I am a new wearer, been wearing for about three months now and love it! I wear a partial unit for corners and hairline. I started off with a custom system from Toplace, which turned out be not so custom. The color was way too dark, template wasn't even loosely followed and the results weren't spectacular either. To top it off it took close to 3 months for delivery. John had great customer service though but stiil disappointing.
I have been going to Alicia in Anaheim CA for cut-ins and initial help. My second piece was a stock from another company(not BA). Which was of worse quality than Toplace but because I got a lighter stock, I was able to get a perfect color match(with Alicia's help). I was able to make two partials out of teh stock and they both served as a great learning tools! I have my own crown so it looks quite realistic. I have used blue liner, Ultrahold, Mite Tite and now ghost bond for my attachments. Even though everyone has their own chemistry, I have been blown away the first few hours with ghost bond! Compared to Ultrahold the application is a million times better! The bond feels significantly stronger and crisp! It doesn't feel gooey at all! I will update my review in 5 days on how the clean-up was and how the bond fared. So far from my experience Ultrahold has been the worst glue. Mite-tite gave me better results than UH. I used my fingers to apply GB and you can't beat the ease! Mite-tie gives me a good 4 day hold. Blue-liner was the strongest hold possible but has a high profile thus makes it very detectable.
Clean Up was hell with UH, especially when I was new. Now that I am good at mirror slide, it has become a breeze!
Tips to Newbies:
1) Try to get help from an experienced person or a salon in the begining if possible.
2) Don't get discouraged, you will face setbacks but things get better!
3) People are not going to notice! My own family! My brother who would make fun of me for balding didn't notice until I told him after spending a whole day with me. Balding friends who I discussed balding with all the time didn't ask me a thing besides a lil glance(because I spiked my hair for the first time in my life!).
4) If attached properly with all glue attachment, its very hard to feel the edges. I have been "intimate" with girls with my system on! Never detected! just to add an extra layer of security I use gel in my hair so nobody can notice the subtleties!
5) I use swill lace and expose my hairline depending on my confidence in my attachment and its is INVISIBLE! Nobody can tell unless they gaze at it and know what to look for. Still it will be hard to find!
6) How you use the system depends a lot on your personality. I don't feel super self concious with my system on. If it is properly attached I don't feel indiffrent at all! I don't tell people but my best friend and my brother know. It has given be confidence and ist does feel like a viable solution to my baldness. I take propecia, been taking it for a year and it has helped me maintain my crown and will maintain my sides for years to come. Never had side effects but gave some pills to my Roomie and his pecker stopped working in 4 days (sides reversed in a week after stopping). So yes side effects happen, didn't happen to me and I am not worried.
7) Don't worry abt getting things perfect. Its hair! lil imperfections are invisible! Hell u can get away with big imperfections! nobody cares abt ur hair besides you as long as they compliment you. That said, density and color are two main cultprits for an unnatural system. Thus chose your density wisely. Also if you have a receded hairline, don't goto work looking like justin beiber(done it!) You will raise eyebrows. Gradually lower your hairline and keep it age appropriate. Remember the goal is to look good not to have a low hairline!

Sorry wrote a freaken essay but if it helps any newbies then let be it!

Before I began wearing Toplace hair [ I guess over 2 years ago now] I used to attend/buy systems from a salon in Dublin, which is 160 miles away, so I needed to have supplies to hand at home in case of `emergencies`/ touch-ups. I bought a 150ml tub of ``Tracksafe`` glue from the salon [it`s `pricey`but great] ...I still have half the container left after over 2 years but I only use a bit on the front and a few strips of tape on the rest of the perimeter, but it really does go a long way/lasts... I can honestly say it`s a great glue... being as that I don`t go to that salon any more, I was trying to find a source to buy it on line....this is the only one I found http://www.direct-sites.co.uk/colour_rin...sories.htm it`s the white bottle down bottom-left there [wig and toupee glue..21 £ ] It`s a small pic but if you look closely it`s got `Tracksafe`written on the bottle..... I was asking Debbie for her opinion of it ..she say`s it`s very good but the price would make it prohibitive for her to order it from Europe for re-sale....... it can be applied directly to poly but if wearing lace systems just use as normal...i.e. apply it to the scalp rather than the base...it`s white, drys clear and gives excellent hold... so for any of you having issues with other glues, you might like to try the Tracksafe..... cheers.... Paul.
P.S. I enquired as to the contents-amount ...it`s 50ml for 21£ so yes, expensive, but does a great job.

paul what about the cleanup?

Hi Xeon... yeah no bothers at all .. I just use Debbie`s ``Pure`` adhesive remover... admittedly I only use one light layer of glue as I do a nightly detachment at present, but I`m sure it would be no harder to remove it if I had applied 2 or 3 layers .. I just use `Lace-release` first as normal and it works just fine ...most of the residue is on the scalp....I have very little clean-up issues with the lace....it`s pretty residue-free.....the trick as you well-know with most of the glues is to allow time for the lace-release to penetrate properly before removing the system..... makes life easier all round....... that `Tracksafe` was widely-used by that Salon though and gave me really good full-perimeter bonds.....as I said, I hadn`t much of a clue about all the technical end of wearing at the time [as in DIY ] and couldn`t be travelling to Dublin weekly for de/re but I never really experienced anything [as in total break-down of my bond ]apart from having to do an occasional touch-up......actually it was around then that I began to realise like ..``Hey, I could do ALL of this on my own at home....why travel miles and pay big money too?`` so I began looking on-line and to my delight, found Toplace... I was VERY wary / apprehensive of what to expect, but like many, I thought well, it`s a reasonably small amount of money if the system turns out to be total rubbish...but I was delighted with my systems from John, so I`m still here !! Cheers, Paul.

