It's really bizarre to read a lot of the posts on here now that I have transitioned into the full cap.
Color issues, density, blending, not to mention texture and curl are completely non-existent for me. All I have to really worry about is making sure it sticks to my head, use some product once after each washing, and other than that throw a little water and hairspray on it before I leave the house every day, and I'm good to go.
I don't have to worry about my piece hair looking like a rats nest sitting on top of my natural hair in the morning.
I no longer have to make sure my hair is "just so" so it looks like part of me.
Granted, I had more problems than most people with my thinning sides. But to be 100% honest.....now that I see how most of my problems have disappeared with a full cap, I can't imagine using a topper even if my existing hair was in excellent shape.
When I was wearing my topper I didn't make a huge deal about keeping it a secret, but now that I have experienced how amazing a full cap can look, I am officially out of the closet.
That's right, my hair wearing is now public knowledge. I officially told most of my friends who already knew through the grapevine, and I also told several people who had no clue I was wearing. I don't walk around introducing myself as a hair wearer, but it's a great feeling knowing that it's no longer a secret!
Believe it or not I even stood up in front of a group of hairdressers a couple of days ago because the owner of a salon asked me to give a little presentation. I showed them a cut in full cap off my head, showed them what I was wearing, and explained the ins and outs of wearing. In a million years I wouldn't have done that wearing a topper. I work next door to these people, and I wouldn't want anyone constantly looking for a transition and such, even if my sides weren't such a mess. Now I have the ability to walk in front of them with complete confidence that my hair looks real all the way around.
Dude you've come a long way since Vegas. Howabout a b4 and after pic - topper vs Full Cap? What are the specs of the cap? I guess you need to specify density all avoer the place. Are your sides fully shaved? When you move your head to the extreme right and then left like a "no" will that cause lift behind the ears? I ask becuase one day we may all be full cap.
This message has been edited by __reubin on Mar 9, 2008 4:22 PM
Im glad you are happy with a full cap, and im happy that you are going to produce a dvd for people on how to cut in and use full caps. You def pulled off a nice style and made it work, my compliments to you.
However, I dont really agree fully with the idea that people who have good side and back hair should shave it off and wear a full cap. I think full caps are good for those who have side and back hair issues that cannot be resolved. But i really dont think full caps are gonna work for everyone.
A full cap might be a great solution for some, but its not the end all best solution. Show me a full cap that can mimic an MB, Jake, reubin or that guy Z's hair style and Id tend to agree with you more. Why would any of these guys, seeing their current achievable look with a topper want or need to switch to a full cap.
anyway full caps can be great for a lot of people u proved they can look nice. My compliments to you this is by no means an attack. Im just saying that some people with very good side back hair need to think twice before replacing it fully. ur options are gonna be limited.
I'll try to post a topper vs. full cap pics later tonight if I get a chance.
I specified 68% back and 65% top and sides, but one came back about 65% in the back and 70% top and sides, and the other came back just a tad thicker than I ordered but otherwise pretty close.
Funny thing is....now that there's no having to worry about blending with my own hair etc, even the thicker piece looks fine. It's amazing how much more leeway you have with a full cap.
The only hair I still have left is my sideburns. The piece is cut to lay straight across the top of my ear. Very easy attachment. I'm probably going to try using the sideburns on the piece for my next one. If I go with lace again I'm also going to have the unit made longer going down my neck so i can experiment with neck attachments, maybe even cutting it into a separate piece that can be changed daily if the stress of movement loosens the attachment like they say it does.
The way I have these units designed there is no stress on the attachment when i move my head, except MAYBE a tiny bit in the center at the base of my skull. And I think that is mostly from sleeping.
We are going to do a full cap cut in here in Orlando. Still not decided what base, etc. I'm gonna go with, but I need to get it ordered soon so I better get on it.
I thought about getting a full cap, but I love my back and side hair. Blending is not easy, but I can do it in 5 minutes, which is good enough. I miss just jumping out of bed and going straight out, so 5-15 minutes of daily prep (I change it daily) is a bit annoying, but not bad considering how good I look.
If a topper works for you....by all means go for it! If it ain't broke, don't fix it....
I am planning on taking a full cap down as short as possible to test the limits, and I'm only speaking from my perspective but for me if it meant having to wear my hair a bit longer than I prefer it would be a no brainer trade off to get rid of 75% of hairwearing hassles.
