Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) You may click on a category of Frequently Asked Questions, below, to jump to that section. BASIC FAQS | ATTACHMENT & REMOVAL FAQS | HAIR MAINTENANCE FAQS HAIR CHOICES & COLOR | WAVE / CURL | DENSITY | HAIR STYLES & DIRECTIONS HAIR MAINTENANCE FAQS Product Recommendations It is very important to use the right hair products and you do NOT have to spend a fortune to do so. Just because a product is expensive or is sold at hair salons, that doesn’t mean it’s safe to use on your new hair system. Many excellent products are available at your local drug store or beauty supply house. Here are some ingredients to avoid: Avoid all products that contain alcohol. Alcohol will dry out your hair faster than anything else. Do not use products that contain lanolin or heavy oils. They will flatten your hair and make it look greasy. back to top Shampoos and Conditioners: Matrix Biolage makes two terrific products: “Fortetherapie” Fortifying Shampoo & Fortifying Conditioner. These are my new favorites and I use them personally. They are available at some drug stores and a lot of hair salons. Remember to buy only the “Fortifying” line of products. Other shampoos and conditioners: Check out the “ethnic” hair product section at your local stores. Many of these products are made specifically for dry, damaged or over-processed hair. Here is a list of products that are available at your drug store or beauty supply house: Shampoos: Crème Of Nature: This line of shampoos is available at some drug as well as at Sally Beauty Supply stores. Ion Moisturizing Shampoo Softsheen Carson Breakthru (Step 1) Note: These shampoos are very gentle and contain no harsh cleaning agents. However, over time, they may allow residue from hair products to accumulate in the hair. For this reason, I recommend using a clarifying shampoo (I like Neutrogena’s) once a month to remove the residue. Conditioner: L’Oreal “Nature’s Therapy Mega-Moisture Nurturing Cream” is an excellent moderately-priced conditioner available at Sally’s Beauty Supply. Pomades, gels and styling products: There are a number of good products available. Just make sure they are water-soluble. Hair Spray: The two products I recommend are Herbal Essence Extra-Hold Spray Gel and Ion Alcohol-Free AntiI-Frizz Products and Hair Polishers: In order to help protect your hair from the damaging effects of water, shampoo and sun, I recommend using an Anti-Frizz or Hair Polishing product once a week. They are available in liquid and spray form, and most of them work very well. Use them sparingly. Ignore the instructions on the bottle; I also recommend applying them before you shampoo rather than after shampooing. back to top Instructions for Coloring your Hair System Over time, exposure to air, water and sun may cause the color to fade or turn slightly red due to oxidation. You can have a professional hairdresser re-color your hair system or you can do it yourself. A hairdresser will probably charge between $25 and $40 to do the job for you. It’s neat and clean and you won’t be scrubbing spatters of hair dye off your walls and ceiling. If you want to do the job yourself, here are some tips: Coloring your hairpiece is a little different than coloring your natural hair. The two main things to remember are that your hairpiece will color much faster than your own hair and you will want to choose a color that is one shade lighter than the color of your hairpiece. You can buy a complete hair coloring kit at the drug store or you can buy the individual products at a beauty supply store. If you choose to buy the individual products, you’ll need hair dye, cream developer (20% is probably the best) and dye remover (just in case). In the long run, this is more economical than buying hair color in a drug store because you will mix only as much as you need and can save the rest for the next time you need to color. Also, by mixing the dye with cream developer, you will have a nice, thick gel that is easy to apply and will not stain the hair knots and base. You will also need a styrofoam head form, some t-pins, a non-metallic mixing bowl, a nylon dye brush, a fine-toothed non-metallic comb and rubber gloves (to prevent the dye from staining your hands). Here’s what you’ll do: Pin the hairpiece to the head form and push the pins in as deeply as possible to avoid snagging the comb as you apply the color. Mix the hair color and cream developer in a 1:1 ratio. Make sure you’ve mixed it thoroughly and there are no color streaks in the mixture. You should have a nice, thick gel at this point. Do not brush the color directly onto your unit. Instead, brush the color onto the comb and then comb the color through your unit. Make sure not to miss the bottom layers of hair. Go around the piece more than once to make sure that you’ve colored the entire piece all the way down to – but not touching – the knots and base. IMPORTANT: The package instructions will tell you that it will take about 30 minutes to reach your desired shade. Don’t believe it!!! Hairpiece hair absorbs the color much faster than your natural hair will. It may take as little as 7 – 10 minutes to reach your desired color, so keep an eye on it! Once the hair has reached the desired color, carefully remove the pins, shampoo the hairpiece twice, apply conditioner, rinse thoroughly and put the piece back on the head form to dry. Gently comb through the hair using a brush with ball-tipped bristles to remove tangles. back to top BASIC FAQS | ATTACHMENT & REMOVAL FAQS | HAIR MAINTENANCE FAQS HAIR CHOICES & COLOR | WAVE / CURL | DENSITY | HAIR STYLES & DIRECTIONS