Hi everyone I am new to this, I have been losing my hair slowly now for about 15 years. I have been researching systems now for about 6 months and reading forum post and trying to get a handle on this.

I am now ready to order my first system and need some opinions on so different aspects of the system. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated. I have posted some pics of myself.

My hair is somewhat thin on the sides so I am between two system designs my goal is to mask the thinning side hair on the sides. The system that I order will be on the low density side maybe 45 to 50% with a graduated front hair line. My hair color is sort of a dirty blonde although in the last few years it has seemed to get little darker. I am considering ordering some slight highlights in the front to give it a little more dimension and will send in a color sample of my hair. My hair seems to be about 10% grey but in my sample the grey hairs should show up. I am a little confused on what amount of curl to order when my hair was thicker it was curly but as it has thinned out it has gotten straighter I was considering something slightly curly er than a body wave but I have read that when you add curl it causes the system to look thicker which could conflict with my thin sides. I defintly don't think stick straight hair would match my sides if they were grown out a little.

The two system design templates I have posted photos of.

The first system template would measure 8 inch wide and 10 inch long I was wondering if this would fit into the typical topper category? It does come down on my temples some and the sides of my hair : but It does fall into the 8x10 size range. I was wondering if this would provide adequate side coverage if I grew my sides out a little and possibly used some concealer?

The second system template I was considering is further down on my sides and temples I guess it would be considered a 3/4 cap. Its pretty much the same its just a little further down and just covers my sides a little more. With this design I am a little concerned with getting the temples to look right. Especially since I am new to this and I don't want to wade to far off into the deep end and make a mess of things.

So I was wondering you guys opinions of the two template designs and which I should go with. I was also interested to hear your opinions on the density and the possibility of the highlights in the front, and the amount of curl I should go with. I was also wondering if I should go with because Im new all french lace base or a combo of french base and Swiss front?

The pics are attached below.

Your opinions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Thomas

Hi Goose,
You have a lot more hair than many people that post on this forum. It's thin but it's pretty even. In order to adivse you I need to know what style you want to achieve. As a general rule it's good to keep as much of your own hair as you can to achieve the style you want. And you want the density on the hair system unit to blend with the density of your own hair. Please let us know what style you are considering and post a photo of it if possible (maybe someone on the internet whose style you like and want to duplicate). Then I'll be better able to advise you. Thanks.
Regards,
John
http://toplace.com/

not to sidetrack but you may want to give Propecia a go, while you get a topper you can attempt real growth underneath.

Thanks every one for the comments, The hair style that I am interested in I guess would be freestyle. I would like to have a little versatility to spike it up in the front and wear it down covering the hair line somedays. I would like the sides of the system to help cover my existing side hair to help thicken it up a bit.

I have posted a couple more pics of myself that show my balding areas, The previous pic tended to hide the balding areas, I guess because of the angle that they were taken at. I am posting a couple of pics of two different hair styles that I thought I might could somewhat achieve with a free style unit. But I am also completely open to suggestions as to what style unit would look best with my existing hair. I am also wondering if I would need more curl or if I could get away with something a little straighter.

Thanks for the help
Thomas

Judging by you photos I would go for a light density to start with as I think that would blend better with your side hair.
You might want to think about allowing your hair to grow out a bit also as this will help enormously with the desired final look.
The styles you posted are very achievable with a system but I wouldn't try to match the density shown.

LTB,
I appreciate the comments I am going to let the sides grow out. They start to get pretty curly after about 1.5 to 2 inches.

Thanks for the comments,
Thomas

Remember and match your curl when ordering.
A good sample of your own hair when you order would sort that out for you.
Also going back to the original photos with the template graphic.
There is no need to come down as far as you have indicated on the sides.
Where your natural temples are is suffice!
By all means add temple flaps if needed but try and keep as much a your natural hair as possible.

I agree with everything LTB & John have said.

I've attached pics of the size /shape template (in my opinion) will be big enough.

I think you might be experiencing diffuse hair loss to the point where over time you will need a full cap. It looks like your sides/back are thinning equally with your top.

If your sides/back keep thinning, I would just say shave it all and go full cap.

You'll have a hell of a time trying to blend a topper with your sides/back if they get so thin they're hardly there.

Also with your hair that short (and thin), blending will probably only be harder.

You can see a few good full caps here:
http://hairjive.com/blog/2009/10/10/the-...ttachment/
http://hairjive.com/blog/2009/09/24/the-...cial-hair/
http://hairjive.com/blog/2009/11/07/full...oto-shoot/
http://hairjive.com/blog/2010/04/22/gues...-full-cap/

Thanks to everyone for the comments so far. I guess a topper might be the way to go. LTM had mentioned temple flaps and I don't know how I would incorporate them. Someone else had mentioned the full cap route, for me just starting out a full cap seems a bit much to try right off the bat. Maybe I will give that a go on down the road if my sides continue to diffuse down.

I appreciate the help and the comments so far

Thanks,
Thomas