Tape vs. Glue for Hair Systems: What Works Best?
Now, if you are new to wearing Hair Systems, you’re thinking about it, you will probably have heard of tape and you probably have heard of glue, and you probably will not be certain which one to use or which one is most appropriate for the hair system you’ve got or the hair system you’re thinking of buying. Well, let’s cut to the chase here: there is no right answer. However, I’m going to lay out the pros and cons of each one, and it might even work better if you use both of them at the same time on your hair system.
Now, if we’re looking at bases, let’s start with poly. Poly is generally the most popular hair system base nowadays, and in my experience of 6 years almost of wearing Hair Systems, in my experience, glue seems to work better with poly. You tend to get a better hold; it’s less likely to tear the base of the system, and you’re not at risk of destroying the base. Now, why do I say you could be at risk of destroying the base with glue? I’ll talk about that in a second when we discuss it on lace.
So, when you attach tape to a poly base system, it sticks pretty hard. And because it sticks pretty hard, it means it’s pretty hard to get off the base when you’re doing a clean and rebond. And I’ve torn at least three to four Hair Systems, poly Hair Systems, where I’ve put tape on, and I’ve tried to get it off, and it stuck so hard, it actually torn the base, and I’m like, ”There goes a 200-300 quid system.” And that’s why I don’t like it. It comes with a high level of risk, and no matter how skilled you are with Hair Systems, you can still tear a poly by attaching lace to it. So I just don’t recommend it. I’m just not necessarily recommending it. My channel is all about saving you guys money, so I don’t want you guys losing money unnecessarily. I want to save you guys money.
Now, let’s talk about lace bases. Now, for me, I found that lace tends to get on better with tape than it does with poly. That’s because a lace base is more robust, and it doesn’t stick as firmly to the base. The tape doesn’t stick as firmly to the lace base; it sticks hard enough that it will stay on your head, but it doesn’t stick so hard that it’s likely to tear the base. It might do if you’re wearing a Swiss lace, which is the most delicate of lace bases, but I’d be surprised if it was a French lace or anything thicker than that. Those systems are fairly robust, and a tape is unlikely to tear them. It is likely to tear a poly, especially if it’s an ultra-thin skin.
Now, I mentioned earlier in this article that with glue, it can actually destroy a lace base. What I mean is that if you put glue on a lace base hair system, it will attach to the lace base, and it will damage the lace base, and it won’t come off. So I strongly, strongly urge you, unless you want to waste a hair system, do not apply glue directly to a lace base. If you have lace, please don’t do that. It will ruin the base, and you’ll need to chuck it away.
What you can do, and you can use glue with lace, put it on your scalp, put the glue on your scalp, and make sure it’s cured. I always say like with Ghost Bond or pretty much with any glue, leave it for 7 minutes. I put on four layers of this, and then I let it cure for 7 minutes, and you want to make sure it’s clear on your scalp. When it’s clear on your scalp, that means it’s cured, and you can put the lace on. It will not destroy the lace if it’s cured on your scalp. So really important thing to remember. Of course, the problem is clean-up. So when you’re cleaning up with glue, it can get messy. It doesn’t get anywhere near as messy with lace.
So if you’re looking for convenience and you’ve got a lace base, use tape. You can use, as I said, this kind of tape. You can use strips, and I feel like an absolute hypocrite talking about strips because I used to be really against Ultra Hold. It didn’t used to get on with my skin, and I found that the bond was too hard. But in the last year or so, I gave it another go, and it’s almost like my skin has adjusted to it, my skin maybe is less sensitive. So apologies for being a hypocrite, but I think it’s actually a really good tape. It lasts about 2 to 3 weeks, and the clean-up is minimal. So if you’re looking for convenience and a good hold and a pretty invisible hold, then things like Ultra Hold or tapes like Lace Front, which is this blue one, Walkers do a Lace Front, so does Sunshine, this is Sunshine, it gets on really well with my scalp, these will probably be the ones for you, unless you’re wearing poly. So if you’re wearing poly, I just recommend glue. I don’t want you to ruin a hair system. Yes, it’s more maintenance, yes, it’s more clean-up, but in my experience and a lot of people that I know, they tend to find that they can wear a poly for longer. So if you can wear a lace for a week, you could probably wear a poly for 2 weeks. So yes, you’re spending more time cleaning it up, but over time, you’re probably spending less time cleaning it up because if you’re doing a clean-up once every two weeks, it’s going to be less than a clean-up every one week.
Also, if you do use glue or you decide to use glue, there are these silicon brushes which I’ve discovered, which again, I’m going to put in the description box below. You may have seen these in hair system before and after videos, and it’s really great. It doesn’t leave any lines on your scalp when you’re applying the glue. It’s sort of like this silicon formula that it uses, and weirdly enough, the glue seems to cure faster. I don’t know, I’m not a chemist, I don’t know why that happens, but it seems to work better with those, and I seem to need to use less layers of glue. So at the moment, I’ve got effectively one layer of glue under this hair system, this is the Louis, see-through, it’s an ultra-thin skin, and I use one layer of this on the actual base of the system and one layer on my scalp, and it just works really well. It holds just as well as if I’d had four layers on, and I never used to get that. So make sure that if you’re going the glue route and the poly route, then make sure you get some brushes. In my experience, these ones are the best.
Now, lastly, can you use both on a hair system together? Well, yes, you can. I would say no on a poly for reasons I’ve mentioned before, but absolutely on a lace, glue will give you a more realistic hairline than tapes. Even lace front tape, glue is better, it’s just more invisible. So what I’d recommend is using tape around the horseshoe and then applying glue. So holding the hair system up at the front, using clippers or whatever, holding it at the front and then just applying glue. Do a couple of layers of glue, let it cure 7 minutes at least, you want it to be looking clear on your scalp, that’s when you know it’s cured, and then pull the lace down. So in that respect, you’ll get really good hold around the sides and you get a really, really, really natural appearance at the front. Lace front tape does give you a natural appearance, but Ghost Bond or Great White gives you an even more natural appearance. So yes, you can use both. I tend to use tape on a lace, and I tend to use glue on a poly, but I’d really like to hear what you guys do. What is your routine? Do you prefer tape, do you prefer glue, do you use both, or do you just switch things up every now and then because you’re trying to find the best formula for you? Let me know what your routine is when it comes to rebonding a hair system. I’d really love to know. I’ll speak to you very soon, guys. Take care.