Archive for the ‘Tips’ Category
New Full Cap Forum is Officially Open
Have a question about hair replacement? Visit the new HairJive forum at http://HairJive.com/forum
The focus is on full caps, but I will be happy to answer any questions you have regarding hair replacement. Hopefully we can get plenty of good discussions going and build a rich knowledge base in the process.
Cannedair has already asked some great questions to get us off to a great start, so sign up and start posting today at http://HairJive.com/forum
Posted in Everything Else, Guest Blog, Lifestyle, Mailbag, Products, Pushing The Limits, Tips | 
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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
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!
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!
The Price of Rushing an Attachment
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.