Hey guys,

I've been reading into frontal partial hair pieces for quite awhile now, and I think I'm ready to go for it. I stumbled upon Leondon90's story and a couple others who cut small partials from a full-cap and had great success from it and I want to go the same route. I'm 23 and have really healthy hair all over my head aside from my receeded temples. I just have some questions before I jump into this:

-Can I get away with using tape only? I've always worn a hairstyle that covers my hairline (think Ashton Kutcher shaggy sort of look) so a super realistic hairline isnt a huge concern for me.

-Where would you guys recommend I buy supplies online? (I live in Canada if that helps)

-As for actually cutting partials from the full-cap...is there a certain way to do this? I would imagine it being pretty tricky cutting into the lace without cutting hairs off by accident.

-I also want to send in a hair sample to get the best colour possible. Is there a certain procedure to follow when I do this? What sort of information do I have to send along with it?

Thanks!

I can't help with the front partial or full cap questions, but as for sending hair, make sure you send hair from the TOP of your head. Most (including me) cut from the back so it is more inconspicuous, but the back hair is usually darker and it won't match very well.

You won't be cutting up a full cap.
You'd be cutting up a 'topper', which is a smaller piece to begin with.
Cutting up a full cap just means you're buying more (larger) therefore paying more and ultimately throwing away more.

Its a complete waste if you're only interested in using the front part anyway.

You have to decide if you are buying a ready made topper (stock) and hoping it matches your own hair in colour & density & hairline contour. Or, are you going to have a piece made (custom) to your specifications?

If you're having a custom piece made, then you have it made to the exact size you need, so you don't have to do any lace cutting.
If you're buying a stock piece, you can cut the lace yourself and its not that difficult using a craft blade.

So you have to decide which way you're proceeding before you can be advised any further.

Thanks for the replies.

@Hersute

The only thing I'm really concerned about is the colour. Could I not just order a custom topper with a generic stock size and my own colour? The pieces I'd be cutting from it would be really small, so I don't see why it would be necessary to send in a template. All I really care about is getting the colour right. I've read from guys on hear that have used one piece well over a year because they were able to just keep cutting small pieces from it whenever they needed new ones.

Cutting pieces from an existing hairpiece is easier than it looks.

I use a sharp triangular hobby knife and cut from the bottom. As long as you insert only the tip of the knife and make sure there is no tension on any of the hairs in the area where you are cutting you won't cut more than a few hairs. It takes a little practice to develop a technique for holding the hairpiece in one hand without pulling on any of the hairs that are in the danger zone while you use your other hand to cut, but after you have done it once it's like riding a bicycle from that point on.

Yes, you can order a stock & cut it yourself no probs.
I was just trying to go through your options.

Re a template, making a rough one for your own use will help you cut your stock piece with less mistakes.

One useful tip on collecting a hair sample:

If you don't like the idea of chopping out a big chunk of hair from a specific area, you can use a pair of thinning/blending shears, which will remove hair in a more diffuse manner from a larger area, thereby avoiding the "missing chunk" look. You'll not even notice anything looking odd, and can still get a good sized sample.

~FB
... who still doesn't like the idea of giving up ANY of what's left of his own

That's a great tip furball!

It's one I picked up elsewhere, and am glad to contribute ... especially considering how many COUNTLESS ones I've gotten from you ...

... my personal favorite: Scotch tape to remove excess glue at the hairline. Priceless.

~FB
-who will now stop hijacking the thread

Hey guys thanks for the replies,

here's an update of where i am right now: Being a complete newbie, I wanted to find something I can use to get the hang of the whole hair wearing process before I put money down for a quality system. So, I found an online dealer that happens to be an hour away from where I live. I ordered a really cheap (by hairpiece standards) molofilament lace stock unit from him. Here's what i noticed:

-Monofilament is terrible. I can get away with it because Im cutting such small pieces to fill my temples, plus I wear my hair longer. But theres no way Id be able to expose my hairline with it. It's also pretty uncomfortable, when I raise my eyebrows or crinkle my forehead I can feel the backs of the pieces I cut digging into my skin.

-I find the hair to be really unmanageable and hard to style. Plus theres all these individual hairs shooting in random directions. Is this a result of the monofilament being really stiff and not allowing the hair to move around much? Or does cutting into the lace screw around with the flow of the hair?

I was also wondering if I can use regular conditioner to prevent tangling and knots? Thanks for any replies, guys! I'm still pretty overwhelmed by all of this.