Hello all,

I had been sitting on my Toplace order for a while contemplating whether or not I wanted to take the plunge. I kept finding more and more reasons not to: color "mismatch", quality of my natural hair vs the HS hair, etc. But finally my stylist nudged me to just get it cut in and it looks good. As (almost) always, I will be redesiging my template for my next order. i will be switching to a full topper for reasons I will get into in another post. For now, lets focus on the positive.


See pictures attached. (Full album: http://imgur.com/a/WaA7K )



I have been wearing for 4 days now and will be performing my first detatch/rebond exercise and could use your help. The front of the lace was attached using Ghostbond XL. The remaining perimeter was bonded with a tape called Ultrahold - I was not a fan of it and will experiment with some other tape I got from John.


**Here is my current idea for how to de/reattatch:
1. Dab some Lace Release all over and wait for the lace to come off the tape.
2. Use C-22 Solvent (on my scalp only) to get all the glue and tape off
3. ??? How to clean hair system next??? -> my guess is to use lace release and these SANEK Neck Strip pieces of paper my stylist gave me to wipe residue off my lace and head.
4. Shampoo my system (I didnt buy a lace specific product).
5. Shave my head, maybe blowdry the hair system since it'll be wet from washing, and bond with Ghostbond at the front and experiment with tapes John gave me for the perimeter (Supertape Low-Profile, DUO-TAC, or DUO- TAC thin).


Please add any suggestions to the process of taking care of my HS that I might be neglecting.



**Here are other products I have on hand:
1. Isopropyl Alchohol, 91%: I dont know how this is used when I already have Lace Release.
2. Autoglym Tar Remover: I also dont know how safe this is to use although I've seen others do it.
3. got2b glued: my system is a SFS so I dont know how useful this is to me. But Ghostbond was not undetectable to me. I could clearly see the lace and it left a bit of a yellowish crystallization maybe due to sweating. The hairline also lifted, but I will make a seperate post about obtaining an undetectable HL.
4. Bubble wrap: I also never understood how this is used.
5. neutralizer
6. Im hoping to get a foam head soon so I can put tape on my HS easily.
7: Mirror: I still dont understand the "mirror-slide technique"

I am detaching 5 days into my wearing because a) it doesnt feel that secure and b) my stylist told me to try doing it on my own before he leaves town for a fishing trip just in case I need his help.


Thanks all. Looking forward to your input and help with my next design later on.

Quick update:

- I cleaned up my post by removing the large images. See my full album of first cut-in pics here: http://imgur.com/a/WaA7K

- I managed to detach and rebond my system on my own with moderate levels of drama. It took me over 3 hours to get right :/ but I suppose that is my fault for being unprepared. I ended up using Duo Tac and Duo Tac Thin tape everywhere because it is more forgiving than glue if you have to try more than once to position your HS correctly.

- I forgot to mention that the first 1 cm of my hairline is my own natural hair. This was a strong recommendation from my stylist which, quite honestly, I appreciate greatly. This is because I am no where NEAR having an undetectable front attachment, so I am very fortunate to have a small tuft of hair up front hiding the very obvious lace - even though it is SFS. I just have yet to come close to mastering the art of undetectable attachments.

- I am looking forward to a few things:

1. Getting ORWG and adjustabond. My life would have been much easier today with those two items. (Always prepare, kids!).

2. Designing and ordering a new topper instead of more partials. There are some dead giveaways to my wearing a partial that I will get into in a dedicated post. I hope all will participate. If it werent for this supportive community and my stylist, I would not have taken the plunge for, like, forever.

3. Débuting my look some more and getting used to the idea of hair wearing. Seeing my head shaved finally, I knew for certain that I can NOT pull off the bald look, so there is no point in even looking back. It may not be perfect now, and it may never get to 'perfect' but hair wearing is definitely an improvement to balding. You just, in my opinion, have to ease yourself into it by starting out with very conservative hairlines. I thought I was nervous seeing friends on the first day I got cut in, but then I spend a long weekend with my gf and she never even noticed. So my message to the guys on the fence out there is:

"You may make up a bunch of reasons not to wear a HS, like people outing you for it for not looking real; and guess what? It may not. You may ignore the advice of all the pros on here, as well as your stylist, and end up looking unnatural. But the important thing to remember is that it can always be fixed, and you will be endlessly getting closer and closer to a look that you are comfortable with and further away from the balding look that you just dont feel is 'you' ".


Alright, thats my little sentimental message for you guys. See you later.

Your hair looks fantastic man. I was looking and looking at your pictures thinking 'this can't be a newbie in his first piece, perhaps these are the "before" pictures'. When you mentioned your front tuft I could understand a bit better, but it's still an excellent result. Quite inspirational for other newbies. How big is your unit, and why did you decide to opt for a full topper in future?

