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+--- Thread: Question about maintenance (/showthread.php?tid=1400)
Question about maintenance - Jonesy123 - 12-24-2008
From what I read, most people here do attachements of *at least* 3-4 days, before taking it off and cleaning.
Do you think it will be possible in my condition ?:
My scalp is very oily, and on top of that, I do sports almost every night. I must wash my head everyday, this will not be able to stop once I get a wig otherwise I'll stink
The question is, how much can I expect the life of the wig to be reduced if I wash the head everyday ?, people do this ?, I don't care to switch a wig every two months, but I do care if it's every two weeks... if this is not recommended, it means I'll have to remove/attach every day, and if so, is it practical assuming I want to go with full SFS ?
Assuming I'm going with a combdown style during the weekdays, and I need to attach/reattach everyday, maybe it is better if I'll go with something else than full SFS for the weekdays ? (maybe TL150 ?, though I've read that the transition between lace and poly can be seen with lower densities...)
Re: Question about maintenance - Rod - 12-24-2008
I understand your questions, but i think the easiest thing to do is to start wearing and you will figure all this stuff out. Start by wearing it for a week at a time and if you need to change sooner then do it. If you can go longer then you can do that to. It will all come once you start wearing through trial and error.
Re: Question about maintenance - Jonesy123 - 12-24-2008
Rod I'm sure I can learn from my experience, but I really prefer to learn from your and other people experience, and potentially save me some trouble.
Re: Question about maintenance - Bangless - 12-24-2008
Jonesy123 Wrote:Rod I'm sure I can learn from my experience, but I really prefer to learn from your and other people experience, and potentially save me some trouble.
Jonesy, I just want to say that I know exactly where you're coming from. You're quietly agonizing about losing your hair and are agonizing just as much that even with all the positive testimonials provided here wearing hair isn't going to cut it either -- it either won't look real or it's not worth all the maintenance.
A hundred years ago there was a segment on 20/20 about young guys -- your age give or take -- whose lives, it appeared, were transformed by wearing hair. The segment started off showing the guys without their wigs at a party being mostly ignored. Then, like Clark Kent disappearing into a phone and flying away as Superman, the guys returned to the party with their toppers and the ladies were pawing them all over. Looked great!!
At least one of the guys featured in the segment was a sales associate for J.A. Alternatives at their New Jersey office. I drove out to see him for a consultation. The instant I laid eyes on him I was disappointed -- his "unit" was that bad. I felt like I was doing him a kindness by not just turning around and getting back in my car.
A few years later, still unhappy by my increasing hair loss, I scheduled another appointment at J.A. Alternatives (they used to run weekly infomercials on Manhattan Pulic Access cable). I left no more impressed than I did the first time. The sales associate I saw wasn't even wearing his piece during our consultation. He explained that sometimes he wore it, sometimes he didn't.
I'm sure the technology has come a long way, so I don't mean to express that my disappointment of a decade and a half ago is relevant to the guys sporting their TL pieces. This is just my long-winded way of saying that I can identify with your hesitations. I never took the plunge to wear for many of the same reasons that you're resisting doing it now. I will say that not having my mop top is not the knife in my self-esteem that it once was.
Re: Question about maintenance - Rod - 12-24-2008
Quote:Rod I'm sure I can learn from my experience, but I really prefer to learn from your and other people experience, and potentially save me some trouble.
I understand completely, but I was just trying to say that not everybody does it the same way. Here is what I do. I only use french lace and attach it with St30 which will hold for me for two weeks. I take it off at least every 5-7 days though to clean my scalp good and re-attach. I get my head wet everyday in the shower but only shampoo the piece maybe once or twice a week. I was jogging this past summer every night and I didn't find it to affect the hold at all.
I normally get 2-3 months out of my pieces. Hope this helps.
Re: Question about maintenance - Jonesy123 - 12-25-2008
Quote:I normally get 2-3 months out of my pieces. Hope this helps.
What is the limiting factor usually ?
Re: Question about maintenance - Jonesy123 - 12-25-2008
Quote:Jonesy, I just want to say that I know exactly where you're coming from. You're quietly agonizing about losing your hair and are agonizing just as much that even with all the positive testimonials provided here wearing hair isn't going to cut it either -- it either won't look real or it's not worth all the maintenance.
Well, I haven't given up yet... still have hope it might work.
People tell me to just do it and things should turn alright, maybe, but once I shave the top of my head it's over, I'm 100% commited to the wig, and I want to know what is the worst case scenario I should expect. Getting myself ready to anything less than the "worst case scenario" is irresponsible, imo.
There is one gamble I already *must* take, which is not knowing how my scalp will handle the glues/tapes. If I get bad irritations that's the end of it. I really want this to be the only gamble I take.
