Hi,

A while back I bought a stock unit that I quickly ruined by cutting off the front for a tiny partial but it was too small and hard to work with. The glue got in my real hairline and I accidentally tore some of it out. Let's just say I wasn't too psyched and kinda gave up.

So recently I decided to give it another shot. I got another stock unit to practice on again. I've included a ridiculous looking photo of it sitting on my head like a hat made of hair. It's not attached and is sitting on my own hair that I haven't shaved off yet because I'm too afraid to. The flash really reveals the big color difference between my hair and the piece. Mainly I have two issues:

Color: The piece obviously isn't matching up with my annoying ashy brown haircolor. I was thinking of dying the piece and my hair the same color but then started to think maybe I should just dye my hair to the color of the piece. Does anyone know which dye might match the #5 medium brown stock unit?

Density: There's certainly a density mismatch. My hair is kind of fine and my sides are a bit thin. The 65% density of the unit is too much. I've seen some people warn against using thinning shears but is that because it can create an odd feel if someone runs their hand through your hair? I've still got the first stock unit I bought around here somewhere and was thinking of practicing on it first.

And I guess I'm wondering if it's even doable. I don't need or expect it to look perfect - I'd probably wear a hat over it if I'm out during the day as I get the hang of wearing. I've worn hats constantly for years so no big difference. Ideally I want to get a custom unit soon which could solve a lot of problems. There's been some ups and downs to this whole thing. I told my best friend about it, and wondered aloud the best ways to improve the piece but he basically said "you know, I don't think this little project of yours is going to work out." Which was a bit of a kick in the balls. I've spent a lot of time with the piece just sitting on my head and in mood lighting. If I look at it from the front I can't see the color difference and I just find it makes me look so much better than with my real hair. I almost shed a tear at first because of the night and day difference in how I looked - like my old self. Anyways... rambling...

Its not that your hair is ash coloured so much, its that you have a fine smattering of grey light hairs that makes it look more ash.
The stock has none.
So its not just a colour difference, its more of a composition difference.
To get uniformity, you would be better to dye the whole lot in my opinion, but you could start with just your natural hair and see.
Remember that the stock hair will absorb colour a lot faster than your natural hair, so you can't leave it on as long.

I hear people recommending Nice 'n' Easy or Just For Men.
If you go with the JFM, but the AUTO Stop version as it stops colouring when it gets to the right colour.

If its a lace base stock, you can thin the density using Nair Hair remover creme.
There's a few threads on it here and there is a youtube video too.
The mistake most people make is that they think the first application hasn't worked as much as they want, so they do it again.
What happens is that you'll lose some hair immediately with the first application and then some more after a few days/washes.
So don't do a second application until you know the full results of the first one.

You WILL get there in the end.
But you've sort of made life more difficult for yourself by ordering a stock.
They're really only a suitable if they match your specifications.
Some one just starting out doesn't really need or want these added complications on top of everything else!
But I completely understand that you probably didn't want to commit to a custom order until you at least tried a stock.

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah I have been getting some grey in just the past two years. Weirdly the picture makes me look like I have a lot. Dying both might be a good idea as I'm not too psyched in the color difference between the unit and my eyebrows. I'll look into JFM and Nice 'n' Easy. I just want something that isn't too harsh on my hair as I fear damaging it or thinning it out more. I guess I should be looking for dye that isn't permanent.

The unit is lace. I've heard of using Nair but had trouble imagining how it'd work. If there's a youtube video I'll definitely check that out.

Yeah, a custom order seemed a bit daunting and to create a template I figured I'd probably have to shave the top of my head first? Of course now I'm kicking myself for not just going custom from the start. Not only would I have chosen a lower density but I recall the possibility of requesting thinner diameter hair which might match me better.

If I can get the colors matching up reasonably and the density down a bit I'll shave my hair and try this out. At the same time I'll take the opportunity to create a template for a custom unit.

Both of those dyes are semi permanent.
Whatever you buy, it should say it covers grey hair.

i havent ried this idea but.....some say to use tape (packing, scotch etc) on the back of the unit to pull hairs and thin it...i'd say go slow..do a little bit..wash wear..wait...if it needs more do more...
personally what i did was rubbing my hand across the back (like smearing something) to thin it out...worked well for me...

here the link for nair....take hersutes advice with that..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPULkcyVD2Y

I've been trying out the Nair idea and it's sort of working out okay. It's not removing as much hair as I thought it would but eventually...

I haven't done anything to the hair color yet because I've read about potential problems with the hairpiece dying differently than people's real hair. Still trying to figure out the best product/approach. Hersute, you mention Just For Men but I noticed in an earlier thread you warned that these semi permanent grey covering dyes can look one tone and unnatural. Do you know of any semi permanent dye that somehow avoids that?

The thing is, in your case, this is probably a better solution than the hair maintaining various tones.
Because your natural hair and replacement hair are not the same composition of colours, using something that gets absorbed into the hair will just alter the difference, not eliminate it.

You can of course apply it in streaks and this will cause a variance in the final result, but it needs to be fairly consistent at the points the system hair meets your natural hair for it to be a good blend.
So any streaking should be on the top, rather than the back & sides.

Re the Nair, as I said before, allow a couple of days/washes to really gauge how much hair has been thinned out.

Heh, well I tried a strand test with my real hair and some from the system using Clairol Natural Insticts and that's clearly not going to work. They both came out different colors. I'll probably try one other brand before giving up. Really disappointing.

Anyways, thanks for all the advice so far.

Hi xcvq -- I know cameras are notorious for making things appear differently when it comes to systems, especially colour....I can really see the ` brown` hue on the system..your own , however looks almost / verging on black [though you say it`s a shade of brown]..even your facial hair is black [looking] I note you say you have a little grey hair [and again---the camera makes it look like there`s more than actually is ] ----- I had similar situations to you in my topper days..... I simply got black colour [ Koleston perfect colour and Creme peroxide --- you can get them on Amazon etc.] I ` treated` my growing hair for maybe 10 mins. max and the system for literally 3 minutes [system hair grabs colour very fast and deeply] with the same ` batch`/ mix and it worked for me .. I`m not overly keen on ` brown` as a colour .. I found that by this method, initially it looked a bit ` stark`, after a few washes, it lightened a bit --the system matched my own hair very well by doing it this way.... I can`t make any cast-iron guarantees, but I was happy with it...... might be worth a try ?
I can give you the colour-number to order if you`re interested/want to chance it !

Hey Paul, thanks for the response. You know, I was just wondering about the fact that it's probably easier for people with black hair to get a hair piece that matches. My hair color is very bizarre. It sometimes looks almost light to medium brown but then I also have an old picture of myself where it actually looks pretty much full on black.

I'm a bit hesitant about black since it seems like a big change... then again maybe it isn't. What would you say is the difference between Koleston and something that can be bought in a pharmacy?