Got a stock system installed at a salon, is this good/the best I can expect?

Hair2019

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I think that wigs tend to look better on females than systems on males. I don't quite get it but wigs seem to perch in a way that is unrecognizable while systems seem to jut upwards from the scalp in a way that is a bit obtrusive like the hair is pointed forward.

I've never personally noticed this, and it certainly isn't the case for me. I think hair systems on guys can look fantastic and totally natural if they're done right. For me, as a guy with long hair, I could never imagine wearing a wig. I much prefer a hair system as it can be attached for longer periods of time (up to 2 - 3 weeks), can be totally customised and once attached looks and feels like I have a full head of natural hair.

But in the end, everyone has to look at all the options for hair loss - shaving their head, regrowing their bio hair, hair transplants, hair loss concealers, temporary wigs, semi-permanent hair systems, etc - and decide what is best for them.
 

JaneyElizabeth

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I've never personally noticed this, and it certainly isn't the case for me. I think hair systems on guys can look fantastic and totally natural if they're done right. For me, as a guy with long hair, I could never imagine wearing a wig. I much prefer a hair system as it can be attached for longer periods of time (up to 2 - 3 weeks), can be totally customised and once attached looks and feels like I have a full head of natural hair.

But in the end, everyone has to look at all the options for hair loss - shaving their head, regrowing their bio hair, hair transplants, hair loss concealers, temporary wigs, semi-permanent hair systems, etc - and decide what is best for them.
Well, I also have back a really good head of "male" hair so it is easy for me maybe but I spent months as an NW7 so I think I do at least somewhat, understand how hard rampant baldness or even Telogen Effluvium like I had is hard on any person.
 

cottonReville

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Here's a good tip. Watch a Jake Kent video, then go against everyththing he says.

That guy is, by far, the worst of hair guys. He's amazingly inexperienced & just rambles on about matters he doesn't even know about.

His hair looked good when he got that hairclub piece - which only seemed to be superior in that is was wavvier than body wave, making it look more realistic.

He's clueless - he has the worst hairline I've ever seen & he's like, "Guys, we need to take of ourselves. I was bodd and now am literally the most confident person I've ever met."

The dude has pychiactric issue - very insecure & depressive.

Stick on Hair is the man! And least he's nuts and owns it!
 

cottonReville

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I've never personally noticed this, and it certainly isn't the case for me. I think hair systems on guys can look fantastic and totally natural if they're done right. For me, as a guy with long hair, I could never imagine wearing a wig. I much prefer a hair system as it can be attached for longer periods of time (up to 2 - 3 weeks), can be totally customised and once attached looks and feels like I have a full head of natural hair.

But in the end, everyone has to look at all the options for hair loss - shaving their head, regrowing their bio hair, hair transplants, hair loss concealers, temporary wigs, semi-permanent hair systems, etc - and decide what is best for them.
I entirely disagree. Women who were lace front wigs look good unless they've done something egregious, like wear the wig way too low. Guy's pieces aren't that good: poorly blended, bad hairlines, density issues.

And I think too many guys go fully exposed hairline when doing such a thing requires tremendous prep, by skilled hands.
 

Jbalding

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Here's a good tip. Watch a Jake Kent video, then go against everyththing he says.

That guy is, by far, the worst of hair guys. He's amazingly inexperienced & just rambles on about matters he doesn't even know about.

His hair looked good when he got that hairclub piece - which only seemed to be superior in that is was wavvier than body wave, making it look more realistic.

He's clueless - he has the worst hairline I've ever seen & he's like, "Guys, we need to take of ourselves. I was bodd and now am literally the most confident person I've ever met."

The dude has pychiactric issue - very insecure & depressive.

Stick on Hair is the man! And least he's nuts and owns it!
It is a sad state he's in. He insist on doing it himself but when he does... its terrible. He LOVED that insanely dense justin bieber piece he had.. where everyone in the comments was practically screaming for him to please throw it in the trash. The only good results he's had were the ones where he went to the salons... and he always found an issue with those pieces.
 

