Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown shares struggle with hair loss and the decision that changed his life
Karamo Brown attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards. (Momodu Mansaray/Getty)
Queer Eye star Karamo Brown has opened up his journey with hair loss and learning how to love himself.
Brown has always been a staunch self-esteem advocate both on and off the air, but even the confidence savant has found it hard to battle his own insecurities.
In an interview with CNN for its beauty series As We Are, Brown recalled when he realised his hair was “about to hit the road” in his early 20s.
“No longer was I going to be desired, no longer was anybody going to value me because my hairline was creeping away,” he says.
“As a young person, you’re not taught how to process that; you’re not taught how to [love] what naturally happens to you.”
Despite wearing it as well as any extravagant, self-made star would, Karamo Brown felt the sting of losing such a “personal thing”.
“It’s how you present yourself to the world; it’s how you show your style,” he said.
“When I used to go to the barbershop, when I had my full head of hair, that was the moment that I felt the coolest, I felt the proudest, I felt the sexiest,” he continued.
For a while, Brown attempted to fill the gap by using makeup and building a sizeable set of hats, but eventually decided to shave it completely after season two of Queer Eye.
Feeling naturally nervous at making such a huge decision, he had no clue what the public’s reaction would be. To his surprise, members of the show loved his new look.
“Everyone immediately was like: ‘Oh, your head looks good. Oh, you look smooth. Oh, let me touch your head.’ I was like, hold on. I’m not going to do what I did before, which was to validate myself through others’ comments.”
“So, I went home and I was like, OK, I have to fall in love with this… I spent an hour or two in my bathroom, just rubbing my head,” Brown continued. “And that day forward, I was the happiest man I’ve ever been, because I was no longer hiding or trying to be something I’m not.”
Brown launched a skincare range for bald and balding men in 2020 named Mantl. The aim is to “empower men who embrace their baldness” and “leave behind the outdated ideas of masculinity,” as he mentions.
