First Time Wearer Experiencing A Few Issues (pic)

[yesmush]

I have had my system now going on 2 weeks and everything was fine the first week but I have noticed a few changes.

Firstly my hair has become more difficult to style it’s like it doesn’t want to have any volume in it and wants to lay flat which wasn’t the case when I first got it.

Also running my hand through my hair, the hair doesn’t seem to separate like normal hair and then my fingers tips are met by lumps of hair, it doesn’t seem knotted and when I brush through, it combs through like they is nothing there but I can still feel the lumps of hair after brushing.

The lace seems to have changed too it’s not as pliable, feels harder and it has wrinkled in places. The hairs from the top of the lace as also come through the other side, the side that attaches to your scalp is this normal.

I believe I’m doing things right my daily routine is to use a leave in conditioner and comb it through my system. For styling I use like a cream which is quite tacky on the bottle it says ‘refiner’ it was recommended by the stylist she said not to use styling powders or clays not sure why. I also blow dry on a medium heat and cool setting. I only shampoo it when I take it off which is around every 5 days so I don’t think I’m over shampooing. The way I’m removing it is with c22 I squirt it through the lace around the perimeter where the tape is, I only use tape no glue. After a minute or so I gently peel the system back and the system comes off cleanly with very little residue left behind, then I wipe it off with cotton wool. I shampoo the system in the sink and rinse it off in the shower, clean my head and put it back on once dry.

Am I doing anything wrong to explain the above changes in the lace and difficulty in styling I have attached a pic of the unit from the underside just to show how the hair as bunched together.

 

[BaldAndBalder]

looks like a combo of bad system with improper conditioner

 

[Noah]

Hi Yesmush

I can't really tell much from the picture, I'm afraid. It is normal for the hair on a lace system to settle down and lose some of the "pouffiness" that it first has. Usually that is a good thing. If yours has gone too flat that might be because the knots were too loose. The hairs are knotted to strands of the lace base, and they are usually knotted to stand up, to give the hair a bit if volume. As you wear the system, the knots can gradually slip around the thread they are attached to. You should be able to reverse that process. You would soak your system in warm water for 10 minutes, pin it to a polystyrene wig head or a cushion, hold the system upside-down with the hairs hanging down, and very gently pull the hairs downwards. That should slip the knots round to a more vertices position. Be careful not to pull too hard, or you may pull hairs out.

Some "wash-through" of hairs to the wrong side of the lace is normal, but it is a bad thing, so you want to keep it to the minimum. There is no practical way to get the hairs back, and all you can do is cut them off. There are usually 2 causes. First is rinsing the hairpiece with the waterflow hitting the hair side, and actually washing the hairs through the mesh. Always do it the other way. The other cause is pulling tape off the base before you have broken the adhesive bond with alcohol.

I am not sure what the bunching up is. You sound like you are doing everything else right. Do you get this immediately after you have washed and reinstalled your piece, or does it develop as you wear it?

Noah

 

[BaldBearded]

This sounds very familiar. I have seen it before.

From what you are explaining the hairs are clumping together above the base, forming little dreads. Since you are not using liquid adhesive, nor are you leaving it on for long periods, adhesive seeping through is probably not the culprit.

The reason for the base wrinkling or bunching is that the knots of hair are pulling the lace taught.

I have a feeling that your styling routine is too much. You are putting in the leave-in first (it should be the last thing you do), followed by a sticky cream, that the you BAKE into the hair with a blow dryer.

Then what do you do the next day? The same routine? Do you rinse this all out before?

The best way to style... if the system is dry, use a Tangle Teaser brush and brush the hair, gently, and get all the tangles out. Brush from end to base, do not start and the base. Comb/brush your hair in place, and use the leave-in conditioner as a styling agent, and let it dry.

Since it's only two weeks, I would go back to the salon, and have them deal with it (did you purchase it from them). There are some ways to potentially save it... but they should be warrantying the system, especially if they advised you that this styling routine is ok (it's not).

Did you buy a system with Remy hair? Non-Remy has a tendency to tangle since the hairs are not going in same direction, and tend to have less of the cuticle intact.

Another thing to think about, 99% isopropyl alcohol is usually used to loosen the adhesive between you scalp and the system, and the to remove the tape from the base. C-22 is good for removing adhesive from the system after removal, if you have adhesive that is stuck deep in the lace. When you wash C-22 out of the hair, it tends to bond with the soap and create an emulsion that is difficult to remove, are you sure you are getting ALL of this out of the system?

Steve

P.S. matte clay is fine in a system... the salon was incorrect in telling you otherwise.

 

[yesmush]

Thanks for the reply’s.

But I think you may have hit the nail on the head Steve that’s exactly what I’ve been doing regarding styling my hair day after day and given myself dreadlocks aha.

I have tbh now I think about it my stylist didn’t do what I have been doing she used Water then blow dried into style then added in the styling product, it’s me who has baked it in with the blow dryer. I haven’t styled hair in other a decade so it’s all new to me and a learning curve again. Should I be rinsing my hair with water after every day to stop build up of products?

I think I’m going to ditch the styling product they gave me because I don’t want a wet look, what do you guys think to the styling powder for hair systems, just seems really easy and mess free to use?

I have just bought some isopropyl alcohol under the name surgical spirits thanks to Noah didn’t know the uk term for it. The only one I could get though is Ethanol 90%. Methanol 5% with castor oil in it hope that will be okay.

Regarding the c22 emulsifying with the shampoo, I did not know that kind of reaction could happen and I haven’t noticed it happening either but will pay more attention when using.

Only issue I have is I had the system done in a different city when I lived their I now live over a hour away, I’m still going to contact them with pictures and say what you have informed me. I think they will allow me to ship it to them and they will de-tangle it for me

 

[yesmush]

Managed to save my system it is now completely knot free and detangled and the lace lays flat again. I got most of the matting out with a paddle brush but their was two really stubborn knots that would not budge so took your advice baldbearded and got a tangle teaser brush and that really made light work of it, i got those knots out in minutes, I 100% recommend a tangle teaser brush to anyone in the same situation.

I’m not 100% happy with my system can anyone recommend a place I can order from online with poly perimeter and lace front and middle stock systems thanks.