Hey guys,

I have been preparing the step to wearing for a while now, although my thinning isn't that extreme yet. However, I'm really conscious about the problem most of the time and it kinda ruins my life. Also, we all know that baldness is a progressive phenomenon and by simply looking at my dad's head, I know what expects me. That being said, I think it is wise to take the step rather sooner than later so that the change isn't noticeable and no one realizes.

The pictures I attach show IMO that there is a really big difference in appearance between normal and bad hair days. So it's more on bad hair days that I feel really terrible about my hair. (just fyi: I've never used concealers, all pics are just my natural hair)

Okay, here are my questions that I'd really love to have your input to:

1. Until very recently, I thought about starting with a front partial replacing my thinned out hairline going not further than some 2.5 inches into the back to get the hang of it and see whether wearing is an acceptable solution for me. Then I took the below picture showing how thin my crown already looks on bad days. Ever since I think I have to go for a full topper immediately to prevent creating a really obvious contrast. What do you guys think? Is it much more difficult to start with a topper right away? I do need one, not just some frontal replacement, don't I?

2. As a totally inexperienced user, I'd say given the curliness of my hair, I should order a body wave, correct? Although my hair gets quite curly when getting longer, this is about as long as I grow it anyways. And when I see the curliness of Paul's piece who ordered body wave as well, that seems to be even more than I need.

3. Which style should I order provided I don't want to change much about my hairstyle? Freestyle or something else?

4. Could someone of you take the picture showing the top of my head and draw in the area I should shave and replace? I think my thinning is limited to the hairline and the parting area. At the sides and also at the sides of the top, if you get what I mean, I still have ever so thick hair!

5. Fifth and last question would be about color: During summer, my hair usually gets a lot more blonde then it looks on the pictures. Does the piece hair change brightens as well due to the sunlight or will I get a mess when ordering my current hair color and then seeing a brightening in my natural hair?

I'm really curious about your comments, please help me to take this step as you have done in so many cases before. I'm really in deep psychological trouble because of the way I look (or would look without hair). And before anyone tells me to go see a therapist, doin' that already!

Thanks a lot in advance to all of you! From what I've read so far on this forum, you're a great community!

Hey miou, welcome along. I can see this thread leading to some differing opinions....all to the good. I think you sound like you don`t want to go the concealer route to buy yourself another bit of time? They have their `place` but they can be messy and you eventually have to make the leap into wearing or go with the shaved look. It`s a bit late here at the moment so I`ll keep this brief for now... one of the other forum -contributors may `lift` a pic and draw a marking for you, if not I`ll do one tomorrow..... system hair will oxidise over time from washing and particularly with sun-exposure, so colour -fade will occur but shouldn`t be too drastically noticeable with your particular colour I`d say. With the way your hair lies/falls, you`ll have no trouble getting a system to blend in easily...bodywave should be fine for you [the pics of one of my toppers you mentioned, was indeed a bit curly but bodywave is not normally curly to that degree ] If I was you, I`d go for a topper from the word go.... with the amount of thinning going on at the crown, there`s not much point in only going for a front partial in my opinion....you`d still be `conscious`of the area behind the partial..mght as well just solve your whole issue in one go. Many guys find Freestyle very easy to work with as a `starter` to ease into this game ...looking at your hair, a freestyle would be very easy to work with or order forward -from -crown and get it spiked-up a bit at the front..... I`ll shut up on it for now and look forward to opinions from others being posted.. hairloss affects us all in different ways, but no point in stressing too much over it either....a decent system /cut-in, can /will make a huge difference. Cheers for now.

