Decided to make a new Template recently in readiness for my next order-- I wanted slightly longer flaps down in front of the ears than I presently have. I`m going for around 50-5% in front of and above the ears because having the lace so near the ear [above] means the hair will of necessity, be cut short there and a high/ish density will be obvious to sight as you`re into the `grain`of the hair there and will be like stubble in a corn-field and also feel `prickly`like needles to the touch. Having 65% behind the ears for a small distance and 70% on the back/nape area and up for about an inch from the perimeter....Toplace 70% =90% on other suppliers systems and I want that heavier density there in order to `hold`the hair in position and stop it sticking out from the nape....my first system had/has a thick density there and it really stays in place there nicely... my 2nd system is thinner there and can tend to curl out a bit from the nape at times.... therefore I`m `tweaking`my new order. Ignore the black line on the template at the back..that was just a `rough` line I drew while it was sitting on my head and I couldn`t see properly .. the system will be made to the actual physical size of the Template. Making a topper-template is easier, as you`re only covering the crown of the head...the principles are the same...one good long roll of clear film laid down snugly onto a [water] spritzed head on which you`ve marked/drawn the outline of the area to be covered, with an eyebrow pencil.To locate your front hairline in order to mark it, just sit in front of a mirror and frown strongly ---the forehead skin will crease up while the scalp skin won`t ...that`s where your hairline is....or, lay your first 3 fingers across your forehead with the 3rd finger resting immediately above the eyebrows..your first finger will normally be sitting at the hairline...just mark it with an eyebrow pencil. If you still have growing [thin]hair up top just spritz it and slick it down/back..... lay on your film and tie firmly, but comfortably under the chin....smooth it out across the head to get rid of any big wrinkles, but don`t worry unduly about small creases etc. Then get a marker and trace the outline of the eyebrow pencil onto the film --doesn`t have to be spot-on as you can `tweak`it later. Lay on strips of sellotape--normal - width ones....left-to-right and then front to back..you just need to make the film more rigid....once you have all the film covered, lay on more sellotape but the very wide roll is best as this will prevent shrinkage when you remove the template from your head...... always trim off excess material `slowly`...don`t go right up to/follow your marked lines...leave some excess on it first ....pop it onto and off the head a few times to see how it looks....if you cut too close-to or inside a line, no sweat--just re-build it by adding some tape.....it`s really easy to do.... all you want is to represent the area to be covered and the shape of your head.
One of the pics shows the Template sitting on a window-ledg propped up at the front by my black marker pen....you can see all the excess material still on it..... ignore the little bit of hair remaining at the back..it`s only about 1/4 of an inch long.. I may just get rid of it totally shortly.... the system hair will be covering it /longer than it as I have come down a bit more with the perimeter of the Template on this one...just to `tweak`my new system ..... you have to make certain judgements in this process....just use your best estimate..... you can `tweak`things a bit on a subsequent order..... it`s hard to go too far wrong though..if you have any doubts just pop a few pics of your finished template sitting on your head onto the forum here for any last-minute advice.
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Paul i notice that you don't include the temple points in your template but your 'real' temple points are very thin.
Is there a reason not to include temple points?
Please don't be offended but i think for what you have left of your own temple points you would be better to include them in future for a better result?
To be honest, with the forward-ventilation and `style`that I wear, it `covers up` a lot !
I keep that tiny bit of hair there just to soften the look where the system hair lies on the front there.... and NO offence taken --- nothing offensive in your post... any contributions are welcome!.....I`ve more or less followed that design on the previous 2 systems, and it`s been fine....I`ve only made this new Template so I can have slightly longer flaps......the way the system hair lies actually covers practically all that little bit of growing hair.
No problem Paul.I can understand the softness issue.
Maybe you should try and include the temple points at some point to see if it will make any difference,after all you can trim them off if they are of no use?
I wish I had the option of integrating some of my own hair. Hopefully yours holds out for awhile 'cause it really adds the finishing touch to your systems.
JRob, do you recommend keeping a little nape hair like Paul? I noticed in your video you didn't. I'm wondering what the disadvantages/advantages are?
