JamesKennedy Wrote:Just curious what you guys think!

Quote:Topper vs. Full Cap

You might be brand new to the world of non surgical hair replacement, you might possibly be transitioning out of a salon and learning how to maintain a hair system on your own, or you might even be a seasoned DIY veteran hair wearer who is looking for more hairwearing options, but no matter what the reason is that you are reading this you are probably wondering if a full cap hair system is right for you.

Most hair wearers of the past were of the opinion that a full cap should only be considered as a final option. Although a full cap does have its disadvantages, I have personally proven that it doesn’t have to be a “last resort”. From my experience, the benefits of a full cap far outweigh the drawbacks. There are many people who are satisfied with the results they get from wearing a piece that only covers their balding area, but there are also a lot of people who are frustrated with the many issues that come along with integrating a hair system with your own hair, such as problems with blending, color issues, maintenance cuts, thinning side hair, and the list goes on…..

This chapter was written to help you decide whether or not a full cap is right for you. For those of you who have thick, healthy side and back hair, you might want to start out with a topper. If that works for you, great! I have seen toppers that look flawless. But at the same time, I have seen a lot of toppers with problems that would not have been an issue if they were wearing a full cap. If my side and back hair was thick and healthy, I might have continued using a topper, but in my opinion when you have to start using concealers to cover thinning side hair, it is definitely time to consider a full cap.

What it comes down to is the fact that you DO have a choice. The choice you make will likely be influenced by many factors, and hopefully the information you are about to read will give you a good starting point to allow you to make an informed decision.

To assist you in making your decision I have compiled a list of the benefits and drawbacks of wearing a full cap.

First, lets start with the benefits

- No maintenance cuts. If you wear a topper you must cut your own hair every coupe of weeks to maintain proper blending. A full cap only needs to be cut once.
- Color issues are minimal. With a topper you have to maintain the color of your hairpiece to match your existing hair. Over time the hair will fade making it necessary to re-color the hair or at least add a temporary hair color to ensure a proper color match. With a full cap there is no color matching (unless you are utilizing some of your existing hair) and therefore color maintenance is much less critical.
- Curl and texture match are not an issue. If you aren’t integrating your own hair with the hair of the full cap, you can order as much or as little curl as you like. Hair texture is another thing that is a non-issue with a full cap. Sometimes hairpiece hair is thicker or thinner than your existing hair, and people who wear toppers often have a slight difference between their existing hair and the hair on the hairpiece.
- No blending issues. Again, unless you are utilizing existing hair, there is no blending required for a full cap. This, along with the fact that there is no need to match the color, curl, and texture, means that there is no need to worry about a visible line where the hairpiece hair meets your own, and this is often a dead giveaway that someone is wearing a piece.
- Extremely secure attachment. With a full cap there is generally more tape or glue holding the unit down, and since the unit is usually attached to a vertical surface as opposed to a horizontal one (the side of your head instead of the top) this makes the attachment very strong and nearly impossible to remove without alcohol or adhesive solvents.
- Density is less critical. Another issue that faces people who wear toppers is matching the density of the hairpiece to the density of their existing hair. They might opt to go with a thinner density for added realism, but with a full cap you have much more flexibility in the density of the piece. Another benefit to the full cap is that you can actually order the unit with a higher density than you normally would, and by using styling products you can create the illusion of a thinner, more realistic density as the piece naturally sheds. This will increase the longevity of the unit, saving you money!
- More realistic in the morning. When I wore toppers, I would wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, horrified at the mess I saw on the back of my head. My own hair would be fine, but the piece was usually matted and tangled and looking nothing like my existing hair. With a full cap this is much less of a problem, and can even be eliminated altogether with the use of the right hair care products.
- No lifting of base material in areas likely to be touched. If you are concerned about the unit being undetectable to touch, you will need to make sure your attachment is as perfect as possible. This is of utmost importance to those who wear toppers, since the areas of the head that are most likely to be touched will have edges that are easily detected if not attached well. Even a small amount of lace lift has the potential to get you “busted”. Fortunately, with a full cap the main area of concern is the nape, and with a proper attachment it is easy to keep the unit secure in that area.
- 100% flexibility in design, temples, hairline, curl, highlights, etc. With a full cap, you can have literally any kind of hair you want. You can design the temples and hairline to the exact shape you want, and you can have as much or as little recession built into the unit as you desire. For some people it is actually better than having their own hair.
- Eliminates issues unique to those with thinning sides. With a full cap there are no worries about thinning side hair, no need to use concealers, and no need for the hair to be cut in a certain way to cover receding sides or temples.
- Unlimited design options to create additional style flexibility. With a full cap you can truly have any hair style you wish.
- Ease of styling. Since there is no transition between existing hair and hairpiece hair, a full cap is generally easier to style than a topper.
- Ease of maintaining realistic look. Even if your hair gets blown out of place by the wind or any other means, detection is less likely with a full cap than with a topper.
- The ability to change your style radically, overnight. This might apply more to actors and actresses, but with a full cap you have the ability to go from one inch hair to any length you desire immediately, no need to wait for your existing hair grow.
- No need to worry about coloring or blending existing gray hair. No more grey! Unless you want grey, of course.
- More flexibility to tweak hairline and temples if desired. If you order an all lace full cap, it is very simple to remove material to customize your piece.
- No need to grow out your side and back hair- you can have hair instantly. When I was growing out my hair for my first topper, I had to wear a hat everywhere I went. I had women trying to pull my hat off. I wasn’t able to do some of the things I liked to do, it was quite frustrating . Go on vacation with a shaved head, come back with hair. Pretty cool!


