My piece so far..

[mulder]

I've had a piece on my pate for past couple of weeks now...finally got around to doing it. Here's my thoughts so far:


If you have the right color, cut-in, style, thickness and wave it will be virtually undectable to 99% of people out there. This is definitely good enough for most people, but it does take some work and time to get it right.

For me wearing a lace piece is not uncomfortable at all. Have some minor itchiness when I'm hot, but so far it has been much better than I expected in this regard. It's also easy to keep it clean, hygiene hasn't been a problem at all.

For me keeping it glued to my pate has been a bit of a hassle but it doesn't take that long to do touch ups. I think spending about 20 minutes a day for maintenance (including changing it once a week) is realistic.

So far I'm quite happy with it so far and I DEFINITELY look better.


Some tips from me.
- Get it cut in at first by a pro, ask around it shouldn't cost too much
- Coolpiece has given me the best service and quality so far...but I think they're all fairly similar...no one is going to get it perfect unless you have a piece you want to replicate exactly....better to just order several at once and get the cut-in person to go with the best one.
- you're probably going to have experiment with a bunch of glues and tapes, just order several different types at first


I'm getting a second one cut in tomorrow...I think it'll only get better

 

[mulder]

Well I got my second piece cut-in now. I think it looks a little better style-wise but also not quite as realistic...it's going to take some time to get this right...

 

[FlashDance]

Give us some pictures....

 

[CCS]

Mulder speaks the truth. You are highly unlikely to get it right the first time. You have to buy more than one. But you will look better. I had women stopping me on the sidewalk to say high. I kept my distance though because I did not want them getting close enough to see my front was not glued down right.

Once a week? Gross. How much stubble you got growing under your piece? My thick stubble forced me take it off and shave daily.

My next piece will be all skin.
Sooner or later when you are cleaning your piece, some hairs will go through and you won't be able to get them back to the correct side of the lace. Skin does not have this problem.
Lace has such a small surface area that it is harder to glue down. Skin is full contact.
When you wash a lace piece, you ruin the hair's oil. When you wash a skin piece, you can wash just the bottom.
I know I'll sweat more with skin, but I can change it and clean it often and easily too.

As long as the density is high enough that their fingers just touch hair and can't get in contact with the base much, they won't notice it by feel unless they are really trying. The most important thing to passing the feel test is to get it hugging your scalp perfectly, edge to edge. Wrinkles and lift will give it away far faster than the matterial. And single strand processed hair has the smallest knots.

As for the sight test, hair color and hair direction are far more relevant than the knots or the material. Make sure the hair direction blends with your hair, and that the color matches exactly, and you will be fine. If you are using lace, the glue is always sticky and some hairs will stick to the glue and give you away. Skin is a total barrier between the glue and hair.

And you absolutely must get processed hair. Do not get remy. Remy still has the cuticle and will turn into a rats nest over night. I slept with my processed hair, and just as smooth in the morning. Only problem was some of it was stuck to the glue.


The reason I'm not wearing my piece now is:
1. It is lace, not skin.
2. I don't have the money to experiment with many pieces.
3. My stubble under the piece is an issue.

You may be tempted to just get a skin perimeter. But unless you have adhesive in the middle, someone can rip the piece off easily. Skin is much better for adhessive, and rather than give the factory a complicated design to mess up, I'd just go all skin. And good luck washing the middle of a skin perimeter piece without any wash though. You'll still need conditioner again which will loosen the knots. I'd rather just leave the top dry all the time, good as from the factory, never washed, and only wash the underside of the skin.

 

[CCS]

Give us some pictures....

Look at toplace.com for pics. But many of those guys gel their hair and their piece hair to go the same direction. Good luck getting a match like that right out of the box.

 

[mulder]

There's really nothing unhygenic about wearing a lace piece for a week or even two if you're showering regularly. You do get a bit of stubble growth but it hasn't been a problem at all for me in terms of keeping it clean and keeping it on. If you do have problems with it smellling even after showering...don't know how that would happen but it probably happens to some people...you can also use antibacterial soaps on your scalp really thoroughly and use antiperspirant on your scalp as well.

Changing everyday is a waste of time in my opinion...but to each his own I suppose.


Had my first experiences with people laughing at my obvious piece (the second one is just too thick, I'll have to thin it down and alter the colour a bit). It's pretty embarrassing but it's not the end of the world. It just takes time to get it right and find something you're comfortable with...

 

[CCS]

If you shower, then I agree you won't smell. But showering with a piece on can make it shed faster, or just get brittle. There are some gentle shampoos, but I'd rather have a skin piece and just never wash the top.

As for changing daily being a waste of time, I agree that is true with a lace piece. But not with a skin piece. You can clean a skin piece very fast. I'm sure the only problem you'd have is getting glue in your own natural hair where the piece blends.

I feel good now that you said some people laughed at you. I thought people were just being nice to me. But now I'm even more sure that I fooled them.

 

[mulder]

I've found the ST tape is way easier to use and way less messy than the glues....it actually holds better too, get a week hold easily. I think you overestimate the wear light shampooing of the piece (with shampoo for color treated hair) does to the piece. I think a very light shampooing everyday is perfectly fine and the easiest way to go.

As for the second piece a couple of strangers made it pretty clear it was too thick lol...I think women are much better at spotting them by the way.

 

[CCS]

Yeah. What densities did you ask for from coolpiece? Your fault or theirs?

I agree ST30 holds very well. My complaint is it is very thick. It feels as thick as 5 sheets of paper at least. I'm sure someone could feel the edge, if not see it when up close. Glue is much thinner, but messy.

Can you pull the ST30 off without hairs getting pulled through? I know if you put lace release that is supposed to do the job.

How thin is your hair under the piece? If the shafts are really thin, I bet you can get good attachment and not worry about stubble. It is hard for me though. My grafts are 1/3 density, but each shaft is thick. Stubble is a major issue for me. I'd have to shave daily.

My grafts look better than being bald, but I have a messed up hair style the way they are growing. I'm really tempted to laser them off and go with a hair piece all the way. My only worry is whether the hair will be so damaged that not even HM can bring it back. So for now, I'm just worrying about finances and not even doing anything with my hair.

 

[mulder]

The tape comes off hair pretty easily and is much cleaner in general in my opinion.

I really don't know why you would have to shave everyday...you can have a fair bit of stubble growing under your piece and not have it effect anything. I think doing a change every 1-2 weeks is perfectly fine if you're keeping it clean.

 

[CCS]

The stubble lifts the edges of the pice. My follicles are strong. If you have baby hair then it won't be a problem.

 

[mulder]

At least if you have lace you don't have to worry about your stubble pushing up the rug lol....I really think you're overanalyzing this and coming to faulty conclusions. Why don't you try experimenting with actually wearing again.


BTW, I think it's much harder to get a 'realistic look' down in full sunlight....