First off I just want to thank all the posters of this forum, all the informative posts and examples really convinced me to take action and opened my eyes to what a hair system really can do.


So about me, I'm 23 and I've been suffering from diffuse hairloss since 16 due to some chronic diseases. Well the good news is I'm much healthier now. The bad news is the hair never grew back. I'm using concealers at the moment but I'm having to use a LOT of it all over my head to make it look good. The other downsides are that I have to worry about someone even just touching my hair, the concealer sometimes gets onto my ears and neck and looks weird, I can't swim and I worry about rain and wind blowing it off. This along with the results I've seen on this forum have led me to give a hair system a shot.

As a newbie I have a few questions, I read around the forums as to avoid asking questions which have been asked numerous times and have so far decided on the following:

Full head cap: As I have diffuse hair loss this seems like the best bet for me
French Lace: Might go french lace with poly perimeter. Want the most realistic look, open to suggestions for full cap.
Thickness: Heavy, I'm pretty young and I feel like this would be the best choice
Glue: ORWG, seems like it's considered the best glue.
Tape: Walker no-shine, (+entendabond?) realism is very important, and this has a good reputation.
Remover: Isopropyl 99%, cheap and easy.
Washing/shampoo: Undecided
Cleaning: Autoglym tar remover

Main questions:
I plan to travel in a month and a half and will be gone visiting family in another country for a month. Is one cap enough for the trip or should I bring two to be on the safe side? I plan on ordering a stock unit for now while they make my custom unit so I can get used to wearing and then for the trip use the custom one.

Do I need to make a template for the stock unit?

Will there be enough time for the custom units to be made before I leave?

I live in the San Diego area, does anyone have any good recommendations on how I should go about finding someone to do my cut-in in this area?

Thanks for any help I get, please feel free to let me know if there is anything else I didn't mention that I should know.

Hi Ambient, hate to sound cliche but sorry for your "loss". Glad your taking the step to gain your confidence and in a way take your life back. Hair loss sucks big time for most and for me wearing gave me my life back. Amazed at the wasted years of dating, outings, gatherings, family functions, etc that I missed out on because of my hair loss, it totally transforms your outlook on life as well as confidence, so again glad your making the leap while you are young.

As for your questions, I do not wear FullCap but for toppers you do not need a template for a stock. What you will need to do is cut the base of the stock to your head shape I believe for the full, on toppers they are cut to balding area. Paul wears a FullCap and sure he will be offering you his excellent advice at some time.

If you are leaving in a month I do not think you will be able to receive it before you leave. Generally customs take 6-8 weeks from the time they receive your measurements and/or template. If you have one stock cut in I believe that you will be fine for the month and half you are away.

Found these on another forum for you. I know nothing about them as I am from NY, but you can give them a call and see if they can help you out. Good luck!

Hair Solutions, Inc.
619-299-9312
San Diego, California

Stephanie Millington
619-615-1030 Mixon salon
San Diego, California

Hi Ambient,
Eric is right about the custom unit not being ready for your trip. Especially a full cap--it's going to take 6-8 weeks for that. The first order takes a little longer since the order has to be sent to the factory in China. Future orders should take a week less.
Regards,
John

Ambient, Firstly, welcome and can I wish you on-going good health now...sorry to read of your situation regarding your hair....it`s a serious issue for most of us, but especially so for a person of your age.
You cannot have a stock Fullcap...only toppers are available in stock [ready to ship] units....Fullcaps are twice the amount of material and hair as a topper,and are also approx. twice the price ! Definitely need to be made from a template of your particular head shape/size for an accurate fit. I know some guys incorporate Poly into theirs, but I `ve always just had all-Lace [French lace] and find it very easy to work with. You`d have to allow up to 8 weeks for a first-time order .... subsequent orders will be a bit faster because they have your template to hand in the factory.Do you actually need a Fullcap ? Without seeing photos I can`t tell. You`re best to take your time with template-making and getting your requirements accurate .... I`ve done a lot of posts showing templates and other aspects of Fullcaps....just click on my user-name and you`ll see my profile.....you can see all the threads I`ve posted ..many of them have photos in them, so that should give you a good idea of what to do.
Is it possible a topper would work for you ? I have no idea what your side / back hair is like--would it ` support` a relatively lighter-density topper to help ease you into wearing ? I`m just thinking that if concealers are ` working` now [even though it sounds like a real chore], it`s possible you may have enough on your sides/ back to get away with a light-density topper ?
There are many advantages of Fullcaps over toppers [ no colour-match issues, hair oxidises all over at the same rate so no glaring colour-difference as there can be with a topper and growing-hair, and density-match is not an issue either] There can be downsides too, but thankfully, these are usually relatively minor.......don`t fret about adhesives/ removals etc. at the moment...that`s for another day..just have a think about what you think is best for you and begin with making an accurate template....have a look through some of my threads etc. and I`ll be happy to answer any further questions you`ll [inevitably] have ..kind regards!

Thank you guys for the responses. I don't believe I have enough hair on the sides or back to pull a topper, as I have to use concealer on my sides and back as well. I did send a couple of pictures to john, so I'll see what he says. It doesn't seem like I will be able to get a unit in time, so I'll probably just have to order for now, suck it up and shave my head during the trip and then start wearing when I get back. I'll be checking your threads out then Paul, thanks!