02-02-2013, 09:16 AM,
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HairMysterio
Unregistered
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RE: First cut in with thin skin (PICS)
Thanks for the reply. Just please clarify for me as I'm a little confused in your answer. BAsically you are saying you previously had a problem keeping a hairline pristine with lace? Now that you wear thinskin that problem has been eliminated and you could keep and exposed hairline that is undetectable, but just choose to style the hair with an unexposed hairline? Am I understanding you correctly.
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02-03-2013, 04:47 AM,
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RE: First cut in with thin skin (PICS)
To clarify things guys, I think lace hairlines look more natural than thin skin injected hairlines but the grid pattern and sticky mess is a real pain. And they lace only looks good at the front if you have blonde hair, or order a blonde front on dark hair and color it yourself. Even then it goes yellow after a while and I do not like it. If you have dark hair and don't get a blonde front the unit will not come with well bleached knots. Your supplier will tell you it will but trust me, on dark brown or black hair those knots will be there, making you self concious. This is why every time you see hi resolution pics posted of hairlines, they are light color hair or they have a light front. And to expose the hairline fully the attachment has to be flawless all the time. It's too much work. So I would brush it forward half the time anyway. Which defeats the whole point of having a lace hairline And random hairs on lace stick up crazily, like straight up, because the knots loosen and the hair changes direction against the herd and it doesn't look natural.
Injected forward thin skin hairlines are hard to spike straight up and back without strong gel and look less natural when trying to wear that style, so a forward or to the side style works best. I want a covered hairline anyway to make life easier so I do not mind this. When brushed forward it looks perfect and I much prefer the hair at the front to hair on a lace system because lace has knots and multiple hairs tied to knots which is not so natural and feels thick and heavy. Injection lets every hair be separate and this gives you a soft realistic feel to the hair all over. You know when you run your hand through your lace hair and it just doesn't feel real? With injection that's not so much the case.The hair on a thin skin injection unit can be parted anywhere and you get a perfect realistic look to the part, even at the hairine.
I hate V-Looping because the hairs go all random directions. A short style does not work well because the hairs do not want to go all one direction, they want to direct out either side of the loop. Real hair does not grow like this. Also, it has far too much bounce and flump and is very difficult to style when it is short and looks bad. Longer styles ( a few inches or more) are ok and the hairline is better than injection for longer styles. But for short, neat styles like I wear V-looping is really bad in my experience. Injection is the closest thing to natural hair growth that's on the market. And so I am happy to have it.
For the injected crown I recommend wetting the hair with warm water and plucking out a few hairs to create a very slightly thinner look. Then you get near perfection and no one is ever going to look at your crown (in a queue or say behind you at the cinema) and think there's anything wrong. With lace if someone stares at your crown at close range it's like "wtf is his crown like that?"
Wind isn't a problem with skin. You get a good tight bond on the hairline and it is not sticky so hairs are not stuck to the forehead. This meand a clean hairline. Plus with the injection going forward it would take a lot of wind to blow it straight back with a short style. So it's no problem. When I wore lace, wind was something I tried to avoid by wearing hats. Then I take my hat off and there is hat fluff or hairs stuck to my hairline. With skin the glue stays between the base and the scalp, so it is clean and dry to the touch.
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02-03-2013, 06:23 AM,
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RE: First cut in with thin skin (PICS)
Hairenough: Can you walk me through your bonding process? I'm still using tape because I don't trust the got2bglued solution yet. Also, do you have any pics?
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02-03-2013, 08:43 AM,
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RE: First cut in with thin skin (PICS)
Agreed. Thanks hairenough! Fantastic post. Very helpful. Confirms and puts into words a lot of the things I have been thinking. Answers a lot of questions I had as well.
Definitely injected for me.
Last question:
The only close up pic I have found of injected hair piece is this one from a different retailer. They wouldn't specify in e-mail the thickness of their base (they said they didn't know - imagine that), but I presume it is similar to TL.
Anyway, I'm just wondering: It does look super incredibly realistic in terms of hair growing out of the scalp. But there is also an almost computerized regularity to the spacing of the hair. Looks a tiny bit unnatural in its uniformity (doll's hair).
Have you had that issue with your own pieces, or is this something I am just imagining?
http://www.hairdirect.com/images/px_hair...-large.jpg
Thanks again. I plan on a lifetime of wearing, so your experience is very helpful.
Also, I found a good v-loop picture I think that exemplifies some of the flaws you were describing (disorganization, random directions):
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00CKr...T-002-.jpg
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02-04-2013, 06:41 AM,
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LTB
Member
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Posts: 189
Threads: 9
Joined: Dec 2010
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RE: First cut in with thin skin (PICS)
This has been a very educational thread with regards to skin units!
