Author Archive
Reader Mailbag- Realistic Temples
Reader Y contacted me recently regarding information on how to get realistic looking temples on a full cap. The temple area can be tricky, and much of the end result is in the hands of the factory. Here is his email and my response:
Hi again JRob.
I was just wondering if you have any close up photos of your temple areas?If so, I’m very interested in having a look if that’s OK for you.It’s about a month until I receive my modified system (lower density), and frankly I’m very uncertain whenit comes to getting the temple areas to look realistic.Best regardsY
Y,
Unfortunately I don’t have any direct pics of my temple areas, and since I am currently wearing a mohawk I don’t have any way to make that happen.
I will tell you this- the trick to getting the temples right is largely out of your control. Of course you have control over the shape, but the way they are ventilated ultimately determines how realistic they look, and this is really a hit and miss. The one thing I can suggest is to draw a natural looking temple ventilation on your template (sort of down and back) and hope the factory follows your directions.
The temple areas have been challenging for us full cap wearers. The factories need to understand that some of these full caps are worn by men who choose shorter styles, and as such require more attention to detail. Hopefully as full caps for men become more and more popular, we will see the factories paying more attention to detail in areas that are important for full cap wearers who opt for shorter styles.
Send some pictures when you get everything sorted out. Take care,
Jon
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Guest Blog- Dino’s Latest Full Cap
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.
Reader Mailbag- Density and Customization of a New Unit
Unfortunately I haven’t had as much time as I would like to devote to the blog recently, but I hope to be able to post more in the near future as I get a little more free time in my schedule. While answering emails today I realized that it might be time for another installment of Reader Mailbag:
Hi again Jon.
I received a full cap based on my new mold design a couple of weeks ago, and I have been experimenting with it since then. While I don’t think it’s 100% perfect, I feel it’s going the right way. There are some things I would like to ask you about again;1. The system is quite “fluffy” when it arrives (I was aware of this from before). It seems very thick, and when wetting it things look a lot better. Over time (while wearing), does this change? I got the feeling that I’d have to apply styling products it to make it look good all the time. What about you? Do you depend on using styling products to make it look realistic? Is your system as “fluffy” as it was when you got it from the factory?
There is a difference between “fluffy” and “extremely thick”. If the density is ok it will settle down after a few washings. If it is simply way too thick, it might be hard to get a realistic look. Depending upon how thick it is, hair products can be used to make it appear thinner.
2. The ventilation was not OK this time either (better than the first time though), so I bought a lancet and startet cutting on my own to get rid of the misplaced hairs in the temple hairline (a few of them are pointing straight forward, when they should just lay down). It seems that drawing arrows on the mold wasn’t enough. What do you think? Should I try to tell them one more time, or should I just add 0.1-0.3cm or something to the temple hairline and just customize it myself when I receive it? Since I had to cut past my measured hairline, it didn’t look natural (to much recession), but the appearance of the hairs was great, and it did look like they grew out of my head. I think this is definitely the most tricky part in making this work. I think it is an advantage to be able to customize on your self, since you actually can’t guarantee that the system you get will be perfectly ventilated (at least it doesn’t seems that way).Looking forward to hear from you!Y
Drawing arrows is always a good idea but it’s no guarantee that it will be made perfectly. It’s always better to have a finely crafter hairline that was tied by the ventilators, but as you know this is a hit and miss thing. I do lots of modifications to my units, even at the hairline if needed, BUT….the results you get will depend upon how the unit was made at the factory. In other words, if they tied small knots and bleached them well extending 3/4″ of an inch back from the hairline, you can get away with a lot of cutting and still maintain realism. On the other hand, if the ventilator only ties the first 1/4″ really well, you are going to have to be careful that you don’t cut all the way back into bigger, (possibly unbleached) knots or risk losing realism. Of course this is less of an issue if you aren’t exposing hairline…
Bottom line- don’t be afraid to get in and cut the lace and pluck some hairs (this can be done easily with eyebrow tweezers after soaking the area with leave-in conditioner) to achieve the look you want. Just make sure you inspect the unit first to make sure that you aren’t going to be losing realism in critical areas.
Good luck, and send pictures when you get things ironed out!
Full Cap DVD Update
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!
Full Cap Nape Issues SOLVED!
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:
- A “hard” edge that could be detected by touch.
- 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....