Hey guys,

I am very new to this, been reading on and off on this site for a good month now. I never really considered wearing a hair system in the past, mostly because I don't want to deal with people finding out, but I've been so frustrated with my hair lately I am changing my mind. Everytime I see pics of my shiny balding head it really weighs on me, I know I sound like a little b*tch now but there's some merrit to speaking truthfully lol. Anyway, I'll get of the sofa now.

What I really want is to get some advice from you guys about my situation, I've been reading through some posts and I reaally appreciate how helpful people are here!

I have strongly receded temples and an obvious thinning in the crown area (pretty large area). I've included some pics from all possible angles so you can see for yourself. The thing is, I really would prefer to do thiss in a way people won't notice. That's why I thought to get a frontal piece with a very conservative and thin hair line and leave the crown as is. Next year I'm probably going abroad for a 6 month period and then I could swith to a full piece with a kind of open crown like I've seen on some picss here. Is that a viable 'scheme'??

Another thing I'm not sure about is the base, I'm very active and I excercise a lot, I like swimming as well. I understandd French lace breaths very well, but I also read ssomewhere here that it will wear down after a good month.. Is this true? Changing my piece every month is just not an option for me financially atm..

I'll stop here, thanks in advance for your helpful responses!

Cheers

Hi, Welcome along.
To answer your question re French lace.....I wear it and get many months wear from it ..in fact the hair will ` fail` before the lace does ! It`s robust. Of course, how you treat any system, will affect the serviceable - life of it.......swimming in sea water and / or chlorinated swimming pools, will have a negative effect...... you`d need to rinse the hair / lace immediately after swimming, with fresh clean water and use a leave-in conditioner to help the hair.. I`m against frequent shampooing, as regular readers will know ...using lots of styling products leads to build-up, and this needs to be shampooed out ...frequent shampooing will dry /damage the hair and lighten / ` lift` the color from it.....
Wetting the hair frequently is fine.....shampooing it isn`t . As you like to exercise, you`ll [naturally] sweat....you`ll need to keep your base ` clean` and remove sweat....the acids in sweat will weaken the lace, over time....it will also affect Polyurethane... I`ve worn Poly.-perimeter bases and exercised regularly...eventually you get pin-holes appearing in Poly and these then get bigger [ it does take quite a while though !] If you expose your system to sweat frequently, you`d be best to go for a more ` regular` removal and cleaning of your scalp and base fully, in the interests of hygiene and scalp-health...... I often apply some shampoo directly to the base itself ,when it`s wet, but avoid applying it directly to the hair.....
In my opinion [others may differ !] you`d be best to get a topper rather than a partial....the topper would be easier to work-with , taking your ` active` lifestyle into account .....it would ` hold` better to larger area than a partial would ....your thinning will carry on / progress , sadly , so if you deal with it now it will look less obvious in , say , twelve months time....you could simply get a light-density topper to begin with and increase the density on subsequent orders....that way , you won`t draw ` unwanted` attention from those who know you, and who you don`t wish to know you`re wearing.
Losing hair is not a pleasant experience...we`re all in the same boat....it comes with a lot of psychological issues / aspects ...we all put off the inevitable ` fact` that we`ll most likely end up wearing, until it becomes just a hobsons` choice.....go bald and accept it, or wear, and at least ` mask` the issue.....
Hope some of the above helps you make your decisions / choices !