Hi guys,

Just thought I'll share my thoughts on what to expect when you first start wearing so that others can be more prepared. These are my personal views as a newbie, and disagreements or tips are most welcome

1. Be mentally prepared
Wearing is not easy. You have to get the blend right, colour right, and attachment right. Kudos to you if you can handle doing it all by yourself from the start, maybe through researching this forum, but if in doubt, it is better to go to a stylist first.
Also, don't expect a miracle from the start, the hair WILL LOOK POOFY AND OFF at the start. I have been wearing for one week now, and it is getting better. If I had not read about expecting this from the forum, I would have given up wearing.
When wearing, tell yourself, no matter what, you will give it at least a month. Because if you change your mind, you will have to shave all your hair, and it will take at least 3-4mths to grow back to a length that will allow you to wear a topper again.

2. Be physically prepared
Wearing takes getting used to. The tapes can be quite uncomfortable, but as attachment/detachment is a pain to me now, I am bearing with it until I get the hang of it, then I may get a tape / glue that will let me detach more often.

3. Be financially prepared
The stylist's cutin costs money. Products also cost money. I have been buying hair products like gels, leave in conditioner etc to try to see which one suits me more. Always have spare cash available for unexpected expenses.

4. Have a spare piece or more.
ALWAYS have a spare before wearing. I kinda jumped the gun here, as I was expected my 2nd piece to arrive sometime last week (it should arrive sometime next week or more, i checked). As I was feeling rash, I went for my cut-in and attachment before making sure. It is much easier if you have a spare piece as you will be more confident of taking risks with the current one. I'm now still kinda ginger with the one I'm wearing because I'm worried I may spoil it before the new one arrives.

5. Lastly, Don't shave off areas then still have alot of hair!
I kept reading BA's posts where he said not to shave off more then unneccessary and cut your piece to fit those areas. Sigh, by right, my thinning area is around the front half of my head, with very slight thinning at the crown. Now that I shaved the whole top off, I realised it would have been much easier to start wearing a smaller piece and use concealers for the crown.

But its too late for regrets I guess, as I can't think of anyway to grow out the back while wearing, (any ideas will be most welcome).

Anyway here is my experience. Hope this helps people who are newer then me to be prepared when they start wearing and don't give up too easily.

Great post, should get some good input.
I'll be adding this to the info link sticky.

Ive also heard the complete opposite from the guy whose face shows up on this websites home page, that is dont be afraid to shave off more hair for your piece. do you really think concealors are easier to deal with?

Snipe: Thanks mate. Your newbie sticky thread was a great help to me. My hair colour is close to yours too and I always wonder how you make it look so natural. I always feel my hair is too much like a block of black

Tko123: You must mean MrBurns. Well, things are different for everyone. From personal experience, concealers are hard to use over a large area and the front hairline, but very easy to use at the back.

After experiencing both concealers and hairpieces, if I could do it all over, I would have used a smaller piece for my front hair first and slowly move to a larger piece when needed.
I would advice first time wearers to do this too because
1. You can always shave the back hair if you prefer that, but you can't grow it back immediately if you had shaved it. (but remember to have a spare piece before you do this as you will have to cut your first piece smaller for this)
2. My back hair grows very fast and always loosens the attachment at the back.
3. If the blending is good, it doesn't make sense to shave off more then necessary.

Of cos, these are my personal views only.

I think the key for my look is I color my hair and piece at the same time. And Jrob nailed it when he said how much depth wax works gives. Ww is the difference for me. Believe me, it looks just unreal in person, and if you use more you get even more texture and depth.