Hey all

Gonna order a toppie but would like to know what users think are the advantages and disadvantages of ordering a base with or without poly on back and sides. I can only assume that the poly makes life easier, but by much? And is there a downside? Thanks in advance for your comments and experience with both.

My best regards

Jon

the poly bonds strong and long...meaning you can put glue on the poly and on your scalp and get a good, cemented bond that will last a long time. then you can simply lift up the front, clean it and wear for another week or so. so poly does have its advantages. the disadvantages are that the poly makes the system a bit more detectible to touch.
DebbieS.

What is the best tape for hold and cleanup on Poly? I may try that since I have a 70% density. Will Poly hold better than french lace with supertape?

I have both poly and thin skin.

I wouldn't suggest any strong tapes/glues on poly as cleaning is kind of a hassle. Guess it also depends on how much you sweat and how long it stays on your scalp. For poly units, I cut the tapes (all tapes are invisible since it is under the poly) into small pieces and attach to different corners (one at the front, two on the temple sides, one long strip in the mid-section, one small piece on the left and one of the right and you may want to use one whole strip on the back so that they hold better) and then apply glue across the front. First day may not be strong but it gets stronger each day since we perspire and the oil sebum strengthens the poly (it really sucks on your scalp). I remove it every two days otherwise my scalp will get freaking irritated, especially when I am asleep because the tapes do break down.

For thin skin, it is much easier to clean up and it holds as well as poly (can be stretched too) but more fragile (got to handle carefully). I work out a lot and I do not keep it on for longer than two days.

Thin skin with injected knots are extremely natural but "screeching" sound (when you scratch your scalp) is a bit different from our real scalp (lace sounds the same). To the touch, lace is better but you can't remove as and when you feel like, especially those whose scalp gets irritated easily.

Just my personal preferences and opinions ;-)

Greenery

A poly edge allows you to easily tape and remove the tape without worrying at all about pulling out hair from the base.

The poly edge will also hold its shape better, so if your custom piece fit is right on, the attachement process is a little easier.

greenery how realistic is the hairline.. and how well does the base of very thin skin merge with ur skin... can u tell the difference in texture of the base and skin by looks ... dont care about touching at this moment... can u share some pics? in sunlight maybe

Hi Goodluck,

To me, both poly and thin skin produce pretty natural hairline. The only issue with thin skin is that I will not be able to expose too much of front hairline as opposed to poly. I guess it's because the thin skin units I have were ventilated forward while poly units looked more like freestyle (have no problem showing full front hairline at all). Again, if you want to expose hairline with either poly or thin skin the density should not be lower than 65%. Additionally, you may want to trim the base in such a way that it looks uneven (not a straight line) and leaves no extra base (that's what I did. Unless you handle with care and do not tear the front or you risk the chance of discarding the entire unit. Always take good care of your front base and leave additional base on the back so that you can move your front base slightly further in case it frays at the front) which give a better and natural look.

Poly looks whiter whereas thin skin is lighter but both look just like your own scalp. Of course, it depends on your skin tone and how much you would like to show your scalp and front hairline. Poly is more durable and thin skin is real thin which needs to be fully released with either 91% or 99% alcohol (depends on what type of glues/tapes you use and your body chemistry - to what extent it breaks down the adhesives). For poly, I have no problem removing the tapes by lifting (sort of pulling gently) but not thin skin (has to be fully released).

Thin skin is more comfortable than poly but you can always remove and re-attach it (with/without glue) any time you wish to (it takes me less than 5 mins to remove and re-attach). You may want to stock up on either poly or thin skin for winter.

You can always get one unit of poly and a thin skin at different densities/ventilation (check with either BA or John) so that you know which one works better. From there, you can get a custom-made unit. Alternatively, for easy attachment and removal (very natural hairline and undetectable, not to the touch though) go for all french lace at the front and poly/thin skin perimeter on the sides and back.

Good luck to you, Goodluck

ok so i was thinking of ordering one very thin skin with the injected hair

62% density and 5%less on the front...

i am olive skin i have seen a very thin skin one and the dark hair u can see the looped line... so i have a question
can i order blonde and then later colour it to match my onw hair ... this way the looped hair the part thats inside the skin stays blond but hair on above is colour.... ...because i have never used colour... will the colour be able to colour the base?the material ....or the next idea i have is that bleach teh system from underneath because the hair from the botton is exposed to air...

what would u suggest ?

also...why did u say that density shouldnt be less then 65? dont u think lesser density will result in more realistic hairline?

can u please upload a pic of yours?

The piece I'm wearing is 100% lace, but I miss my usual poly permineter, because for me, it's quite a hassle to peel the tape off the the base without pulling out lots of hair. Even with 99% alcohol, it takes quite some time and lots of alcohol to break the bond and I want my routine to be as fast as possible. The best compromise in my opinion is a PSB perimeter. It's very thin, and very durable. You grab the tape, peel it off the psb material, it takes 30 seconds, and not a single hair is lost.

Front lace and PSB perimeter : the best combo

Regards !!!

Hi Good Luck,

I personally think that getting the original hair color (#22, I guess) and then dye it to your desired color is a good idea. Just be extra careful when you dye your hair because if you accidentally stain your base it may turn purple. I doubt the "color block" works on poly or skin base (only on lace). You got to check with Debbie. The color block is very good for coloring your system without having to worry about staining the lace (still got to be careful). Alternatively, check with BA or John and see if it is possible to have bleached knots for injected thin skin unit as someone posted here saying Toplace could do that (don't quote me, though).

Lower density is definitely more natural but I was trying to tell you that higher density will be easier to hide the base. It all depends on how the base is cut and the hair is styled. Also, your features (especially eyebrows), the way you project yourself, your image (clothing wise), hair on the back and sides (thin or thick), should be taken into consideration.