A Guide to Widow’s Peak Hairlines: Everything You Need to Know

When it comes to our looks, our hairlines are the most unruly. The only thing we truly have control over when it comes to our hairlines is how far back we want them to go – at least, when you stick with at-home treatment options.

A widow’s peak is a prime example.

A widows peak hairline looks like a downward V, with a very pronounced tip towards the middle of your forehead. Your hairline then goes up, and curls around the top of your forehead toward your ears.

There’s a lot of misinformation about widows peaks out there, and what you can do to lessen their appearance. This guide will help clear up those myths, and help you learn just what you can do to get the hairline you want.

What Is a Widows Peak Hairline?

A widow’s peak hairline is a genetic condition. You can be born with a slight widows peak, for example, and have the same amount of peak throughout your entire life. More often, of course, the peak becomes more pronounced as you age.

Since it’s a genetic condition, if your family has it, there’s a good chance you’ll have it, too.

Why is it Called Widows Peak?

This hairline is called widows peak thanks to the Victorians. During that age (the 18^th century, to be exact) widows would wear a mourning headpiece that has a black triangle that curved towards the middle of their hairline.

This is where the myth began.

Thanks to that headpiece, widows peak hairline female carriers started to be seen as bad omens. They naturally had the same hairline as those mourning headpieces, and as such were thought to be omens of early widowhood.

The visual has persisted since. Dracula’s earliest depictions on screen, for example, included that dramatic widows peak hairline. It’s use on Hollywood villains is no accident – it’s symbolic.

In the real world, however, a widow peak on men and women is entirely natural. There isn’t anything you will have done to hasten it along except get older.

What Causes Widows Peaks?

This genetic condition is a morphogenetic trait. This means it’s a genetic trait that changes or becomes more pronounced as time goes on. The chances of you having one depend on your family’s background. Studies found that this iconic hairline occurred around 29.5% of the time in Japanese women and 32.8% of the time in Japanese men [1]. Then another study In India found that around 46.15% of men and 38.35% of women featured this hairline [2].

While some ethnicities do have higher percentages of this hairline, the fact is that everyone can have it. There is also no significant gender divide, though those with more pronounced widows peaks tend to be men.

Why Do Widows Peaks Get More Pronounced?

The real reason why so many disparage their widows peak is because it tends to get increasingly pronounced as they age. This is more noticeable in widows peak hairline male carriers, since they also deal with male pattern baldness and a receding hairline more often than women do with female pattern baldness. You can check to see how and if your widows peak is becoming more pronounced by using a hair track app.

Is Having a Widows Peak a Problem?

Absolutely not. A widows peak is a distinct hairline, and nothing more. There are many great beauties like Marilyn Monroe who famously have a widows peak. If you love your widows peak, then keep it. It’s unique, frames the face into what’s known as a heart shape, and has been equally romanticized throughout the ages because of it.

If you are also dealing with a receding hairline, however, then know there are ways that you can change it.

Other Causes of Widows Peaks

Genetics is the primary reason for this uniquely type of hairline. There are other genetic traits and syndromes that cause widows peaks, including:

Aarskog Syndrome: This is a rare genetic disorder that’s classified as a mutation in the FGD1 gene [3]. On top of a widows peak, those with this syndrome will have other characteristics such as wide-set eyes, short nose, and a small jaw.

Donnai-Barrow Syndrome: This syndrome is caused by a mutation in the ZNF44 gene, and on top of the widows peak includes symptoms such as distinctive facial features, short stature, and intellectual disabilities [4].

Frontonasal Dysplasia: This condition can be caused by abnormalities in multiple genes, but mostly mutations in the ALX1 gene. Those with this dysplasia often have abnormalities around the middle of their face, particularly their nose, as well as a widows peak [5].

Optiz G/BBB Syndrome: This is caused by a mutation in the ASXL1 gene, and once again is characterised by a distinct v shape widows peak and other distinctive facial features [6].

Chances are, you’ll already know if you have one of these conditions. Each one comes with distinctive facial features, which means it’s hard for medical professionals to miss them. In short, you’ll likely already have a diagnosis. While the relationship between these conditions and that unique hairline isn’t very understood, it is widely acknowledged. That peak in your forehead is 100% benign, it’s just another unique feature you have on your face.

Getting Control Over Your Widows Peak

If you aren’t happy with your uniquely-shaped hairline, then you do have a few options on how to take care of it:

At-Home Hair Removal

Though it can be painful or irritating, you can adjust your hairline at home with a shaver, a waxing strip, or even tweezers. Cutting your peak back can help it match the rest of your hairline more naturally, which is great if your peak jutted down too low in the first place.

Laser Hair Removal

If your widows peak dips too far down into the centre of your forehead for your comfort, then you can actually push it back. Before you try to painfully remove that hair with a wax strip or tweezers, however, know there is a better, more lasting way. That way is laser hair removal. You can use this to kill the hair follicle at the root, so that it won’t be able to create new hairs in the future.

Since you want natural, great results, know that you shouldn’t do this at home on your own. Using laser hair removal on your legs or underarms is one thing, since you just want it all off. Creating a new hairline is another. You’ll want to trust professionals to get great results.

Hair Loss Medications

There are many hair loss treatment options out there, including medication. Medication, however, works best to preserve the hair you already have. If you’ve permanently lost more than you’d like, you’d need to combine your efforts with other options, such as FUE or even red light therapy.

Hair Transplants

If your receding hairline is making your widows peak even more prominent, and you don’t like the look of it, then you can and should consider getting an FUE hair transplant. This transplant takes individual hairs from a donor area (like the back of your head) and implants it in the areas you need restoring. A hair transplant is the only 100% effective way to restore your widows peak hairline to what it was before.

Does Having a Widows Peak Mean You’ll Go Bald?

No, having a widows peak is not a death sentence for your hair. Your widows peak may never change shape your entire life. This is because male or female pattern baldness and a widows peak are two separate conditions.

That being said, you can have both. If you do have a receding hairline then your receding hairline will usually happen on either side of the peak, making it even more pronounced. You can trim back your widows peak (even by waxing or shaving, though this isn’t a long-term option) to match the rest of your hairline.

Or you can go and fill in those blank spaces with a hair transplant.

Not all hair transplants are equal, however. That’s why you’ll always want to go in and check the patients gallery to see the type of results the clinicians have offered clients in the past. Done terribly, your hair transplant can end up looking more like a wig than your actual hair.

Reclaim Your Widow’s Peak Today

Your widows peak is a feature on your face, nothing more. If you want to get in control over that feature, however, know you do have options. Whether that’s using laser hair removal or going the opposite direction and getting a hair transplant is up to you.

One thing you shouldn’t do, however, is attempt to reclaim your hairline on your own. Instead, get in touch with our team. We’ll go through a full consultation and help design the perfect transplant so that you feel confident with your hairline – and yourself – once again.

 

Resources

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34414058/

[2] https://www.scitechnol.com/peer-review/widows-peak-no-significant-gender-bias-in-expression-of-this-morphogenetic-character-in-concern-to-rigid-social-structure-in-india-UfYe.php?article_id=7872

[3] https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/aarskog-syndrome/#:~:text=Aarskog%20syndrome%20is%20a%20rare,be%20associated%20with%20Aarskog%20syndrome.

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1878/

[5] https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/conditions-and-treatments/conditions-we-treat/cranio-fronto-nasal-dysplasia/

[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1327/