Considering A Hair System Frontal Piece

[subterfuge]

Hey. I'm in the UK. I'm actually 32 although people tend to think i'm a fair bit younger.
Guess I have a bit of a baby face, but now that my hair is starting to fall out and thin, i'm worried that my face will really not be able to 'pull off' the bald look.

As it stands,my recession isn't THAT bad compared to some friends, and even though the hair on the rest of my head has definitely thinned out, it's not really noticable to others from what I gather (friends are always comparing each others hair, gentle ribbing etc, and they often use me as an example of someone who is doing OK!) it's only really the temples that are very noticable....not the rest.

I could be tempting fat, but judging from my brothers and my dad etc, I don't think it will get THAT much worse for a few years, and so i'd kind of like to 'catch it early' and start camouflaging in small increments so that people mightn't even notice (rather than waiting until my hairloss is much worse, and then suddenly coming out with a NW2 hairline! )

Anyway, I know nothing about this sort of stuff, but what I THINK I want, is some sort of frontal hairpiece.

Essentially to lower my hairline but about half and inch at teh front, and to straighten out the temple area where i'm receding a fair bit.

I'm no expert on the norwood stuff, but I'd guess i'm about an NW3??

I essentially want a small strip/hair piece which would look a bit like a figure of 8 being flipped on it's side (if that makes sense)

I'd also like to not have to shave any hair off - I imagine that would leave a little 'gap' of very thin hair BEHIND the hairpiece on the corners/temples, but I *tihnk* the way I style my hair, combined with some sort of camouflage spray would mean that wouldn't be much of a concern.

I want to know whether what I am talking about is possible
And what sort of costs I'd be looking at (I only earn minimum wage and thus money is always very tight so i'd want each piece to last as long as possible!)
And whether this is something I could do all online without having to visit people for fittings and cuts and consultations etc?

I will attach a few pics to give you a clearer idea of what is going on.....

 

[Noah]

Hi Subterfuge

You could probably soldier on for a bit longer, but taking early action is definitely a good idea if you want the transition to go unnoticed. You could either go for a full hairline piece, or you could get two small pieces, one for each side. I have known guys do both successfully. The two side pieces are probably easier to manage. Obviously then you are not lowering your hairline in the middle of your forehead though.

I don't really recommend the idea of leaving a thinning area of real hair behind the piece - I think that will be noticeable. I suspect you would be better just shaving that area down and having the hairpiece abut decent thick hair. But hey, if you are really keen not to shave anything, give it a go and see.

So yes, what you are talking about is very possible, and I have seen several guys do it successfully. I myself started with a front partial, although deeper than what you are considering. As far as costs are concerned, a custom made partial is pretty much the same price as a full topper, so around US$200 -250 (that's probably about £200-250 since the Brexit vote!). If you are going with the two side pieces, you could just buy a stock topper and cut the shapes out. You would probably get 10 or 12 small hairpieces from one stockie, so that would be very cheap. You could do the same with a full hairline partial - i.e. cut multiple units from a single stock piece - although you would probably have to pluck out some density after you have used the main hairline. You might get 3 or 4 from one topper.

You can definitely do this on line, and needless to say you will save a lot of money if you do. More surprisingly, you will probably also get a better result.

Feel free to ask any Qs you have.

Noah

 

[subterfuge]

thanks Noah.

Good to know that it's possible. Also like your idea money saving via cutting various 'strips' from one piece.
The whole thing is a big experiment in my head - Not something i'd EVER considered if i'm honest

My initial thoughts are:

How am I gonna get a good colour match? My hair is odd! In some lights it looks almost dark blonde. In others it looks brown. Seems to be all kinds of colours going through my hair! Very light on the sides when I shave it short.

Are they held down by glue? I'd naturally want it to have like a 0% chance of coming off! (I see some people say you can swim in them and all sorts)

Do they itch and feel odd to wear? Hopefully since I really only want a fairly small strip, any itching would be minimized to a small part of my head at least!

I've seen some that say lasts for up to a year and Up to 6 weeks continuous wear. This conflict in the statements confuses me - are they saying that it lasts a year, but that you have to take it off every 6 weeks, maybe because the glue weakens, or for some sort of hygiene reason?

I don't see how it would be undetectable like they claim? Wouldn't there be a little 'line'/raised surface where teh 'fake skin' that the hair attaches to begins?

Can you recommend any websites in particular for me to look at making a potential order?

cheers

 

[Noah]

Hi Subterfuge

Generally you get a good color match by sending in a small sample of your hair. I understand they analyse the color with a microscope. In my experience it isn't difficult to get a good color match on a custom piece. The choice in stock pieces is far more limited, so if you have an unusual hair color you may have to go for a custom piece. The other thing I would say is that color variation with blond hair is common, and looks OK. I have "dirty fair" coloured hair, and it has always bleached a bit on top in the sun even when I had a full head of natural hair. My hairpiece does the same, and I am not bothered by that. In fact, I think within reason I it adds to the naturalness.

They are held on with either glue or hairpiece tape. The adhesives available nowadays for hair systems are very strong and reliable. Provided you apply properly there is zero chance of the system coming off accidentally. You can swim in them, water-ski in them, go to the gym in them, do pretty much whatever you want in them.

They don't feel odd or itchy. They are very very thin, lightweight and airy (in the case of lace units), and once they are on you genuinely forget it's there.

The idea of 6 weeks continuous wear is sold by Hair Club and places of that ilk. It is physically possible to get a glue which lasts for 6 weeks, but I would not recommend it. It is not hygienic for your scalp to keep the piece on that long, and in order to withstand that kind of wear the piece has to be very tough, which is incompatible with it being delicate, lightweight and undetectable. I recommend you count on detaching, cleaning and reattaching every 7 - 10 days.

They are surprisingly undetectable. The base is a very fine mesh ("lace") which disappears when it is glued to your skin. If properly applied it is pretty much 100% undetectable unless someone is a few millimetres from your skin. Even then, they would have to know what they were looking for to spot that you are wearing a hairpiece. The lace looks very similar to the fine lines on your skin, or the pores on dry skin.

I left you a PM with some suggested vendors.

Noah

 

[shookwun]

Your idea behind that front partial wont work. The two temple pieces is another issue, there will be blending issues.

At the fore lock? it's to skinny...

Would need a solid inch to attach to the head or else you risky it being to flimsy.


The easiest approach is shaving your forelock back an inch, then gluing a piece on.