Hi - I only get three weeks out of hair piece. I have taken note of every tip on this forum and it now means that I have a perfectly clean lace after three weeks. I take it off once a week and use gel/wax everyday. However, these gels and waxes really build up and I have to place it in a soda bath after 3 weeks for 4 hours in order to get all the build up out. However, this means that the colour which will already have faded after each attachment fades too much and even though I have a perfectly clean system with soft hair and very little hairloss I still have to have it professionally coloured. I swim at least three times a week but its a hotel pool and there isn't that much chlorine in the water in comparison to the local public pool and I wear a silicone swim cap that keeps most of my hair dry. I wash my hair under the cold shower after each swim and don't use shampoo as I'm afraid that that would fade it further. I would really appreciate any help from you guys - I tried back to naural but the dark blonde was too light - only used it once maybe with further applications of this colour it would darken it further? and the light brown was too dark.

Best Wishes

Dan

I always recommend not washing the piece more than once or possibly twice a week.
Also cut down on the gels and waxes as soaking the piece for long periods of time will obviously shorten its life span.

I know this is a longshot but what are the chances of swimming one of those days bald, in between attachments? A bandana or hat on the way to the pool? Chlorine wreaks havoc on a piece. Just a thought

Heres my thoughts................
Talk to BA and get a special swimming only hair unit.If you use a lace unit,get some knot sealer from Debbie,
this product works great.Good luck and watch out for sharks.

I have to juggle my colour as I cannot find an exact match. Perhaps you could mix the 2 colours, half & half ... then adjust the percentages of each the next time until it was as close as poss?

So the problem is just the color? I think it's soaking it in the soda bath for those 4 hours that's fading the piece so fast. If the problem is just the color, then perhaps you should just experiment with different hair dyes that would get the color you desire. Buy a dye color you like and dye both the piece AND your real hair.

I hate to advise you to stop showering or swimming, since I know these things don't really dramatically affect the piece (at least not in my experience). I showered EVERY DAY and shampooed my piece every day. The piece lasted 6 months for me.

So in summary, don't really have to change your lifestyle. Just fix the problem at hand (the color).

Leamon

I like Mean Dean's idea, a scrappy piece you wear to the pool, put on the cap, afterwards hit the shower and there you have it.

The only thing is you need to do full attachemnts back and forth between the two pieces. What is the base on the real piece? Are you a comb down or are you an exposed hairline kinda wearer?

Wearers with skin bases who use tape can swap out real easy.

Lastly there was a product a long time ago that I still use occasionally - you would have to do a search in the archives as to where to find it - Sabino Hair Solutions Moisture Block. Use it sparingly. I bouhgt 3 bottles of the stuff - enough to last 10 years.

Hi - thank you all for your responsese
I use a system with poly around the sides with a 1/4 french lace a the front.

I use supertape so taking it on and off more than once a week would be hard on the hair and my skin as I have to spray the supertape on the poly with adhesive remover in order to get the tape off.

I tried mixing a wella semi pernament hair dye 50% dark blonde and 50% light brown but this resulted in red tones through the hair - not a good look for a 31 year old man.

I tried putting an ash medium blonde dye through it afterwards and while it did tone down the red considerably it was still noticable.

Any other ideas greatly appreciated.

Best Wishes

Dan

thats weird how it fades so fast. especially from the factory! once in a while i come across a piece that fades a little faster than normal..

and on top of that.. it seems you have a super complicated regiment for cleaning systems.

im not sure what some of the people on this forum go to such great lengths in maintenance but if you use the st30 or the supertape.. you should have to reattach once every 7 days -- i dont care what physical activities you are doing.. you should almost never have to worry about mirror slides, sticky hair, etc, etc and it seems there are several people that even with these strong tapes only last 4 days.. but even 4 days is not that bad..

the hair product build up-- wash it out --

i wash my piece every single day with shampoo -- and condition 3-4x a week.
unless you spend 30 mins in the shower, the washing of the piece should not weaken the tape that much.
plus i blow dry it every single time i come out of the shower.. and no issues..
i was in the ocean today for approx 2 hours with heavy waves and i came home and took a shower and still the bond was pretty damn tight.. the only thing i can suggest that i have noticed is that when you do get the tape wet for an extended period of time.. you should wait till the tape drys out before you go nuts combing it again.. i have noticed that the tape will get a little weaker when its wet for an extended period of time but once it drys its back to normal..

also.. for the coloring issue, take all your old pieces, and one by one --get the clairol balsam colors and find the one thats close to your color.. for example to match a #3 -- all i do is take the number 614 comb it into my piece for 10 mins and the color is back to a perfect match.. some pieces the hair takes the color quicker than others -- so its best alot of times to do it for 5-7 min at a shot and then rinse and check it.. obv if i leave it in there too long it gets tooo dark but you have to try out a few numbers to find the right match and the right time to keep it in..

my best suggestion with this is to get a slighly darker color than you might think u need and leave it in for 5-7 min at a time until its dark enough for your real hair.. then once you know the number and time you are set.

-dom

Hi - this morning I took off my good piece before swimming. I then retaped it after I got back - only prob is I go swimming 3 times a week and this will cost a lot on tape methinks.

Hey Dom - thanks for your reply - do you wash your hair every day in cold water with shampoo? What shampoo and conditioner do you use? Any of them that I use seem to fade the hair.

Best Wishes

Dan