Wig Studio 1 News
Help! How do I make my wig less wiggy?
The whole point of wearing a wig for most of us is to feel just as beautiful and confident as you did when you had a full head of natural hair, and that is hard to do if you’re worried about strangers whispering, “Is that a wig?” at the office, the grocery store, party or worse still, when meeting someone new. When meeting someone new or preparing for a special occasion, you don’t want to be worrying about your wig.
A good wig is an investment so taking the time to learn before we buy is important. Here are some tips from the experts, information that I have gathered, read, and live by.
1. Replace Your Wig Regularly
The best way to broadcast to the world that you’re wearing a wig is to wear an old ratty-looking wig. Unfortunately, no one has invented a wig that grows new hair yet, so we’re stuck with wigs that lose their quality over time. No matter how hard you wish, no amount of wig styling products or cap adjustments can save a wig that’s past its prime.
Plan to replace your synthetic wigs every 3 to 6 months and your human hair wigs every 6 to 12 months. Use your judgment based on your individual wear patterns.
2. Rooted Colors
Unless you naturally have very dark hair, it’s unlikely that your hair is just one color. Most people have shades of color and gradients (dimension) throughout their hair.
Wigs with one flat color just look fake or look like a bad color job. Wigs with rooted colors, on the other hand, mimic the natural gradients in bio hair by blending several colors.
If you can’t find a wig that you like with rooted colors look for a wig that is a ‘blend’ of two colors or ask a stylist to give your wig highlights and lowlights two shades away from the wig’s base color. (Don’t try this at home if you don’t have training!)
3. Lace Fronts and Monofilament Tops
Lace front wigs create the illusion of a natural hairline, making it look like your wig hair is growing right out of your head. Monofilament tops do the same thing, but for the wig’s part. Each hair of a monofilament top wig is individually sewn into the wig, rather than being machine applied. This allows the wig hair to move freely and lets you part the wig anywhere you want.
4. Mess Up That Part
When something looks too perfect, especially with wigs, it’s usually a sign that it’s fake. Wig companies could and should do a better job with this in my view.
Most wigs come out of the box with eerily perfect parts.
As soon as your new wig arrives, take a pair of tweezers, and carefully pluck out a few strands. Then, using baby scissors, cut a few strands so that they look like they’re just growing out. Last, choose a couple of hairs to place on the ‘wrong' side of the part. (Again, don’t try this at home unless you feel comfortable with your skills.)
5. Trim Your Wig
Or not—but take it to your stylist and get it shaped up to better flatter your face. Some of us have the skill set to do this ourselves, but some of us (uh, me) do not.
6. Blend it Out
If you have some natural hair, try ‘blending’ your natural hairline with the hairline of a lace front wig—as follows:
- Place your wig an inch or two farther back on your head than you typically would, exposing your natural hairline.
- Fully attach the wig to keep it steady and from moving too much.
- pray a little dry shampoo into your hairline and along the wig part line and use your fingers to tease everything together.
- Mimicking your own edges is one major key to achieving a flawless illusion. It keeps people guessing.
NOTE: If you’re going to try this trick, it’s important that your wig color matches your natural hair color.
We’ve all seen the instructions on how to do this and seen the charts on how to determine your cap size. If you are still in doubt look for videos that show how to do this. It’s easier than trying to read the steps. There are many good instruction videos out and cap size charts are easy to find.
8. (For wig Newbies) ALWAYS—line up your wig with your natural hairline.
If you don’t line up your wig with your natural hairline, your wig will never look natural. That’s why it’s so important that each time you put on your wig, you take the time to line it up properly.
To correctly line up your wig with your natural hairline:
- First, put your wig on your forehead just above your eyebrows.
- Next, slowly slide the wig back over your head, adjusting as you go, until the bottom of the wig hits the nape of your next.
- Last, slide the wig forward just a bit until it hits your natural hairline, and secure it in the way you have chosen.
If you have been wearing wigs for a while you have your preferences in place most likely. You love or don’t love heat-friendly wigs; you can’t go without a lace front maybe; you must have a mono top or rooted color—the list goes on. Each wig type, fiber, cap, style, has its own footprint. You may well know the good and the challenges for each type. But whether you must have human hair, heat friendly or not, there always seems to be one question: How do I take the shine out of synthetic wigs without washing them so much? Also, know as:
How to Make a Synthetic Wig Look Real
- In addition to the other things mentioned before (picking one with blended colors, rooted if you like that, there are some additional things you can do while waiting on that shine to go away through washing. *Apply some dry shampoo or talcum powder to the wig but use a light hand at first. You can always add more if needed but it’s hard to take it out without having to wash your wig if you overdo it. And of course, washing your wig more than necessary is something you will want to avoid.
So, until next time --- keep your wigs looking “real” not wiggy. And stop & smell the flowers!
Vickie Lynn
It’s Summer and is the Wig Cap the Thing or is it the Length?
Well, the cap is one big thing, for sure. Comfort, coolness, all of these things seem to be magnified during the summer. Unless we plan to wear a baseball cap or shave our heads and go natural, we will continue to wear our wigs. So by choice or necessity, we search to find ways to stay cool and comfortable. I have included some things here that might help us understand the cap and the cap construction so that we’ll be better able to make good decisions for our particular situation.
