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Hair Replacement System Tips
TopLace Hair Replacement Systems offers tips and other helpful information that will make it easier for you to take care of and maintain your hairpiece.
- Is there an online forum for Hair Replacement Systems?
- Who do you recommend for hair piece adhesives, tapes and shampoos?
- What is the "Mirror Slide"?
- Do you have a list of barbers or stylists for my cut-in?
- How do you bleach your own knots on a lace hair replacement system?
- How should I shampoo and condition my hair piece?
- Hair piece glue tips?
- Hair piece styling tips?
1. Is there an online forum for Hair Replacement Systems?
Click here for the hair replacement system discussion forum for help, advice and tips about TopLace hairpieces
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2. Who do you recommend for hair piece adhesives, tapes and shampoos?
TopLace recommends Split Ends NSHR MPI, LLC., for tapes, Glues, Hair Coloring and Hair Care supplies.
They are online at: www.splitendshairreplacement.com
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3. What is the "Mirror Slide"?
 Step 1: Many people have asked what the "mirror slide" is in regards to cleaning their hair piece. In response I put this tutoral together, as in anything, please use restraint and be very gentle with your hairpiece, it is always good to have 2 or more spares. Here we have a dirty gluey mess. |
 Step 2: Take a mirror or a piece of glass |
 Step 3: Place your piece bottom side down against the glass and slowly slide it |
 Step 4: Press firmly but gently a few times until the glue appears on the mirror |
 Step 5: It will leave streaks like this |
 Step 6: Use a citrus or a cleaning agent like "Desolvit" to clean the mirror |
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4. Do you have a list of barbers or stylists for my cut-in?
Colonial Deluxe
Market St
Philadelphia, Pa.
$60 cut for your piece and yourself, private room
1-215-627-1747
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Alicia's Hair Systems
1811 W. Katella
Anaheim
(Katella, between Brookhurst and Euclid)
(714) 491-9218 or (714) 636-6796
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Janet in San Francisco
650-592-3691
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Creative Cuts
Men and Women's Hair Replacements
15825 Meriden Rd
Wolcott, CT
203 879-8555
Elsa Rosada
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Donna Pellegrino
Boca Raton, Florida
by appointment only-561-436-4833
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NEW BEGINNINGS
Maureen Corcoran
449 Boston Post Road, East Suites 2&4
Marlborough, MA 01752
508-277-8842
fax: 508-787-0007
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Salon 2000
RT. 22
Brewster, NY 10509
845-278-6011
Ask for Cosmo
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"My Choice Hair Enhancements"
278 South Main St.
Gardner, MA 01440
978-632-8423
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NewmanGlenn
A Private Hair Studio designed for clients personal attention and comfort
Location: Centrally located in the Inland Empire of Southern California
Contact: (909) 880-9000 By Appointment
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Budget Cut and Styles
2830 S. Mckenzie #3
Foley, AL 36535
Phone: 251.970.2615
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Hair Replacement & Wigs by Lisa
Lisa Calderon
San Jose, CA
Phone: 408.284-HAIR (4247)
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Extend Your Image
Robin Millard
17500 Monterey Rd. Suite B
Morgan Hill, CA
Phone: 408.779.2230
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Elizabeth Hair Design Inc.
Elizabeth Hernandez
147 Alhambra Circle Suite #110
Coral Gables, FL
Phone: 305.443.4304
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Goldilocks Hair Salon
54 Collins Rd.
Toccoa, GA
Phone: 706.282.0562
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Lady Katelyn
C/O The Salon at Saks Fifth Avenue
Arboretum Market
9722 Great Hills Trail
Austin, Texas 78759
Office # 512-231-3725
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Unique Impressions
Sharee Chew
3011 No. Linden Rd.
Flint, MI
Phone: 810-732-9020
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Unique Image
Elizabeth Gross
613 Hope Rd. Suite 7
Eatontown, NJ
Phone: 732-542.8810
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CHRIS - he does both hair styling and replacement Service.
