There are two options when wearing a hair system in terms of maintenance. A lot of clients will visit a clinic every 4 weeks or so, to have their piece removed, cleaned and reattached, and their own hair trimmed of course. The alternative, is clients can maintain their piece themselves at home, by removing it, cleaning, and reapplying the bond, only visiting a barbers to have their hair trimmed and shaped if desired. This all seems simple, but majority of system wearers will need to maintain the front of their hair system themselves at home, regardless of in clinic maintenance, to achieve a flawless hairline and swept back look.
Taking care of your hair system doesn’t have to be a daunting task, in fact it’s so simple you could probably do it with your eyes closed, though we wouldn’t necessarily recommend that. For now, you may want to keep your eyes open until you read up on our helpful guide and become a world renowned pro at caring for your hair system.
What we call a ‘hard bond’ is used around the back and sides of the piece, as this is a thicker bond, much stronger and won’t be seen as it will be covered by the hair of the piece. A ‘soft bond’ is used at the front, as the name suggests, it gives a much softer finish, and allows for clients to wear their hair off their face. Although this looks great, it does require some maintenance.
It’s completely normal for the hairline adhesive to break down after some time so don’t stress yourself if you find the bond on your hair system beginning to wear out. It’s not giving up on you, there are various factors that can break down the adhesive including:
- Humidity and environment – the heat can cause the weaker adhesive at the front to break down faster, this is especially normal for clients living in hotter countries or using the sauna for example.
- Amount of exercise done which results in sweat – sweating will again break down the bond, but this is easily fixed. Clients who go to the gym often will need to understand that they will be maintaining their system more regularly.
- Natural oiliness of your scalp – some client’s scalps are a lot oiler than others, and produce a lot more sebum, meaning that the front can lift
- Water flowing through the system – washing your system won’t cause the front to life, but excess washing will.
Although there are lots of products out there, we recommend using the following to maintain the front of your system.
An adhesive remover like Lace Release should be used to release the bond of the lace to skin, and remove excess stickiness and glue. Start by spraying the lace front with the Lace Release, making sure it doesn’t go in to your eyes! And wipe with cotton wool. If you would like an option that isn’t alcohol based, you can use Super Solv which is oil based instead.
Ghost Bond glue gives the most realistic look, and is what many of the celebrities wearing hair systems use to give the undetectable hairline we all chase! Although it can be quite pricey, a little goes a long way, and can you really put a price on a flawless hairline!
Pro Touch offer a handy pen that can be a lot less messy to use to reapply your hairline, or even just top up small areas that may have lifted.
Once the lace and your skin is clean, clip back the hair and lace of the piece, apply a layer of glue, wait for it to get ‘tacky’ and then apply another. Again, wait until it is almost dry, and apply a third layer. Once this is almost dry, place down your piece and hold in place, it will take a moment to feel fully stuck and secure.
This can be done as often as you feel necessary, but always make sure to clean and release the lace carefully as to not pull any of the hairs out or damage your piece!