Some pictures that may help some of you out...

[Robert_]

I was getting out of the shower and about to apply my regimen of Couvre' and Toppik today when I remembered that there were some questions on the forum on their use and effectiveness. Being a 25 year old white male that has been thinning since 17, I feel sypmpathy for anyone who is battling hairloss like I am. Being short of funds for an HT at this exact moment, I have come to rely on concealers such as Couvre' and Toppik to get me by. After a little practice, you can truly recieve some pretty good results.

 

Now, bear in mind, the Couvre' is messy. It'll get all over your hands and your bathroom counter, so practice makes perfect with this stuff. The Toppik' is pretty cut and dry.

 

Here is my after shower regimen:

 

1) Towel dry hair (I have been using Nioxin Shampoo which also helps)

 

2) Apply Rogaine (or generic) 5%. I wait 10 or so minutes for this to dry.

 

3) Part hair with fine tooth comb where thinning and apply Couvre'. I find that it is best to apply at the top and work my way down as to have most applied at the top of the head and by the time i reach the hairline with the applicator it is no longer "gunky" so it will give you a nice gradual lightning here. Practice makes perfect with this stuff.

 

4) wait about 5 minutes for this stuff to dry (i brush my teeth or something)

 

5) i LIGHTLY towel off the top of my hair as to "fluff" it up in preparation for the Toppik

 

6) i apply the Toppik. I lightly dust it over my whole head so it blends everywhere. i even dust it over the spots that arent thinning (sides) as to have the color be uniform all over the head.

 

7) ive never even used the spray stuff that Toppik touts, and ive been happy. if you give everything a pretty good while to dry, it wont come off easily. just watch scratching your head and stuff with wet hands.

 

I sincerely hope this helps anyone out. Ive recieved SO much helpful information from this site that I figured that this is the absolute LEAST I can do to contribute back. Feel free to ask any questions, as i know ive probably left things out. Now, for the pictures:

 

 

Before Couvre' and Toppik. Freshly towel-dried hair:

 

 

 

After:

 

 

 

These images arent the best in the world because they were taken with my phone with no flash standing directly under the intense bathroom light (we all know how unforgiving that bathroom light can be in showing off that scalp.) If you think I doctored these for any reason, youre putting way too much stock in my computer abilities, it took me twenty minutes to figure out how to post these.

[Robert_]

I was getting out of the shower and about to apply my regimen of Couvre' and Toppik today when I remembered that there were some questions on the forum on their use and effectiveness. Being a 25 year old white male that has been thinning since 17, I feel sypmpathy for anyone who is battling hairloss like I am. Being short of funds for an HT at this exact moment, I have come to rely on concealers such as Couvre' and Toppik to get me by. After a little practice, you can truly recieve some pretty good results.

 

Now, bear in mind, the Couvre' is messy. It'll get all over your hands and your bathroom counter, so practice makes perfect with this stuff. The Toppik' is pretty cut and dry.

 

Here is my after shower regimen:

 

1) Towel dry hair (I have been using Nioxin Shampoo which also helps)

 

2) Apply Rogaine (or generic) 5%. I wait 10 or so minutes for this to dry.

 

3) Part hair with fine tooth comb where thinning and apply Couvre'. I find that it is best to apply at the top and work my way down as to have most applied at the top of the head and by the time i reach the hairline with the applicator it is no longer "gunky" so it will give you a nice gradual lightning here. Practice makes perfect with this stuff.

 

4) wait about 5 minutes for this stuff to dry (i brush my teeth or something)

 

5) i LIGHTLY towel off the top of my hair as to "fluff" it up in preparation for the Toppik

 

6) i apply the Toppik. I lightly dust it over my whole head so it blends everywhere. i even dust it over the spots that arent thinning (sides) as to have the color be uniform all over the head.

 

7) ive never even used the spray stuff that Toppik touts, and ive been happy. if you give everything a pretty good while to dry, it wont come off easily. just watch scratching your head and stuff with wet hands.

 

I sincerely hope this helps anyone out. Ive recieved SO much helpful information from this site that I figured that this is the absolute LEAST I can do to contribute back. Feel free to ask any questions, as i know ive probably left things out. Now, for the pictures:

 

 

Before Couvre' and Toppik. Freshly towel-dried hair:

 

 

 

After:

 

 

 

These images arent the best in the world because they were taken with my phone with no flash standing directly under the intense bathroom light (we all know how unforgiving that bathroom light can be in showing off that scalp.) If you think I doctored these for any reason, youre putting way too much stock in my computer abilities, it took me twenty minutes to figure out how to post these.

[hairworthy]

I have read about Toppik but this is the 1st time I see actual pictures. Boy it looks fantastic. I wish HTs guaranteed a similar result, though obvioulsy Toppik has its own limitations as you pointed out.

Apart from the bathroom's, another very bad light is the elevator's!

[Robert_]

the company that produces Toppik actually tout it as a way to thicken HT's. Though what we all want is our origional hair back, this may be a way to help along the road to recovery. The last thing I want to do is to go through this step process everyday for the rest of my life. Luckily, im in college still (25 is old to be in college, i know, but i was military for 8 years) and wearing ballcaps most of the time is not out of the norm for that environment. However, im reaching graduation date pretty soon and I am looking at law school pretty hard. I wont be able to wear my "USC" ball cap in a court room, for sure!

[Guest]

drinker,

Remarkable difference! i would use Prothik alot before, but since my HT has started to come in, i don't use it much.

