My Latest Project
I have three full caps that are almost unusable. The hair is still in great condition, but I ordered swiss (fine) lace in the sideburn areas. BIG no-no! The lace in this area has frayed on all three units, to the point where I am having to use concealers to cover gaps.
My Halloween mohawk experiment was a big success, and I had several people tell me that I should try that as a daily style. I liked it so much myself that I decided to try a similar style with one of my old full caps. The unit that I am using is ventilated well and the density is perfect for me.
I haven’t attached and styled it yet, but here are a few shots of the unit after I cut the base.
This is the template that I had originally made for my Halloween costume. It was cut from a full cap template that I had made during the filming of my Full Cap DVD. I saved it since I thought I might be needing it for this very occasion.
I used hair clips to secure the base to the template, then I marked the base with my makeup pencil. After I removed the clips and the template from the unit, I used a hobby knife blade to make the cuts. I always use a sharp blade as opposed to scissors when cutting into the base anywhere that has hair ventilated into it. You have to be very careful to use the only the tip of the blade and avoid putting tension on any hairs that are in the area, but once you get the hang of it this is a fast and easy method for modifying a lace base.
The end result-
I’m anxious to see what it looks like when it’s attached and styled. I might have to enlist the help of one of my stylists to tidy it up a bit, but I think it’s going to look pretty cool when I get finished!
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As a prospective hair wearer, I think the hair itself looks great. However, I really need to be convinced that the lace isn’t visible at the hairline or at the crown. It’s very difficult for me to believe that you can’t see a grid pattern in someone’s crown if you happen to be standing behind them on a crowded bus (which is a common situation in my life). Do you know of any upcoming hair wearing conventions/open houses? I would really like to see several attached systems before taking the plunge. Thanks.
Hey Dave, thanks for the comment.
I think it would be good for you to see a couple of units up close. Truth is they CAN be essentially undetectable, but you still have to bear in mind that there will always be the potential for someone to know that you are wearing. If you are not ok with there being a slight chance that someone might know, you are going to be super paranoid about it and you won’t be happy wearing.
I know it’s a big step to take but I haven’t met too many people who have regretted it once they realized that it’s never going to be 100% perfect, but it doesn’t HAVE to be 100% to pull off the illusion.
Get those knots bleached well and there will be absolutely no visible grid pattern. I’m not particularly concerned about the crown on my units, but most of them have highlights and wherever the hair is my normal color (dark blonde/light brown) you can see a grid pattern, in the places with the blonde highlights the base is totally invisible.
I’m going to try to write up some blog posts tonight. Maybe I can throw in a close-up picture of what I am talking about.
Thanks for the reply. As I understand it, you’re saying that the knots on your crown aren’t bleached, which is why you can see the grid with brown hair, but not the lighter colored blond hair. Is that correct? And that if the brown hair had its knots bleached, then they would be just as invisible as the blond hair?
I guess what I’m really curious about is how close one has to get to someone’s head to see the base at the crown. And would a polyskin or i-lace base be less visible at the crown than a french lace base?
Yeah, I agree. I really need to see some attached hair systems before I decide to go ahead and do this.
Thanks again.
Correct. If you look closely at most of my units you can see the knots except in the area where there are blonde highlights. Honestly though, you really have to be looking for something to notice them and you have to be pretty close. It’s not something a person would casually pick up on, that’s why I am not overly concerned about it. If they are well bleached they will be just as invisible.
If this is a huge concern for you there are lots of ways to address this. Another way is to order blonde hair in all of the critical areas and color it yourself when it comes in. It might seem like a huge task but coloring small areas is not that difficult.
Not sure about skin, but I have heard people have good luck with doing a patch of i-lace in the crown. I have seen one and it looks great if you are concerned about knots….they are completely invisible due to the that type of base construction.
Been pretty busy lately but I might have some time on Sunday to get some good pictures of what I am talking about in the crown area of my units.