1005 E Miller St.
Seattle, WA 98102-4044
Phone: 206-322-4747
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Total Hair Systems
(family owned for over 30 years)
1395 SOUTHLAKE PKWY
MORROW, GA 30260
(770) 960-1434
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Trisha or Wendy
Riviera
333 Jackson Ave.
Syosset (OysBy)
516-634-0110
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Hair Systems of Long Island
3601 Hempstead Tpk., Suite 510
Levittown (Hmpstd)
1-888-477-4247
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Babylon Hair Care
759 Deer Park Ave
631-669-0140
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Stephanie Millington
619-615-1030 Mixon salon
San Diego, California
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Ross
Location: 1st floor, 49 Market street,
Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Tel:(02)92643986
"A hairdresser with extensive experience in dealing with hairpieces and
cut-ins. Always there to cater to the needs of his clients and offer genuine
advice. His customer sevice and artistic skill on hairpieces is exceptional.
Cuts all types of hairpieces irrespective of where they have been purchased.
Highly recommended."
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Hair Solutions, Inc.
619-299-9312
San Diego, California
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F&T Hair Salon
3165 1/2 Los Feliz Blvd
Los Angeles, Ca 90039
Phone: 1-323-668-1014
$100 for cut in
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Hair Solutions, Inc.
619-299-9312
San Diego, California
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Carmen's Hair Emporium.
Ask for Carmen. Phone number is (856) 428-1387.
Haddonfield, New Jersey
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New Jersey
Anntionette - Tel Home : (201 634-1141)
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Erin
Location: Bayonne NJ
PHONE 646 765 9027
Skills: precision hair cutting, perfect blending, color correction, womans hair systems cut ins and styling.
I am a multicultural stylist dealing with all hair textures.
Tape molds and order forms for new hair systems, and instruction on self maintenance of systems
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Beth McCurdy
Marion Kay Salon
50 Penn Place Suite R202
OKC, OK
email: beth.mccurdy@yahoo.com
405-625-2407
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Georgina Avila
I have almost 10 years of experience with hair systems, yes
I do make templates and I do different techniques of attachements and also color and style on men and women I also speak english, french and spanish.
I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
by appointment only
514-475-2510
514-254-9979
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Linda Carden
Down Under Salon
11604 Rutherford Drive
Fredericksburg, VA 22407
email: lbcarden@comcast.net
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YOU COULD BE NEXT! |
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5. How do you bleach your own knots on a lace hair replacement system?
We get many requests on the forum about "How can I bleach my own knots?
Below are some quotes from board in a condensed form, PLEASE USE CAUTION!,
the manufacturer should bleach knots for you, if unhappy with a lace product send it back to be bleached
Bleaching Knots
From: INSIDER
Comments
Unfortunately bleaching knots on hair replacements is subject to type of hair used and what type of
knot is used in the front of your hairpiece. I'm assuming you have some form of lace or fine welded monofilament net,
if not then there is no need to bleach the knots as there would be not visible effect or benefit.
Because most hairpieces are made with Indian hair, and colored with fabrice dye it is necessary to remove
the fabric dye from the knots with a fabric dye remover. Once this is successfully accomplished,
you would then proceed to apply bleach to the knots. If you have European or Russian hair in your pc.,
then you need only apply bleach to lighten the knots.
HOWEVER, bleaching the knots should be performed by a qualified, experienced technician other
wise you may end up with strange colored hair, eg., purple, green, blue etc.
and then you'll have even more corrective work to do.
Go to someone who really knows what they are doing and have previously bleached knots.
Re: bleaching knots
From: Charlie
Comments
It is really not a problem. I did it and really liked the results.
Go to a drug store and purchase a bleaching kit - in with all the hair colors.
The one I bought was Blonde Bleaching Kit for Men by Jerome Russell.
Mix it according to directions (I just mixed a small amount) and apply to the
underside of the lace with a Q-Tip. Do not press or try to force the bleach into the lace.
I just followed the timing directions with the kit. If it says 20 to 30 minutes - just go for 20.
The knots disappeared and about 1/32 of an inch of the hair coming out of the lace was lightened,
really making the hair much more natural looking - as if growing directly out of your head. Good luck.
