First hair system consultation. Amazing.

[cuckthorn]

So, I went to a place near me in Michigan named shearpoint for my first hair system consultation. Family owned place that has been in business for I think 60 years. Holy crap were they awesome. I know how course they are selling a service, but it was more than that. When I walked in I felt like I was gonna cry or something. After 40 years of having pretty decent hair it felt like I was giving up. I talked to the consultant for an hour and met one of the stylists. She has 40 years experience and pics of her work were simply the best I've ever seen. I'm still pretty scared, but I left laughing and smiling. If I can fully get the point where my mindset is, it's just a piece of f*****g hair, no one gives a sh*t but me, then I'm good. I'm almost there. They said I need another three weeks of growing the sides out, so while growing my hair is also terrifying 11 years after a bad transplant, it will give me time to reflect.

 

[deg_dilemma]

Are you an older guy? Did the consultant show you designs that would suit your age?

I'm wondering how I can appropriately "age" my hair systems as I get older... touching 50 now and I need to make my hair look more age appropriate!

 

[cuckthorn]

Are you an older guy? Did the consultant show you designs that would suit your age?

I'm wondering how I can appropriately "age" my hair systems as I get older... touching 50 now and I need to make my hair look more age appropriate!

Yes, I'm 42. Yes, they continually emphasized going with low/ medium density in the front and mid scalp and low density in the crown so that it will blend with the thing back of the head. They are also doing a receding hair line. No edges with be exposed. It will just be kinda messy over the forehead, sides and back, extremely low profile. He showed me a lot of pics of others they did and most middle aged men went with really thin hairlines. Even exposed the system was completely undetectable.

 

[cuckthorn]

Are you an older guy? Did the consultant show you designs that would suit your age?

I'm wondering how I can appropriately "age" my hair systems as I get older... touching 50 now and I need to make my hair look more age appropriate!

I would suggest going into a hair system stylist first. You probably just need to go once and they can customize it flawlessly for you

 

[deg_dilemma]

I would suggest going into a hair system stylist first. You probably just need to go once and they can customize it flawlessly for you

I do use a supplier/salon but I feel it's quite geared to the younger guys because the systems are quite high density. I have designed a custom piece that I am very happy with and have lowered the density but it still feels like too much hair for my age. It's very hard to strike a balance: too low a density will expose the base (in my case UTS) and means the system won't last as long (considering how expensive it is).

I've been wearing for years and you can see some of my photos on other threads. Generally I've worked the system to a design I'm very happy with now. I just need to mature the system now, like more grey, lower density, simplified hairstyle etc.

It can be a lot of fun and it sounds like you'll enjoy the process and the new hair!

 

[grincher]

Usually you "age" the system from the densityof existing back and side hair and colour + a bit of the wearers choice

 

[cuckthorn]

I do use a supplier/salon but I feel it's quite geared to the younger guys because the systems are quite high density. I have designed a custom piece that I am very happy with and have lowered the density but it still feels like too much hair for my age. It's very hard to strike a balance: too low a density will expose the base (in my case UTS) and means the system won't last as long (considering how expensive it is).

I've been wearing for years and you can see some of my photos on other threads. Generally I've worked the system to a design I'm very happy with now. I just need to mature the system now, like more grey, lower density, simplified hairstyle etc.

It can be a lot of fun and it sounds like you'll enjoy the process and the new hair!

I'm curious about the base showing through. From all the pics they showed me and the all the actual systems in person, even when exposed you cannot see the base, just the skin beneath it. They have mostly old clientele that prefer thinning hair and even though I have a hawk eye and over analyze everything, I could not see a base through the low density systems. How much does it decrease the life of the system?

 

[mrdavies]

Are you an older guy? Did the consultant show you designs that would suit your age?

I'm wondering how I can appropriately "age" my hair systems as I get older... touching 50 now and I need to make my hair look more age appropriate!

we're the same age, I went grey at an early age so if anything i perhaps should have tried to get something younger than I did LOL.

Even if your real hair doesnt have grey I would definately advise to putting some into your system, one of things that is a 'tell' that someone is wearing at our age is lack of grey.

And when you get as grey as me the one big advantage is no-one expects someone my age to be so grey so dont expect a piece and also no knots..yey.

 

[Hair2019]

one of things that is a 'tell' that someone is wearing at our age is lack of grey.

Or they may just assume they dye their hair or have been blessed with good genes (assuming the hair system otherwise looks pretty natural). A lot of older guys DO dye their hair these days, so I don't think a lack of grey would be any kind of giveaway that you're wearing unless there's something else about the suystem that looks unnatural. But yes, putting some grey in can be something to do to make your system look more 'ahe appropriate'. It's a personal choice really. I think ging with a slightly lower density and getting the blend right is more important.

 

[cuckthorn]

Or they may just assume they dye their hair or have been blessed with good genes (assuming the hair system otherwise looks pretty natural). A lot of older guys DO dye their hair these days, so I don't think a lack of grey would be any kind of giveaway that you're wearing unless there's something else about the suystem that looks unnatural. But yes, putting some grey in can be something to do to make your system look more 'ahe appropriate'. It's a personal choice really. I think ging with a slightly lower density and getting the blend right is more important.

we're the same age, I went grey at an early age so if anything i perhaps should have tried to get something younger than I did LOL.

