Michael Jackson's Front-lace Wigs - And Why You Should Get Full-heads

[Dan_18]

The easiest way to tell if a guy has a hair system is to compare the front hairline to the side hairline. If the hair on the side of the head looks slightly thinner (baby hairs) than the front hairline, it's probably a hair system, right?

Well, wouldn't wearing a full head system get rid of this issue and make your hair look consistent all round? I think Michael Jackson wore a full front lace wig - as he was made basically bald after a pyrotechnics issue in the 80's. His hair looked super real and nobody even thought he had a wig until the autopsy stated that he was completely bald.

There are tons of black women on YouTube putting these kinds of wigs on their head, and they look completely real. Anyone know any good sites for these kinds of wigs? I bought one from urhair but it looked too thick and fake so I sent it back.

 

[WheeljackG1]

I'd be interested in hearing about this too.

 

[Noah]

Hi Dan

You are right that wearing a full cap avoids some of the potential issues with a standard topper hair system. You don't have to worry about colour or texture mismatches or problems with the topper sticking out because it is not blended properly. And you don't have to worry about your sidehair receding or thinning, and making the topper look unbalanced and fake. Those are all issues that affect some topper wearers.

However, there are also drawbacks with a full cap; two in particular.

First, there are some areas of the hair growth on your head that are difficult to reproduce with a hairpiece, especially the areas at the front of your sidehair - your temples and temple points. The hair growth there is very fine and thin, with a lot of scalp showing, and the hairs are angled very sharply back off your face. It is pretty much impossible to recreate that kind of growth on a lace or skin base in a way which is undetectable. People who lose all their hair in those areas and choose to replace it, have to go for a very shaggy style which conceals the fact that the artificial temple hair is not very realistic. You can put hair there, but it doesn't stand up to close inspection. You basically have to depend on lots of hair hanging down on top of the temples to cover up the detail. Any kind of sharp cut or subtle styling is out.

Secondly, it is hard to deal with the back of the neck. A normal topper hairpiece is fitted closely onto a rigid area of scalp which is always the same shape. But a full cap which extends below the ridge at the back of your skull is sitting on muscle, which is continually moving and changing shape as you move your head. To cope with that, the base of the full cap also has to be capable of changing shape - i.e. it has to stretch. That puts a lot of stress on the adhesives. It is nearly impossible to attach a full cap to that neck area in a way which looks natural and which cannot be felt very easily to the touch. Again, the solution which most full cap wearers adopt is to go for a thick shaggy style which hides these problems.

Obviously Michael Jackson's wig was very long and shaggy, so he was able to deal with those problems, and he does look good in that photo, although I have seen some others where he didn't look so good. I think a lot of people were aware that he wore a hairpiece, although maybe not that he was totally bald. It is the kind of look which is great if you are a rock star or a celebrity hairdresser. Maybe less good if you are a bank clerk or a chartered accountant.

Are you thinking of going for a full cap?