Some time ago, I was going to go for a topper, but due to slight colour difference, I was advised against it.

Now I think about it again, but I remember seeing my cut-in stylist (one of the very best in the country), who is also a topper wearer, and his piece looked... well, questionable. Even before he told me he wore, I though his hairline looked unnatural. Afterwards, he even lifted it to show me it was a piece.

He also told me I should forget about making a piece look natural, nearly undetectable or at least unquestionable. This coming from him, and seeing as even he - a well-recommended (here, on this forum) cut-in stylist - wears something so unnatural, doesn't boost my confidence in the whole idea.

Sure, I've seen some hairline photos here that were really impressive, but these were photos, often unfocused, or in certain light. What I saw presented by an expert in real life was nowhere near as good.

So from your experience, what do you think about it?

Val,

I have been wearing units for 31 years and yes, you can have a natural looking unit. I must also qualify that answer as some people are extremely observant and might spot something wrong with your look but won't actually know what it is. Most people will however never even suspect, and I have had some cr@ppy units in my life! I am very critical and can spot most units, but so can most wearers (don't fret about that).

There are a few things you must do though, and most of it is not hard work (as you asked). The first step is to order correctly. Don't order a unit that has too much hair and don't order too dark a color. Those are the first two things that will give it away. My units are darker around the edges and lighter in color on top. Highlights (or lowlights) and selective gray in certain areas do wonders.

Then you must get a very good stylist and select a hairstyle that suite your face and age and one that you can easily manage. Most of the hair from my units cover my own hair anyway and if you order the correct color and the cut is done properly, you won't notice a line. Very few people get to see the back of your head closeup anyway. The importance of a good stylist can't be overstressed!

Don't wear a unit for too long as they lose hair and will fade in color. I am very hard on a unit as I wear it 24/7 and shower, gym, sleep etc in it. I wear mine for a month at a time and normally only get three months maximum out of a unit. Use the correct shampoo and conditioner and make sure your water is soft. Wear a hat or something if you go out in the sun a lot as it is really hard on a unit.

I am aiming to have 6 units per year, I can afford it at this stage of my life. My goal is to actually have 12 per year. I have ordered my first Toplace unit and will order a few more with different bases and maybe even a stock unit or two as standby. It might take me a year or so but I will eventually get the right combinations, then after that it's plain sailing. After all these years of wearing I am still excited and very happy that I found TL.

Some people are just not made to wear units, some are great at it. I have achieved way more in life by wearing than what I would have if I was not. It's a great confidence booster and adds greatly to one's image. You also look younger and more vibrant. Even with the ladies, and here I am not going to elaborate...................you will just have to take my word for it!!

If you don't wear then verybody will spot that you are bald but if you do wear a great unit, less than 1% of people you meet will even wonder.

For me there is no question.

To be frank if his piece looked bad and he told you to forget about making a piece look natural and nearly undetectable then he was certainly not the best in the country. What country are you in?

If you have good side hair and wear a modern age apprproate style with the hairline covered or partly covered it is super easy to get it to look completely natural. If you get good at hairline attachments you can get a really good looking fully exposed hairline style too. I wear both, depending on how great I've done the hairline. I've been with my fiance for 3 years and living together for about half that time nd she does not know I wear! She thinks I color it regularly and cut it every week and that explains why it never gets much longer or shorter and why when I get a new piece it looks slightly different. But I cut it in myself and cut my natural hair every 3 days and have it down to a routine.

If you're lucky enough to have good side hair a topper can look amazing with a good cut in and regular cuts of your own hair (just buzz the back and sides every few days with the same length guard each time while wearing the topper). If your side hair is not so great you can get a full cap although I personally have never seen a really natural looking fullcap.

It can look completely nautral and change your life for the better. It just takes effort.

Troll.

How exactely could one "lift the piece" to show you it was a hairpiece. And what sort of "best in the country" professional wears a lame piece and then fights his own best interest by telling prospective clients that their own profession is essentially bogus. I call rubbish on this entire post. Unless of course this supposed scenario happened 25 years ago or in some third world country.

Hairenough, thanks for your encouragement.

This was last summer in the UK and the stylist is one of the two main stylists who regularly attends meetings (as well as the other US company's summits - and he has the same opinion of pieces from either) to do cut-ins. He was also one of the two most recommended British stylist on this forum.

My sides are good, but I don't want to keep it short (like few mm) because it looks too rough to me. I would go for permanent 1-2 cm sides.

