Best base for light density and exposed hairline ?

[Blurred Hairlines]

Personally I have found the Swiss lace bases to be best for a fully-exposed hairline. The fine skin bases are pretty good too, but there can sometimes be a problem with shine - if the base catches the light the wrong way you can get a shine off it which exposes the existence of a base and the position of the edge. With a lace base there is no hard edge to see - the base peters out in a row of tiny threads which just look like hairs.

I think lace also gives you a bit more cover if you get base lift. Mostly if a small piece of lace lifts it's not really noticeable, and you can just press it back down into the adhesive. The invisibility of skin depends on it being glued to your skin, so if you get lift it can look like you have sellotape on your hairline.

Do you mind elaborating on this? I am new to hair systems. If poly-thin skin systems are more detectable than lace systems for an exposed hairline, then what is the actual advantage to poly skin systems?? If lace has a better hairline and breathable material - why would anyone wear a skin?

 

[Noah]

Do you mind elaborating on this? I am new to hair systems. If poly-thin skin systems are more detectable than lace systems for an exposed hairline, then what is the actual advantage to poly skin systems?? If lace has a better hairline and breathable material - why would anyone wear a skin?

Hi BH, they each have pros and cons as a base material. I would say for lace the big plus factor is breathability, whereas for skin it is ease of clean-up. Here's the factors I can think of:

* Skin is better for partings and crowns - seen from above it mimics a human scalp to perfection. Lace is better for the hairline, because (as mentioned) there is no defined edge to see.

* Skin is easier to clean up - it is a shiny impervious surface which easily wipes clean of glue etc. Lace is delicate, and has to be cleaned with care, usually after soaking, to avoid stretching the base or causing if to fray, or causing the hairs to come through to the wrong side. You can cure that problem to some extent by having a poly rim around the back and sides of a lace piece, and possibly other strategically-placed tape patches, although they may be detectable to the touch.

* Skin is usually attached with a full head bond of glue. It makes a "plastic bag" noise if you touch it when it is not glued down. It is risky to use strong tape on the thinner skin bases, because you could tear the base when you try to get it off.

* Lace is usually attached just at the perimeter, and you can use tape or glue.

* Lace is very open-textured and breathable. You can feel the wind and rain through a lace piece, and sweat just runs through it. Skin is an impermeable plastic film. It is not breathable, so sweat gets trapped under the base and eventually finds its way out at the edges. Some skin pieces have little holes in the membrane supposedly to cure this problem, but in my experience they don't work.

* They both have about the same lifespan and price.

There is no right or wrong answer. A lot of guys are very keen on skin bases. For me, the crux point is breathability, and I would say if you are sporting or physically active, lace is the better choice. Also, from talking to lots of guys who wear over the years, I would say most experienced wearers prefer lace. Personally I now only wear Swiss.

Noah

 

[Smartone84]

super fine s

* Skin is better for partings and crowns - seen from above it mimics a human scalp to perfection. Lace is better for the hairline, because (as mentioned) there is no defined edge to see.

Yes especially because a lot of these companies don't fully bleach knots unless specifically requested and if someone is behind you and sees unbleached knots in your crown it's like wtf is that.

Also, swiss lace is the best hairline possible imo

 

[BaldAndBalder]

It should be added that swiss lace require more maintenance

 

[Smartone84]

It should be added that swiss lace require more maintenance

Yes if you are doing a full bond on swiss lace you are looking at some serious maintenance time and must be careful

 

[Noah]

I'm not sure this really accords with my experience. Could you be more specific? What do you mean by "a full bond" and "serious maintenance time"?

 

[BaldAndBalder]

i didn't try lace personally but from what i could read, dust and pollution tend to stick in the front hairline glue and it need to be re-done regularly

 

[Smartone84]

I'm not sure this really accords with my experience. Could you be more specific? What do you mean by "a full bond" and "serious maintenance time"?

Well I do not wear yet. This is going off my years of watching YouTube videos, research, forums etc, but I would say around a solid hour is needed to do maintenance on a fine lace. Full bond means bond covering the entire scalp.

i didn't try lace personally but from what i could read, dust and pollution tend to stick in the front hairline glue and it need to be re-done regularly

Yes i would say you need to keep an eye on a lace hairline a bit if you want to always maintain a fresh look up there as opposed to poly

 

[Noah]

You have to be a bit careful about the information on YouTube videos. Nearly all of them are sponsored by one or other of the Chinese direct sellers, and there is always a tendency in the hair replacement industry to push skin over lace. I assume it must be cheaper to manufacture and therefore more profitable. To my mind it's a bit like polyester shirts versus cotton shirts - polyester is newer and more technically advanced, but not necessarily better for the consumer, and maybe the reason it is constantly on offer is because it is better for the trade. Fine Swiss lace has been the material of choice for high quality hair replacements since Max Factor started using it for Hollywood film stars in the 1930's, and it is still what is used in Hollywood.

In my experience very few lace wearers do a full scalp glue bond. It would indeed be very messy, and would interfere with one of lace's big advantages, which is breathability. Nearly everyone does a perimeter bond.

I don't find grime sticking to the hairline is a significant problem if you do maintenance reasonably frequently (I do it weekly), but it must depend on where you live and what you do for a living. If you work in a dusty environment or you live somewhere with a lot of air pollution then of course it will. Even so, you can clean up a grubby hairline in 10 minutes with a cotton bud and a drop of alcohol. Also, you can seal the hairline adhesive from dust and pollution by applying a little drop of matt hairgel on it.

 

[deg_dilemma]

UTS hairline needs attention every 2 or 3 days, but it does look very very good when done well and when it's a new system. UTS hairline probably needs more work than a lace one, because it is very unforgiving when it lifts or when it's not bonded perfectly.

I'm a UTS wearer but I do believe lace fronts are better. My perfect choice would be a UTS base with swiss lace front. But my supplier/salon only does UTS, so for now I deal with it.

UTS maintenance is very easy for sure. I only rarely use alcohol - I just roll/scrape off the glue and then wash the base and my scalp with dishwashing liquid.

 

[Smartone84]

UTS hairline needs attention every 2 or 3 days, but it does look very very good when done well and when it's a new system. UTS hairline probably needs more work than a lace one, because it is very unforgiving when it lifts or when it's not bonded perfectly.

I'm a UTS wearer but I do believe lace fronts are better. My perfect choice would be a UTS base with swiss lace front. But my supplier/salon only does UTS, so for now I deal with it.

UTS maintenance is very easy for sure. I only rarely use alcohol - I just roll/scrape off the glue and then wash the base and my scalp with dishwashing liquid.

What do you roll and scrape off the glue with?

 

[deg_dilemma]

What do you roll and scrape off the glue with?

My fingers, sometimes a tissue. It's mostly a gooey liquid 7 to 10 days later. Using a single (or at most 2) layer really helps with the quick cleanup.

 

[ozadam]

You need an exposed hairline.. UTS. That dud in the pic above it would be a dead givaway for him to have BANGS.