Hi again kevin -- likewise nice to hear from you too. Am getting the unit cut -in Saturday 4pm . It`s a local hair salon and the girl who owns it tells me she has some experience with women`s hairpieces in the past. A lot of her ``normal`` clients are male and apparently she has a good reputation for cutting /styling mens hair so she`s happy to layer-in the unit for me [will try post a pic on here afterwards if it`s not a total disaster ] It`s a stock unit so I`m not really too bothered either way until the custom unit arrives in a few weeks time. When your unit arrives, don`t get a fright -- the hair is long and is all in ringlets. Just mist it with water from a hand -pump spray ---the type of thing you`d spray house -plants with, and gently comb through the hair a few times with a wide -toothed hair brush. Leave it sitting on something round --like a football. Leave the hair dry naturally. Mist it /comb it again and let it dry out again --do that a few times per day for a few days and it will soon look `normal`.
As for washing it --well, in my experience of wearing human hair pieces in the past [not toplace ] as it`s not actually growing it won`t be getting any natural oils obviously so the main problem will be dryness so shampooing too often will lead to even more dryness. The hair won`t be `dirty`as such unless you work in an industrial enviornment such as a building -site. I use Lòreal colour protect shampoo --it`s in a red bottle and it says it`s for coloured hair --even at that all I do is fill a sink of luke -warm water and mix in about a teaspoonful and just dip the hair in it for a minute. I don`t touch the hair i.e. scrubbing at it . I drain the sink and very gently rinse the hair under lukewarm water again without scrubbing or tearing at it with combs/brushes. Then I just blot -dry it on a soft towel. Gently comb through with your wide -brush and allow to dry naturally. If you need to dry it with a hair -dryer --hold it in the air and direct the air at it from a distance --heat is a major enemy of treated hair. I usually would wash the hair as little as possible --generally just mist it with plain water while on your head and style it whatever way you like. I use a spray -in leave -in conditioner too -- I found a good one called Equave 2 phase conditioner --- a bit pricey but worth it. Avoid waxes as they build -up and are hard to get out of the hair without hard physical scrubbing --that will shorten the life of your unit. I use Lòreal invisifix gel and there is no build -up and it just brushes out. It comes in mild, medium and strong hold strengths --have tried lots of gels in my time and find that Lòreal is the best for me. The trick [as I said in my earlier post] is to position the unit at the correct spot on your forehead where the hairline should be and to fold it back over the head i.e. position it correctly and adhere it there for the cut -in. That can be tricky with the hair very long --once it`s cut and styled, you`ll be fine on your own --just sit in front of a mirror and have another in your hand so you can see the back. I`m going to position it on my head at home, thne mark the front hairline with a pencil so when I go in to the salon, I can apply the glue just behind that line, leave it `go off`for a few mins [tacky] then with the stylist standing behind me she can attach the front bit, roll the rest back over the head to the neck, and then she can spply some glue there where the unit perimeter is. For the sides, once the front and back have `set`[happens fast ]just pop the hair up and you will see the perimeter --just apply a light rub of adhesive with an artists brush along the inside --- it will be enough to hold it in place for the cut -in. It might sound daunting but it`s not --you`ll get so used to it after a while it`ll be no bother. If you get any glu in your hair or the `new` hair just moisten a cotton pad with glue remover and pull it through the sticky bit and it will remove it so your comb won`t get stuck in your hair when you use it. Hope that`s of help --any other things you want to know feel free to ask -- I`m just telling you what works best for me --other people do things their way and I`m sure you`ll soon have your own way of doing things too Kevin. Have you seen the attachments being done on youtube? Some pretty good ones showing the whole thing --the transformation in people before / after is stunning. Just search mens hairpieces/styling on the youtube site and there are some examples on this blog too which are great to see.
Will let you know Saturday how it went --- fingers crossed ! If u want 2 e mail me direct just let me know and I`ll be happy to correspond. Cheers for now mate.