Jbalding

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I really admire your bravery in posting pics as that really helps others in terms of making their own decision about systems.

One thing that I recommend systems for is to allow for more aggressive treatment related to hair regrowth. Many fail at this because as soon as they start to shed, they freak out and stop treatment. But with a hair system, or a wig in my cases from my NW7 shed, you can ride it out without the frustration of sometimes waiting a year to get back to the length that one wants.

Having said, that, I still think that you look better with your own hair if you can at least maintain it. I also think that your hair is still quite treatable. I am disappointed in the hairline that you showed because it looked pluggy sort of like transplants in the olden days and another tip that no one wants to follow is that if deniability is important to you, then you want only moderate improvement from a system and it is often advised to leave some recession in the corners to make it look more real.

People like Paul Reiser have sported the ultra-low hairline look as have many cable anchormen and I just think that it is spottable immediately. Ted Koppel had a piece that was way too low and bushy. I don't particularly worry if my wig is spottable because there is less stigma admittedly and with wigs, you don't want/need the option of maintaining some recession and they don't make wigs like that for females anyway.
It bothered him enough to the point to where he made the jump to a system. My own bio hair is and was in a much better state than his but because I know i will gradually go bald I decided to make a jump early, too. It took away my fear of hair loss every time I looked in the mirror. My stylist even asked me "you sure you want to do this, its a little early for you?". Going from relatively good hair (nw2-2,5 in my case) to a hair system was one of the better things ive done - no transition from visibly balding to suddenly having hair.
 

Hair2019

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I entirely disagree. Women who were lace front wigs look good unless they've done something egregious, like wear the wig way too low. Guy's pieces aren't that good: poorly blended, bad hairlines, density issues.

And I think too many guys go fully exposed hairline when doing such a thing requires tremendous prep, by skilled hands.

Well I did say 'if done right' :) Hair systems definitely look natural and can be undetectable IF done right.
 

HairsonUnique

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I don't understand what jake Kent does to his hair. He seems to really over oil it or something.

His hair lines and density have usually been pretty bad. The dense piece he had was beyond ridiculous. His videos where he critiques others are just bad, because he doesn't have a clue when there are obvious problems because frankly he has almost no experience.

Phil from hair4all is a great example, as is anything from mgford. Curtis too. What about some Daves hair system?
 

Alsh

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I really admire your bravery in posting pics as that really helps others in terms of making their own decision about systems.
Thanks for saying that

Having said, that, I still think that you look better with your own hair if you can at least maintain it. I also think that your hair is still quite treatable. I am disappointed in the hairline that you showed because it looked pluggy sort of like transplants in the olden days and another tip that no one wants to follow is that if deniability is important to you, then you want only moderate improvement from a system and it is often advised to leave some recession in the corners to make it look more real.
Haha yeah at this stage I feel like my natural hair is better than the hair system. I have been using dutasteride for 4 years and my loss has effectively ceased. With that said, I still wasn't happy with the hair I have, even if it wasn't going anywhere.

This presents a fork in the road. Either I get a hair transplant (currently not an option due to travel restrictions), I look at creative alternatives or accept the baldness.

Hair systems seemed like an interesting idea to experiment with but I am continuing to take dutasteride to maintain a contingency.

I've been wearing the hair down recently (due to my failed attempt at dying the hair) and it doesn't look too bad. A little boy-band like and I keep getting asked for ID, but I can't complain

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I have had a couple more units arrive from Lordhair. Another .03mm v-looped poly and a .05mm (or 0.08mm?) v-looped poly. They are both one shade darker but I don't know how I messed up but they are still slightly lighter than my natural hair colour :rolleyes: .

I am going to transitions hair tomorrow to get the .03mm unit cut in and styled. Will see how that turns out. I inspected the base and it does indeed go end to end but I can see how you would need to cut a lot out of the front to make sure the hairline isn't too low.
 