Now lets take a look at some of the drawbacks
- Neck area may require additional maintenance. Depending upon how you design your template or base., you might find that the most challenging part of a full cap is the back of the neck or the “nape” area. If you are able to integrate some of your own hair it becomes less of an issue. It was originally thought that it is a good idea to design your full cap to extend to the base of your skull and NOT onto your neck where constant flexing can cause lifting, however, with proper attachment methods this is not always the case. I have managed to obtain a very secure attachment in the nape area using the stronger tapes. Keep in mind that this depending upon your base design and the way your skin flexes in this area, so you might have to touch up the back from time to time.
- Back hair on a piece may have the tendency to not lay as flat as real hair. As the hair settles, it will lay flatter and more naturally, however, it still might require the use of styling products from time to time to achieve the desired look.
- You cant wear a hat without a piece underneath to allow “down time”. With a topper, lots of guys will simply throw on a hat without the piece if they are running short on time or want to give their scalp time to “breathe”. With a full cap you can’t go out in public with only a hat without people knowing that you have no hair.
- Base may buckle if not stretched well. A full cap has a lot more material than a topper, and as such there is a greater potential to get wrinkles in the base.
- A full cap is slightly more difficult and time consuming to attach and clean. More base area takes more time to clean, and due to the extreme curvature of a full cap, it can be tricky to attach until you get some practice.
- More edge area means extra glue/tape expense and possibly more potential for detection by touch. You will probably spend a little more money on supplies for a full cap than for a topper, but the added expense is minimal. Also, since a full cap has more edges, there might be a greater chance of detection by touch. The fact that the edges of a full cap are in areas that are less likely to be felt does counteract this to an extent.
- A full cap cannot be cut as short as a topper. You can usually cut the unit as short as 1/8 of an inch in non-critical areas such as directly above the ears, but it isn’t possible to have a “fade” type cut with a full cap. The envelope is being pushed every day with the issue of hair length on a full cap, and we are finding that it is possible to achieve a much shorter cut than ever thought possible with a properly ventilated unit with well bleached knots.
- Greater initial expense. The cost of a full cap is often greater than a topper, however, there are no maintenance cuts with a full cap, which could potentially save money.
- Stock unit not as readily available. Hopefully this will change as more and more people begin to order full caps, but unfortunately most stock units that are available today are made for women with higher densities and longer hair.
- Less friendly for daily removal. With the extra time involved in removal, cleaning, and re-attaching, daily wear is not as practical with a full cap as it is with a topper.
- Template is more difficult to make. It is actually very easy to build a template for a full cap, but you have to be able to visualize the end result to be able to shape a realistic hairline (which you would have to do with a topper as well) and temples. This is less of an issue if you build your first template a little larger and tweak it to the proper specs when it arrives, but if you are trying to get the specs just right without a guide it can be challenging.
- Longer attachment is more detectable to touch due to stubble growth. With a lace base full cap, stubble growth can become detectable after 4 or 5 days.

As you can see there are both benefits and drawbacks to a full cap. The main benefit is the fact that you don’t have to match color, density, curl, and texture with existing hair, thus eliminating any visible lines that you might have with a topper. The main drawbacks are the fact that you can’t cut a full cap extremely short, and a few potential issues with the hair in the back of the unit.

I hope this information will help you decide whether or not a full cap is right for you. You might want to start with a topper if your side and back hair is in good shape, but keep in mind that a full cap is a viable option for anyone, whereas a topper becomes more and more difficult as your side and back hair begin to thin.