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Reader Mailbag- Density and Customization of a New Unit

Mar 2

Posted by JRob in Mailbag, Tips | No Comments

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!

My Latest Project

Nov 17

Posted by JRob in Lifestyle, Pushing The Limits, Tips | 4 Comments

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!

The Price of Rushing an Attachment

Sep 20

Posted by JRob in Tips | No Comments

Last night I was supposed to go out with some friends but I had several things I had to finish before heading out. One of them happened to be doing an attachment.

I decided to do the attachment after I finished everything else on my list so I could shower immediately before. I allowed plenty of time (or so I thought) and after my shower I started my normal attachment routine.

For some reason I have been getting the nape attached a little too far forward lately. This is the first part of the unit I attach and even though I was trying to get it right this time, I still attached a little too high for some reason. Since I was using tape I immediately sprayed a bit of alcohol on the area and pulled the unit off my head. I spread a little bit of glue on top of the tape to give it back its tack, and I placed it back on my head, this time in the proper position.

I flipped the unit back while I applied the rest of the tape and glue to the front, and two seconds before I was ready to flip it back over for a smooth attachment, the unit fell to the ground behind me.

By this time I started to sweat because I knew that I was running out of time.

Here I am, ten minutes before my friends are supposed to arrive, and my normal attachment method has completely failed. Having the unit tacked to the back of my head allows me to “roll” it up toward the front, keeping it in near perfect alignment so it hits the glue line just about dead on. Now I have no attachment “anchor point” as I normally do, and I have 5 strips of tape on the top of my head and glue at the hairline and temples. I’m sweating more and more, and I have only seconds to decide what to do.

I decided that in this case it would be best to attach from front to back, and this was the first time doing this with a full cap. I took advantage of the pressure sensitive nature of the tape and glue (it does not gain full adhesion until you apply pressure) combined with a spray of alcohol all over my scalp to give me the time and leeway to position the unit properly. Before I sprayed the alcohol though, I lined up the tip of the hairline and tacked it down.

After a spritz of alcohol I then flipped the entire unit in place. It was only roughly positioned so I had to work quickly to align each section before the alcohol evaporated allowing the adhesives to grab the lace.

Everything turned out ok since my friends didn’t end up showing up on time and I did manage to get a pretty good attachment despite the situation.

Next time I’m not going to count on getting lucky. This will be the last time I put off my attachment until the end of the night.

my application time with full cap–from dino

Sep 17

Posted by dino in Tips | 1 Comment

I wanted to describe the time involved in my application process, which I am very pleased with. I have been using supertape (ST) with good results. This piece has a higher density so you can’t see the shiny tape underneath the base. Just like blue liner (my previous tape of choice), ST holds my full cap’s nape down nicely, even with the full cap’s nape well below the occipital lobe. Given the irregularity of my base shape, I cannot get very close to the edge with the roll tape, so I stop the tape about a quarter of an inch all the way around the perimeter (about a half inch from the edge in the front hairline) and use ultrahold for the edge all the way around. Cleanup is fairly quick, because the amount of glue needed is fairly small. Removal of the unit and cleanup of scalp and mirror slide of the unit only takes me about 20 minutes total. Mind you, I am not washing the unit in that time. I only wash once in about 3 removals. Putting on the unit takes me about 25 minutes (not including styling time), because cutting the ST and removing the backing is time consuming- kind of a tough tape to apply, IMO. The tape tends to fold over on itself causing me to need to occasionally throw out the piece of tape and do that one over. And adding the glue around the entire perimeter, even for a small width of glue isn’t super fast. 25 minutes for application isn’t too bad, given that I have a solid hold until I decide to remove (which I like to do after about 5 days, even though the bond would certainly last at least an additional several days). I hope to learn a trick or two to make removal of the tape backing even easier, which can potentially take off a few minutes from the application time.

[edit- JRob "I have had all kinds of problems with the backing on the stronger "stretchier" tapes, so I know exactly what you mean. One thing you might want to try is taking a t-pin (or safety pin, or any kind of pin for that matter) and slide it between the tape and the backing, pressing the tape down into the lace and lifting the backing away with the tip of your finger or your fingernail. See below. Thanks for posting!"]

