When strands of hair are individually knotted onto lace to create wigs, frontals and other hair pieces, the knots are visible and some people want to hide them. Unhidden, the units look like a net at the base.
There are a few common ways that people hide their knots. Some people choose to bleach their knots, some choose to hide their knots with concealer and some upgrade to a silk base unit.
The pros of hiding knots:
Hidden knots look extremely realistic and give the look of a silk base or skin on the scalp.The cons of hiding knots with bleach:
The bleaching helps to conceal the dark knots; however, the hair is literally bleached. This bleaching process could lead to the knots becoming dry and brittle over time, resulting in breakage and shedding of the hair. Sometimes the knots are bleached only at the hairline; however, some clients prefer the bleaching of ALL knots. Again, if done properly, it will look great, but the end result could be a shedding piece that will eventually become too thin to wear at a much faster rate than what is normal. If done improperly, the unit could end up with orange-tinged roots.The cons of hiding knots with concealer:
There are two common methods of concealing knots with concealer. One is to part the hair where desired and with a sponge or finger, wipe or bad foundation in the part. The second is to turn the cap inside out and paint the cap with a liquid or cream foundation with a copious amount of foundation in a manner they will seep through the cap and bleach the knots. With both, when the hair is washed, the process will need to be repeated. Also, either method can be messy until the process is mastered! Finally, the stylist must have the right shade of concealer for you; otherwise, it can end up with an unnatural look.The cons of hiding knots by using a silk base unit:
Silk is the newest base material to hit the market. The strands are injected through lace and then into pure silk. Not only can you have invisible knot-free strands, it is a 100% breathable material, unlike the thin skin.
The potential cons with silk base units:
The silk color choices are not vast. Most companies offer 4 color choices, which are supposed to cover every shade from ivory to midnight.
Because of this, sometimes silk base units have to be dyed prior to application in order to achieve the proper skin tone for the client. Most hairpiece and wig experts know how to do this.
Also, silk base units are thicker than lace units and when the client has an itchy scalp, the itch sometimes cannot be scratched by patting the head. Sometimes people try to scratch through the unit, which is a no-no.
Scratching on top of the unit may cause very noticeable bald spots. For this reason, we recommend purchasing a SCALP SCRATCHER. Also, silk base units are much more expensive than lace base units.