I am wondering if the 'flaps' are ok and how I should tell them to ventilate them and the sides. I've never worn a hp this large before, but my real hair is thinning badly. Will my stylist have a hard time blending it into my own hair on temples/sides if I want to have my hair short and tapered? Eventually I'll go to a full cap but for now I want to transition. Is there anything I'm missing on this template? Any advice? Any obvious mistakes?


Thanks!

That looks doable to me but you are right- you will eventually need a full cap. A few suggestions:

- I would draw the ventilation direction on your template so they have something to refer to when working on the temples

- Keep the density low

- The cut is everything in a situation like this. There are a few different tricks to get it to look its best but it is all in crafting a style that downplays the thinning areas of your own hair

- Concealers can be messy and a pain to deal with but a touch of Dermmatch or Couvre would help tremendously with your sides being thin

Can't wait to see it when you get it all sorted!

Thanks, Jrob. It's tough to acknowledge that I need ALL the hair on my head replaced, but denial is pointless. Like I said, I'll be transitioning, trying each time to get better at attaching, so when I do get a full cap I'll be able to do my best. I ordered your video the other day, very informative. You make it look easy!

I hate using concealers. Hate isn't a strong enough word lol. The extra time and mess just drives me nuts, not to mention it doesn't look all that great.

The one thing I have going for me is a good stylist, so I'm confident in the cut I can get. I'm just a little worried about the side ventilation. You say to instruct them in this area. What would you suggest? Arrows pointing down? I am definitely going for a low density.

OK..my suggestion.... keep away from `Right-angles` such as you have at the temples.....curves there will sit more naturally.....you need to add some more material at the sides there in order to allow the ventilator to change the hair-direction as shown with the green arrows, so that it will follow your growing hair-direction...if you keep the template as it is, you risk having a difficulty with blending the system onto your own...please excuse the `shaky`red line but I`m doing this on a laptop and don`t have a `mouse`......your own is growing back and down around the ear area [in front of them] so adding that little bit of extra material to the template will give a more natural look...note I have marked it very slightly back off the forehead at the temple.....if you go with the template as it is, you risk hair falling `forward`too much onto the forehead giving a `funny`look.Just mark your arrows as shown and also your density figures. You could try45-50% on the crown, and I`d go no higher than 45% at the sides..again it`s down to the individual ventilator as to the finished item,but your sides are pretty thin as you know. Paul.

Paul, thanks for the help, it's MUCH appreciated.

>>keep away from `Right-angles` such as you have at the >>temples.....curves there will sit more naturally..

When you say temples, do you mean the area where the CC curved hairline meets the side area (as indicated in the pic I am posting for clarification), or the area down where it's more aligned with where my eyes are (the second temple)? Hope that makes sense. Both of those areas have right angles on the template so I just would like clarification as the terminology of temple might be thought of as either area.


Also, since to your suggestion I'll be going lower on the sides, how short can that area of the hairpiece hair be cut? Right now I have about a half-inch in that area (my real hair). Will I have to have the hairpiece hair longer or can they ventilate it so it can be 1/2" there ? Would 1/2" make it stick out and not lie down?

>>note I have marked it very slightly back off the forehead at the temple

Again, do you mean the area above or below?

Thanks so much, I want to get this as perfect as I can to eliminate any potential problems.

Hi again.... the top point was mainly the one I was referring to mainly but the lower one by the sideburn can be rounded a bit
too....straight lines are great for ease of applying tapes[ if you are intending to use tapes] and certainly you could `get away`
with it at the sideburn-point but up at the top there no-one`s [side] growing hair `meets` their `top`hair at a 90-degree angle so
just put a nice curve there. As for the hair-length...I never order hair longer than 4 inches and you won`t need to either as you wear
it short......the factory will put every hair in at whatever length you specify[ it`s not really practical to be asking them to put in varying hair-lengths]....the crucial thing is the ventilation direction and this is governed
by the way the knots are tied by the ventilator..... the cut hairs won`t stick out irrespective of your stylist trimming them as long as they
have been knotted/ventilated into the correct direction `` tight to head`` ...they usually get it right anyway....I mean they know that no-one`s growing hair sticks out at the side....but DO mark in the arrows as I have done, to ensure that the system hair covers/integrates with your own at the very front there between the sideburn area and just behind the ears in the SAME direction as the underlying hair. Your stylist will simply layer the hair and cut/trim it to the varying required lengths...hope that clarifies what I was on about ! Cheers, Paul.
p.s. -- you should get a nice blend-in at the sideburn area as the perimeter edge is not too high up from the `edge`of the growing hair...my only issue when I went for
a larger topper like this [before going fullcap] was that the back edge/perimeter was up high in relation to the nape and the hair,obviously, had a longer `fall`and tended
to `hang-out`from the nape area giving an `artificial `look...the beauty of the fullcap is that the back edge is very low down and the hair is trimmed/cut relatively short
there so stays `tight`in to the skin rather than doing it`s own `thing`...it`s something you need to be mindful of and you may end up using some gel etc to keep it `in`.