Can a full cap ever go down to fade? I seriously doubt it, but from what I see so far i would say you might be able to go down as low as 1'4" without a problem, MAYBE even 1/8". I have a toplace mostache that is about 1/8" in places and it is undetectable....why couldn't a full cap go that far down?
Basically, if you don't mind losing a LITTLE flexibility on your style as far as the length at the bottom goes, life wearing a full cap is infinitely easier than a topper....that I can promise you.
For the younger boys and girls not knowing who the Everly Brothers are........caught them in concert on TV last night, a brother singing duo from the 50's, great performers. They have to be around my age.......I suspect they were wearing full caps, not a spec of scalp showing, thick ,thick sides , temples and top! Just enormous thick hair for guys pushing 70!........if it is their own hair, they truly have been blessed! Never in my 70 yrs have I ever seen hair that thick on people that age.
But like JROB states, if they wear full caps, they looked excellent and look 1000 % realistic! But what has me wondering is I remember them from the 50's and seems they have thicker hair now than back then.
I used to have my doubts about full caps, but after people started posting pics of them and then with JRob's contributions to the forum, I am totally sold on them now. When it comes to undetectability, I strongly believe that full caps are the way to go. No blending issues, no color issues... yeah, maintenance might be slightly more difficult, but worth it, IMO. It's the price you pay to look good.
Thank you, JRob, for all your help! It's much appreciated!!!
Yeah, I'll second most of what JRob says. Having worn fullcaps in a variety of bases for almost two years now I have found them far less of a hassel and much more secure. I have always worn my hair in a longish style, and fullcaps work with this just great.
I use the fullcap sideburns as they look fine and much better than my own thinning, greying ones. The back looks very realistic because I let the fullcap hair fall over and mix in with some of my remaining real hair.
I undertstand fullcaps take a lot more work to make, which is why one has to wait around 3 months to get them done, and cost a lot more to manufacture. So much more that TL may only be breaking even on them. There's no mention of them in the online ordering form.
I am still experimenting with tapes and glues to see what i like best.
Maybe I haven't gotten the hang of it yet but for me ST-30 isn't working for exposing the hairline. It holds like a champ on the temples and above the ears, but it doesn't stick as well as blue liner on the back.
With this attachment I have ST-30 all the way around to see how long it will stay on, but I have been getting good results with using blue liner everywhere but the hairline where i use CP cream glue.
Now my dilemma is choosing a new base design. I think I'm gonna have to go back to SFS at least on the hairline, cause for the life of me I can't get #64 to lay down perfectly flat there. Plus you just can't beat it for undetectability. And I'm just dying to get my next cap cut in as short as possible and fully expose the hairline to get an idea of exactly what these baby's are capable of doing.
I think on my next order I will get one unit that is all PSB perimeter just so I have an easy on/off unit (everyone should have one of these IMO), then I might get another one that is all 64 with an SFS hairline, then maybe a hybrid of all three (French base with a poly perimeter and swiss hairline).
My biggest hesitation to using any kind of poly is that now that I have the ability to ventilate i can do minor repairs easily on lace, but with skin I would be stuck.
I'm currently on month 3 with a 64 base/SFS front, temples and sideburns. It's one of the best so far, although I do like Ilace top with 64 back and SFS front.
I tried a ploy strip around back and sides on one of my earlier fullcaps but didn't like it. Unless you order 65%+ the poly can become visible when the hair is parted at the back, and as it thins from shedding after a while this presents problems. Also the hair behaves differently where it exits the poly.
I may try an all SFS fullcap at some time but I would imagine one would have to be super careful attaching, detaching and cleaning these.
Hey JRob,
Where are the photos that you posted just a little while back of your full cap and then with the hair brushed back ?
I'm searching for 'em but must not be using the magic combo of key words..
What would suck for me if i wore a full cap also, is that sometimes i just like to wear hats and chill out without the system on my head. give it a rest. With a full cap. its gonna be hard to get away with ever taking the sucker off. So in a sense u lose some freedom. That thing has to be on your head all the time.
LOL... wow Xeon you really seem determined in pointing out the flaws in things that don't work for you (full caps, transplants, etc.) And please don't think I'm saying that to be confrontational, either, I am just poking fun at you because I think it's funny.
I dunno though... I still think the pros far outweigh the cons. Others will disagree, and that is fine. But hey, that is the nice thing about hair systems. There are so many options for all of us to choose from.