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JaneyElizabeth

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Thanks for saying that


Haha yeah at this stage I feel like my natural hair is better than the hair system. I have been using dutasteride for 4 years and my loss has effectively ceased. With that said, I still wasn't happy with the hair I have, even if it wasn't going anywhere.

This presents a fork in the road. Either I get a hair transplant (currently not an option due to travel restrictions), I look at creative alternatives or accept the baldness.

Hair systems seemed like an interesting idea to experiment with but I am continuing to take dutasteride to maintain a contingency.

I've been wearing the hair down recently (due to my failed attempt at dying the hair) and it doesn't look too bad. A little boy-band like and I keep getting asked for ID, but I can't complain

View attachment 159539View attachment 159538

I have had a couple more units arrive from Lordhair. Another .03mm v-looped poly and a .05mm (or 0.08mm?) v-looped poly. They are both one shade darker but I don't know how I messed up but they are still slightly lighter than my natural hair colour :rolleyes: .

I am going to transitions hair tomorrow to get the .03mm unit cut in and styled. Will see how that turns out. I inspected the base and it does indeed go end to end but I can see how you would need to cut a lot out of the front to make sure the hairline isn't too low.
Those pics look nicer.
 

BaldBearded

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Thanks for saying that


Haha yeah at this stage I feel like my natural hair is better than the hair system. I have been using dutasteride for 4 years and my loss has effectively ceased. With that said, I still wasn't happy with the hair I have, even if it wasn't going anywhere.

This presents a fork in the road. Either I get a hair transplant (currently not an option due to travel restrictions), I look at creative alternatives or accept the baldness.

Hair systems seemed like an interesting idea to experiment with but I am continuing to take dutasteride to maintain a contingency.

I've been wearing the hair down recently (due to my failed attempt at dying the hair) and it doesn't look too bad. A little boy-band like and I keep getting asked for ID, but I can't complain

View attachment 159539View attachment 159538

I have had a couple more units arrive from Lordhair. Another .03mm v-looped poly and a .05mm (or 0.08mm?) v-looped poly. They are both one shade darker but I don't know how I messed up but they are still slightly lighter than my natural hair colour :rolleyes: .

I am going to transitions hair tomorrow to get the .03mm unit cut in and styled. Will see how that turns out. I inspected the base and it does indeed go end to end but I can see how you would need to cut a lot out of the front to make sure the hairline isn't too low.

Much better!
 

HairSystemUk

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Thanks for saying that


Haha yeah at this stage I feel like my natural hair is better than the hair system. I have been using dutasteride for 4 years and my loss has effectively ceased. With that said, I still wasn't happy with the hair I have, even if it wasn't going anywhere.

This presents a fork in the road. Either I get a hair transplant (currently not an option due to travel restrictions), I look at creative alternatives or accept the baldness.

Hair systems seemed like an interesting idea to experiment with but I am continuing to take dutasteride to maintain a contingency.

I've been wearing the hair down recently (due to my failed attempt at dying the hair) and it doesn't look too bad. A little boy-band like and I keep getting asked for ID, but I can't complain

View attachment 159539View attachment 159538

I have had a couple more units arrive from Lordhair. Another .03mm v-looped poly and a .05mm (or 0.08mm?) v-looped poly. They are both one shade darker but I don't know how I messed up but they are still slightly lighter than my natural hair colour :rolleyes: .

I am going to transitions hair tomorrow to get the .03mm unit cut in and styled. Will see how that turns out. I inspected the base and it does indeed go end to end but I can see how you would need to cut a lot out of the front to make sure the hairline isn't too low.
Personally, I think that looks significantly better, plus the style suits you more.
One of the issues I find is I’m always obsessing over how my hairline looks, I have lace front but like now didn’t get the tape right to the edge so can see some fraying of the lace and ridges/bumps when you’re up close. I know looking normally usually wouldn’t be able to see this but maybe having an unexposed hairline would be a lot better or down and a sort of messy look as you have here.
 

