Have y'all ever gotten a system and tried to play with it before your cut-in?

Right now mine is basically this giant ball of semi-wavy hair... it's pretty much impossible to put on my head and see what it's going to look like when it's done. I even tried taping it down a bit to check it out, but no dice.

The front hairline seems super thick too, but... again, it's a mop right now, can't tell.

Has this ever freaked any of you out? Any advice on how to play with it before a cut-in?

Thanks!