Bleaching Knots HAIRSITE!
From: Peter
Comments
I was successful at bleaching my own. I first used RIT fabric dye remover available in just about
every decent grocery store, then used Maxim bleach blonde after that. Worked great.
Try it first on some test hairs to see about how long it will take depending on your color specs.
Adventures in knot bleaching
Greetings,
As I posted before, I have a coolpiece that came with the knots unbleached.
I tried the method that Michigan Baldy used to bleach his knots- I used the loreal bleach blond kit and
waited 30 minutes after I mixed it to apply it to the knots (through the under-side of the piece).
I washed it off after 15 minutes. The results? No dice. The knots were lightened, somewhat, but still very visible.
I then went out an bought a bleach blond kit from Feria.
This time, however, I applied it immediately after mixing, and left it on for 40 minutes.
I applied it VERY liberally, making sure that the bleach foam went all the way through the lace to the knots.
Because it is a foam, it pretty much stays put and doesn't travel down the hair shaft to ruin the rest of the hair.
The result? Success! The lace was fine and the knots were almost completely invisible.
I will probably do one more round of this after I get the piece cut it to make it perfect
(I am used to my Farrell's- for all the problems I have had with them, they do manage to bleach the knots pretty damn good).
The bottom line is that I don't believe that the lace is damaged by the bleach at all- I have a 64 base with an 18 front,
and it was unscathed after 40 minutes of full strength bleach. As always, your results may vary.
My only complaint is that coolpiece/toplace should be able to bleach all the knots successfully,
the first time, if you order it that way. But for $300/$165 I'm not going to complain
(much better price/same look as the 2 Farrell Ultra Minimal's that I bought for $2800).
Good luck to all,
Kilgore
DO NOT use this product to get highlights!! I have been a long-time fan of L'Oreal haircolor
(Feria, anyone?), but this kit is terrible. The orange highlights are a result of the cheap bleach
they use AND the amount of time they have the highlight cream stay in.
Especially on color treated hair (which, if you follow the directions, you now have!!!).
I have been using the Feria Extra Bleach Blonding kit for a couple of years to
highlight my own hair (color-treated) and I have to leave that product in for AT LEAST 35 minutes to get a very pale,
NON yellow-orange highlight. I don't know what I was thinking with this kit and any hopes of the highlights coming out right!!!
The sad part, is the base dye color was actually quite nice (I did Mocha-something?) -
and different from colors they have in their other lines. NOT RECOMMENDED. Eeeeek - especially for the $20!!!
Crabtwix
Kilgore,
Thanks for the info. I could use a little more info about your procedure for knot bleaching.
What do you use to apply the bleaching solution to the lace?
Could you use a haircolor brush in order to cover a lot of area in a short amount of time?
Also, many have written about using a fabric remover like the kind from Rit before applying the bleach.
Did you find that necessary or is that a waste of time? Any others can throw in their input as well.
Thanks,
dino
Dino,
I used a q tip to apply the bleach, which actually is a type of foam.
I applied it liberally to the underside (read: alot) so that it would work it's way to all the knots.
I thought about using the RIT stuff as well, but was afraid of what it would do to the lace.
I think the keys to my success were
A) using the bleach immediately after mixing it (dont let it wait) and
B) I left it on for 40 minutes (it doens't hurt the lace- well #18 lace that is.
Like I said before, I plan on doing it one more time to make sure I get them all.
As for the guy that posted about Feria, I didn't have a problem with it... we're not using it for highlights anyway.
Kilgore
dino
The problem I see in using a q-tip is that it would probably take me an hour to bleach each knot in a unit of my size.
By the time I bleached the last knot, I would have had to remove the bleach from the first knots.
If anyone can think of something to apply the bleach that covers more surface area, I'd be interested in hearing.
Would a haircolor brush be okay to use? My other question is about washing the bleach out after you are done.
I assume you rinse out the bleach with the lace facing up so you don't get backwash.
