Hello People,
I have had Alopecia since i was 22, I am 46 and have AT/AU
I do not know why we do not have more education on ways of living with baldness. I so wish I knew what to do to help to make it easier for all of us.
My experience with bonded pieces.
My first system I ordered from Farrell, It ended ugly, Him angry with me and me angry with him.
No system and was luckyI was able to cancle my loan of over 4000 but I was despereate to have this new thing called lace.
In the end and 4 years later, I wear a full lace cap with poly nap and ear tabs that fits my scalp. It is made of 64 french lace with remy hair. I order from a company online and do my own bonding. I have very little maintance and no need for a salon.
I sleep shower and go on with my daily life without much notice from me or anyone wearing a lace system.
When I bond I use about a forth of an inch or less glue line around my entire hairline . U do not glue the whole unit. I get about a week to two weeks of wearing without having to remove. When I shower the lace is thin and it cleans my scalp underneath the lace.
Most lace bases we know about are mono. This type of lace is the same but thinner, A 64 french lace is as duriable as mono yet thinner, more airy and actually gives you more of a natural scalp and hairline. They have developed thinner laces such as swiss, superfine swiss and Ilace. U also can choose from poly bases such as thinskin but to me there hot and ur head will stink unlike lace.
They are very natual looking and comfortable. Like anything some people may have slight itch or reactions to the glues or tapes. or even find itch in the lace but I find more problems with itch with mono type bases. I have very lil reaction to the glues and most of those that bond dont seem bothered. If you are to use a glue for bonding or tape make sure it is for body use and always do a sample on your skin. There are options in glues, cream white glues and white harder type glues. I use a glue called ultra hold and it runs bout 22 bucks and will last bout 6 months. I buy 97 percent alcohol and a clearner called desolvent, it runs around 3 or 4 bucks. That is all I buy to clean and maintain my system. There are cleaning guns but I have yet to buy one. There are no special products on shampoos, just use a good all natural and like any normal hair you have to put oils into it to keep it soft. I do use a leave in condictioner.
http://www.toplace is a company I order from , they offer toppers and only a couple designs in full caps. But there price for lace and remy hair cant be beat or the quality or service. I pay around 200 for my system and need two at a time. I get the same wear as a wig but find I look more natural and the hair is more natural. You do have more shedding and hair breakage in these types of systems but as I said they can be repaired at little cost.
There are many options other than wefted wigs. There are full lace caps that do not have to be bonded but I have only gotten to view these types of bases. Other than a wefted wig, a full lace bonding cap, and a thinskin which was very hot and sweaty is all I have ever worn.
But I do have options that cost less than 500 or 2000 to have a natural and comfortable fit.
I try to visit several support groups to try to keep up with what is going on.
here are a few of my fav. I am always looking for others.
msn has a large support group but find they tend to lean towards being bald or over priced wigs .
yahoo has a good support group but it seems to be slow at times
http://www.heralopecia.com is a great open support with many features of learning about the diease and options of haircoverings. Its a great site.
http://www.toplace.com is a great site for learning about toppers and bonding
http://www.wikipedia.com is a great medical site where I have learened alot about hair peices and the dieases of baldness
Alot of talk is popping up about yaffa wigs but I find them over priced for my budget.
There is tons of support and options. Learing about them is the hard part. You do not have to pay 1000s to have natual and comfortable hair pieces. And think about it, Toupees have been around forever and guys have probly been bonding much longer than proby most of us ladies. Wigs were first designed for party , not baldness.
Hope this helps someone. Blessings and dont give up searching or hope, Its out there. Just keep asking questions and keep sharing , its how we all learn. Blessings Cin
itallaboutalopecia@yahoo.com
