GroWell Cap Review: I Have Hair for the First Time in 15 Years

From reviewing archival footage—scrolling back 63,979 or so photos on my iPhone camera roll—it appears I shaved my head for the first time sometime in the spring of 2011. I was 30 years old, and it seemed like a logical choice given the slow thinning of my always-thin hair and the pleasantly round shape of my head, the one physical trait I consistently receive compliments on from complete strangers.

It didn't feel like an especially momentous decision at the time. Looking back after 15 years of smooth-headedness, though, shaving my hair off that first time feels like a significant milestone that I galloped past without taking appropriate notice.

When you don't have hair on your head, everyone assumes you're bald. I've always been quick to correct them that I, in fact, have hair—and it's not even receding. It was, however, very thin and getting thinner. Since I was the kid whom nature denied a Vanilla Ice haircut a few short years after my mother denied me Hammer pants, my hair has always been fine and wispy. Once age thinned it enough, I just buzzed it, then kept buzzing a couple times a week for so long that no one remembered me having it.

Well, now I have hair again, thanks to eight weeks of using an LED cap made by GroWell. I don't have a lot of hair, but I have at least as much as I did when I was 30, and maybe even as much as I did when I was 25. I wear the brand's cap for 25 minutes every other day, which is about average for these devices, and I'm using the brand's proprietary shampoo to strengthen my strands, though I'm not doing any other treatment.

LED hair regrowth treatment is not for everyone. If the top of your head has been rendered completely smooth, it's very unlikely to make any difference. But if you have dormant follicles, they can be enlivened by the use of specific red-light wavelengths that stimulate those follicles through increased blood flow to the scalp. Results can take up to six months, but after eight weeks, the difference is noticeable enough to merit review.

There are dozens of LED hair-growth gadgets on the market, ranging from a $50 product on AliExpress that's been shopped onto a model to comically bad effect to the $2,500 Capillus Spectrum, which boasts an aggressive array of laser diodes. Contrary to what I would have suspected, women are actually the current dominant consumer group for LED hair-regrowth therapy. As it was explained to me, women are accustomed to spending money on their appearance, and thinning hair is often experienced as a crisis. Men, on the other hand, tend to take the path I did and buzz it