Doubled My Attachment Time

Aug 1

Posted by JRob in Pushing The Limits, Tips | 4 Comments

Pretty simple really, but it just goes to show how even with years of experience you can still learn something new!

One of the main reasons why I could only get about 4 days out of an attachment was due to scalp irritation issues. This was only a problem in the areas where my unit had french lace, and only where there was no adhesive applied.

I finally caught on to the fact that the irritation might be due to the friction between the thicker french lace and my skin, so I started applying more tape in the areas where my skin was getting irritated.

Problem solved!

Here is a short video showing the areas where I apply tape.

Ordering Your First Full Cap

Jul 14

Posted by JRob in Tips | No Comments

Once you have decided to order a Full Cap, one of the first questions people who are new to the hair replacement game have is “What specifications should I order?”

The good news is that with a Full Cap you have MUCH more flexibility with your order than if you were integrating a topper with your existing hair. Many of the specifications that are critical to integrating a topper are much less important with a Full Cap. You have a lot more flexibility with:

density
color
curl diameter, and
template design

This changes if you decide to integrate nape or facial hair, and you will have limitations based upon the color and density of your eyebrows and your skin tone, but with a true Full Cap your options are many! First, decide on your base design. I highly, HIGHLY recommend ordering an all French lace base for your first unit or units. There are a couple of reasons for this.

French lace very durable, yet extremely undetectable.
French lace is easy to customize. The first template you make might not be perfect. You can easily trim the base and pluck hair to change the shape of the temples, hairline, and back area. You can also add material by sewing it on with invisible thread if necessary. Skin perimeter units are more difficult to customize. A lace base can be ordered larger than necessary to allow for experimentation and any material that is cut off can be used for repairs at a later time.

Next, decide the hair color of your unit.

If you are ordering a true Full Cap (no existing hair integration) your only limitation will be the need to roughly match the color of your eyebrows and your skin tone. You might want to stick as close to your natural hair color as possible for your first order, but personally I have found that I look much better with a color a couple of shades lighter than my natural hair, so go with what you think will look best.

Another important choice you will have to make is the density of your unit. As a general rule, the older you are the lighter the density should be, especially on the top. I recommend starting with a medium density on the top and sides (you might want to go a little thicker on the sides than the top), and a little heavier density in the back. Even men who are severely balding (like yours truly!) usually have fairly thick hair in the back. Don’t go overboard with the back density, but don’t be afraid to go a little thicker in this area. If you are transitioning from concealers or have a certain hairstyle that people are used to seeing you with, you might want to try to get close to the look you have with your natural hair, at least for your first few orders. You can slowly change the density (and other specs) with subsequent orders. On the other side of the coin, a radical change can also help to throw people off and provide the illusion that you simply changed your hairstyle. This applies more to color and curl, but a little change in density shouldn’t cause any red flags. Ventilation is also important. I recommend drawing the direction you want the hair to be ventilated on ALL areas of your template, not just the top. The ventilators tend to tie the hair forward in the temple areas, which makes for easier attachment, but if you want the hair to lie in a down or slightly backward direction, be sure to specify. For the top I recommend having the hair on your first unit ventilated forward. You will still be able to spike the hair at the hairline if you like, but forward ventilation and combing the hair at least slightly forward will help you get through the learning curve since this will cover a lot of flaws with your attachment. Finally, decide the amount of curl you want in your Full Cap.

Uncut unit with "Light wave" curl

If you are integrating nape hair, you will want to match the curl of the unit with your existing hair, if you are not using any of your own hair I would recommend ordering straight hair if possible. Straight hair is not permed by the factory, and in my experience it tends to be “healthier” than hair with curl.

Uncut unit with "straight" hair

This is just a general guideline to help you make better decisions as to what to order the first time you purchase a Full Cap Hair System. Be sure and sign up for my newsletter on the top right of the screen, as I will be sending updates on the progress of the Full Cap DVD, and the RemySoft line of products, all of which should be available soon!

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