Even if your real hair doesnt have grey I would definately advise to putting some into your system, one of things that is a 'tell' that someone is wearing at our age is lack of grey.

And when you get as grey as me the one big advantage is no-one expects someone my age to be so grey so dont expect a piece and also no knots..yey.

 

[cuckthorn]

I don't have too much grey but definitely going that way. I will order the system with 10% grey

 

[deg_dilemma]

I'm curious about the base showing through. From all the pics they showed me and the all the actual systems in person, even when exposed you cannot see the base, just the skin beneath it. They have mostly old clientele that prefer thinning hair and even though I have a hawk eye and over analyze everything, I could not see a base through the low density systems. How much does it decrease the life of the system?

I have 15% grey at this time, and will increase gently over the years. It's more the density and style I need to update, and that's a hard one to get right.

Hair systems shed over time, for me at around the 4 or 5 month mark, so I replace them after 6 months max. A lower density would mean shedding exposes the hairline and base/rim more quickly. A haggard system looks terrible, so it's important to know when it needs to be replaced.

As for the base, it can show if there isn't enough hair, or when the bond starts breaking down. On UTS/poly you will see the 'shine' more but on lace I've noticed the 'grid' pattern quite easily.

 

[cuckthorn]

I have 15% grey at this time, and will increase gently over the years. It's more the density and style I need to update, and that's a hard one to get right.

Hair systems shed over time, for me at around the 4 or 5 month mark, so I replace them after 6 months max. A lower density would mean shedding exposes the hairline and base/rim more quickly. A haggard system looks terrible, so it's important to know when it needs to be replaced.

As for the base, it can show if there isn't enough hair, or when the bond starts breaking down. On UTS/poly you will see the 'shine' more but on lace I've noticed the 'grid' pattern quite easily.

Yeah that's a lot to worry about. The place I'm gonna be going to supplies four top of the line systems per year, cut in to my exact specifications and salon visits once a month for about $3k a year. First I need to see how much I like it with a test run

 

[cuckthorn]

I don't want to do or worry about anything except putting it on and taking it off myself. I want to take it off every night / every other night. If over time I want the density / gray to change then they can do that and four systems a year is more than enough. You have an exposed hairline? I'm going with no edges exposed. Just kinda messy and brushed over

 

[mrdavies]

Or they may just assume they dye their hair or have been blessed with good genes (assuming the hair system otherwise looks pretty natural). A lot of older guys DO dye their hair these days, so I don't think a lack of grey would be any kind of giveaway that you're wearing unless there's something else about the suystem that looks unnatural. But yes, putting some grey in can be something to do to make your system look more 'ahe appropriate'. It's a personal choice really. I think ging with a slightly lower density and getting the blend right is more important.

It looks fake either way....obviously some have great genes but pulling that thick hair no grey look as you get older would be very tricky.

 

[cuckthorn]

It looks fake either way....obviously some have great genes but pulling that thick hair no grey look as you get older would be very tricky.

You're saying a hair system looks fake either way? If done right even you and I couldn't distinguish it from real hair

 

[Hair2019]

You're saying a hair system looks fake either way? If done right even you and I couldn't distinguish it from real hair

I don't he's saying that hair systems in general look fake. I agree that if done right a hair system can look totally real and pretty much indistinguishable from you real hair. I think he was just saying that it looks more natural in general to have some grey in your hair system as you get older. I don't necessarily agree or disagree with him, I say it's a personal decision, but for some guys a bit of grey might make it look more natural.

 

[mrdavies]

You're saying a hair system looks fake either way? If done right even you and I couldn't distinguish it from real hair

No I mean if an older man dyes his hair it can look fake, and if an older man wears a dense hair piece with no grey it can look fake, either way as you age pulling off a dense style with no grey is tricky.

The chances are as a man gets older they will recede, their hair will thin and they will turn grey.

 

[deg_dilemma]

One of the worst things I see on hair systems - regardless of whether the guy is young or old - is a single colour through the whole system. Natural hair is never one single shade. This is worst on black hair - and was my experience when the first system I was sold was a stock #1 colour solid black system. It looked like one of those lego men with the black plastic hair on top

So something I learned quite quickly was to mix different shades to get a more natural look, such as #1 and #1b and then say 10% grey. This breaks up the hair so that it doesn't look like a big block of hair or like doll's hair.

 

[cuckthorn]

One of the worst things I see on hair systems - regardless of whether the guy is young or old - is a single colour through the whole system. Natural hair is never one single shade. This is worst on black hair - and was my experience when the first system I was sold was a stock #1 colour solid black system. It looked like one of those lego men with the black plastic hair on top

So something I learned quite quickly was to mix different shades to get a more natural look, such as #1 and #1b and then say 10% grey. This breaks up the hair so that it doesn't look like a big block of hair or like doll's hair.

Yeah, apparently their systems come in three different shades from front to middle to back? I didn't know that