I recently tried copying Paul's 'full cap' method by keeping a bit of nape hair and temple and sideburn hair. Got my system last week. It's worked pretty well, although attaching with glue at the temples with growing hair can be a bit tough/messy. If the base overlaps just a bit u have to glue your own hair for it to sit down, or trim the lace back. I'm going to trim mine. My temple area, especially on my left side, is really thin and I'm wondering if I should even bother keeping it at all, or just shave it and only keep the side burns and nape. If I decide to make new temples, I think it makes sense to make them where they are currently and just shave them when making new attachments. However, my concern is that the temples might look too far forward because you have to keep the hair in that area a little longer than normal. But if I decide to shave my temples and make the unit temples back a bit, my real temple hair will grow stubble after a couple days, which might look weird or cause me to constantly shave the stubble. Hopefully this question makes sense. And hopefully your answer will be, "don't worry about them being too far forward. As long as they are where your natural temples are it'll be fine".
Btw, I bought your dvd and it's been immensely helpful. Paul's posts here have as well. Thanks to both of you!
Hi expriest..I`d been wondering how your order had gone...I know it`s been a while since you were doing the Template and getting yourself organised .....you had the back perimeter up a bit far as I remember it and you tweaked that...are you happy now with the system as it arrived ?
As I said above---that picture is a bit misleading for some reason....the close-up at the back there looks like there`s a lot of hair at the back..it`s really only short,but looks longer....I`m still debating with myself on whether to get rid of it.....as JRob was saying, it can be helpful to keep it if you have half-decent growth there. I have 2 systems..one has much denser hair there and totally covers that growing hair, but the other is a little thinner and cut marginally shorter too, having the little bit of growing hair can help with the look..I`m always conscious of the back when standing directly in front of people like in a Queue, and that`s why I`ve kept it....it really `softens `the look [ I feel] if/when you incline the head forward...if the system hair `lifts` a bit, well, you have the underlying hair to `soften`things...... BTW, you might find using some tape at the temple area is easier than getting glue into your growing hair....my pics make it look like there is a kind of `decent`amount of hair at the front/side there ..it`s hardly noticeable in reality..only a few millimetres and again is practically covered over by the system hair ...I only keep it there because the system density is low/er there and as shedding occurs, as it does inevitably, the little bit underlying makes it not obvious. Thankfully to date, shedding hasn`t been an issue with either system....first one I got is heading for 10 months old now.
Hi Paul, I am happy with the system as it arrived. It was dead-on to my template. However, while I was waiting for it I changed the amount of temple area hair I wanted to integrate. I essentially wanted to use more of my own hair so consequently the system was a little oversized when I got it and I had to cut it a bit to get it to more or less follow my new hair track.
I agree with keep some of the nape hair for the reasons you mentioned, even if just a tiny bit like you. I don't think I'll ever get rid of the nape hair (unless it falls out!)
I was thinking about trying tape around the temples but I find applying tape to be a bit frustrating, especially to sharp angles. Also, for some reason any time I use tape it stays on my scalp when I de-bond, and this really tears my skin up when I put it off growing hair (hurts like hell too). I might try it again next attachment. I did take Jrob's advice from the video and use a strip of tape for the nape, extended just a bit beyond the lace to reduce an edge, and it worked very well for that. I also like his back-to-front attachment technique. I got a more or less perfect (for me!) attachment before I went in for the cut in. Having it anchored at the back made it pretty easy for me to line the hairline up and everything fell into place. It was basically wrinkle-free which I was thrilled about. I'm not a pro at attaching (yet).
I might try not using any of my own hair at the temples on my next one, just to see if there's much of a difference in the way it looks. I comb my hair forward in that area anyway. But I am curious what Jrob thinks about my natural temples being too far forward for a hairpiece as I have to keep that a bit longer than normal, so I'm going to wait to hear back. Basically it seems that it would be easy for me to make a template based on copying what's naturally growing from just above the sideburn up to the top temple (as I do have hair, albeit thin). I could make the perfect template. But ventilation would have to be awesome as I like to wear that area as short as possible.
Hi expriest..glad to hear you`re now getting more pleasing results... I know you had many problems when wearing toppers due to your own thin hair being too obvious.... it sounds to me that you`re getting more relaxed with it all now .... perseverance will/is paying off for you. I too find the tape can be a bit sore/pulls on the growing hair...I lace-release the system, then peel back a corner of any tape still on the skin, then a little more lace -release spray on there will usually seep in between tape and skin...you can slowly/gently peel the tape off without pulling hair out with it.... just go slowly and it will be a lot easier and no pain ! Cheers for now.
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