JRob's Hair Replacement Blog

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This is the template that I had originally made for my Halloween costume.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!

Earlier this week I met with the management and staff at Hair Direct to discuss some promotional ideas for the RemySoft line and to give them a preview of my soon-to-be-released Full Cap DVD.

While I was there I offered to do a live attachment demonstration for their staff. They wanted to tape the demo so that the members of their staff who weren’t able to attend would be able to view it later, so I ended up in their studio in front of an audience AND cameras! (This attachment method will also be on my Full Cap DVD)

I wasn’t expecting that much of a production, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.

The next day we did a photo shoot for a RemySoft promotional page that they are working on. Here are a few shots from my “modeling” debut, hehe.

This is an old full cap I had lying around that came in with a density that was way too high. I’ve been tinkering with a mohawk design for awhile now, so I thought I might as well cut it up and experiment a little for Halloween. Everyone who asked about it didn’t believe it wasn’t my real hair. A couple of the girls thought I was really Chuck Liddell, hehe. They simply didn’t believe that the hair, tattoos, and the cut above my eye were all fake.

The results- winner by knockout!

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!