JRob's Hair Replacement Blog

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.

A couple of weeks ago I had just gotten home from work at about 8pm, and a friend of mine calls me up.

He had an extra ticket to see the Killers, a band that I love.

The only problem was that the concert started at 9, it was a 20-25 minute drive to get there (not to mention parking), I hadn’t showered, and I had no hair on at the time!

At this point I started thinking how much of a disaster this attachment was going to be due to the fact that ever time I have rushed an attachment I have started to sweat and the end result wasn’t pretty. I stayed calm, took a deep breath, and jumped in the shower. As soon as I got out I quickly prepped the back of the unit with tape, carefully lined it up and marked my glue line, applied two coats of glue with the help of a hair dryer to speed up the process, and in the blink of an eye I was done!

I had to pay attention to the time so I wouldn’t miss the concert. It took me just about 13 minutes from the time I started cutting tape until I had the unit firmly attached. And much to my amazement, I was able to control my sweating AND I got the unit on perfectly straight. Not bad for a world record (for me) attachment. Here are a couple of pictures of the final result after styling-

I have decided that I am going to write a series of posts about different ways you can help to improve the illusion of having a full head of growing hair.

That’s what a full cap does. It gives the illusion that you have a full head of hair, even if you are like me and are bald as cue ball. But as with any good illusion, it can involve more than just the prop itself to make it look more realistic.

In this post I want to talk about facial hair.

Recently I started to grow out my beard for my Halloween costume (which will documented in a future post, since it involves hair!) and I started to realize that having a beard not only helped to balance out my facial features, but it also helps to improve the realism of my full cap. Here is a picture-

What is it about the facial hair that helps improve the look of the hairpiece?

I think it is a couple of different things.

First of all, it draws the eye away from your hairline.

Secondly, it “flows” into the unit, further removing any suspicion someone might have, even if there is something that is a little bit off from time to time.

Third, it is an association thing. When most people think of a hairpiece they don’t think of the guy having a full beard, or any facial hair for that matter.

Finally, although the color of my facial hair is different than the hair on my head (as it is with many people) I also think that the “color congruency” is another factor. They might not be the same color, texture, etc., but if they look like they could feasibly be growing from the same person, it helps make your “fake” hair look more real.

Just as some guys look better bald than others do, some people look better with facial hair than others. I think in my case with the shape of my face and my features it actually improves my overall appearance. This is the first time I have really grown any facial hair since I started wearing and they seem to work well together.

Stay tuned for more Illusion of Hair posts in the near future!