Why Are Full Wig Caps Not Very Popular?

TheHikingCat

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It would seem to me that the vast majority of men who wear go with toppers.

I suppose that's fine, full caps cost more, their harder to maintain.

Problem for me is that while I have a decent amount of my own hair on the sides and back (im 32 and have lost most of the hair that counts), its really awful hair. Its unbelievably brittle and UN-volumous, partially because I have endocrine issues in my health.

And call it a lack of self acceptance, but I dye my hair blonde, always have (I make a convincing blonde) so if u want to do that its tough to deal with roots on the bottom but not the top.

I also go with straight hair rather than my naturally curly because I like looking more 'Nordic'. My full cap looks good, I do it all myself, full lace.

Ill post pics when im done ventilating this next one.

From what I see, top wigs are only worth it if you have decent side hair, decent temples, and don't want to alter what your natural hair looks like.

People knock full caps, but I find them much less complex.
 

TheHikingCat

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I want to have long, straight, blonde hair as well and I'm it's gonna be pain in the *** to match the topper hair colour with the native on the sides if I go that route since I have jet black hair. Some experienced users on here say full cap is more detectable. I'm definitely interested in your full cap experience.

I'm going for this type of hair and color.

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My "hairline" is just about the same as this person's. Aesthetic considerations aside, there are practical considerations to going with lighter hair. Dark hair can be very hard to replicate when going full DIY on lace wigs. The knots can be more visible and the look can be harsh. Blond hair is finer and has less contrast with the skin if you're light or have a light tan. Not that it can't be done with dark hair, I'm sure there are great ones, but more often than not, the hairline on dark hair wigs leave something to be desired.

Because my own existing hair is so brittle, it has almost no natural volume or flow to it so if I went with a topper, to match, I'd have to have that same, wispy, thin, unflowing hair all over my head and have to match colours to boot. No point in going through the trouble of a piece if it's going to look that crappy. I go with a medium length layered cut... similar to what Chris Hemsworth has. Hairline looks natural but I often don't even show much of it as the hair in front kinda falls over much of my forehead. Makes me look very young. I design the hairline as a "juvenile hairline", meaning strong temple area and no recession at all. I look youthful enough to pull that off.

I do single knot ventilation in all areas of the hairline including nape and sideburns so that I can pull it or comb it in any way I want without it looking "knotty". Double knots go throughout the rest, including the crown since people never go up to someone's scalp and look closely at that part of the hair. Plus if I ever felt my hair would be looked at closely, it's very easy to blend that in easily with a bit of toppik. I swim regularly, I don't have problems with it swimming, but I wear swimcaps anyway since I'm pretty serious about swimming.

My girlfriend of almost 4 years knew from early on the relationship because I told her. She didn't even care.
 

TheHikingCat

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Thank you for the lengthy reply @TheHikingCat. I didn't quite understand the "Not that it can't be done with dark hair, I'm sure there are great ones, but more often than not, the hairline on dark hair wigs leave something to be desired." part. Did you meant something not to be desired?

With the sandy blonde hair I was considering topper with shaving my sides to short and dyeing them so it's easer to match. Besides, my hair is curly so it would be impossible to match otherwise so it's either that or full cap for me. I guess I could iron my hair every other day or something but it would be pretty hard to match it.

It's awesome that you swim with you hair system. And great that your girlfriend is being cool and normal about it.

What I meant was that dark hairlines on men's wigs sometimes fall short of looking as aesthetic as they could. What often happens is that the hairline on a dark wig will usually look more stark than it was intended to look, while the density is relatively light. This often ends up looking like someone penciled the hairline in and I've seen this look in person. Someone might not immediately think it was a piece by seeing that, but it looks off.

And I've noticed the old school "big name" hair replacement clinics like Hair Club or Virtual Reality (naming a couple American examples) tend to do this. I'm not sure why they haven't gotten a clue that you can't have this abrupt, dark hairline while the body of the hair looks almost wispy. I go with rather dense hair so it's not an issue for me. I find that the concern that the hair will be too dense to be rather overblown. Some men as old as 60 have naturally dense hair because they simply weren't genetically programmed to lose their hair. As long as it's structurally put together right, I don't see why middle aged men shouldn't be able to have thick hair and it look convincing.

As for dyeing dark hair blonde to match, you must keep in mind that naturally dark hair bleaches out orange in the initial steps. It requires double processing. If you just put blonde dye in it without bleaching first, even on very short hair, you'll get it looking orange.

Double processing my whole head when I had a full head of hair was a real hassle and while I'd be thrilled to have that hassle back in order to have a full head of hair again, it's not a process I miss.
 

buckthorn

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I want to have long, straight, blonde hair as well and I'm it's gonna be pain in the *** to match the topper hair colour with the native on the sides if I go that route since I have jet black hair. Some experienced users on here say full cap is more detectable. I'm definitely interested in your full cap experience.

I'm going for this type of hair and color.

cosmogrl5.jpg


c83e000082225bbf00b1a2795913e89c.jpg

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66dffa10ea3e28350062e4467c3e1ffd.jpg

dude is a lot more attractive bald with tattoos on his head and scars all over his face. you should just go that route!
 

Fanjeera

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how exactly do you bond it?

my hairline is brown and it looks drawn actually yes
 

TheHikingCat

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how exactly do you bond it?

my hairline is brown and it looks drawn actually yes

Glue at the nape, and tape at the hairline. Im not particularly concerned about a girl feeling the wrong part because in my experience, its always usually just been the hairline they like to feel. To thetouch, the hairline feels like natural hair growing out because its made to be tight and my hairline is fairly dense.

To the other dude, I can't speak for other guys but I look pretty bad bald, ditto for tattoos. Plus I kinda enjoy making wigs. Once you have about 4-5 standing ones on reserve, its easy to keep the process going. I go to progressively longer ones then switch to a shorter one five months in. Make it seem like I simply got a haircut.

I like DIY because even high quality hr places don't always do it just as want it. I met this one guy that had a dead cat on his head and didn't even seem to want to cooperate with my stylistic requests. They wanted a fortune too.
 

Noah

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Hi Cat

Cool that you make your own units. I don't think I would have the patience or skill to do that, but it must give you a lot of flexibility. How long does it take to ventilate a full wig?

I don't see any problem with full caps if you are opting for long luxuriant styles like in your photos. The bad vibes for full caps come from the fact that often a guy has been wearing a topper and is eventually forced into switching to a full cap by receding sides, but he wants to retain his short sculptured haircut. That is hard to do with a full cap - at best they tend to be medium length and shaggy. So for anyone who wants a short sharp style I would suggest sticking to a topper and making a virtue of shaved back and sides. The alternative is to do what you do, and use the full potential of a wig, to have long hair. For those of us in conservative jobs that isn't always possible though.

I'll look forward to seeing your pics.

All the best
Noah
 

grincher

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full respect for making your own. I have been thinking about it, but like Noah, time and skill may be the block. I am sure I will give it a go though.
 
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shookwun

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full caps are not an option for me. If I ever have to go the toupee route again.

Topper or bald.
 
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