lace review (pic)

[CCS]

I have not used glue yet, which is when it looks best. But most people only glue the edges, and I'm reviewing the interior. Obviously with hair over it, it would be more hidden. I think if the glue smooths the gaps, the light shaddows differently. But here is some info:

transparent French and skin colored Regular Swiss (I have not yet seen the super fine swiss):
yes, you can feel and see them. They are not obvious though. They do match my skin color fine. It is the light angle making one side of the fiber brighter than the other that makes them visible. I think it would be hard to notice with hair attached though, but still possible.

I put the french down on white table for a minute while looking at the swiss. When I looked for the french, I could not find it for 5 seconds until I remembered where I put it and looked right there. Then I could see it. It does not jump out out of the corner of the eye. I pulled it tight against my forehead though, and could see it when my face was 1 foot from the mirror. Same with the swiss. Maybe I was a bit closer for the swiss.

The Regular swiss holes are 0.8mm across, and the french 1.2 mm. Both are probably 80% hole. The swiss is much smoother and less visible than the french, though even the french feels half decent if it is pulled tight enough. Again, if you have hair attached and blocking contact with the fingers, you may do better. I'm afraid to go french though.

The regular Swiss is not weak at all, and blends in much better. Both stretch a little. I can feel the edge of the french, whereas I can't feel the end of the swiss as I drag my finger across it. I just feel a bit rougher on the swiss, and then smoother on my skin. I would not even call it ripples, like I feel on the french. I'm sure once skin oil is on the lace, it would feel more like skin.
If you know what to look for and are close, you can see the regular swiss with your bare eye. If it is on your forehead, you can see it from 2 feet away (1 foot in the mirror) and even further if you have light hitting it from the side. However, skill may play a part here. I've seen impressive pictures. If you want strength, just go with the regular swiss, not the french.

I find it very believable that super fine swiss would be very hard to spot. I think the regular swiss would fool someone to the touch for brief touches, but not if they were there a while, noticed something, and probed further.


I'm still amazed at how both kind of disappear while sitting on white paper. Not really disappear. I can see them. But they are kind of faint skin color. If i go out with regular Swiss, I would be taking a chance only if I got far with a woman. I'm thinking about going super fine swiss in the 1/2 inch of hairline, and regular swiss behind that.

tension really helps it disappear, so I wonder if the super fine would be to delicate for a bigger. I want to see some and find out.

 

[CCS]

Re: lace review

No not as good as I suspected from reading stuff. But still doable. A lot of these guys don't let women touch their hair. I really think the super fine swiss would pass even that test. But I read that it sheds hairs much faster than the stronger laces, so there is that price trade off.


And I want to emphasize: you can't just slap it on your head and see it disappear. You need good technique. Tension made it disappear a lot better than it just sitting there. How good it looks depends a lot on you. But it is not a fast and easy super technology, at least not for beginners. I still would be amazed if someone made french lace disappear well enough.

one other note: few people are going to get right up in your hair and look. So even french can pass for some. I'd be afraid to have it if I was progressing well on a date though.

Here is an analogy of how well it disappears for me, on first try, no glue: it looked like skin color tinted scotch tape, but with some fiber to it, but about that invisible. actually I think it was less noticeable than that.

 

[CCS]

Re: lace review

http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/36295/ ... 231_rs.jpg

That is a picture of the swiss from 5 inches away, with my bad quality camera. That transition that looks like part of my had is actually the edge of the swiss. Not tension, not glue, just sitting there. It actually is not THAT invisible in person. My camera is cheap, and since the light is hitting it head on, there is no shadow on one side and light on the other that would give away the pattern. Still impressive.

I'm looking at in on the blue table right now. Like lightly tinted scotch tape, but half or a third as noticeable.

I think I might just go with the swiss, or get one swiss and one SFS.

 

[CCS]

Re: lace review

I just felt the french again. This time I did not feel the edge. It also looked the same in my had. my room is kind of dim though.
...

In this lighting they are hard to tell apart. Both good. I think I'll just go swiss.

 

[KielMcK]

Re: lace review

Hmmmm... so are you discouraged? It looks good from that one pic you sent even tho it is a crap camera. Could you post a pic of the lace on your head... perhaps a before and after to show the difference? I'm def interested in these

 

[CCS]

Re: lace review

and I am NOT going to ask anyone to inspect me in front of a group. I don't think it is noticeable, but only if someone is not looking. You don't need a magnifying glass or bright light to see it, but you do have to look really close and know what to look for or you can mistake it for being nothing.

Out in the sun I might have trouble, but not with hair covering it. The SFS still sound appealing. I'll look at it more tomorrow.

 

[MichiganBaldy]

Guy, now instead of comparing these bare lace samples against your hand and white pieces of paper or your kitchen table, try experimenting with them on your scalp, where they BELONG, and THEN see what your experiments and comparisons tell you.
You will have completely different results.

I have told hair companies not to provide lace samples to people, for just this reason: guys will get these bare samples and put them up to their skin and declare "wow, I cant see this one!" then order something and when they put it on, they wonder why can see it.
Because they got the wrong one. And they got the wrong one, because they experimented with it against their hands, the table, some paper, or other.

And their sample didnt have hair in it either.

When we are talking about making something that truly exists disappear, you need to be very correct and very technical about how you do it. Holding something that goes onto your head against your hand for reference will give you false readings.
Even doing it on your scalp isnt quite correct unless it has hairs in it, because when they put the hairs in, the properties of the lace will change slightly.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Forget the lace, let's see your "rug" already, CCS. :smack:

 

[CCS]

MB,

Your statement is scary. I had not thought of the other colors and skin differences, but you are right. I can't put it on my scalp unless I shave my head again, so I hope I get the right one. My forehead is the closest thing I have. I'll try to guess if my scalp is that much different than my forehead. They look about the same to me. What do you suggest i do?

