of Oriental descent, why wouldn’t you want to see SMP on other Chinese, Thai or Japanese guys? After all, that’s the only way to get the most accurate idea of how SMP would look on you.
By far the most enquiries from non-caucasian men came from those of Asian origin, usually British Pakistani’s in their early 20’s to mid 30’s, and of course everyone wanted to see examples of scalp micropigmentation on other Pakistani men.
Many of them had hair transplants, and some were transitioning away from hair systems. One client had been using DermMatch to replicate shaved hair for over 10 years.
At first this was difficult as not many men wanted their photographs to be made publically available, but eventually the ball started rolling and the number of Asian men treated at HIS Hair Clinic grew exponentially.
Fast forward to today, and I predict that at least 15% of all SMP treatments completed in the UK are on men of Pakistani ethnicity, far beyond the proportion you would expect in terms of population percentages. I expect that other providers in areas where a significant Asian population exists are seeing a similar trend.
The bottom line is that scalp micropigmentation looks brilliant on Pakistani skin tones, and Asian men generally love the look that SMP achieves.
What makes SMP on Pakistani skin unique?
In causasians, dot definition is paramount because the contrast between their skin and SMP is usually the greatest of all ethnic groups, excluding those with fairer hair. This also means there is very little margin for any small imperfections. In black men, say of African American or Afro Caribbean descent, dot definition is much less important as in some cases, there is very little contrast. There is a much larger margin for imperfections, but the downside is that the detail can be harder to see.
The skin tone of most British Asian men hits a sort of sweet spot in between, where dot definition is still very much enabled, but with less contrast than their caucasian counterparts. Any inevitable minor imperfections are usually invisible to the naked eye. This creates perfect conditions for your practitioner, and in my opinion, it just looks ‘right’.
What about fading and maintenance?
Generally speaking, the process of mid-treatment and post-treatment fading is the same as for men from other ethnic backgrounds.
That said, because the contrast between the hair and skin tone is lesser with Asian men, I believe you can get away with more fading before a touch-up is required. I also believe your treatment is likely to have a slightly higher tolerance if you skip a shave or two.
