“Fresh cut, baby,” Tyler Williams grins, giving the camera his best swagger while showing off an ultra-clean fade. “Now it’s time to hit the streets and flex this masterpiece. Because you know what they say—if a tree falls in the forest and no one’s around, how are the honeys supposed to notice?”
Yep, it’s exactly the sort of cheeky, borderline-ridiculous TikTok content that keeps the Nashville influencer’s 800K-plus fans glued to their screens.
But here’s the twist: that flawless haircut isn’t exactly his—well, not in the traditional sense. Williams is showcasing a hair system, a slick modern take on the toupee, blended so seamlessly into his scalp you’d never spot it. Sneaky, right?
“The folks who get it, get it. And everyone else? They’re clueless—thinking I’m hyping up just another regular-degular haircut,” Williams spills. Truth bomb: at 33, he’s actually smooth as a cue ball up top.
So when it’s haircut day, his stylist tapes a fresh hair system onto his bare dome, then fades those grown-out sides so crisp you’d bet good money it sprouted naturally. “Honestly, it’s just my go-to solution for hair loss,” he shrugs. “I can’t stand that people still act weird about it.”
Williams secretly jumped aboard the faux-flow train during the pandemic, but when a salty ex threatened to blow his cover, he beat her to the punch with a confession video that went instantly viral.
“The internet was actually super supportive—like, duh, everyone deserves to feel good in their own skin,” he says, highlighting how the post-pandemic era has everyone craving a healthy dose of “authenticity and realness” online.
“Listen, it’s not my fault my hair dipped out early. I’m not obligated to just roll with a shiny dome—I found a solution, and damn right, I went for it.”
And it’s not just him—far from it. Scroll through TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube these days, and you’ll see the humble toupee (yep, that thing your weird uncle thought nobody noticed) having a full-on glow-up moment.
Barbers are flexing mind-blowing before-and-after transformations, and formerly shy, thinning-haired dudes are now flaunting their fresh locks with the swagger of someone who just scored a pair of Jordans on release day.
Industry insiders say all those likes and shares aren’t just internet noise—they’re driving serious real-life buzz. Barbers across major cities are suddenly swamped, as millennials and Gen Zers rush to book sessions for their own custom-crafted hair upgrades.
Take London hairstylist Adam Fletcher, for example. He started installing hair systems as a cheeky side gig, but when demand exploded, he ditched his barbershop altogether and went full-time a couple of years back.
“People wanted it. Folks dealing with hair loss are steering clear of surgical trips to Turkey—nobody’s lining up for invasive scalp slicing anymore,” Fletcher jokes, mentioning he’s now booked solid, back-to-back every day.
According to Fletcher, many clients hesitate to drop tens of thousands on hair transplants that might leave nasty scars or disappointingly thin results. “Hair systems, though? Totally non-surgical, zero commitment. You can test-drive the look first. But once guys see that instant, full-head-of-hair payoff—done and dusted in three hours flat—they usually stick around.”
Is the great toupee comeback a sign of economic times? Maybe. Juha Seppänen, a 32-year-old salesperson from Helsinki, has been teetering on the transplant fence—but the price tag keeps scaring him off. “I’ve got a whole lotta real estate up there, so we’re talking multiple transplants. Two, maybe three trips. That adds up fast,” he says.
Instead, a few years back, he gave a center-parted hair system a whirl, and he’s been vibing with it ever since. For Juha, it’s a no-brainer: why drop thousands on a graft gamble when you can pop on a piece that’s flexible, easy, and doesn’t come with surgical baggage?
“What if it’s still patchy after two rounds? What if they botch it? What if I end up with a Lego hairline or I suddenly crave a widow’s peak?” says Seppänen, who now shares his hair glow-ups on TikTok. “With a system, I just shift the tape down a smidge—boom, new hairline, no scalpel required.”
Meanwhile, over in Calgary, hairstylist Dani Niven became an overnight toupee queen after a TikTok showing her giving her handyman a full hair revival blew up. Suddenly, her DMs were flooded with desperate bald bros begging for the same man-weave magic. These days, her shop’s at full capacity, seeing around five hair system clients a day—and she’s now training new staff just to keep up.