But summer comfort also includes the wig itself, the fibers, the length. Wearing a wig in the summer can pose challenges for many wig wearers. Certain wigs can leave you feeling hot, sweaty, and weighed down. However, there’s no need to sacrifice your wig altogether in the summertime. No!
A shorter wig for hot days would work well, especially if you change your style around daily. There are so many beautiful short wig styles for summer to choose from. I’m sure you have some already in your collection, but I’ll put links to a few of the newer ones at the end of the blog. But don’t think you must wear short wigs all the time, you can do some lovely up-do styles with the longer ones as well. Keeping your wig off your neck is key when it comes to preventing your head from overheating. In addition to opting for an up-do, if you have a longer length wig and your aim is to keep from sweating as much as possible, plaits and braids are the most effective styles to go for.
There are so many helpful YouTube videos from our wonderful ladies who do the reviews and offer helpful advice here and on our Facebook page. Check them out and get inspired! I know that I did.
As for fibers, synthetic versus human—overall, synthetic wigs are the winner during the summer months. Synthetic fibers are lighter than human hair so should keep you cooler. Also, human hair wigs will react to the hot weather in the same way natural hair would; it can lose shape and style or go frizzy with the humidity. Synthetic wigs, however, have ‘style memory’ and will hold their shape even when exposed to the elements.
Now, back to the cap—and cap liners: When it comes to wig construction, I’ve always been a fan of hand-tied wigs. I’ve got several that’s wefted at the back and hand-tied on the crown. I’m certainly finding that the wefted construction helps keep things a bit cooler as it lets the air circulate more. Watch out for fitting even more during the summer. Too tight wigs can restrict the airflow and make you very uncomfortable fast.
Wig caps are one effective method to help reduce sweating when wig wearing. For the summer, in particular, I recommend trying the bamboo caps and/or liners. The material moves sweat to the outer surface of the fabric and dries quicker, helping to avoid excess sweating.
Cap Construction types: Monofilament – more natural-looking and more versatile (top, part, crown options). Lace Front – natural-looking, more style options. Hand-tied – More realistic movement and styling versatility, softer on the scalp (lack of wefts), lighter, cooler. Wefted-open cap – most basic, not as expensive, open construction allows it to be lightweight, breathable. Permatease is a factor for some with these.
Until next time, take a peek at the links…
Vickie Lynn
Below is lace front, mono part and mono cap, both mine, both comfortable.
Please see the links below to help you learn more about caps, and what new short wigs are available right now. I have my eye on two. So many wigs, so little time!
Wig Rescue
Our Old Wigs – or what was I thinking and why do I still have them?
I went on a wig hunt this week—inside my own closet. I retrieved a dozen or so boxes of wigs from the area in my closet where I kept the “maybe someday” things. You know what I mean, like those jeans that used to fit, and I might get back into them “someday” maybe. In the case of wigs, these were from my earlier still learning days. And as tried them on one at a time, one thought kept going through my mind—what was I thinking? I must have thought they looked good at one time, but now, not so much. So, what happened?
Most of us are all pretty hard on ourselves, very critical of every perceived flaw, and I am no exception. But I think that when I first started out wearing wigs, I didn’t know what to expect, and what looked good (meaning believable). I think I was more concerned with that than comfort, finding the right color or style. I didn’t know how comfortable they were supposed to be, nor did I understand much about caps and how they were made or supposed to fit. I picked a few that looked good on the model, and well, lived with them. We all go through a rookie stage, and I think mine lasted through a half dozen wigs at least, maybe more. We live, we learn, we make corrections, and that includes buying wigs. So, maybe we should give ourselves a break about it, especially starting out.
Out of the dozen, I removed from my closet, only two were worth trying to salvage. I am going to see if I can bring them back to life this week. They are totally different in style and color so it will be interesting to wear them again if I do manage to rescue them. I have learned a lot about caps, fit, style, colors, and what works best for me now. So, when I shop for a wig now it is pretty easy for me to put my own filters on before I begin the shopping phase. I know what I want: mono top or mono part at the minimum, lace front, and heat-friendly fibers. I don’t have the patience for human hair care, and I don’t have the talent to style them as I would like, so synthetic works best for me. But I do like the look of human hair and I get that much easier in the heat-friendly fibers. Knowing that I am free to look at styles and color and that makes it easier to shop. Now that I don’t go to an office and see the same people every day, I am free to wear different wigs out and about. Before I didn’t discuss wigs with people I worked with but that locked me into wearing the same wigs all the time.
As I tried on my old wigs, I tried not to be so hard on myself about how they looked because after all, they had been boxed up for some time. Also, I have aged, I am paler now after the lockdown, and that is not a good look under the harsh bathroom lights. But I did have to keep wondering—what was I thinking when I bought them? I can’t answer that, but I also wondered why I kept them after looking at the condition some were in. Clearly, I liked them enough to wear them a lot! In the end, I decided it was the same as looking back at anything, your clothes from years ago, old picture of yourself in different hairstyles, shoes, whatever. Wigs are the same. We pick them for many reasons, and it seems right at the time.