From everything I've read up to now, considering that I have an oily scalp, and I live an active lifesyle (sport almost everyday), and I like it to look undetectable, I need to acknowledge the following possibilities:
1. The wig will not last for more than 1 month (the reason is, I will want to have a full SFS wig, sleep with it, and shower everyday with shampoo), hence I'm going to pay ~300-400 USD each month.
2. I will have to attach/re-attach every single day (again, worst case scenario, I have no idea what my scalp's chemistry is going to give me, and I already know it's very oily). Considering this is Full SFS, I think it means spending ~30 minutes on the wig every day, once I'm good enough.
Considering this is a possible example for a worst case scenario, I really need to think if I can handle it. I think I can live with spending 30 minutes a day on hair. I'm not sure I can live with the financial burden. It's not that I can't spend this money each month, I can, I just don't feel comfortable... It's funny, I always used to laugh about those girls who spend a lot of money on clothes every month just to be pretty all the time, it seems I'm turning into one.
Re: Question about maintenance - Patrick128 - 12-25-2008
Hi Jonesy,
I just posted something in a differnt reply so I hope I dont repeat too much. But, I understand your hesitation. In fact, every single person here does. At one point, we were all in this spot. As a "newbie" I can tell you to just take the plunge. As scary as it is, but if you dont do it and just keep thinking about it, you'll go insane. Haha. I did the same thing and finally ordered, got the unit I needed and went to a stylist that deals with hair replacement. I was one of the rare cases where it didnt work for me, so worst case senario, I had to buzz the rest of my hair off! YEAH, IT SUCKED DOING THAT!! haha. BUt i had no choice, I couldnt get the units to work for me. Just because I felt, it didnt look right. Couldnt get the attachment right due to bunching up, and it was too much density.
So, here is my best advice, so you get it right and dont have to shave your head...MAKE A TEMPLATE AND GET A CUSTOM!!! I ordered stock units because they get here in a few days and you save a few bucks. Unless you have experience, dont do this! Haha.
I learned quickly how to thin it out, but order a custom and get the right density so you dont have to go through the hassle. Remember...DONT ORDER TOO HIGH OF A DENSITY!!! look at your side hair and make the best guess you can, be true to yourself with it. Dont over do it. Too thick, doesnt look right and it will freak you out!
If you want to expose a hairline, go with SFS!!! French, for most guys, NO GOOD!! haha. If your careful with SFS, its ok, not as delicate as some make it out to be. Its great for a hairline though.
Lastly, attachment...I used WALKER NO SHINE around the perimiter. I had the contoured pieces, just cut them in half, and laid them around the edge. Easy. Done. The hairline was different story. I used ULTRA HOLD. When I come back here, I sure as hell wont use it again, haha. Just messy stuff. Try to find glue that has an applicator on the bottle so you can apply right where you need it.
Its all I got for now, sorry it was a long post. Good luck. Ill be back here soon and give it another shot, dont get discouraged.
Re: Question about maintenance - Jonesy123 - 12-26-2008
Quote: I was one of the rare cases where it didnt work for me, so worst case senario, I had to buzz the rest of my hair off!
HOLY COW !!!, this CAN NOT happen to me, I still have hair on my head, with concealers I can still manage some decent 2 years...
Quote:So, here is my best advice, so you get it right and dont have to shave your head...MAKE A TEMPLATE AND GET A CUSTOM!!! I ordered stock units because they get here in a few days and you save a few bucks. Unless you have experience, dont do this! Haha.
Yes, that was my plan from the start. I'm getting a template, and the template is going to mimic the exact pattern of hair on my head that I have now (with same recession, etc.), and I'm also going for a comb-down style, so people won't even have a clue if my hairline got thickened up. I'm going to use a low enough density to make this believable. To tell the truth, if after I come with the wig people will tell me they see I lost some hair, it's fine with me, I can always increase the density the next time by a little.
Quote:If you want to expose a hairline, go with SFS!!! French, for most guys, NO GOOD!! haha. If your careful with SFS, its ok, not as delicate as some make it out to be. Its great for a hairline though.
I don't want to expose hairline, but I want to keep the ability to expose hairline. Like if someone come very close to me and can see part of the hairline for some reason, that it won't be a give away. Take No Chances approach...
Quote:Lastly, attachment...I used WALKER NO SHINE around the perimiter. I had the contoured pieces, just cut them in half, and laid them around the edge. Easy. Done. The hairline was different story. I used ULTRA HOLD. When I come back here, I sure as hell wont use it again, haha. Just messy stuff. Try to find glue that has an applicator on the bottle so you can apply right where you need it.
Yes, I'll need to purchase different types of glue and tape to experiment with, since I see everyone like something else.
Quote:Its all I got for now, sorry it was a long post. Good luck. Ill be back here soon and give it another shot, dont get discouraged.
Not long at all, helpful !