Basically I've made my template and I think it went pretty well. I'm ready to order my first peice. Just to make sure I've everything right, I read on the website that all units come with bleached knots as standard but people on the forum seem to do there own knot bleachingat home? Do knots need extra bleaching when you recieve your peice?
Also I don't know if anyone here is from Dublin but If there happens to be, do you know anywhere that cuts in systems in Dublin? I found a place out in Swords but they charge 200 euro and its not very practical to get to.

Cheers

Hi Emmet,
All units come with the knots bleached from the factory. Some companies only bleach knots at the front hairline but our factory bleaches all the knots on the entire unit. The factory does it's best at knot bleaching and the results are usually great but sometimes customers feel that a unit could use some touch up. That's when you use the knot bleaching kit. You must be very careful doing this over-bleaching can cause a unit to shed. Here's 2 stylists that I have in Ireland. Hopefully Mr. Burns will read this and he could also suggest a stylist since he lives in Ireland.
Regards,
John

Ireland
Niall Friel
Senator Health
8 Market Square Lisburn
co.antrim BT 28 1AG
Northern Ireland

Michael Wong
42 Merville Garden Village
Newtownabbey, County Antrim Bt 37-9tf
Northern Ireland, UK

the knots will come bleached from the factory....however, with real dark hair, some feel it could use more bleaching. bleaching over knots that have already been bleached is somewhat risky as overprocessing can cause shedding....however, many do it anyways with good results.
Rememeber, years ago, units never came with bleached knots and everyone had little black dots on their heads...ha ha. we've come a long way!!
DebbieS.
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Thanks guys, this forum has been amazing for info!

Hi Emmet -just saw your post. 200 Euros is outrageous and typical of how these salons try to ``get rich quick`` when they think you`re in a bind or have nowhere else to go. I`m in Cobh just near Cork city and last Saturday I went to get mine cut -in at a local salon here --the girl did a good job and only charged me 30Euros for an hours work -- I gave her 50 as I was so pleased not to have to travel far to get it done, as I used source my units in Dublin and paid mega -money for them /service, before I discovered Toplace. If you are ``stuck`` just let me know, and you could travel to here [ I think Irish rail are still doing those cheap tickets on line at 10 Euros each way Dublin /Cork /Dublin so you could pop down here on a saturday as she`s open until 5pm --- it`s just an option for you to consider and I`ll quite happily meet you / introduce you to her . Bye for now -- Paul.
P.S. read the thread ``A few basic questions [sorry if they have been covered ]`` just down the page a bit -- I posted some pics there last night to give an idea of how it turned out to a chap in scotland who is waiting on delivery of his first piece.

Cheers Paul I'll definately keep that in mind when my unit arrives. Making a trip to cobh is definately worth saving 150 quid! I have another question you might be able to help me with actually, alot of posts on hear say alot about hair losing colour. I assume a big part of that would be to do with sun exposure? Just wondering if your system fades alot given our dismal weather? Also your photo's look awesome. Cheers.

Hi Emmet --my last unit which I got from a Dublin company was 60% fiber and 40 % human -- fiber is more resistant to fading than real hair. I know Ireland has a reputation for being quite wet, but as you know, we do have good weather too [ also skin -cancers are on the rise here so that proves we get strong sunshine too ! ] Over time, human hair will fade and also frequent shampooing with strong shampoos will contribute to fading. In my experience of both types of hair system, less is best. There is no real need for very frequent shampooing unless you work in a dusty / industrial environment. Too much styling products also build up on the hair [waxes especially] and make the hair look lifeless after a few days, which then leads to having to shampoo it strongly and over time, that shortens the life of the piece ---- that`s been my experience of wearing over the last few years so now I use products sparingly, and when I am shampooing it, I fill a sink with luke -warm water and mix in about a tea -spoon of mild shampoo and just immerse the piece in that for a minute or two ,then rinse out ---again with luke -warm water and just blot it dry with a soft towel ---- that`s what works best for me. It`s more important to keep the base clean especially if you have an oily scalp [I have] or if you are doing physical work and you have been sweating, the acid in sweat can weaken polyurethane bases /perimeters in particular -- I just pop the piece off and use a cloth with even just warm water to neutralise the negative effects of the sweat -- hope that helps ---there is much useful information on the site here too. I am new to wearing lace units but as I ordered colour 1b, I had no need to go bleaching or colouring it as it`s ok as it is ---- what colour is your hair? I have coloured units in the past [ones I got in Ireland] but I never had any problems with it -- my own hair is not quite black --it tends to be a heavy brown but I prefer it almost black so I colour it myself --there`s a good hairdresser suppliers shop in Cork --it`s supposed to be for wholesale sales to professional stylists but they also sell to the public -- I get the colour there and mix it myself --- I was wary of doing it the first time or two but now it`s no problem to me --the only thing to remember is that the hair on the pieces is much ``drier`` than your own hair and it really ``grabs`` the colour so you can`t leave it on much more than 2 or 3 mins otherwise it`s like coal !! You could leave it on your own hair for 20 mins to get the same depth of colour. I just experimented and got a bit more confident of doing it. Hope that helps and thanks for the comments on the pics -- I was pleased with the way she styled it -- I think she got a bit of fun out of it --it was something out of the ordinary for her though she had some experience with womens hair systems when she was training , so she wasn`t too nervous of tackling it ! Regards, Paul.

Friday evening now. Emmet, I was speaking to the stylist today and was telling her of your situation viz trying to get a reasonably -priced cut - in. She said she`d be quite happy to style it and indeed expressed an interest in doing this type of work for both male and female clients, alongside of her ``ordinary`` salon work. As I said to her `` with the recession on here, it`s all cash coming in so why turn away the business`` -- she agreed totally, so whatever you decide, at least you have the option / choices. All the best -- Paul.