Hi Guys,

I've been wearing a front partial for a little over a month now and it's not been without it's difficulties and so i'm thinking of using the entire topper when my new system arrives rather than cutting it down again. I wondered whether those who have gone down this route have regretted switching or whether its made life easier. what are the ups and downs you've experienced.

I got some excellent advice from this forum which made me decide to cut it into a partial in the first place, which i don't regret as it was definitely worth trying as you can always increase the size of the area you're covering but you can't really go the other way.

The issues i have are mainly to do with transitioning between my system and natural hair on the top of my head. whilst the decision to go with a front partial was based on the fact i still have good coverage in the back half of my head, the hair is quite fine and thin and just doesn't match up easily with the system hair. my system is 60% density so its not as if i've gone far too dense and I certainly wouldn't want to go any less than that at this stage. the texture of the hair is just completely different. it feels different (thicker), looks different and behaves differently and I'm really conscious of it. Colour matching has been nothing short of a nightmare either as despite giving a hair sample it was slightly lighter than my own hair and whilst I know some of these issues will still be a problem with a topper I wondered whether anyone had any thoughts on this. my side and back hair is denser than my crown and area in front of it so i think it may just blend easier if i go down the topper route and get rid of this fine, limp hair on the back half of my head?

styling the hair is another area where I feel a partial is limiting me. normally with a topper the hair on the edge of the system will be lying flat so hiding the edge is easy. with me the join is right on the top of my head so if i style the hair to spike it up or mess it up a bit then its easier to see an edge of lace of a bit of shine from the glue etc. so it means I've got less styling options and have to keep it a bit longer than I'd ideally like.

lining the system up isn't easy either because my native hair wants to flop forward naturally and so i end up with hair overlapping the shaved area and have to hold it back with clips whilst I'm attaching and it's just a bit of a nightmare really. its also not easy to see where I'm attaching but then i wonder whether this would be true of a topper as well. using a small partial system can be a bit fiddly.

The positives are: sleeping isn't an issue. someone feeling the edge isn't a problem either as nobody generally touches the top of your head do they. hiding the grid pattern or shine from the glues isn't an issue in the crown as that area is my own. and.. (this is a minor point in the grand scheme of things) I save a bit of money on adhesives, solvents etc as the system is half the size of a topper.

I'm looking to see if anyone who has switched has any thoughts on the potential benefits and downsides to me moving to a topper and whether they would recommend this or not. I know the general consensus is to keep as much of your natural hair for as long as you can but I'm starting to think that may not be right for me.

any thoughts welcome.

Yorkie