None taken E, Sorry if i sound like a party pooper. I mean if the time comes for me to get a full cap id probably do it. Im just saying, gotta look at the pros and cons of everything. People are already saying the positives, so i might as well be the negative one.
For any newbs or potential wearers I think this threads title is misleading by using the words 'ultimate realism'. Full cap pieces are good if you have very thin or poor side hair, otherwise the topper to fill in the gap to me is the sensible option.
On baseball cap wearing I agree with Xeon. If i'm going shopping on a Saturday I normally wear a Baseball cap, with a full cap piece with bits of your periphery (sp?) real hair left no wig & a cap wouldn't look good.
I also would not feel comfortable with a full cap piece for other reasons. Firstly I think its easier & likely to have less impact when you reveal to a partner you wear a topper to fill in the gap on your head rather than telling them you are basically bald as a coot & the whole thing on your head is wig. Whether you go into the fine details of explaining you shave your own hair off yak yak I think the big wig would put alot of people off however good it looks.
Secondly, I always remember being in a bar years ago when a guy & his partner had been arguing for some time when she lept forward & wrenched the wig from his head & dumped it in his pint of beer. At the time the whole bar went silent, partly through the shock of seeing the guy totally bald but also because he was the Landlord. I think the impact would have been less if it had been a topper rather than his entire head of hair.
For me its the topper, if ever I needed to go full-cap then thats the day to admit defeat, by that time I'll probably have more issues such as health to worry about.
Totally agree Shaun, our priority is to keep as much of our real hair for as long as possible. Nothing can beat the look of natural hair and if and when we have decent side and back hair, it's a real privilege to be able to complement it with toppers.
Hans said that we should try to keep as much of our real hair as we have. This point I really agree with. Like BA always says, you don't shave off naturally growing hair and replace it with fake... it just doesn't make sense. That is one of the reasons to hold off on getting a full cap, or even a topper if you're not ready for it. I know that I'll be needing a full cap at some point down the road, but for the time being, I am going to enjoy having real hair in the areas where I still have some of it left!
"Secondly, I always remember being in a bar years ago when a guy & his partner had been arguing for some time when she lept forward & wrenched the wig from his head & dumped it in his pint of beer. At the time the whole bar went silent, partly through the shock of seeing the guy totally bald but also because he was the Landlord. I think the impact would have been less if it had been a topper rather than his entire head of hair."
Not really sure it matters either way, lol. If either one of those happens to you, its time to change your name and move out of town. There's not going to any social recovery from that one. Yikes.
Keep in mind, I wore a topper for two years before going to a full cap, so I have perspective, I'm not talking about something I have no experience with.
That said-
As for the idea that you should hold onto your own hair until you can't make it work anymore.....I totally disagree. I spent two years screwing around with concealers, wearing a hat most of the time since it was way too much hassle trying to keep it looking real on a regular basis.
When someone is deciding to begin wearing a topper, people's opinions vary, but the general consensus is that you should do it sooner rather than later. You shouldn't wait until the point where you just can't get away with concealers any more.
I NOW know that a full cap can look terrific. Why should I have used concealers for the past two years when I could have eliminated that headache? And a headache it was! I had concealer CAKED on about 30% of my head. My sides looked dry all the time, and I could only have one hairstyle. Not exactly my idea of a good hair wearing experience.
The point is, why would someone hold on to the last few strands of their own crappy hair if they could just shave it off and have GREAT looking sides? Now that I have two full caps cut and looking great, I can see that I was simply ignorant. I didn't know what I could get out of a full cap, so I waited.
Several people have agreed that one should refrain from shaving side and back hair as long as possible, but I wonder, how many of you have ever WORN a full cap, or even seen a good one in person?
As for social stigma of a topper vs. a full cap.....I also strongly disagree. The stigma is on wearing a TOUPEE. Have you ever seen someone pull off a guy's full wig in a movie and the whole room laughs? No, it's always a topper that gets made fun of, right or wrong. Part of the reason why I "came out" publicly was that even in MY eyes I see it as a little more acceptable to get away from a toupee. My business partner even agreed.
I fail to see how wearing a full cap is "admitting to defeat". That's not a very good attitude to have. I haven't been defeated AT ALL. I have found a viable option to enhance my appearance.
Hans wrote "Totally agree Shaun, our priority is to keep as much of our real hair for as long as possible. Nothing can beat the look of natural hair and if and when we have decent side and back hair, it's a real privilege to be able to complement it with toppers."