Everyone else,
It would be pointless for me to take a picture of my forehead. My camera can't contrast those colors well.

I put it on my forehead again, with a little tension again. This time I had to get within 6 inches of the mirror to make out the swiss. This definitely depends a lot on the person applying it.

Dr house:
I have not yet ordered because I was trying to see how detectable these are so i can decide on durability vs detectability. I think the normal swiss may be good enough, though I'm curious how strong the SFS is. Maybe I'll get one of each. When i order, it will take 6 weeks go get here. Toplace offers custom pieces in under a week, by paying the factory to work round the clock. I think they are close $270 instead of the usual $175ish or $195. But my side hair won't grow out that soon, so no point in getting it before then if I can't wear it for 6 weeks anyway.

 

[CCS]

Re: lace review

Hmmmm... so are you discouraged? It looks good from that one pic you sent even tho it is a crap camera. Could you post a pic of the lace on your head... perhaps a before and after to show the difference? I'm def interested in these

actually not anymore. For making the swiss good to withing 6 inches of the mirror, with no glue or hair on it, I'd say it is very doable. I also think the glue will make any edge become harder to feel.


One other thing to add:
When i have both laces inside the envelop they came in, it was hard for me to tell if they were in there just now. i just woke up, so maybe it is my eyes, but i had to feel around in there and check the counter top to make sure I did not lose them. Also, in this particular lighting, the transparent fench actually disappeared better inside the envelop than the swiss did. MB is right though, it is what it looks like on my scalp.

I'll try to send off my order on saturday morning.

 

[CCS]

I put both against my forehead again. When they press into my oils, they are much harder to see. it is when I have a micro dip under them that the exposed lace is more noticeable. I have to be right up on the french to see it when it is pressed into the oils. So I'm sure glue would disappear it.

I was trying to feel the swiss edge again. I thought I could not feel the difference in texture between it and my skin, but then I realized my finger was not leaving it ever. That is when I rubbed higher and then could feel the difference between it an my skin. So if someone just feels the center of your head, they might not notice it, especially when there is hair there.

MB, I took a closer look at color. My scalp is just slightly lighter than my forehead. So are the laces, so I think both would disappear better on the scalp than the forehead.

I'll go with the swiss, but might also get a SFS.

And I also stood back and turned my forehead different ways in the bathroom light. The laces did not make that area of forehead any darker or lighter than the rest. I could not tell it was there when I was more than 6 inches from the mirror. I don't know about the sun, but at least in the bathroom, the light actually helped it disappear. I think if you have a single light source from the side though, that exposes it some. So it depends if the sun is more of an ambient source or a single source.

 

[CCS]

If the lace is not quite dark enough, you can stain it with tea. It is so close to my scalp color, that if I needed to stain it, it would take me maybe 2 minutes of stain time.

 

[MichiganBaldy]

Direct bright light will make it more invisible. Its the indirect, dimmer lighting from the side that will show an edge.

 

[mulder]

Do they have different coloured lace? Should I be worried about it showing up more if I have a darker skin colour?

 

[CCS]

yes, they have very light skin tone, which I think is what I have. they have pink, yellow, beige, and brown. The brown is good for african americans. They also have transparent. Transparent is not as good as a direct color match, but is good if you are between colors. You can also darken the base by soaking it in tea.

FYI,
super fine swiss pieces shed much faster because the knots are not tied as tight. This is because they have to pull on the piece to tie the knot, and the SFS can rip easier, so they can't pull as hard as they do on the french. They could tie them tight if they went slower and controlled the direction, but that would make a much more expensive piece, when you can just buy many of these cheaper ones.

French IS detectable to touch, though with hair on it, and glue at the hairline, i'm sure you can make it much less obvious. regular swiss is not obvious. But if a woman has her hands in your hair 5 minutes, I think she'd have to discover it. i have not felt superfine swiss yet, but it is supposed to be undetectable to feel and sight. Sounds believable to me from what I've seen thus far. Just your piece will last half or 1/3 as long. Maybe I should get one swiss and one SFS.

They have knot sealer too, on toplace.com

 

[CCS]

I found my swiss lace sample again. it was lost for a few weeks. found it on the floor. I was looking in just the right direction with the light hitting it right. I set it down on my book and was about to get on here and talk about it, when I could not find it again. it was a white book. i reached over to pick up the book and see if it had fallen down next to it (I had forgotten that i put it on the book). That was when I felt it under my fingers. I lifted my hand, looked, and could see it there on the book. So it is visible from 2 feet away, but even if it is on a different colored background and i'm looking for it but not looking at the exact square inch it is on, i can easily miss it.

I wrapped it around my finger again. It disappearanced completely on my white flesh, but was noticeable on my pinker flesh. So lace color definitely matters. And light hitting from the correct angle gave it away even on the ligher flesh. Again, no glue. My glue arrived though, so I'll give it a test.

I also rubbed my finger along it. As long as it is tight enough not to move under the tension, I can barely tell it is there. French lace is much rougher and more noticeable.

once again, I'm glad I went with Swiss. i just hope they give me something pinker that matches the color sample I mailed in.

 

[KielMcK]

when will you have the actual wig on your head?

 

[CCS]

It will probably arrive some time around February 1. Buy then my hair will be 1 inch long. I'll probably grow it out another 1/4 inch at least before putting the piece on, since that is the length I want. So around valentines day.

 

[KielMcK]

Great I'm excited to see the results. I've been looking at alot of celebs that wear them and they look effin great.

 

[RaginDemon]

put it on and take a pic already, dont be a big tease!