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Hair-B-Back!
A Guide to Hair Replacement
by Jeffrey the Barak
Published April 2001

Early in the history of the-vu Margarita Dominguez wrote an article about hair-removal titled Hair-B-Gone. It soon became clear that thousands of women needed to know about hair removal as the article’s hits skyrocketed.

It also became clear that while the female readers wanted their hair to be gone, the male readers wanted their hair to grow back! So here, dear readers, is Hair-B-Back. A thoroughly researched piece which just might change the lives of a few of you.

Why Bother?

As a typical man enters his thirties and forties, his hair abandons ship, never to return. Subtle changes occur in this man’s universe. He gets less enthusiastic help from retail store assistants and waitresses. He can hang out un-noticed in nightclubs. He becomes one of the people he himself used to ignore. 

Then one day his hair is back. He experiences flashing eyes and smiles from the young girls who found him invisible the day before. He can no longer remain invisible in that nightclub. He’s back in the world again, as fickle as that world may be.

Where did the new hair come from?

For those men with a lot of money, a lot of time, and a high tolerance for pain, there is hair transplantation. If it works and the new hair is not rejected, the bald or thinning scalp is no longer bald, or it’s a little less thinning. In a word, “Ouch!” And in a word from the wallet, “Aaaargh!”

Or if you ever noticed a man who suddenly went from thinning or balding to looking like he had a head covered in dust and shoe polish, then that is a man who paints his scalp with a make-up such as Couvre or and sprinkles on little fibers such as Hair-Magic or Toppik. The backs of their sofas, their car head restraints and their pillows are now brown and after sex their wives are covered in the very make-up that used to be on their husbands heads.

Drugs such as Finasteride and lotions such as Minoxidol are slow, don’t help everyone who tries them, and rarely, if ever, bring back a whole head of thick hair. 

The odds are if your male friend is suddenly no longer bald or thinning, he’s wearing hair.

Terminology, a hairpiece is a hairpiece!

So what’s the difference between a hairpiece, a toupee, a wig, a hair system, trans-dermal retention, a hair unit, a weave, integration or any of a dozen other mysterious names? Not much! A hairpiece is basically hair on a base, which is stuck to your head so that it looks like your own hair. People who sell expensive “Hair Systems” won’t let anyone in their presence use the words hairpiece or toupee, even though all three are the same thing. 

You wouldn’t catch me dead in a hairpiece!

Ironically, the very industry that robs survivors of as much cash as possible following the death of a loved one routinely puts hairpieces onto dead bodies for the final viewing so we probably would indeed catch you dead in a hairpiece! The point here is, however, those who are vehemently opposed to the wearing of false hair just need to think it through. The same detractors crown their teeth, shave their beards and trim their nails in order to look their best. Hairpieces make balding men look much better. If they didn’t you’d have men plucking out good hair to look balding. No one would want to do that now, would they!

D.I.Y. versus full service.

There’s a lot of technical knowledge required to understand how get the most out of the hairpiece industry. That’s why most men get their first hairpiece from a full-service salon where they are counseled, advised, educated, fitted and trained in the fine art of wearing hair. The second time they purchase, they can educate themselves and reduce the financial load by going D.I.Y. and ordering a hairpiece via the Internet!

For a significantly higher price, a hair wearer can pay an annual fee and get unlimited service, maintenance and replacement units at an establishment such as The Hair Club For Men, which, it should be noted, never mentions the word hairpiece in its commercials!

So at the top of the spending range is a service contract or club. Then there’s the full service salon. And then there’s the very affordable option of knowing how to get the same thing for a tiny fraction of the price.

A Brief anatomy of a hairpiece!

The Base

The hair is implanted into a base. The most common types of base are…

• Second skin. Also known as Trans-Dermal Retention or See-Thru Hair, this material looks invisible when placed on the scalp. It requires very accurate fitting and is wasted on dense hairpieces when the scalp doesn’t show through. Men who exercise and sweat a lot will have to remove this kind of base each day for shampooing in order to prevent scalp odor from trapped sweat. This type of base should only be considered if the wearer rarely breaks a sweat! The scalp should be shaved smooth and bald for success with this base.
• Fine Nylon monofilament mesh. Almost as invisible on the skin as the above Polyurethane skin type, this is much better ventilated for active athletic types. The scalp can be shampooed with the unit in place, and it can be comfortable and hygienic for up to five days in a no-sweat situation.
• Other types of base include course mesh for even better ventilation with a slightly less natural look, Silicone as an alternative to the see-through Polyurethane above, and very wide mesh netting for those thinning men who want to pull their own hair through for integration.

