I gotta say, in all my years of wearing, i've been pretty content with my hairpieces and really happy with the outcomes, however, in the last few weeks ive just been soo blown away all over again..at how amazing these things can be and make such a major difference to how you look.

I gotta be honest, in my opinion, to be happy at wearing hair and baring everything else that goes with it, to be happy for the long term, you really need figure out how to do things for yourself.

The most major thing is the cutting in and the style you maintain. Unbleached knots and all those small things that go with it i believe for the most part arent really issues, unless your paranoid. but the main issue is having it cut well and styled. IMHO most 'stylists' are useless, and there are some good ones out there who can and do good cut ins HOWEVER, i still believe stylists are a VERY small part in all this. Essentially they are useless, when it comes to being practical.

Lets be practical. You wear a new peice, get it cut in, lets assume its a good cut and your happy. Then you go home. OVer the next few days and weeks and indeed months, THAT WIG WILL CHANGE. Stylists cant do anything for you. The hair sheds, the lace frays, you dont always attach at the same position so what was a 'good' attachment last week, may not be this week. Sides might be thin, then there is styling, a very very important thing u want, if u want to look natural AND good.

When it comes down to it, YOU need to find out what adhesive is best for you, your best way of attaching, always have hair clippers at home so you can adjust your cut in after the so called stylist has cut it in, cos i tell you, alot of them leave it too long, or 1 side just looks wrong or whatever reason, stylists for the main part are useless. YOU need to be on the ball and adjust how u like it as the weeks and months go on, because the characteristics of the wig will change!

Unless you can handle doing this, people wont be happy in the long term for wearing, they will feel frustrated and give up.

Ordering the right specs isnt even as important as the cut in and following weeks of self adjustment and style, IMHO.

SO any newbie who is serious about wearing hair, being happy and looking good, you need to approach this thing with the right attitude and frame of mind. Prepare for war. You can't have the attitude of you'll give it a go and if it doesnt work out, then you'll ditch it. That self doubt will tear you apart from within and youll soon be defeated.

Do it right. Read the old forum like its your new bible. LEarn to do everything for yourself, especially how to cut it in, adjusting the sides etc with electric clippers. Choose a style you like. Give it everything you got, and most likely, you'll be blown away with the results, and your efforts would have paid off immensely.

PATIENCE PATIENCE AND MORE PATIENCE!

Sam

I'm planning to start wearing very soon so this post was a bit sobering for me. I'm trying not to have any grand illusions that it will be easy in the beginning.
Here is kind of a general question for everyone: How long would you say it takes to get "efficient", or even good, at attaching/removing the piece on your own?? Thats something I've been worried about.

How long would you say it takes to get "efficient", or even good, at attaching/removing the piece on your own??

To be honest, different people tend to pick things up faster than others. Having said that, its not rocket science. It could take a few weeks to a few months. You really should read the old forum, as much as possible. IT has everything you need and 1000 times more. By all means ask away, though to be honest, the real, practical learning will come with your own trial and errors. These suckers can and do look really amazing, but it mainly looks amazing from your own tweaking styling. Cant rely on anyone else. thats MHO.

Sam

First of all, knots at your hairline is not a "small" issue. C'mon, if you plan on showing your hairline it should look real. If it doesn't it doesn't make you "paranoid".

Secondly, in regards to stylists, just go in to a nice high-end salon (or mid level) and get your hair cut by a professional stylist. What's the problem? I agree with you that the cut/style is the most important thing (assuming your color is a match). I also agree that the "hair replacement" styslists for the most part suck as we hear so many bad stories. That's why I don't go to one. I go to a real hair stylist. You think a pro stylist won't know how to blend your hair? That's ridiculous.

If you want to do it right and look your best, attach your piece well (as well as you can so the hairline is glued nicely and everything looks decent), and then cut a few inches off the hair so it's not crazy looking, slick it forward or back and walk into a salon and tell them you want their best men's stylist to cut your hair. Then you sit down and tell that person it's a wig and what kind of style you want and let them do what they do. Another option is the robo cutter. Which option do you think will have you looking the best? lol

Take the stress of cutting your own hair and just have a good stylist do it, in a real salon, and don't be afraid to tell them it's a wig. There's nothing to be embarrased about. Of course, it takes about a week for a piece to settle in IMO. Right after the cut it can be a bit poofy and unmanagable, but that goes away quickly and that's when things really start looking good.

Not guilty mate,

It's not as simple and cut and dry as you make it sound. Ｉ stand by everything i said.