I have ghost bond and tried it once. I put on 3 layers. The next day I decided to take it off and reapply as I wasn't happy with the positioning of the piece. It was hell to remove the glue from my skin. I rubbed off some skin! I would imagine that if I had left it on for 1 week it would have been much easier to remove. I only used Debbie's adhesive remover but perhaps with their recommended remover it would be much easier.

I think the ultimate general glue-melter/removers are the citrus-based ones such as `Re-move`` and I think Desolvit has also been mentioned here.... some of the alcohol-based ones can sometimes struggle to do the job properly......Paul.

Thanks paul. I am wondering if its worth the money ... I use orwg .. I am figuring it works about the same.. I am happy with the hold on orwg, but im always on the look out for something easier to use and easier to cleanup. That is why i usually use got2b glued now a days.

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Thanks paul. I am wondering if its worth the money ... I use orwg .. I am figuring it works about the same.. I am happy with the hold on orwg, but im always on the look out for something easier to use and easier to cleanup. That is why i usually use got2b glued now a days.

Hi again Xeon... I just did a bit of research this morning [ nerd that I am !! :-) ] and I was looking at Debbie`s glue range and their prices/bottle sizes/capacities. We`ll take `Ultrahold` as an example....... it`s quoted as 12$ for 5 fluid ozs....... according to the converter programme I used, that is approx. 150 mls....... which is the size of my bottle of `Tracksafe`.
The price of the bottle of `Tracksafe`on the UK site is 21£ [ approx 33$] for 50mls[one-third the size].......so would work out at 99$ for 150mls.......quite expensive really when compared to a large bottle of `Ultrahold`[ it`s only available in 50ml bottles apparently, so you`d have to order 3 bottles to get 150mls [ 5fluid ozs].
Obviously, depending on where in the world you live,and more to the point, whatever currency a person has to use, that could be considered either as `reasonable`or `expensive`..... I am in the Euro currency so the British sterling price is not greatly different when converted.
I don`t know why the glue makers can`t provide `sample-size` bottles , especially for `experimenting ` and trying to find a glue which you can `get on` with...... we all know that different folk differ in terms of which glue `agrees`with their body-chemistry and how long they want a bond to last for. As it is, you can invest in full-size bottles of various glues before finding the `right`one for you, and the rest go to waste/are left there....waste of money [ I hate waste of any type] .
If you`d like to try out ``Tracksafe ` I`d be happy to send you a sample ...you could then let the guys on here know your opinion of it..... I can put some in one of those little travel-size containers and pop it in the post to you..... I`d be interested to know/hear your verdict on it...... you can send me your postal address to [email protected] and I`ll happily pop it into a little padded envelope to you...... I don`t wear an exposed hairline, but I have often held the hair back and looked at the front there...can`t say I`ve ever seen any shine there from the glue, which many wearers complain of at times... cheers for now... Paul.

Paul, ultrahold is 0.5 oz for 12 bucks which is 15 ml. so there's about 3.5 small bottles of UH in one bottle of tracksafe. Might wanna do your math again.

(06-12-2011, 09:20 PM)Paul In Ireland Wrote: Hi again Xeon... I just did a bit of research this morning [ nerd that I am !! :-) ] and I was looking at Debbie`s glue range and their prices/bottle sizes/capacities. We`ll take `Ultrahold` as an example....... it`s quoted as 12$ for 5 fluid ozs....... according to the converter programme I used, that is approx. 150 mls....... which is the size of my bottle of `Tracksafe`.
The price of the bottle of `Tracksafe`on the UK site is 21£ [ approx 33$] for 50mls[one-third the size].......so would work out at 99$ for 150mls.......quite expensive really when compared to a large bottle of `Ultrahold`[ it`s only available in 50ml bottles apparently, so you`d have to order 3 bottles to get 150mls [ 5fluid ozs].
Obviously, depending on where in the world you live,and more to the point, whatever currency a person has to use, that could be considered either as `reasonable`or `expensive`..... I am in the Euro currency so the British sterling price is not greatly different when converted.
I don`t know why the glue makers can`t provide `sample-size` bottles , especially for `experimenting ` and trying to find a glue which you can `get on` with...... we all know that different folk differ in terms of which glue `agrees`with their body-chemistry and how long they want a bond to last for. As it is, you can invest in full-size bottles of various glues before finding the `right`one for you, and the rest go to waste/are left there....waste of money [ I hate waste of any type] .
If you`d like to try out ``Tracksafe ` I`d be happy to send you a sample ...you could then let the guys on here know your opinion of it..... I can put some in one of those little travel-size containers and pop it in the post to you..... I`d be interested to know/hear your verdict on it...... you can send me your postal address to [email protected] and I`ll happily pop it into a little padded envelope to you...... I don`t wear an exposed hairline, but I have often held the hair back and looked at the front there...can`t say I`ve ever seen any shine there from the glue, which many wearers complain of at times... cheers for now... Paul.

Yup hairy ..you`re right of course..... that`s what I get for logging-in just after getting out of bed !!! Was only onto my first cup of coffee as I was typing ..lol. Yeah I didn`t look properly so missed the dot/point before the `5` and read it as 5-ozs instead of 0.5 ozs ..... so your calculation is correct, which makes the price quite ok really..... the `Tracksafe` is not too dear so...... anyway, if Xeon wants to try it, I`ll happily pop a sample in the post and he can give us his verdict.... Paul.