The Hair Itself

Human hair is the most common, and for obvious reasons, looks the most like human hair! Synthetic hair is popular for men who are incapable of any kind of self-styling, but is damaged by hot water and melted by very hot air. There are some expensive synthetics such as Cyberhair from Japan, which are heat resistant. If you can style and re-color your own hair, get human!

Density

Density is the number of hairs per square inch. If you are an older man with thin hair at the back and sides, don’t order a medium to heavy density hairpiece or it won’t look natural. Keep the density medium to very light. 

Attachment

The easiest and most convenient method is to use double-sided tape. These days this stuff is strong enough to hold in almost any situation, and the hairpiece can easily be removed, washed and re-applied with fresh tape. Daily liquid adhesives have no advantage over tapes, and the more permanent kinds of adhesives create the situation where parts of the scalp become impossible to clean for long periods of time. Some men get over sized bases and attach the hairpieces to their real hair with sewn-in clips. This is ridiculous because they have lumpy metal clips on their heads and they have to avoid strong winds and most forms of lovemaking!

The Front Hairline

The line where the forehead ends and the hair starts is the area that gives away a bad hairpiece. If you can hold back your hair and remain undetected, your hairpiece is a good one. Regardless of which kind of base you have chosen, a see-through front is essential for this effect. Remember, people with real hair have very uneven hairlines. The hairline of a good hairpiece should never be too straight! Some units have a stronger Polyurethane front and a few hairs “undervented” (coming from underneath) to disguise the edge. This isn’t nearly as convincing as a see-through front but it’s more robust.

A natural uneven front hairline!

Comfort And Maintenance

To avoid itching, get a rotary shaver such as a Norelco or equivalent and keep the area of your scalp, which will be covered by the hairpiece, shaved smooth and bald. No one will ever be seeing it again so you don’t need that thin hair up there. When the hairpiece gets older and some of the hairs come through the mesh base to the underside, carefully shave them off with the Norelco to prevent uncomfortable tickling. 

Be gentle with the hairpiece and never ever brush it when it’s still wet from shampooing. Brushing it wet will pull out a lot of hairs and its usable life will be shortened. Don’t use the hair dryer too much, and re-color the hair with a low peroxide hair color such as Wella Color Charm. (Only human hair may be dyed and dried with heat.)

If you’re really struggling to be able to afford hairpieces and you sleep alone, sleeping bald without the hairpiece will double or triple the life of the piece, but it won’t help your self-esteem very much. 

Be prepared to see a lot of hair on the bathroom floor. Hairpieces shed gradually until they’re too thin and need replacing. Abrasion from the pillows at night can make a thin spot in a few months also.

Tips: 

• Natural hair remains silky because of sebum from the root. When the hair is coming out of a hairpiece it doesn't get the benefit of natural scalp oils so a serum product such as Frizz Ease will give the new hair a silky feel.

• Dry a wet piece by rolling it in a towel.

• Tap an itchy portion of the scalp with your fingertips in order to scratch the itch without subjecting the hairpiece to wear in that spot.

Risk of Detection

Scenarios to avoid are:

• Having your hair pulled when the adhesive tape has been weakened by perspiration and heat.
• Removing a tight crash helmet on a hot day, (get a silk liner!)
• Swimming or diving, (serious swimmers and divers are not great candidates for wearing hair.)
• Poor frontal design.
• Wrong size or shape hairpiece.
• Continuing to use a worn out piece when the base is showing through too much.
• Scalp massage! (Don’t have one when you’re wearing hair.)
• Not telling your sexual partner you wear hair, and then having them find an edge during lovemaking.

How much do these things cost?

If you have the knowledge and experience to buy on-line and don’t need the consultation in a local studio, there are a few web sites offering mail order service. This magazine is in fact owned by the same person (myself) as CoolPiece.com and the price of most hairpieces at CoolPiece is $300.

Salon Prices:

Our research yielded some wildly varying results. For the man who can’t handle the burden of D.I.Y. on his first foray back into the world of having hair, there is always the full service salon. Using the Yellow Pages in Los Angeles, the-vu made a few calls and a couple of appointments and found prices ranging from $750 to $3,000 per hairpiece. Once again, even the $3,000 piece is no different from one of the $300 pieces purchased at CoolPiece.com, and you have to buy 2 for $6,000 at that particular place!

Conclusion.

Some people have been known to abandon their hairpieces after a while and reach for the razor for a bold new look. Some guys look good bald, and some look awful. It’s a very personal decision. Also wearing hair takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s really no big deal. You probably know several hair wearers without even realizing it!

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