Hello all,

As the title so subtly suggests (not really), I am a newbie who needs a bit of help with hair replacement. But I'll provide a bit of background information first.

I have a diffuse sort of thinning going on. It's more severe in certain areas of my head (mostly the frontal area, the top area, and to a noticable extent, the crown). My hair is jet black and my skin it kind of light (though the top of my head is a bit tanned... ), so the thinning is very noticable. I'm not really bald in a particular area either, but I can imagine reaching that point in a couple of years.

I'm looking into hair systems as a solution, and toplace has good credentials. However, I'm not really sure what to order for my particular needs. I definitely do not have the head shape to pull off shaving, and I can still pull off looking like I've got hair with a hat on, so I don't want to shave my head and totally depend on the system to get by in everyday life.

I went to a local hair replacement expert to ask for her opinion, and she said that since I don't want to shave, I could go with clips. Also, since I still have a hairline (though thinning in the front), she said that she wanted to use my hairline hair along with the system. I'm not really sure how that would work, since to my knowledge, if it's not clipped on, the system is glued/taped to secure the piece onto the head (especially the frontal area). And if that were the case, I don't know how she would plan on using my real hairline hair to make the overall appearance look good.

Is there a way to integrate one's real hair with hair system hair for the frontal area? If there is, how would it work? I know there are integration bases, but those seem too wide and noticable to use for the frontal area (and I don't see them on the toplace system base section of the site). I don't know how the taping process works for the frontal hairline, but I would think that I'd have to place tape on top of my frontal hair follicles to keep the system on/behind my real hairline (which wouldn't really be using my hairline if the tape is going on top of it).

I suppose my real question is, what is the best way for me to achieve a realistic look with these considerations? Again, I'd prefer not to shave my hair if possible. I've seen on other websites where people with similar balding patterns as myself have used clips for the side and a partial piece to cover the affected areas, but rely on the system's bangs to cover up the front (which I don't mind, since I used to have my hair with some bangs in the front anyway). I've also heard a member of this forum mention getting full caps too (would that require shaving the head?).

Here is a link for visual references. My hair is sort of like a mix of II-2 and frontal.
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Any feedback would be appreciated.