Your story is certainly giving me hope (life and hair type similarities). Using concealer limits my life, and gets less and less unnoticeable, but I did not want to go for something the stylist so clearly dis-advised me on, against his own business interest.

Amstat - you call, you lose.

i wear a parial unit , "topper"
and its transformed me,
hair loss was devistating to me,i used concealers for around 7 years,
at he end of 7 years there was more concealer than hair,i was so deppressed,
woudnt go out , felt worthless ect,
wearing has changed my life for the better i will hammer that message home whenever i can,
as for the topper blending issue,they have the potential to look awesome,
give someone a partial unit , even the best, how they place it, bond it , ect will all have a bearing on how it looks, its may not be the unit but the wearers level of expertise,

for me , i never thought id wear,
but hell here i am with the clock turned back,

i just wish i could help out more folk in my position,
i see females with thining hair,forms of alopecia ect,
and would love to say , hey i can take that burden away and give you something back .

just a dam bloody shame theres a stigma attached to wearing(no pun intended)
but its changing slowly.

"dont knock it till youve tried it"
anty

anty, thanks. I remember your replies from the last year. Glad to know Newcastle's wind is not an issue for you any more. It sure did piss me off more than once.

I have to agree Amstat.

I know newbies have concerns and one of them is always "How detectable will the piece be?" but sometimes, the way the question is posed in the post, there is an underlying inference that we might all be walking jokes, pointed at and leered at in the streets for having a cat on our heads.

Even if that were true, what current wearer is actually going to respond and say "Yes, my piece is totally detectable."?
Even those of us who would say "No, not detectable if done properly." are only offering our opinion & perception of our experiences.
There are no facts emerging from responses. If 10 people say something is ok, does that make it ok for everyone?

No one has ever said anything negative about my hair since I started wearing.
I like to believe its because its totally undetectable.
But equally it could be that its SO obvious, people see no need or are too embarrassed to mention it.
So me chiming in and telling someone they'll be able to wear without detection could be completely the wrong thing to say.

In this case, Val was completely put off by one person's experience & opinion.

People with doubts need to do lots of REAL research. Go and see lots of suppliers and see lots of different products. Ask questions based on what you can see in front of you.
Take along a trusted friend to get a true second opinion.

Asking a bunch of strangers with no yard stick for comparison is pointless.
Our opinions are going to be completely biased.
Its not us that has to wear someone else's hair.
If that person feels self conscious & uncomfortable wearing hair, no matter how undetectable it is, nothing we can say will help them.

Confidence is the single most important element to wearing and you're not going to be confident just because we tell you you will be.

Another thing that annoys me about threads like this and the one posted by Tripz ( Everyone who wears please chime in) is that they ask people to take time out & give their life stories and share their personal experiences and then the original poster goes off in to the ether and we never hear from them again!

It's not about confidence. If it looks good, the confidence will be in buckets.

But BEFORE I can see it on my head for myself, I need to know whether it is likely to be the case. I did my research before going for it, and the result was good enough to buy a unit and go for a cut-in.

But once a person who does this for a living, wears himself and is well respected by the community tells you, that overall wearing is nowhere near as good as they make it sound on the internet forums, it gets you thinking. No?

And as for your innuendos, shove it in your shoes. Jeez...

Val.. like you I don't wear yet so you'll have to take my input with a grain of salt. Having said that I can tell you that I have personally found out in the past couple of years that two of my friends were wearing hair. One of the guys I didn't meet until I was in my early 30's so I had never seen him before he was wearing and I can tell you there is no way that anyone could tell unless he fessed up. I always thought that this guy just had the best hair of the crew and didn't suspect anything.

the other guy I did know for a long time so I knew he was thinning, one night i met him and couple other friends for a couple beers and noticed something was different. He didn't look like he was wearing hair he just looked healthier and younger.

the first guy i mentioned had a semi-exposed hairline and the second a completely exposed hairline and I can tell you that they both looked totally natural.

a few years ago I didn't think i would ever consider wearing hair but seeing these two guys is why my thought process has shifted. When i first started thinking about going the route of a hair system I was convinced that I was going to use my own hairline which is still pretty good and wear behind it but after seeing the hairlines on these guys systems I'm on the fence now... (thats how good the hairlines can be) I'm still wondering if it can work for me but at the end of the day it's just a matter if your situation is bad enough and you've had enough of hairloss holding you back in life to condure up the intestinal fortitude to go for it.

Hope my input helps you.