You would think that with injection they could improve the hairline problems?
Maybe an injection halfway between the forward injection and the brushed back injection would be the answer?
I have always said that once they crack the hairline on skin then a lot more lace wearers would switch over!
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02-04-2013, 11:20 AM,
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folliman
Member
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Posts: 72
Threads: 10
Joined: Sep 2008
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RE: First cut in with thin skin (PICS)
I had a few thin skin units in the distant past.. It was around 7 years ago. One dis-advantage I remember is not being able to stretch the piece. If you tried to do that, you would wrinkle the base, and it would be ruined.
Also, must have a full head bond, or you will get a plastic sound every time you touch your head.
Oh, and some of the other comments here about the hairline.. Can't really get away with lift like you can with lace to a certain point.
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02-04-2013, 09:36 PM,
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RE: First cut in with thin skin (PICS)
Found a picture of an injected thin skin crown with dark (1b?) hair:
http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/5182749...toupee.jpg
Really does look 100% normal in a way that lace never completely seems to (except with the light colors as hairenough pointed out). I'm honestly not even 100% sold that picture isn't just someone's real growing hair, except that the wig retailer it's from has numerous honest photos of all their products on their page, and everything seems legitimate.
This one looks a tiny bit less natural - not sure why but it has more of that "doll hair" effect. Still fantastic in my opinion, though:
http://i00.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/4896319...toupee.jpg
Regarding the full head bond and the suction effect, I can imagine this is why got2b glued would be really good for skin, no?
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02-05-2013, 05:37 AM,
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RE: First cut in with thin skin (PICS)
I will maybe post pics of my thinskin 1B hair parted when I do my next re-bond in a day or two. It looks like a real scalp. There's nothing more I can say about that.
For my bonding process:
I spray some 99% alcohol on my finger and work it in under the back edge, moving along the perimeter until it's loose. Then I just slowly peel the unit off. If you have a lot of stubble on your head like me (I have all my hair except the front 1/3) skin will probably not hold as well as lace at the back with just ORWG. The holes in lace let the stubble grow through rather than push the unit off the skin like thin skin. So I use just 3 pieces of Extendabond mini tape tabs. I actually now cut them in half across-ways as I only need a little extra hold in a few spots on the perimeter for peace of mind, due to the vast amount of natural thick stubble I have there. If you are pretty slick on top, no need for tape with a skin unit.
Once I've peeled the unit off I pour some Autoglym Tar Remover (as always thanks to Hersute for changing my life with this tip!) in a shallow glass dish and soak the unit in it face down while I carry on with the next steps.
Into the shower I go with my bottle of trusty Goo Gone Spray Gel and a bottle of Dawn dish soap. First I wet my head, then wash it with dish soap to take any oil off. Then I use my fingers to push across my scalp, making the ORWG into gooey balls and setting them aside. Once the bulk of the glue is off (takes about 10 minutes) I wash with dish soap again, then apply some Goo Gone and rub it around for about 2 minutes.
Then I apply some dish soap directly to my head and mix it all in and scrub. Rinse under warm water. Most of the glue and goo gone mixture comes off easily. Repeat the dish soap part until I feel there's no more goo gone or oil on my head. Repeat goo gone process to melt any remaining glue and dish soap again until head is flawlessly clean. This all takes me about 20 minutes.
Hop out of the shower and blow dry hair. Shave head with foil shaver. Foil shavers are best because they will only cut the stubble and leave the longer hair around the perimeter intact. Make sure it isn't one of those foil shavers with the little long hair trimmer in between the foils. The Braun Cruzer 3 is my favourite. This way your shaved area won't ever change in shape, unless you lose more hair. And you don't have to worry about shaving to the right place etc. Just go at it blindly until you feel no more stubble left!
Once shaved, wash with dish soap. Dry. Wipe with 99% alcohol until you are happy with the clean, dry feeling.
Now onto the unit.
Take some strong kitchen roll (I love Bounty) and wipe the bulk of the goo off the skin base. Just get most of it off with a few wipes, you don't need to spend too much time on this. Then wash with dish soap under running warm water. Keep rubbing in the dishsoap and washing off until there's no more residue left and it's perfectly clean. This takes about 10 or 15 minutes.
Once clean, sit on a seat/bath edge/toilet and put a clean towel over your knee. Put the unit over your knee with the crown on the knee and the front pointing towards you. Brush unit out to make sure it's tangle free and nice and sleek. Blow dry whilst brushing on a medium or cooler setting (cold takes to long. Hot is not good for the hair).
Now ready to attach.
