My First Order Of A Hair Piece. Advices.

[Rooftop93]

Hello,
i'm about to order a hair piece, but I have some questions:
1/ don't know which are the best websites for best quality products. (with normal prices. Approx 200$ if I well understood) - I'm in France but no problem to buy in another country.

2/ then, which kind of hair piece should I order for the first time ? Lace or Skin or Mixed ? (I'm NW6/7 but with thin transparent hair on top)

3/ Should I take standard measures? then I cut it myself to fit to my head ? (I have a good dexterity and am autonomous for manuel actions like this)
Or if I order a tailored one, How should I take the measures ? Like videos on youtube with plastic film/bag, marker and scotch ?

4/ How can I define the right color, and type of hair, to have the most natural style ?

Thank you !!

 

[Noah]

Hi Rooftop

1. I don't want to mention supplies' names on the forum in case it seems like advertising, so I will send you a PM.

2. Roughly, the upsides of skin are - (1) you can have it injected rather than knotted, so no visible knots to worry about; (2) easier to clean the adhesive off; (3) looks very much like human scalp when seen from above. Downsides are: (4) not breathable; (5) edge of the piece can sometimes be visible at the hairline; (6) you can't use tape, because it would tear the base when removing, so you must use glue; and (6) unattached skin base makes a sound like a plastic bag when touched, so you will probably want to glue the whole surface. Upsides of lace - (1) breathable - sweat can run through it, and you can feel the wind, rain, shower water etc through it on your head; (2) disappears into the glue at the hairline, so gives a very convincing undetectable hairline; (3) you can use tape or glue; (4) you can just secure at the perimeter, leaving the centre of your scalp untouched. Downsides - (5) more difficult to clean up, glue can go through the mesh if left too long; (6) tends to fray at the hairline and has to be trimmed; (7) knots can be visible, especially for dark-hair colours. For me the big issues are breathability - skin just isn't comfortable if you are physically active - and good hairline. For those reasons I prefer lace. But it's an individual choice, with no absolute right or wrong.

3. Yes, make a template as seen on YouTube. If you want a custom piece, send your template to the supplier. If you are buying a stock piece, keep your template and use it to cut your stock piece down to size, positioning the hairline of your template at the hairline of the stock piece.

4. It's always best to send your supplier a sample of your hair, or even several labelled samples if your hair has different colours or textures in different parts.

Noah

 

[Rooftop93]

Thank you very much Noah. And in order to train myself to attachment techniques, would you recommend me to start by the lace or skin ? Both, I guess ? lol
2/What about combined Skin/Lace? (in U,O or D)
3/On pictures, it seems that parts are composed by both Skin/Lace one on one sometimes. I thought, for example the "U" model, would be the U in skin and the remaining in Lace. But it seems some parts are Lace over Poly, or Poly over Lace. I don't understand this kind of double layer.
4/ On some videos, I have the impression that the "tape" was on the Poly parts? For example, the U model, the tape was on the U. ?? But you're saying that the Poly part cannot have tape.

Thanks !!

 

[Noah]

1. The two are quite different - with skin you will probably go for a full-scalp bond with glue; with lace you will probably go for a perimeter bond at least partly with tape. So best to choose one and practise with that.

2. If you are ordering a custom piece you can usually design the base to your own specifications, and that can include partly-lace and partly-skin. For example, you could have skin around the edges, for easy clean-up, and lace in the middle for breathability, or you could have all-lace but with a crown and parting in skin, because it mimics scalp better than lace. Some stock pieces also have a mixture like that. I am not sure what U, O and D are.

3. Poly[thene] is different from skin. Skin is very fine and delicate - like cling film without the stretch. Whole bases are made of skin. Poly is much thicker and stiffer. Poly is only used for around the edge of a hairpiece, and sometimes for a patch in the middle. It can be on lace or skin. The purpose is to give a strong smooth surface for tape to stick to, and it also gives the hairpiece some shape (all-lace or all-skin are very floppy). It is also easy to clean up - you can just pull the used tape off the poly with no fear of tearing it (unlike skin, which is very easy to tear). So poly is useful, but the downside is that because it is thick it is slightly detectable. A person running their fingers through your hair could feel the ring of poly under the base. For that reason I personally do not use poly on my pieces, but if you are very active and concerned about a very strong hold and an easy clean-up, you might want to consider a poly perimeter.

4. Yes, poly can have tape, but skin can't. Sorry for the confusion. Hopefully this is clear now.

Noah

 

[Rooftop93]

Thank you Noah. I thought skin hairpieces were in Polyurethane as I see this in numerous websites :


https://www.hairbro.com/men-s-toupee/skin-hair-systems : Made from ultra-thin polyurethane, skin hair replacement system offers the most realistic hairline appearance, top and front

https://www.jeveuxmescheveux.fr/fr/2254-stock-poly-005mm-nano-peau-complement-capillaire.html : Poly 0,05mm nano-skin


ps: U, D, O means the design of Poly on mixed hair pieces (U means, the poly is placed on sides and back, remaining is lace, O means poly in circle and lace in middle)

 

[Noah]

Chemically "poly" and "skin" may well be the same material, but in terms of look and feel and use they are very different.