Hans, nothing can beat the look of natural hair on top of natural hair. But my thin sides weren't the only thing that pushed me into a full cap. It also had a lot to do with the OTHER negative aspects to wearing a topper, such as the fact that even when the cut was blended properly, the "blend" could also be off at any given time if your styling comes undone, or when you sleep.
Also, it was a hassle to constantly have to keep the color in check. With a full cap I don't have to worry about color, and I don't have to worry about curl, or waking up in the morning with my side and back hair looking great and my piece looking like a rats nest.
Lets put it this way fellas. All things aside.....I am now confident that my hair is almost completely undetectable to even hairwearers. I didn't have that kind of confidence wearing toppers.
Before I made the leap I posed the question of a full cap as an option, but the general consensus I picked up was "Why would you do THAT?" Now that I see the result, it's looking more and more like the advice I was given wasn't based upon factual info, but more on the general opinion of people who haven't worn one before and don't know the whole story.
Thanks Traco. You were one of the few who chimed in who DO wear a full cap and it was a big push for me. My only regret was not having done it years ago.
Everything has its pros and cons. thats just the way it goes with hair systems. You have to measure the good and the bad and make a decision thats best for you.
I dont entirely agree with the idea that wearing a full cap is more embarrassing then a topper. I cant really see what the difference is. In fact maybe a full cap would be less embarrassing if your completely bald. cause when they pull the topper off you, u end up looking like bozo lol. I think i rather have no hair lol.
Anyone see the new superman movie? Lex luger was pretty gangsta, he ripped the full cap off his head and gave it to the little girl lol.
anyway, theres pros and cons, and its an individual choice. there is no OFFICIAL verdict. There were some guys in here, i forgot their names, but they had very thin sides and wore a topper with a light density and made it work very well. I wish i could remember who it was, but they pulled off a nice style and blend with very thin side and back hair.
Its a to each their own for what they are looking to achieve. But its very nice to know that JRob is showing us that a full cap is in fact a good option to have, Even if I dont need it right now. maybe one day i will. Its great to know people are exploring different options.
I think if you're wearing a full cap due to really thin sides or personal preference of some sort, that's fine.
However, for any newbies reading this topic-- the original post makes reference to problems related to color matching, blending, and density issues. Once you get your order correct, have a quality cut-in, and a little experience... these things are not really a big deal at all, and I think these problems are being over-stated.
That's exactly what I think about the stigma of a full cap vs. a topper. It's ridiculous either way, but for some reason it just sits better with me that all of my hair is shaved underneath. It's psychological, I know, but it just feels like to society it would be more acceptable in my mind. But I could be wrong....
And about the thin sides and being able to pull it off and make it look good....Several of the posters on here have seen me in person, and can attest to the fact that despite probably having some of the worst side hair imaginable, with a good cut and some Dermmatch I was able to pull it off quite well.
But, and this is a BIG but....that was the best my hair looked in the entire two years of wearing. And that was only AFTER professional coloring, attachment, AND fresh cut-in. The only thing I did was apply the Dermmatch. After Vegas things went back to being a non-stop challenge trying to do my own cut-ins, keeping the color in line and keeping the pieces styled to look realistic.
NY-
I spent two years trying to get it right, and it never fell into place for me to where I was satisfied with the result. Maybe it was just me, I dunno, but I imagine that a lot of the problems I had with color and style maintenance and such were not unique to me.
I mean, even if my sides were full I still would have gotten up in the morning looking like I had a bunch of hay piled on top of my real hair (this was a big deal for me) and I would have still had to keep making sure I kept ADF in the hair to keep the colors reasonably accurate.
It was a constant struggle, and to be honest, if the full cap option hadn't worked out for me I would probably be shaving my head again right now.
Point of this whole post is that although I do believe in starting with a topper, you should NOT hesitate to make the leap into a full cap if things aren't working for you, EVEN if your own hair isn't the issue.
There are no "hair police" that are gonna arrest you just because you shaved off good hair.
Jrob just remember "probably having some of the worst side hair imaginable" I honestly feel thats the key word in the sentence.
Lets just put this debate into perspective. I think the whole convo of whether or not to go full cap, is very similar to the convos people have had about whether to get a topper or not. For a long time I wore a small partial on the front hairline. It worked well and i was very satisfied to have most of my real hair intact. As the years progressed, I lost more and more hair and had to use more and more concealers. So at a certain point I had to make a decision based on pros and cons and decided to get a topper when the time was right. And as people can tell you, it took me awhile. So i think it will be similar to me with a full cap. Id probably keep going till my side hair became very troublesome and then I would weigh the pros and cons and make a decision.
