So You Bought the Lace. Now What?

Let's talk about the part nobody tells you when you buy a closure or frontal.

It may be beautiful straight out of the package, but it still wasn't made specifically for your head. Your complexion, your part, your hairline—that's where customization comes in.

And please don't immediately grab the tweezers. 😭

Start with the knots.

Flip your lace over.

See those tiny black dots where the strands are attached? Those are the knots. When they're too dark, they can be one of the things giving away your lace.

That's why people bleach them.

You apply lightener to the underside of the lace, using a mixture thick enough that it doesn't seep straight through onto the hair.

And this is where TikTok can get you in trouble: don't copy somebody else's processing time just because her lace came out perfect. Products, developers and knots vary.

Keep checking yours.

You're looking for the knots to lose that obvious dark-dot appearance—not trying to bleach them into oblivion.

Then we pluck. Slowly.

Once the lace has been washed and conditioned, put it on a mannequin head and brush everything back.

Now look at it.

Where does the hairline actually look too dense?

That's where you work.

Take a thin section, move slightly behind the very front of the hairline and remove a few hairs at a time.

Move over. Pluck. Move again. Pluck. Brush everything back and look again.

Hairstylist Porscha Weeks—known for her extremely natural lace work—uses multiple stages of plucking and customizes the hairline around the actual person wearing the unit rather than trying to create one universal “perfect” hairline. See her process in Allure →

Don't forget the part.

Put the part where you actually plan on wearing it.

If it's too dense, pluck it a little.

That's it.

We're trying to see a believable amount of “scalp.” We're not building I-95 through the middle of the wig.

And if you like switching between a middle and side part, don't over-customize either one.

Now look at the lace itself.

Bleaching the knots and tinting the lace are two different jobs.

Bleaching helps disguise the dark attachment points. Tinting helps the actual lace better match your complexion.

Celebrity hairstylist Tokyo Stylez similarly recommends bleaching the knots, tinting the lace and tweezing the hairline to create a more natural finish. Read her lace tips in Essence →

You may need both. You may not.

That's why you customize based on what you see, not because somebody gave you a mandatory 17-step frontal routine.

Then fit the unit to your head before you start cutting away the excess lace.

And baby hairs?

Entirely your business.

Swoop them. Leave two tiny wisps. Leave the whole hairline clean.

A good lace install shouldn't depend on baby hairs to hide everything underneath them.

Want to see the process? Ashley Bedeck has a visual tutorial covering bleaching, plucking and baby hairs. Watch the tutorial on YouTube →

And this is why we care so much about our lace.

RAW115 closures and frontals already come pre-plucked on thin HD lace.

That doesn't mean you can't customize them.

It means we're not handing you a thick wall of hair and asking you to perform surgery before you can wear what you just paid for.

Bleach your knots if you want them lighter. Refine the hairline for your face. Perfect your part. Tint it for your complexion.

Make it yours.

Because The Seamless Finish and The Full Finish are supposed to be exactly that:

A really, really good starting point.

Now go melt that lace.