“It’s blowing up because hair systems now look really good,” Niven says. “The guys showing off their transformations online? They’re doing wonders for the whole image. It’s no longer some cringey secret—it’s quality, it’s believable, and it’s cool.” She pauses, grinning. “Before this, if someone said ‘toupee,’ all anyone pictured was some tragic, flappy rug doing its best Trump impression in the wind.”
Toupees used to be the punchline of every sitcom—the shiny, chunky mop flapping in the breeze like it had its own zip code. But oh, how the mighty have leveled up. Thanks to serious advances in materials and craftsmanship, modern hair systems are now so sleek they’d fool even your nosy aunt in broad daylight.
We’re talking whisper-thin lace or poly bases that melt into your scalp like a second skin. The fancy ones? Hand-tied with real human hair matched exactly to your texture, color, and growth pattern. This isn’t your dad’s rug—we’re in luxury territory now.
“It feels like you’re wearing your own skin,” says Aaron O’Bryan, a Toronto TV personality and hairstylist who rocks a full system with confidence. “It just vanishes.” And don’t worry about glue disasters—the latest adhesives mean you can hit the gym, take a steamy shower, even do cannonballs at the pool, and your hair isn’t going anywhere.
“I keep mine on for two or three weeks at a time—no slip, no slide,” he says, giving props to the newer, gentler glues and tapes that stay put.
Of course, keeping that ‘do looking razor-sharp takes a little maintenance. Most wearers pop into the salon every few weeks for a re-glue, a fresh trim, and a perfect blend with their natural sides. The piece itself usually gets swapped out every five months or so. Price-wise, you’re looking at anywhere from $300 to $1,000 per unit, depending on quality—so yeah, kind of like subscribing to great hair.
O’Bryan knows the struggle firsthand. He went through two hair transplants in his 30s but never got the volume he craved. And the hair-loss meds? Let’s just say the side effects were… not ideal. “Let’s just say I didn’t feel very alive,” he laughs. So he ditched the pills and went all-in on a system—styled into a glorious high-volume pompadour—four years ago.
“At first, I was nervous about telling people. I had that two-week window of awkwardness,” the now-42-year-old admits. “But then I thought, screw it—I love my hair. Why hide it?”
He eventually came clean on live TV during his morning show appearance, and hasn’t looked back. While stylists like Fletcher and Niven say many of their clients keep things hush-hush, O’Bryan is all for going public. “Men should just own it,” he says. “Hair is an accessory—like a watch, or if a woman wears lashes or extensions. It’s about showing up as the version of yourself that makes you feel unstoppable.”
L.A. actor and hairstylist Elena Maravelias is totally on board with the hair system revolution—and she’s calling for a little more fairness in the beauty rules department. “If I’m dating a guy and we’re mid-makeout and I run my hand through his hair and realize it’s a system? Who cares,” she shrugs. “I wear extensions. I contour my face like it’s a Renaissance painting. Why shouldn’t he enhance what he’s got too?” Her bottom line?
Confidence is way hotter than a bitter attitude and a bare scalp. “Give me the guy who feels good about himself over the one sulking around because he lost a few follicles.”
Now, maybe you’re thinking: but wait—what about authenticity? Shouldn’t we all just embrace who we are, recite self-love mantras, and accept our bald spots like noble warriors of vulnerability?
Enter Isidro Almaraz, a 37-year-old cosmetologist from Idaho, who says screw that—authenticity isn’t one-size-fits-all. For him, hair systems are about full-on creative freedom. “One day I’ve got a buzz cut, the next I’m rocking Rapunzel waves,” he says, listing off past styles like someone flipping through a mood board: bowl cut, bleached fringe, faux hawk, and now—wait for it—a mullet in progress. “If I wanna be bald, I just peel it off. That’s the beauty of it. You’re not stuck with one version of yourself.”
His philosophy? Life’s a video game—and your hair is just one more skin to swap. “Everyone’s got a filter, a filler, or some secret sauce. No one’s 100% real anymore,” Almaraz says. “So if throwing on some hair makes you feel like a rockstar, go for it. It’s your look, your rules.”