 

but concealers are a good cover up for the meantime for people that can't afford an HT or are putting off till more hair falls off.

[Ams99]

man, are you serious??? i'm 25 too, and not neraly as thin on top, but i can't get those results with toppik. i guess i'm doing something wrong. btw, do you use propecia and minox?

[Robert_]

yes, I use both, but i just started back after a long break. I apply the minox right away and let it dry before i apply the couvre'. if I use just Toppik, i dont get nearly the coverage and ill just end up wasting it trying.

[Mel from NY]

Hey I agree with you guys, Toppik is a great product. To tell you the truth, I'm so satisfied that if Toppik was like $90/bottle I think I would pay for that price....Anyway, I don't have Couvre, and I went to Toppik website, but I got confused, which one you're using ("SocialDrinker") Couvre Protein Hair Expander ($9.99) or COUVR???© Alopecia Masking Lotion ($19.00) Thanks

[Robert_]

hey, eeeeeeaaaaaasssy on the $90 a bottle, some of us are broke college students....haha.

anyway, I was referring to the "alopecia masking agent" as it is so lovingly called. like I said before, practice makes perfect with this stuff. if you have any questions, ill be glad to help you out.

[Mel from NY]

Thanks socialdrinker.....I changed my mind, I would pay $85 at most LoL......I will try Couvre, although I'm very satisfied with Toppik. By the way, do these products work better with long hair or short hair. Thank you in advanced

[Guest]

Socialdrinker~Looks good.Unfortunately,toppick doesn't work since I don't have a even an ounce of hair to work with!

[Robert_]

i try to keep my hair short just to prevent an overwhelming contrast. i had a haircut the day before that picture. it was maybe an inch or so in length on top, maybe a little more or less. i keep a "high and tight" all the way around, due to fact that its less easy to determine the extent of hairloss i have that way and even though ive been out of the military for two months, people are used to seeing me with that cut. i def. wont be able to do anything else with it until i get an HT. but, as you can see from the pics, i dont have much to play with up there, and it comes out pretty good.

[Mel from NY]

One last thing, have any of you used Fullmore? Is it possible to mix Fullmore with Toppik and Couvre? Thanks

[Robert_]

Never used it. Would like to hear some feedback on that myself.

[Smoothy]

Yes, I use Fullmore and Toppiks pretty much the same way others above said they use covure' and Toppiks (Fullmore is easier, quicker, and less messy to apply). I use Fullmore spray (it's like hairspray) on my crown- wait for dry, then add Toppiks with the new Toppiks "sprayer" to get an even spread of Toppiks. Then I style and use hairspray. The only thing with Fullmore is you must part your thinning areas or it will make your hair "stiff" if you get too much on top of the hair. Try to spray it on the scalp, then style and put Toppiks on the top of the hair. It works for me and my results are similiar to the photo posted above.

[Mel from NY]

Thanks Smoothy for your response about fullmore, I think I'll try Fullmore over couvre first just because it's a spray and it sounds easier to apply. By the way, if I get toppik and Fullmore or couvre dark brown I should not worry because they're the same color + Compatible. Correct?

[Guest]

Wow...I'm impressed...not only with the product, but your ability to max out on them...

I'm betting they don't work as well with longer hair...and it's tough that Propecia is a "men's only" product...

Thanks for sharing your pics with us....MM

[scary-memo]

Well,I have tried Toppik, Couvre, Fullmore, Dermatch, and Prothik. All in various combinations. When I first started using concealers last year I started out with Couvre and Toppik, and I thought they worked miracles.I didn't care for Fullmore very much but then I only tried it 3-4 times and thought it was too messy looking. I have not used Couvre in weeks now because of the far superior results of Dermatch. It's less noticeable, and with every application I get better and better using it properly, but you have to be patient because it's kind of tricky using it at first.I was still using Toppik with it. However, last week I began using Prothik (spray) and the combo of it and Dermatch is extremely impressive. The last few days, in fact, I look in the mirror, and except for my high forehead, it appears like something I could live with (if my Proscar keeps working and prevents anymore loss), even without a HT.

It even looks great without Toppik. The only problem with Prothik is that I find it kind of pricey when you consider how long a can will last. I hope this helps.

[Kez]

Social -

 

You state using Nioxin shampoo as part of your regimen. Could you give us a brief summary of it's properties, benefits? I've tried a search on it, but there are a lot of threads which just mention it, without elaborating.

 

Does it help? And if so, how ?

[Robert_]

Kez,

 

I have actually stopped using Nioxin shampoo as of late. I have been using Nizoral 2% about every other day and Aqua Glycolic on the other days. This combination has helped tremendously with the dead skin, dandruff, and itchy scalp that I experienced post op. I still use the Nioxin "Actives" conditioner (called "Scalp Therapy") every day. I cannot say that I still use it for any other reason than that I still had a good bit left when I switched.

 

Nioxin will definitely help to give a healthier, fuller look to your hair in my opinion. I was never really let down by it, but I never saw any proof (personal or through digging around the net) that it actually did anything constructive. I would say that adding it in with a regimen of Nizoral 2% would be beneficial from an aesthetic point of view, if for nothing else and it does seem to be very gentle on the hair. It is your call on whether you want to spend the money for it, though. I actually plan to go back to it after this bottle of Aqua Glycolic runs out just because I think that I getting somewhat past the "dandruffy" phase. I hope that I am right!

 

-Robert

[NorwoodBalding]

Oops.

Edited February 19, 2012 by NorwoodBalding
Wrong topic.