And hands down the best consistently looking pieces are the ones which the people spend some time to learn how to cut it themselves, or at the least get a basic cut at a salon then go home to tweak with robo cutter etc. Those are hands down the best results, and i suspect those people are the happiest in the long term.

With regards to unbleached knots. I have ordered so many pieces, and i think only 2 of them had not so good knots. thats it.

I suspect there are quite a few people who wear and are somewhat unhappy, simply because they are unable to get consistently good results, and the main problem is their lack of ability to control the hairpiece. Thats where self tweaking, ESPECIALLY blending and styling yourself, is so important.

If your happy with your salon cut, thats great. As the weeks go on, the hairpiece changes in a few ways, and if you dont know how to deal with it, thats when u start getting frustrated.

Salons cant do anything for you at that point.

Sam

Sester!! I agree with everything you said...I have my hair cut in by a hair replacement stylist...But you have to follow them every cut they make...a lot of times they say...I think the front needs more off...you have to flat at tell them NO!!!!...this is what I want...this looks good to me!!! I can deal with this...then when I get home...it is cut to a least a style that I can go and and tweak to what she or he didn't get right...Have you ever had them do it their way????..WhoAAAAAAA and when you left you said to your self...I don't want to see anybody...I can't wait to get home and redo how they styled it...the bottom line is don't let them cut until you want them to cut where and when you are watching... Don't assume they know what is best for you...Again to your post I totally agree with your assestment...You have to do it yourself or watch every move and cut they make...They are not wearing the unit...YOU are...And go with your gut feeling about how you want your hair and what you are comfortable with....Not theirs. otherwise you will be extremely unhappy wearing...again Sester you are right on!!!. Cheers

RoboCut + thinning shears = all you need

I've been using the same RoboCut now for nearly 4 years and have had no problems, and my style is consistent and I keep getting better at styling it. I also will adjust the cut after 1 week or a few months if necessary.

I don't care what you stand behind, you aren't going to convince me that a you and your robocutter can produce a better cut than a professional stylist. And no, I'm not talking about "hair replacement stylists" - don't you guys read? I'm talking about real salons.

As far as your comment about tweaking/blending as your real hair grows, well that's when I go back to the salon for a haircut just like I did when I had hair. I go once a month just like I used to. Again, your argument doesn't hold water against going to a good hair stylist. If you got the balls to got to a REAL salon you will be much better off than your robocutter and ten mirrors. Now, if you are too embarrased about going to a salon and must do it yourself, then I agree with what you said lol. If you have to do it yourself you have to do it yourself, which is your point.... i think . My point is you don't have to cut your hair yourself. Leave that to the pros.


Anyway, that's my advice. Go to a real stylist and go to them once a month like you used to when you had hair. Treat it no differently. Then all you have to worry about is getting good at attaching and detaching, cleaning, and all the other stuff. There's a lot of skills you have to attain to get good at this, don't add cutting your own hair on top of everything else. Buck up and walk into a salon and have one less thing (a big thing!) to worry about.

What is being said about learning how to cur and tweak in a new hairpiece is true. Yes, you can go to a good stylist, one that has been a good result for you but the FACT is, that does NOT happen very often for most of us!. Wearing hair and how you want it to look can ONLY be determined by yourself. I had a good cut in yesterday, but this hairpiece behaves slightly different from the one before. so I came home and RE-CUT most of it to my liking and from y many years of experience, I know that with my hairstyle, i need to leave my back a little long and razor blend it in. No stylist understands this. If I go to a stylist, I have to dictate almost every cut and thats not always possible. I have had things done taht from a styling point of view, makes sence but from a hairpiece point of view does not. Example, if there is an area that is too thick or too havy, they chop away with thinning shears and have alwasy cur too close to the roots and then I have a porcupine effect going on. The hair pieces if fuller and poory when new, taking that into consideration, I know how to cut BETTER than they can....

I do agree that if you are new to this, get a solor who has ex[erience with cutting in hairpieces and have it cut a little on the long side so you can deciede what is the best length for YOU!

After using the robocut for about 3 years, I recently started going to a mid to high end salon for cuts and I can definitely see am improvement after letting a professional cut it. Generally speaking some of this may be due to varying abilities of us wearers to cut and style hair but I have to believe that a professional with a pair of professional hair cutting scissors does a much better job than the robocut blades which after quickly getting dull will stretch and tear the hair. There is no way the robocut can produce as good a cut.
I also emailed the salon some mens hairstyle pics to show them what I wanted and had no problems.
When cut with a robocut or thinning shears the hair doesn't move as naturally when blown by the wind because it has that frayed look like the frayed ends of a rope is the best way i can describe it. Whereas cut with good quality scissors the hair moves amd lays better.