JRob's Hair Replacement Blog

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am in the process of setting up a HairJive channel on YouTube.

One of the main goals I have for this project is to post “lifestyle” videos. It’s one thing to see pictures of a great looking hair system, but being able to see it “in action” should help give those who are new to the hair game the confidence to take the plunge into hair wearing. I live in sunny Florida, so I should be able to get lots of good footage showing how the hair reacts while swimming, playing sports, riding roller coasters, you name it!

In addition to the lifestyle clips, I am planning on posting various tips and tricks for newbies and veterans alike.

I just ordered a cool little pocket size HD camcorder (which I will be carrying with me pretty much everywhere I go), so I hope to start posting videos soon. Stay tuned!

Once again, Dino proves that with a little practice, outstanding results can be achieved with a full cap. He is a true do-it-yourselfer, and although I have recommended to him in the past that he should find a good stylist to work some magic on future full caps, seeing his latest creation I just might have to change my mind. He did an excellent job cutting this unit himself. I saw the pictures and asked if he would do a little writeup about it.  Here is his post followed by a few pics-

I have been doing full caps for a few years now. It has definitely made hairwearing a better situation overall for me. With my very very thin sides (almost nonexistent), I was really struggling in my final years with a topper. I love not having to blend with my own thin hair. I order a new unit every 3 months on the average. I like to order all Swiss lace, the finest lace available. I get the 3 months with no problem. I use glue for the front edge and sideburns and Supertape for the rest of the perimeter. You need very strong tape for the nape. I usually cut in my own units. I have moved away from using the robocut to using clippers. I have attachments as long as an inch and a half. I often taper down the sideburns and nape very very short. Sideburns as short as a quarter of an inch (I use glue there). Nape as short as half an inch. Any shorter and the tape shows through too much in the nape. If only there was a super strong glue that could hold the nape, I would fade out the nape even shorter. Here are a few photos.

I have been getting quite a few emails from people who are anxiously awaiting the release of my Full Cap DVD, so I thought it might be time to post an update for those of you who are interested.

This project has turned out to be quite a long and drawn out process. We have had quite a few setbacks over the past several months, and despite the fact that the DVD is about 95% complete, I was forced to put it on hold for the past couple of months due to other obligations.

I am happy to announce that I will be resuming the final stages of production sometime in the next few weeks, and hope to have the DVD completed and ready for sale within the next couple of months. As of next week I will have a lot more time to devote to tying up some loose ends, and this video is a top priority.

I look forward to providing you with a high quality product that will provide lots of valuable information. Thanks for your patience everyone!

There are only a few downsides to wearing to a full cap versus a partial unit, and the nape area has been one of the areas that has caused me some problems.

I am happy to announce that the two problems I was having with the nape are now solved!

First, I want to say that I have never had any issues with bonding in the nape area of my full caps. I have used blue liner tape from day one, and even attaching the unit below my occipital bone I am able to get a week’s worth of hold without much lift.

The two problems I was having with this area were:

1. A “hard” edge that could be detected by touch.
2. A slightly unnatural look, especially when the hair was wet.

The edge didn’t bother me too much, as I overlap the tape slightly in this area which provides a decent transition, but the look in the back of the unit after leaving the gym was unacceptable. When the hair got wet in the back it revealed a clearly visible line where the knots begin. This would have been much less of an issue if the knots were smaller, staggered, and well-bleached, but with this particular unit I had to do something to overcome this problem so I got out the scissors and started cutting.

I decided to cut small triangle shaped chunks out of the base in the back to break up the knot pattern so instead of being able to see a straight row of large, dark knots, it is broken up by “V” shaped cuts which make it much less noticeable even when wet.

The side benefit to this is that it also made the nape become completely undetectable to touch. Since there isn’t a straight edge of lace OR knots, you can run  your fingers up through the hair on the neck and you can’t feel a thing!

This was done on my latest creation, my “Full Cap Mohawk”, but it will solve the same issues on a unit that stretches across the entire nape. Here are some pictures-

Before. Straight edge on the lace and the knots.

After. Invisible to sight and touch....

Yes and no.

If you plan to show hairline, you definitely want bleached knots in that particular area.

I personally am not overly concerned about the knots in the crown. (edit-I know I posted that bleached knots on the entire unit are important in a previous post, but the more I wear these units where the knots on top aren’t well bleached, the more I realize for me it’s not a huge deal) I usually order highlights and they ventilate a patch of blonde hair directly in the crown, which makes it acceptable for me even if the surrounding knots aren’t well bleached.

Reader Dave is considering going with a full cap for his first hair system and was concerned with detectability issues with the lace. If the knots are well bleached, the base is invisible even from close-up. Since this might be of interest to others who are looking to take the plunge, I thought I would post up a few pics of what a base looks like with well bleached knots and with unbleached knots.

To the right is a picture of one of my units that has unbleached knots (except in the hairline area.) Keep in mind that this is taken up close with the super-macro setting on my camera. I wore this unit just as it is. Depending upon your situation you might need to ensure that the knots are well bleached, if not on the entire scalp or hairpiece, at least in the crown.

Take note of the area at the top center of the screen that (at first glance) looks like it might be a patch where the hair is missing. Look closely, because the hair is indeed there. That is an area where the unit has blonde highlights. Notice how the base is  invisible in that area? Blonde hair (or bleached knots) leave no “grid pattern”.

The next picture is of a unit with knots that were bleached by the factory. You can see that it isn’t perfect, but definintely an improvement over the last one. There is still a bit of a grid pattern, but if you were to see this on skin up close you would have to look pretty closely to notice the base. The picture on the right is of the hairline of this particular unit. You can see how the factory took extra care in bleaching the knots in this are, as it is critical if you plan to show hairline.

Anywhere you require a completely invisible base you will need to specify that you want the knots in that area bleached if the factory that is making the unit doesn’t normally bleach them.