Hey guys,

Just want some input from guys who have been wearing a long time and have tried different units from difference places and different price ranges, etc.

I recently bought a (really low priced) stock unit from a local place to use as practice and get the hang of wearing. I've been cutting small triangle pieces to fill in my temples, and while its been working well in terms of bonding, the hair itself has been concerning me. Its constantly getting really "scraggly", course, and knotted, to the point where its literally impossible to run a comb through it. I wash my natural hair every day (avoiding shampooing the partial pieces at the front of my head) and then use a bit of conditioner on the partials (if i dont do this, they become even more dry and knotted) Is there something i'm doing wrong? Or could this just be the result of a bad hairpiece? Have any of you guys experienced pieces that gave you similar problems?

You`re dealing with heavily-processed [ acid-bath] hair..the cuticle [outer] layer of hair has been stripped off and the hair then dyed/coloured...such knotting and poor texture is a sure sign of harsh processing. You`re doing nothing wrong, as such.... it`s simply down to processing.
Try a little Brylcreem [original] on it...just a small amount, or some leave-in conditioner, which can help a bit, but you really need to get/have Remy hair. http://www.toplace.com/why-choose-toplace/quality

Thanks, Paul. That's reassuring. While i'm at it I was also wondering about something else...

I noticed that after about a week and a half, the sticky residue from the tape starts to seep through the lace and into the bottom of the hair. Is this normal? I'm using blue lace front tape if that helps.

Thanks again!

That's normal, BUT it means you're leaving to long between clean up. Obviously that tape is breaking down pretty quickly. You can either live with it, shorten the time between re-bonds, or try other tapes/glue. Regards

Matt is right.... either increase your de-bonding frequency, or use a tape / glue which will give you a longer-term hold before becoming unstable [breaking down] For me, I never go with long-term holds, both to avoid the issue you`re having with seepage through the lace/ onto hair, and purely from a health/hygiene aspect, especially in warmer summer weather.....winter time is more forgiving as we tend not to perspire as much...... to be honest, I think a week or so, is about as long as I`d be prepared to leave a bond in place for..... in my salon / all- poly system days, with a full- head bond in place for weeks.....not alone did it begin to itch like crazy, but then the glue destabilized and began oozing out onto the growing hair [it couldn`t get through the poly base] ....plus, in warm weather, the unpleasant odour..yuuk! Amazed I never developed a serious infection from it [I know of others who have]

Thanks again for the tips, guys. I sweat a lot so I guess the blue tape breaks down a lot faster on my skin than its supposed to. I'll probably try something stronger since I'd prefer to have a system where i detach/re-attach every 2 weeks. Then again, maybe its just something I have to live with in summer weather