Alright, I finally got my template made and I'm itching to get my first order in. But before I do that I want some help to make sure it is as good as possible. Any advise will be great! I am planning on leaving a little hair around the sides and back for a smoother transition.

How perfect do these need to be?

Thanks for the help!

Hi Hair Scare..do you need Fullcap?? Looks to me like you have enough sides/back hair to wear a topper for the moment..can you post a pic of you hair [ No template on your head] ...I appreciate it might be thin-ish but you might be going Fullcap just a bit early yet? Cheers.. Paul.

So let me tell you why I'm thinking full cap. To be honest, I do have pretty decent side and back hair (when cut pretty short it isn't very think and I don't like the look, but long it's ok). I have naturally curly hair that I straighten chemically. I would go for a straight/body wave topper to match the straightened side hair, but I have noticed that continual straightening of the hair has, well, somewhat killed it. It is really frizzy, dry, and not very pretty. With a topper my concern is the the top hair would be NOTICEABLY BETTER than my side hair. Haha.

I'm terrified to try to make it all blend. If I did go with curly, my side hair has such weird curl that again, I would be terrified to attempt to match it. So I guess I'm just really concerned about blending the top hair with the side hair... so I just felt safer going for the full cap.

Any thoughts?

Just seems a shame to `waste`your [reasonably ok] growing hair even though you say it`s curly and you don`t like curly hair---- you say continual straightening it has `somewhat killed it`---- the roots etc. would still be fine and as the hair grows out and is cut normally by your barber, any `damaged`hair will be replaced. The general `feeling`is to hold on to what you`ve got and only replace what you have lost.....you`re still young and many wearers would be delighted to have the amount of hair you still have. Obviously it`s your choice on what way you want to proceed. You also have to consider that Fullcaps are twice the price of a topper........
A good daily leave-in conditioner would help repair/restore your `damaged` growing hair---recently another forum-contributor made us aware of `It`s a 10` conditioner..... here`s a recent `review` of it I came across--please note I cannot say whether or not this will have a good/bad long-term effect on system hair..[maybe some other readers can advise ? ] but certainly it seems to be very good for treating growing hair:
http://heartstarbolt.blogspot.com/2009/0...eview.html
If you still decide to go Fullcap, it looks like the back of the template needs to come down a bit more ...needs to be just below the occipital bone which is the round bone you`ll feel at the base of the skull above the nape, and you`ll also need to leave a gap between the top of the ears and the perimeter..... I drew a suggested outline on a template on fate`s thread `` Need advice on a fullcap template`` ...have a look at that and it should give you guidance..... please do re-post with any other questions you may have..regards, Paul.

Like Paul said, you are going to need to go lower in the back. Might also want to add a little more recession in the upper temples. You can always order a fuller hairline on future orders.

Well Paul, now you've got me wondering if I ought to try a topper! haha. Is it hard to match the right density with a topper? I guess I'm scared of a topper because I fear getting it to blend will be super tough and therefor make it look obvious its a wig.

So I must have an alien head, in the back the template still goes an inch below my occipital bone! Haha. But I wouldn't mind extending it down.

So topper question: Do people have a hard time matching color, density, thickness, and curl on their toppers? I'm terrified I'll order one and it just won't match. Any advice on what to do to make sure that it all matches? Someone convince me to go the topper route! It would save me a fair amount of money!

Hello again Hair Scare...... as I said..you`re still young [ oh to be back there again !! ;-) ] and as you still have a reasonable amount of your own hair, you might be jumping straight in at the deep end by going Fullcap...a topper would allow you to `ease`yourself into the wearing game. I`m surprised your occipital bone is seemingly so high up....just goes to show how various heads/shapes etc. can differ but again that fact alone could cause you an initial `problem` on top of everything else as a new hair-wearer as the nape area is prone to a lot of movement etc as you are probably aware...... it takes a bit of time and trial and error as a newbie to find bonding methods and products to suit the individual`s body chemistry / lifestyle etc. As you will have read too, itchiness can be a problem for fullcap wearers...... my feeling for you is to try a topper first and see how you get on ..this will help you to make a more informed-choice later on as to what way you`d like to proceed in the future.....you have reasonably good hair at the back/sides still......curly / wavy hair can be that bit trickier to match all right so I can understand your concerns regarding blending etc...... have you any old pics of your hair when it was not straightened etc. and was reasonably long-ish? That would help the factory to get the curl correct... the lighter/blonder colors can be that bit trickier to get matched rather than very dark colors but a few good-quality pics and a good hair sample will help overcome that. I guess every newbie has all the doubts and fears regarding specs...... usually the factory does a pretty good job though...even if a system comes back with a density which is a bit too low it can be sent back to have more added ...if it`s a little high, it`s simple enough to thin out at home. I assume you have old pics of yourself when you had all your growing hair ? Just enclose a few of them to show what you used to have[ style it was worn -in] and pics of your present density and it will help to get a good match.......have a think about it anyway [you can simply trim that template to suit a topper]...hope some other readers will give their opinions...some may not agree with me at all.... I`m no `expert` but just giving an opinion...I`d be interested to read what the general feeling on your situation is...regards, Paul.