Hi Paul, I have modified the template. Do you think this is better? I'm not sure if I went down far enough on the sides, after comparing the pictures. Let me know what you think and if it would be worth it to modify it any more (make the sides go down farther, etc).

Thanks again!

I`d trim that little bit back at that corner there so that you growing hair will be giving a nice `natural`look just in front of the perimeter--a bit like I`ve done with my system...it would be useful to enclose 2 pics with your order showing the finished template sitting on your head so they can see how your hair lies..... also a pic of a style you`d like have at the front hairline area.....that should ensure the ventilator can see your remaining hair-density too and match it more effectively..... hope it all works out for you, Paul.

Hi Paul, I messed up my original template a bit (adding/subtracting tape etc) so I made a new one today. Does this one look better? I have until Mon. so if there are any tweaks you can think of I would really appreciate the advice. I want to be very careful this time as it's a whole new type of wearing for me.

I will draw the arrows like you showed before, and send in these pics as you suggested (a very good idea). When it comes to the arrows on the top and front, how do you generally point them for a more forward/freestyle type of ventilation? I would like to have my bangs combed over to one side a bit and show some hairline. Not sure which ventilation I should choose. I'm going for something conservative and similar to this (but obviously *much* less density).

http://www.hairfinder.com/hairstyles7/zdfwinter5b.htm


Cheers...

Hello expriest.... making the Template can be a bit time-consuming,but I think that one should do the trick. As we know,
a picture paints a thousand words and for a person in a factory thousands of miles away who`s never seen you it will be
invaluable ..they`re pretty good [generally] at what they do ---particular `styles` present no real issue as such....if they can
see what your remaining hair looks like and a pic of what you`d like the finished-look to resemble, they can easily make it. I
think simply `lifting`a pic off this hairstyles site and enclosing it [rather than sweating over where/which direction to draw
arrows on the top/front hairline ] would be best..... I would though draw them at that part just above/in front of the ears as
you need the hairs to sweep back a bit from the front there. Have a look at pic 3 on the site here..I think that would be a nice
easy style for you to carry off.... http://www.hairfinder.com/menshair.htm You could have a [relatively/slightly] higher
density up top/front and taper it off as you go down the sides onto your thinner hair..... you can easily print off the order form
with the head-shape on it and mark in densities you think would `work`.... enclose it with your details etc. and Template and a
note to John who`ll be happy to have a look at the `Finished article` pic and will `tweak` the [density] figures before sending it
all off to the factory...... John will be happy to do any `adjustments` for you if he thinks something is amiss. I think the little bit of
growing hair[ just behind the eye area ] which will be just in front of the edge of the system will really add to the `illusion` in the
eye of the casual observer. So, get it all packed up and sent off and hopefully you`ll be delighted with the results. I`ll be having
the fullcap styled in this Tuesday evening now as the stylist phoned me yesterday to cancel the appointment as she`s got a heavy
head-cold...sounded really `choked up`so I was just as well off as she`d be very off-form trying to style it and I`d probably end up
coughing and sneezing for the rest of the week too under my new hair--no thanks !! ;-) Will do some pics after it.... the first fullcap,
they went very heavy on the density, and this one is medium but the very crown-point looks quite light....it could do with just a
tadd more hair there but it`s no big deal....no two systems will ever be the same and you have to be a bit `forgiving` at times.
Cheers for now anyway... Paul.