As to the de/re routine, I use alcohol for everything - debonding, cleaning the piece and cleaning the worst gunk off my head. If you but it in a spray bottle you can also use it instead of Adjustabind. Most of these other products are just alcohol with scent added, plus a hefty Mark-up.

Bubblewrap is something some people use as a variation on the "mirror slide". Basically you slide the lace side of your piece against some shiny surface and the spent glue rubs off on the shiny surface and leaves your piece clean. The original trick was to use a mirror, but that is rather messy to clean up. I have a marble cheeseboard which I wrap with Gladwrap and I use that. Others use Bubblewrap or glossy magazines.

Conditioning the piece when you take it off is really important. Leave in sunscreen is also a good idea.

For reattaching the hair definitely you need a foam head, a fan (to prevent sweating spoiling the glue) and ideally two mirrors, one of them an anglepoise magnifying shaving mirror and the other a big hand mirror, so you can inspect the back of the piece and see the hairline up close.

I don't use Autoglym, but others seem to swear by it. Neutraliser sounds like something to do with hair dye, which again I don't use.

Got2B should work on SFS. It is just strong hair gel, so you put it on thickly and you do get a good hold and an invisible finish, but beware, it is not very water or sweat resistant. If you unexpectedly work up a heavy sweat you can feel the thing come loose, which is rather nerve-wracking.

From your 'sentimental message' you sound like you have a great attitude for wearing hair. Good luck going forward.

Hello Bardrich,

Thanks for your reply.

Yes the tuft in the front really saved me from making the newbie mistake of having a way too-ambitious hairline that I wouldnt know how to bond properly, leading to me needing to wear a fuller head of hair down with bangs, which would have screamed 'wig' to any of my close friends. So far no1 has noticed or cared. My stylist did kind of leave my front a bit too heavy and long, but I can get shearing scissors - although I am apprehensive about fiddling with it on my own. My template album is here:

http://imgur.com/a/obqTE

The final template I sent in looked more or less like that. It's funny looking back to when I was stressing about millimeters here and there for my template when really it doesnt matter... Anyway, my template was initially designed to give me a lower, straighter hairline - although it had decent curvature in it. But at my cut-in, the stylist recommended moving it behind my tuft of hair, making the back of the hairsystem line up about an inch or little more in front of my crown. This, I believe, saved me from having a huge, noticeable contrast between the hair system hair and my natural hair on the top back-half of my head. My natural hair just isnt....as nice... if you know what I mean..(?).. Which brings me to my reasoning behind getting a topper next:

1. My natural hair just can't compete with the high quality hair system hair. I've seen guys on here who have great, european/asian quality hair and their systems just seem to blend in perfectly. But mine isnt, and thats ok. Most of my natural hair on top has been buzzed down - I might as well go al the way to topper.

2. My crown used to look naturally thin. Now, when compared to the HS hair/density, it basically looks like a bald spot. (Note: I will post pictures of all this in my dedicated post). I believe I am better off with a topper that leads down to my natural back and sides which I will try to keep short.

3. A lot of noobs get distressed about the "reddish tinge" that hairsystems seem to have. My stylist said not to worry about it and that my color match was spot on. He's been in the business for a long time so I am assuming his comments translate to "this is the best color match you are going to find from any supplier". The truth is: the color match is GREAT in natural and florescent light. In those two lighting conditions, the only thing you may notice out of place is the contrast between the dense HS and the natural density surrounding it. Only when you take photos on the HS next to your natural hair under yellowish bathroom lighting do you see the reddish tinge of the HS. I honestly cannot even tell through the naked eye, just still camera photos. Nevertheless, some guys here dye their natural surrounding hair to match in color richness and reddishness. I can't say I am against the idea, only that I will work on perfecting other aspects of wearing first (i.e. bonding, maintainance, reducing detectability due to flow, length, and blending) FIRST before I move on to dying. Also my stylist strongely discouraged dying (although I already bought the dye) because he said it could/would compromise the color match I already have. Basically I'm saying that my stylist would facepalm so hard if I dyed and even more so if I screwed it up, so I am staying clear of that option for the time being. A topper, however, might be a good compromise between dying my natural hair and not doing so, since, if I am worried about a (reddish) color mismatch issue being noticed, at least a topper being noticed as reddish compared to a short back and sides can be brushed off more easily as a "dye-job" rather than someone noticing that the front half of my head is reddish brown which the rest is a duller, dirty blonde brown. [Note that I will post images proving to everyone that I'm not insane. Hopefully on the weekend]...... All in all though, reddishness doesn't seem to be that big of a deal in everyday lighting.

Thanks for the tip on alchohol working on everything.

Do you have any shampoo/conditioner recommendations? I live in Canada if thats relevant.

