So I'm thinking about giving this a go and I thought I would share some shots of markups my wife helped to doodle on my head. The options I am considering are:

Super fine swiss lace, 10% gray overall, 20% on temples, light density overall, slight wave... Can I get some guidance on these options please? As well as potential placement?

Hi Randy,
Are you considering a frontal partial (goes in front of your own hair) and keeping your own top hair? Or will you be getting a topper that covers the top of the head? Your markings look good. You’ve marked a hair line that looks very natural. And I think your specs will work well and blend with your own hair. If you are considering a topper (for newbies that a term used for a hair system that covers the top of the head) you would need to shave your top hair. Two reasons for this. First, if you leave your own hair on top it will show through the base. The bases are translucent and allow the color of your scalp to show. It there is hair that is matted down under the base it will be visible--not good. The second reason is that you need to attach to skin in order to get a solid bond. If hair is in the way the bond will not be secure. But overall you did a great job of outlining the base and selecting specs. Your new hair will look great!
Regards,
John

John,

Thank you for the reply. Yes I'm looking at a topper. I didn't take a shot of the top but I have a bald spot the size of Mount Everest up there. So I will be keeping the top shaved.

Since you seem to be ok with the options I have listed so far, I'll go ahead and get my wife to work on a template then post the results of that as well for some additional feedback. When that looks good I'll be placing my order...and hopefully you have a new customer.

Thanks Randy. Looking forward to helping you.

John,

A couple follow up questions to make sure I'm understanding correctly. All gray is human gray and all pieces have graduated hairlines so I don't need to specify those options correct? Also...should I attempt to pick the percentage of gray for the piece or should I simply rely on samples say from the top and near the temples to provide that information?

I'm starting to lean more toward 20% gray throughout and 50% in the temple area after some advice from a very solid wig maker. I'll be getting some samples this week or next week. Thank you.

Randy,
Yes, human gray and a graduated front are both default settings and are automatic. If you don’t want those then state that you do not want them/one of them. The factory will follow the gray percent in the samples. It’s normal for a customer to want a higher gray percentage in the temple area and sides. For those customers that are only sending in a side or temple sample and are unable to send a sample from the top of their head then please state the percentage of gray you would like for the top. It’s usually lesser than the temples and sides. So you might specify that you want 10%, for example, less gray on the top. It’s very realistic to vary the amount of gray on a unit--that’s the way real gray grows. I’ll contact you to confirm that your samples are received. Thanks Randy.
Best,
John

I definitely want a graduated hair line....units without that look like...well a wall of hair. It's looking like next week I'll have the samples ready to send in. Just trying to grow my hair out a bit more. I'll get temple and top hair samples to see if your factory can do a solid match on those. Looking forward to placing my order. Thank you for replying and giving guidance here in this thread.

i would advise that you get synthetic gray. the reason being is that it cant be dyed. sun, washing and products used to detach and clean the unit all can affect color. after some time you may need to dye your unit or use something like back to natural to redeposit color or perhaps rid it of unwaqnted tones. with natural gray if you do re color there wouldnt be anymore gray left

(10-05-2017, 11:43 AM)lovehair Wrote: i would advise that you get synthetic gray. the reason being is that it cant be dyed. sun, washing and products used to detach and clean the unit all can affect color. after some time you may need to dye your unit or use something like back to natural to redeposit color or perhaps rid it of unwaqnted tones. with natural gray if you do re color there wouldnt be anymore gray left

I'm kicking around some options with my stylist now and it might depend somewhat on the unit being able to be fully dyed. At this point I'm just so unsure what I really want to do with the look and how it will all work out...I guess I'm considering the first 3 or 4 of these as trials to experiment with. I appreciate the feedback and I have begun my obligatory google search on synthetic vs human hair.

my pleasure. one bit more....from what i can see in your pics most of your gray appears to be on the sides....so perhaps you might even be able to go without gray on top.....especially fro your trial runs
for example, myself....my only grey is in my temples at the front, say the inch or 2 in front of my ears and its probably 50% grey. but everywhere else there is zero grey, including the rest of my side bio hair, even the top that i shave..

also i never commented on your template....EXCELLENT! your wife has quite an eye for realism...VERY few wearers take into account side recession and just create a hairline or order a stock without modifying the hairline.
IMO that is a mistake....a hairline needs to flow naturally into the temples/side hair which creates a wide forehead with to straight if a hairline, stock CC contour really looks odd with receded sides....using you as an example....a stock piece without a modified hairline would look off because it doesnt transition naturally and unfortunately many wearers make that mistake. the thinking usually goes "why would i want a receded hairline if i am doing hair replacement" and of course the answers is, so it looks natural!

btw the template pic on the left in the post which is your actual right side is drawn perfectly, the left is a bit different