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]