JaneyElizabeth

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One thing that might or might not be obvious is that when considering a system, make sure that you are committed to all of the prep work and scheduled hair cuts and washing and maintenance. Because something that might look decent when all of those things have been taken care of assiduously, might start looking crummy if one starts to cut corners or gets lazy and then things could possibly get to the stage where people are talking.

One of my former bosses wore a system and I am sorry but it just didn't sit right and I would always end up looking at the top of his forehead because it drew my attention. Nobody wants this. If people are looking at you upwards of your eyes so to speak, it might be time to get re-fitted and to get a hair cut. I don't know what the current status is but it used to be maybe $100 a month for hair cuts and tightening. Comparatively, wigs seem to need much less maintenance and that might be why I said no to a system as a young male but went fairly happily into a wig during my shed.

No matter how we do it, addressing hair loss can be a lot of work and much of it grunt work. I am not certain about systems but wigs comb, but particularly brush really well, almost like one's own hair and that ability to brush makes it a nicer substitute than one might think.
 

Alsh

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Haha I'm paying through my teeth for transitions hair. It's $350 for the cut in, dye and style. I know it's pricey but I'm doing the dumb thing and hoping expensive means quality.

My hope is the result is excellent and shows me what the potential is for a system on my head, from there I'll know if it's worth committing to.
 

JaneyElizabeth

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Haha I'm paying through my teeth for transitions hair. It's $350 for the cut in, dye and style. I know it's pricey but I'm doing the dumb thing and hoping expensive means quality.

My hope is the result is excellent and shows me what the potential is for a system on my head, from there I'll know if it's worth committing to.
You will get feedback from people's reactions and one knows when such reactions are positive because folks will start wanting to hang out more and talk and so forth. Removing my beard made a huge difference more so in how women treated me than men since women and even gils tend to accept other females without beards much more readily, lol.
 

Jbalding

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Personally, I think that looks significantly better, plus the style suits you more.
One of the issues I find is I’m always obsessing over how my hairline looks, I have lace front but like now didn’t get the tape right to the edge so can see some fraying of the lace and ridges/bumps when you’re up close. I know looking normally usually wouldn’t be able to see this but maybe having an unexposed hairline would be a lot better or down and a sort of messy look as you have here.
Use glue in the front
 

cottonReville

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Well I did say 'if done right' :) Hair systems definitely look natural and can be undetectable IF done right.
If done right is a tall order. Sean Connery's 007 piece is done right. Experts were assigned to work on that piece for a blockbuster.

I've never done for full realism as I can't achieve it myself. I'm terrible at cutting templates and don't like modifying the hairline. Consequently I go semi exposed hairline. Is it detecable, no? But if I pulled my hair back, it'd look like a Jake Kent piece.
 

cottonReville

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I think when you wear it down it looks good.

As a general rule of thumb, a salon which won't take hair you purchased yourself is not a good salon. Their motivation is simple: they want you to buy a piece for them at a huge markup.

My first piece was a generic Chinese stock I bought from a hair-piece salon. 650 USD for piece, cut in and a few pieces of tape. It was a ripoff but I don't think I would have done a good DIY job without seeing it done beforehand.

I then began getting pieces from Lord pre-cut (same dimensions as the ones the lady at the salon gave me); those were fantastic as I'd get the base cut down to the exact size I needed & loved Lord's factory cut.

But the units were junk so I stopped buying from them and began buying 8x10 stock pieces I'd have a woman with no hair piece experience cut for me. Great results - but 1/4 ppl in that area have tested positive for Covid so I'm abstaining.

I wouldn't be surprised if I've tried more colors, base types & densities than anyone here in the past two years.

I think my next piece will be professionally down at a new salon which specializes in hair pieces; the owner has been in the business for 30+ yrs and is good at plucking hairlines etc. I have never had a good full bond with Ghostbond and need to see how that'll look.
 

HairSystemUk

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Use glue in the front
I am tempted to try this but how to prevent overshooting the hairline? Every video I’ve watched make it seem so easy but none has really covered how you’d clear this or even prevent it occurring. Is the most accurate method just drawing with a makeup pencil?
 
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