Autoglym seems like it would ruin the hair. Although others say its just fine. I did realise when I debonded the first time that letting the entire piece (hair included) in alchohol probably wasnt a good move. When I removed it from the bowl, the alchohol seemed to drain some color from the piece into the liquid. So that was probably bad. Maybe cotten swabs with alchohol to rub the glue off next time?

I am familiar with Got2B as i used to use it for styling back in the days of having more hair. I understand it can only be used as a temporary bond. But I have only seen examples of people recommending it for poly or thin skin. Have you ever used GOT2B on lace? or are you just guessing? If anyone reading could confirm, thatd be great.

Yeah, I am trying to keep a positive attitude, because I suppose I did have a mental freak-out on my first night at like 4 am coming back from the bars. I guess it was my first time, and I was not sure how noticeable it would be, especially with bar/dance floor lighting... So it was an anxious couple of hours during, then later I contemplated going fully bald since I had my shaver charged. But ultimately, after a good night's sleep I realised I look way better now than ever so I will keep at it and only move forward towards getting a look I am more and more confident it.




Quick question: Is it better to shave with a blade or cuz down to a 0-1mm? Buzzing is easier, but I wonder if it makes taped weaker...? That would make sense to me. While I have read the inverse when it comes to glues (stubble giving a stronger bond).



Anyway, cheers. Looking forward to my next post.
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BONUS:

- Before pics to design template: http://imgur.com/a/6Jl1s
- Baseline pics before starting Minoxidil: http://imgur.com/a/NLsq3
- % months Minoxidil progress: http://imgur.com/a/hiqpR
- 1st (partial) template design: http://imgur.com/a/5JW8I
- First cut-in (flattering photos only):http://imgur.com/a/WaA7K
- Album highlighting detectable features of my partial: [coming soon]

Hi .... Just a few pointers you may find of help ......in relation to Ghost-bond adhesive.....I think that they have their own specific solvent to break it down fully .....I don`t think the ` normal` alcohol glue-melters are very effective against it ..... I`d imagine the Citrus-based solvents such as C-22, De-solv it etc might be more effective [less time -consuming] than trying to bust it with alcohol/s.
Alcohol is very drying on hair ....soaking hair in it is far from advisable..... I don`t even spray lace-release [Alcohol] from the original pump-action bottle..... I use an eye / ear dropper to apply it directly onto the lace ` above` the glue/tape ....the less of it that gets onto the hair the better I like it .....be patient with it....allow it time to work before trying to lift the lace free of the glue or tape/s ...if you feel resistance, just apply some more and wait ...it the bond will break and you can easily lift the system free of your head .
L`oreal shampoo /conditioner for colored hair is gentle enough, if you have no system-specific shampoo / conditioner to hand .....
You can use Got2bglued with a lace system with no issues at all ...just stand in the shower and allow the water to penetrate the lace ..this will break the bond, though sometimes some areas are pretty well stuck on and you [again] just need to be patient and allow the water to soak in, before removing the system.....you may notice white ` staining` on the lace from it .....just hold it under the running water inverted [lace-side up] ..` crease` the area affected, between the thumb and first finger ..then ` roll` or knead the area between the finger / thumb ....this will generally remove the white` stain` .......Got2b is great when you`re in a hurry .... the bond isn`t long-term and is affected by moisture such as profuse sweating or if you get caught out in really heavy rain ..however, in such situations, once you cool down or blot-dry the hair [after rain] the bond will return to ` good` again --- is far faster than applying ` normal `glues, where time is needed ... at least two layers of glue are normally required as a minimum, and you should usually allow 15 minutes drying-time, at least, between layers [including the final layer before sitting your system on]
Soaking the entire system [hair as well ] in Autoglym is fine ..doesn`t seem to affect the hair negatively at all.
Dryness is the main enemy of system hair ..anything you can do to keep it ` moist` is good .... I spritz daily with water and add a few darts of leave-in conditioner... frequent shampooing and sun-exposure will lift the colour and oxidise /dry the hair out .....in the case of toppers, this can lead to an obvious color -difference between your system and growing hair so go easy with the shampooings !!

Your hair looks great!

About Got2BeGlued, I use it on my lace, and I would recommend to any first-timer, or anyone for that matter, try it to see if it works for them. I was(an still am at times when I want to go that long) able to get a 3 week hold with it when I first was testing out wearing, and I ride bike all the time; and it hasn't fallen off yet. Near the end the back tends to lift first, and that's how I know it's time to reattach. But as Paul has said, you just jump in the shower and wash it off.
I imagine it works different on different people, but it is worth a try to see if it works well for you. I started with Got2BeGlued and I have never had to do a mirror slide, use alcohol, or any of that stuff. I love it.