If you have some old wigs put away that should be taken out and donated or revived or tossed – do it. They are serving no one in the closet. It is like the clothes rule, if you haven’t worn something in a year, get rid of it. You will feel better afterward, I promise.
What I need to buy now is not more wigs, but some good products that might help me revive two. I have put a link below to some of the products that I will be trying on my two rescued wigs I will post pictures of them in my next blog if I am successful. Wish me luck. One is a short one that I would love to wear this summer, so I have high hopes for that one. The other is a chin-length, straight bob-style in an unflattering color—which I wasn’t aware it would be at the time I ordered.
So, until then, see if any of these products might help you rescue a wig, or maybe make your current favorites last much longer. If we care for them, they will not be sent to the toss pile too soon. Oh, that conditioner and conditioning spray looks promising!
Vickie Lynn
Which Wig Type/Style/Brand is Best Fit for You? Notes for the Newer Wig Wearers
If you are like me, you have drooled over a human hair wig or two, and early on in my wig journey, I bought one. One was it for me though, at least for the near future. The care, time to style, the cost, all came to weigh heavier on the con scale because I was trying to wear it every day, all day. If I had one now, I might appreciate it more but just haven’t seen the need as of yet. After a lot of experimenting with several fiber types, and all cap types, I have finally settled on the ones that work best for me.
We all have different wig priorities. If you have no hair at all or little hair, or sensitive scalp, the wig cap construction will be very important. If you can’t stand wig bands, clips and pins, the kind of cap and the way it fits will play an even larger role in your choice. For me, it is the less on my head the better, so a good fitting cap is very important to me. The better the fit, the less security measures I feel the need to use. I can go out without any wig security measures in my Muse for example. It happens to be a perfect fit for me. If I am wearing it to the dentist, I might put a decorative bobbie pin in on each side. This keeps my hair out of the way while keeping it steady on my head while I am in the dreaded dentist chair. But if you have an in-between size head, and can’t get that perfect fit, you will need to make decisions about security. I do use more security when I know I will be outside for any length of time, or if I am going to a special event where I know it won’t be as easy to adjust my wig in public.
Now let’s move from cap security, since we have looked at that in a prior blog, and let’s go to caps in general. I won’t go into details here because this has also been covered in prior blogs on the site. We all know by now that we get what we pay for. Getting a hand-tied cap with a mono-top and lace front will cost you more because it costs the manufacturer more to make. That’s easy to understand. And ideally, you’d think everyone would want or need this. But that is not necessarily the case. Many wigs that just come with a basic cap can work well for many people. A lot depends on the wig style. Is the style one that doesn’t really have a part and may have bangs—then a mono top and lace front would not be a dealbreaker for a lot of people. Also, for the same price, you can often get two or three of the basic cap wigs compared to maybe just one of the wigs with all the bells and whistles. That is appealing to a lot of people, especially if you are hard on your wigs, or if you just like to change styles a lot.
All fibers are not created equal. This too, you may have already learned. Some look and feel better and seem to last longer. Every manufacturer seems to do them a bit differently. They have their own vendors, processes, and crafts people. Human hair wigs are just that, so we all know how to take care of human hair, and the pros and cons of this. It is when you get into fibers that it is more of a challenge. Over time, the coating of the fibers, the color, and strength of the fibers will change. Depending on how much you wear your wig and how you care for it, can shorten or lengthen the life of your wig, but eventually the fibers will show their age and wear, just like us. “More’s the pity”—as my grandmother used to say.
The big tradeoff: So, we have to decide, do we want the best of the best, the middle of the road, or some less costly ones but do the job just fine? Fortunately, we can have one of each if budget allows. I doubt I will ever return to human hair wigs just as a personal preference that is combined with my definite lack of styling skills and patience. I seem to have landed in the middle of the pack with lace front, mono-top and hand-tied as my preference, but hand-tied is not a deal breaker if I can have the other two. I still have a couple of basic cap wigs that I bought early on and can still wear but I find them hot and scratchy now because I have lost more hair loss over time. My scalp is more sensitive now too, and I have to be picky about my caps more than ever it seems.
The little extras are important. I like to get a wig with those soft tabs on the side and at the neck, along with the ability to adjust the fit. I can live with a mono-part vs. mono-top, but I hate not having the ability to make fit adjustments or have that comfort of the felt tabs on the side and the one at the bottom of the neck. So, in the end we all find our sweet spot, what we can live with or hope we don’t have to live with, as the case may be.
I hope to get some information direct from the wig companies for a future blog about their fibers: how they pick them, how they make them, and what new things might be ahead in the future. I can’t wait to ask them this question: Can’t you do something about the “fly-aways” and the shine? Inquiring minds really do want to know.
So, until next time, send me any questions you might have, any topics that you would like to see addressed in future blogs:
Below is a video about hand-tied caps that you might like to watch or re-watch, and a reminder of how to measure your head for the best fit, and a picture of a lovely hand-tied wig.
Wishing everyone a good week, and a new week to brighten it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH8XmOIp9Wo&feature=emb_rel_err