I have lots of stubble so I find that I am needing a few tape tabs now like I used to use with lace. Put one tape tab (i cut mine into two smaller tape tabs now) on the back centre of my shaved area, close to the perimeter edge but not actually touching my hair. Put another the same way but round the head a bit, say an inch or two And same on the other side. With stronger glue tape tabs probably aren't needed even for those with loads of stubble.
Put a tape tab on each side, say in line with being above the ears but forward an inch. Peel off all backings. Now it's glue time.
ORWG is so fast and easy to apply. First apply a thin layer to the very front edge of the piece hairline, say 1 cm. Blow dry on cool/medium for a minute then add another very thin layer to the same place. That's the piece sorted. Now for the head. Apply very thin layer of glue all over the scalp and up to a little behind where your hairline will be. Dry on cool for a minute and apply another layer. I just use my finger to apply it.
Then I strongly recommend giving everything time to set a bit. Take 10 minutes to wait. Read a book, trim your toenails, pluck that grey hair out of your eyebrow, build a cube out of Q-tips.
Then apply the unit. I always start at the back, taking time to line the edge up with my hair edge for a perfect fit. Now, thin skin sticks STRONG so take care to get it where you want it. It's not as easy to peel off and reposition like lace is because skin gives a better hold. You might want to try a small spritz of alcohol to give some time to slide it into place and get any creases out. I haven't tried that yet for fear of weakening my bond. Please some input from those who have would be great.
If you can line up the edges well with no overlap and no gap it means you will have an incredibly undectable to the touch head, and you can have a really short hair cut if you want. I buzz my hair pretty darn short and I always have a perfect blend because I buzz the sides and back every 3 days which means I can have it so short.
So that's it bonded. Avoid getting it wet for 12 hours, but if you want to run just a litle water through it, you don't have to worry much like with lace. The water won't get to the bond under the skin base. I just apply some Paul Mitchel Dry Wax (I used to hate it until I learned that less is more) and style it how I like it. Then maybe a little warm water in my fingers and work it through. Use a Bore brush to brush it and you'll get a great smoothing action.
That's it. Total time is about 90 minutes and then I'm done for another week. 90 minutes of work per week for a great looking head of hair and a happier life. Plus these 90 minutes are a great chance to listen to music or the radio discussions about your favourite topic.
Readytogo - Yes that 1B thinskin parted hair pic looks right. I does look like a real scalp there but that's how a good quality thinskin looks.
The vLoop pic you posted is why I don't like them. The hairs are literally looped through the base so they come out sideways in a big C shape. This creates a lot of volume and bounce and does not work well with short styles. The hairline doesn't look good either, but neither do injected hairlines really. Light hair is ok because you can't really see the root. People with blonde hair are lucky! But then they do have their own issues like color matching is generally a bit harder.
The problem with injected hairlines is that the hairs have to be injected into the base at an angle. They can't inject them at a 90 degree angle to the base. So you can't have hairs coming straight out and up. You can only have them coming out at a forwrward angle or side or back. So it's hard to have a brushed forward short style that also has a flicked back hairline. As I said, if you wear bangs or even a 'brushed to one side and slightly down' style you are sorted.
Some companies are now offering a new injection technique called "lifted injection" which lets them have the hairs coming out in a more upward direction than before. It looks promising.
If they can get the hairlines perfected then thin skins are going to become the main choice, in my opinion. I have one idea already and that is to go with a slightly thicker skin that allows for a more upward injection angle at the front but have the skin taper to a very thin front edge so it disappears into your skin for an invisible edge.
I've tried 0.03mm ultra thin skin and the hairline was incredibly invisible but the v-looping was not good. Injection is better but the thicker the skin you go for, the more of a line you will have where the base ends and your forehead begins. So why can't they taper the thickness down for the last few mm from 0.1mm to 0.03. This would mean an invisible hairline that's clean and dry but with lifted injection hair. That's the dream!
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02-05-2013, 11:32 AM,
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RE: First cut in with thin skin (PICS)
You're converting me! I will DEFINITELY give a skin a try now.
Your idea of the bevelled thin edge sounds VERY plausible and I can't think why no-one has tried it yet?
As for the spray of alcohol to lengthen positioning time, I too have never tried this for fear of weakening the bond.
But, with lace, at least the alcohol can evaporate.
If its trapped under the skin it must surely weaken the bond?
I hope others will clarify this.
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02-05-2013, 08:33 PM,
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RE: First cut in with thin skin (PICS)
The big problem I'm seeing so far is that the extra skin that hangs over for the hairline keeps wanting to curl up to the point that I can't work with it. Any advice on this? I don't have to work tomorrow night(Tuesday), So I'm going to try a variation of Hairenough's method.
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