Now let me ask myself a question. if the hair on top of my head was thick again where I could get away with wearing a small partial. Would i go back to a partial? Probably would. For me personally. the more of my own hair I can use the better. But there comes a point where ur own hair is too thin or too problematic to be beneficial and thats when I would look into other options.
My big issue is people trying to hold out like I did out of fear of the "full cap boogeyman" or whatever it is I was afraid of. I know dino has been going through the exact same issues, and has finally ordered a full cap.
The thing is with a topper, from my personal experience, the only time it is 99% perfect is when it is styled and locked into place. Even if the color is right on, as soon as the style gets tweaked it goes from being 99% to 95% to probably about 75% when you wake up in the morning. I used to dread rolling out of bed when I had an "overnight guest" cause I knew my oen hair would look like a normal head of hair looks when I wake up, but the topper hair would be a total wreck.
So although my biggest push to get a full cap was the fact that my sides were so bad, but now that I have experienced all of the other positives I know that thin sides aren't the ONLY viable reason to go with a full cap.
If a topper works for you and you don't have an issue with the maintenance, by all means stick with it. After all it is a little bit cheaper.
i hear you rob. I really cant wait to see what you pull off with a full cap, you seem determined. Im not against full caps. I hope they work out great, cause it can be a great option for a lot of people.
However, I still feel in my personal opinion, that the decision whether or not to go to a full cap should be based on how reliable and thick your side and back hair is. thats just my opinion. For me personally. the coloring of the hair, and the blending are ordeals that are worth it for me not to have a a huge unit covering my entire noggin that I will be reliant on 24-7, with so far, limited styling options.
another thing is, I believe, yeah blending the unit in, is a challenge when getting a cut in. But i am sure getting a full cap cut in properly also poses its own set of challenges. TO mimic the look people are getting like MB, Z, Jake and others are getting with toppers. its gonna require a ton of skill and really good ventilating. But the jury is still out.
This message has been edited by Xeon005 on Mar 14, 2008 4:03 PM
What about a 3/4 cap? Does it have most of the freedom of the full cap? I just want to leave my nape intact, since I heard that part comes up some on full caps. I know color would still be an issue, but ventilation is straight down.
As for morning hair, my piece never mats, and it is because it the hair cuticle is removed. It does stick to the base though because the glue is tacky. Styling is a huge problem though since I have to arrange my hair exactly and it will not match my real hair if the style is disturbed.
Traco said: "I use the fullcap sideburns as they look fine and much better than my own thinning, greying ones. The back looks very realistic because I let the fullcap hair fall over and mix in with some of my remaining real hair."
Traco, from your words, i,d really love to see pics of your unit!
... as i commented to Jrob when i asked him to post photos of his excellent piece brushed back, some weeks ago, i,m fascinated with the possibilities of the fullcaps... it would be possible for you to post pics of your fullcap brushed back or in a way we can appreciate the sideburns area?
mathcat wrote:
"
As for morning hair, my piece never mats, and it is because it the hair cuticle is removed. It does stick to the base though because the glue is tacky. Styling is a huge problem though since I have to arrange my hair exactly and it will not match my real hair if the style is disturbed.
"
If you ordered the unit from TL and did not specify processed hair, then you got the "standard" remi hair which DOES have most of the cuticle on it still.
That is why I'm never getting Remi. I hear too many people on here talk about tangles. I don't have that problem. My only problem is the hair getting stuck to the glue bellow the base. That is why I'm so tempted to get a skin perimeter.
There really isn't much of anything special cutting the full cap in. I mean, if you have made the template correctly and the ventilation is correct it's pretty much just like having your own hair. the only exception to this is if you are integrating any of your own hair or possibly if your skull has as strange shape or something that makes the hair stick out at an odd angle at the back, but my stylist whipped mine out pretty quickly without much more thought than she would put into anyone elses hair.
And as for the "fade" look....like I said I doubt that you will ever be able to have a full cap buzzed to 1/16 of an inch at the edges, but to be honest that's about the ONLY style limitation that I can see. If you don't desire that sort of style, your options are pretty well open.
Jrob what if you use maybe an inch of your own hair to cut shorter then the shortest you can go on a full cap. then have that blend into the full cap at the point where the full caps hair is cut maybe to number five or six on a buzzer.