This is the area which needs to be covered--it`s relatively small at the moment, so you won`t need a large template/system..... the red circle is the your crown-point...you won`t need to mark one one your template if you`re going for a Freestyle, however if you go with `Forward-from-crown`, it would be best to mark it on the template, as there is / will be, a specific change of hair-direction at that point [sending those pics with your order will help the makers] In relation to your hair-colour, I neglected to suggest in the previous reply, that you could easily add a little colour to your growing hair if it lightens, just to darken it down a little...it`s far easier [ less of a hassle] than having to colour system-hair.....just a suggestion for `down the road`.
Just locate/mark your front hairline as accurately as you can but don`t `sweat`too much over it..templates don`t need to be accurate to the nearest millimetre.... it`s simply a representation of the area requiring coverage and the shape of the skull over that area, for a good fit.Mark the words `Front`and `Back` on it also. Here are a few links which should help with your template:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_qu...cg9Qn8TH70

Thank you very much for your effort, Paul. I already got a template and will do another one tomorrow. I will double check with your drawing whether I cover the right surface size. Once I'm done with that, I guess I have to cut off a hair sample to put it in into the order package. Thanks also for your advice on ventilation.

Yet, I've got some more questions to fire at you (and of course the whole community but right now it looks as if it is just the two of us posting here):

Where do you guys get the cut-in and the regular cutting of your remaining natural hair? I've heard someone saying that a normal hairdresser won't be eager to do it because of the "if you cut it wrong, there wont be no growing back"-problem. And salons where they sell their own systems certainly arent interested in serving an online-customer they cant make money on.

Next thing would be the question of density. I used to have crazily dense hair and still have it at the sides of course. I have thick and slightly curly hair, so I think I have to (and can safely do so) go for a high density. Maybe 65 %? I have no experience with densities at all and really need your input on that. Remember that I have quite a bit of my own hair remaining, so there wont be any big noticeable change in appearance anyways.

I think that's it so far. Thanks again in advance for any help!

*Taken from another forum but very good advice*
Just go to yellowpages.com and type in "hair replacement" and then enter your city and state in the other column. A lot of options come up depending on where you are at, but you can weed through them by looking at the description and picking some out that look worth calling. I would just ask if they will cut in a piece that was ordered online and how much it would be. Regards

miou I wear a topper, or partial,
and can state 100% they are fantastic,
you’re definitely taking the right course of action,
preparing for what the future is likely to hold in ample time.
You could get away with concealers for a while, like I did your choice, at this early stage.

I was never totally happy using concealers, especially at the end when my hair was very sparse
And I didn’t have the density concealers were intended for,
I’d spend hours some washdays styling restyling,and after all that was never happy with what I saw.
Which devastated me , so much effort for less than desirable results.

Great thing about hair system you put in a little dedicated effort few times a week.
And they pay you back with bloody wonderful looking hair ,
And NO COMPRIMISING ON STYLE.

What’s best about wearing, it solves a major cause of depression, anxiety, that’s always there,
Some people don’t care about losing their hair and shave off the remaining
For others it’s a major concern, were all different,

I’ve got no regrets at all in wearing,
Except for doing a full debond every 3 weeks,
But I recon it’s not everyone’s favourite job,(and it aint rocket science”)
Once you get into a good de/re bonding routine that works, stick to it.
And don’t introduce anything new into it without good reason.
Hairline touch ups are a breeze,

Start wearing start living
ANTY

Maybe there should be a newbie thread section so all newbies can post under the same thread?

That's a great idea sagem. Then they'd see loads of near identical thread headings & the constant same advice given time after time after time after.......etc. Regards

Anyone on the topic of density and the hairdresser question (see under post #4)???

Anty, your front looks really dense (but I think you absolutely get away with it) though (as far as I remember) you're in your 40s, right? Could you tell me what you order? Is that a 65 % without graduated hairline? I need some orientation for my first order!!!

Thanks in advance!

MattNH "That's a great idea sagem. Then they'd see loads of near identical thread headings & the constant same advice given time after time after time after.......etc. Regards "

@Matt That made me smile!

@Miou, Can't help you on density, but I would recommend a front ventilation of upwards lift, to conform to how you currently wear your hair.
When you talk about 'good' & 'bad' hair days, I do know what you mean, but from your pictures, it looks more a case of good & bad lighting.

You really do have a considerable amount of hair left. Using a good quality concealer on your crown area would make it look like it does in pics #3 & #4.
I actually preferred your idea of starting out with just a front partial.
But obviously, the decision is yours.
Good luck.