James Charles insists his new shaved head is ‘real’ but fans aren’t convinced

Beauty guru says shaved head is ‘real’ and he did it himself

James Charles’ fans are questioning whether the beauty influencer has made a major hairstyle change or is simply relying on the power of makeup after he debuted a completely shaved head.

Charles first unveiled the new look on Instagram, where he has more than 26.8m followers, on Thursday, after first noting on his Stories that his posts have been “slacking so bad recently”.

The makeup guru then followed up with a selfie showing his hair coloured over with pink scribbles, writing: “Wait until you guys see what I did with my hair…”

The 21-year-old unveiled his new look in subsequent photos and videos shared to his Instagram Stories, where he can be seen with a completely bald head.

And, according to a YouTube video shared by photographer Kevin Wong of Charles talking to paparazzi about his shaved head, the new look is real – and he did it himself.

“Just trying something new,” Charles can be heard telling photographers, before responding to a question about whether he shaved his head: “I did, do you like it?”

Charles then tells the photographers that his bald head is “real” and that he “just did it today”, before revealing that he shaved it himself because he “had to film the entire thing”.

James Charles hints at shaved head on Instagram Stories (Instagram / James Charles )

However, shortly after showing off the transformation, Charles began to trend on Twitter, where fans debated whether the shaved look was actually real or the result of a bald cap.

James Charles shows off shaved head on Instagram (Instagram / James Charles )

“We love you, but we can tell it’s a bald cap,” one person tweeted at the influencer. “You can tell makeup was applied at the head because of the different colour and matte finish.”

Another person said: “James Charles is wearing a bald cap – no way he shaved off his entire head of hair.”

“That is absolutely a bald cap, there is no way,” someone else said.

The new look also sparked the creation of numerous memes, with many comparing Charles to everything from Mr Clean to Jeff Bezos.

“BREAKING: James Charles to play Jeff Bezos in new biopic. Expected to hit streaming platforms this summer,” one person joked.

Others expressed discomfort with the style choice if Charles is actually wearing a bald cap, with one person writing: “James Charles wearing a bald cap as a fashion statement just doesn’t sit right with me”, with some suggesting that it could be insensitive to individuals who suffer from alopecia or are undergoing chemotherapy. 

However, according to celebrity influencer Manny MUA, the new look is real, with the fellow makeup artist tweeting: “When you FaceTimed me to show me... my gasp could be heard around the world.”

While Charles has not yet responded to the claims that he is wearing a bald cap, he tweeted that the YouTube video he is releasing today “is insane”.