But is there any bleaching of the hair that occurs when the bleach is washed through the lace?
rugmeister
re: knots bleaching
not that I've tried this or any kind of bleaching, but what about a foam paint brush?
It's got way more surface area than a Q-tip. You can pick those up at any hardware store.
They're cheap so you can trim it smaller if need be.
just a thought,
Forum Owner
Re: re: knots bleaching
With high density hairpieces bleaching of the knots is less of a issue as you cant see them,
I have ordered 100% plus density for some people and I would have needed a lawnmower to get to the knots LOL.
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6. How should I shampoo and condition my hair piece?
 Step 1: After removing the glue and tape residual, rinse under medium warm running water, then in a bowl of clean warm water add some shampoo, I am using Prelude. |
 Step 2: Swish the piece around gently. |
 Step 3: Take out and rinse under running water until clear. |
 Step 4: Place in another bowl of clean warm water, add conditioner, I am using ConditinerII, let it soak for a few minutes, rinse again under running water until clear. |
 Step 5: Put on a form and comb out and let dry, spray on Velvasil, which is a leave on conditioner with sunscreen. |
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7. Hair piece glue tips
Take a tiny piece of not-very-sticky tape and put it in the middle of your piece.
Then spray a little alcohol on your head, and line it up in the front.
Because of the alcohol, you have a little time before the hold kicks in.
Then press down with a towel to get a decent hold on the small piece of tape.
Next use an eyliner pencil to lightly trace around the hairline.
Then flip the piece up and secure it back with clips.
Put on the glue, not worrying if it gets a bit over the line.
Put on as many coats of glue as you like. Dry with a hairdryer.
Gently lay the lace down into the glue. Using the flat edge of a comb, press the lace down.
Then, using a Q-tip with a little alcohol on it, clean up the edge,
making sure you don't lift up the front, and there are no hairs stuck in the glue.
Then remove the tiny piece of tape from the middle, and glue or tape down the back.
It sounds like it takes a long time, but after practice, I have it down to about 10 minutes.
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8. Hair piece styling tips
- When drying the hair with a hair dryer use only warm air never have the blow dryer on maximum heat.
- If using styling aids such as Gels, Mousses, Hair Laquer, Etc. look for the ones that are Alcohol free.
- Use the blow dryer on the coolest setting only long enough to arrange the hair into the desired style.
Think of the blow dryer as a brush and not as a dryer.
DO not continue blow drying the hair after that and especially don't blow it totally dry as this causes the matted,
molded (wiggy) look. Let the hair air-dry the rest of the way and then brush it.
- Only use brushes that have flexible bristles with cushions on the ends.
The cushions will help prevent the bristles from snagging the holes in your lace which could cause a tear.
I have been using a hair dryer that has a little button on the side for cool air drying. Its called "cold shot".
I don't have to use any heat now for drying my hair.
- Products from Mastey which contain NO ALCOHOL can be used as styling aids
- Mastey's Fixe Finishing Spray for Fine, Thin Hair For All Day
Style Support
Fixé is an exceptional finishing hair spray formulated to provides instant lift and style support to fine,
thin hairs without added weight. Offers instant hold and shine to your style for all-day support.
Superior for root lifting and finger styling, it provides an extra margin of hold whenever needed.
Holds the shape of the hair even after multiple brushing. Permits easy re-styling and re-spraying.
Contains Vitamin B5 and The Natural Moisture Factor for real hair moisture. With sunscreen.
Also Herbal Essences Spray Hair Gelle is another good product.
As always, Artec products are great for fake hair. They have a water-based "Texture mousse" in a pump
container that is really nice, and there's also "Texture spray" which does contain alcohol but is very
light and doesn't darken the hair or weigh it down.
There's another blending tool that is real handy for blending your system into your own hair I think its called a blender.
It looks like a small comb with a razor blade in the center. All you do is scrape around the sides and
back of your system where it meets your own hair and it chisels off hair and blends it into you own perfectly...WORKS WONDERS!
Finally, if you've got a system, you absolutely HAVE to have one of those famous black wood "Paul Mitchell Brushes".
Best tool for styling systems out there.
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