Wig selecting, dying, styling

[tenebris]

Choosing

When choosing a base wig, you need to think about what you want to do with it. A synthetic wig is better for a lot of styling, adding in wefts, dying. Whereas if you want a more natural look, human hair will give you that, but it does cost more. A good lace front synthetic can look just as good, as long as you get a good quality one. Lace front wigs tend to be better for styles that are pulled of the face or parted, where as hard front wigs tend to look good for full fringes. Don’t just look at wigs that are the right length, it might be that a very long wig is the right colour and shape it just needs a cut. Or a wig is the right colour it just needs the roots colouring or curling.


Research

People will have brought wigs from the main big companies before. Search the brand and style name on main forums, Facebook, google images etc. This can often give you an idea of how the wig looks in real life, as sometimes the colour and quality can look different in real life. Also, cosplayers or specific costume groups often review them. You can do the same with specific tutorials for different characters.

Wig blocking/head wrap

This is a technique that allows you to create a ‘template’ of your head shape, that can then be added to a cheap polystyrene head. You can then use it to style you wig on. It also helps to see where your own hairline is if you are styling a lace front wig.
You need 2 people. Clear tape, A marker and some clingfilm.
Put your hair up like you would if you were putting a wig on, ie hair net, pin curls etc.
Wrap the clingfilm round your head so its like a hat, the tape it down using quite a bit of tape. Then draw round your hairline and mark where your ears are, cover that in more tape so it doesn’t rub off and wiggle it off your head.
You will notice that your clingfilm template is bigger then the wig stand, you want to pin your clingfilm at the front tape it down and start to pad it out, tape round the edges. make a slight cut in the top to stuff it, just make sure you tape it back up. I usually wrap the whole head in clingfilm after that and tape it, then you can use it to hot curl a wig. To make it more stable to work on you can attach the wig to a small square of MDF. You now have a template of your head to work on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsm3FZ7AhrY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WjsBAsBXKg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewrh1QgpU6A



Trimming/cutting

There are some online custom wig makers and services that will style wigs for you, they tend to be very expensive. If you are worried about cutting a wig, it’s worth asking people who you know who cut hair, or local hairdressers to do it for you.
Some specialist wig shops will cut a wig for you if you buy it from them, its worth having a google and seeing what’s near you. That tends to be the more natural wigs though.

Scissors: Invest in some hairdressing scissors, you can get them pretty cheap on eBay, I got a set with layering scissors, which are good for trimming and cutting into heavy one-layer styles to make them looks more natural.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Professional ... :rk:1:pf:0

Basic cutting techniques

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McUQG0fAOlA


Dying with fabric dyes

Synthetic wigs need a dye for synthetics, like Rit Dyemore……if you dye a curly wig the curls will drop because of the hot water. There are lots of different tutorials on you tube.

https://therabbittales.net/2016/12/13/h ... abric-dye/
https://www.ritdye.com/type/dyemore-for-synthetics/

Sharpie method

Either using sharpie directly on the wig and blending it out with alcohol.
Putting the ink section, from inside the sharpie into a spritz bottle with alcohol and spraying it directly where you want the colour, these are great for if you want darker roots like holdo, or coloured ends, or gradient like Sabine. There are various YouTube tutorials on this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvuLYTi ... 2hytIWc-vz

Styling

Finger waves- Holdo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ2uA7hjyjk
Ponytail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3fzdhLE6YI
Steaming without a steamer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlchg4v57aA

Gluing for lace front

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW2a4LV ... vz&index=4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H__CcszABaw

Online wig shops

Wig is Fashion
https://www.wigisfashion.co.uk/

Pose
https://posewigs.com/

Arda
https://www.arda-wigs.com/

Black candy fashion
https://www.blackcandyfashion.co.uk/products

Multiverse
https://multiverse.store/collections

Webster wigs
https://www.websterwigs.com/

Custom Wig Company
https://www.facebook.com/pg/CustomWigCo ... e_internal


Tutorial sites

Arda wigs has loads of good tutorials on You Tube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClO2ve ... JeQ/videos

Custom wig company videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-TGaU ... z2Q/videos

onlinekyne does some really good wig tutorials, updo’s side parts, straightening etc
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... ekyne+wigs


A great post from the Custom wig company on wig care:

https://customwigcompany.com/basic-care ... b1a0J2R22Y




Books

How to wig making books.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wig-Making-Sty ... 0240813200

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Practical-Dres ... FYMER3PD92

For curling styles, with step by step. Would be great if you wanted to do Holdo. You would then need to set the style with hot water, or steaming.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vintage-Hairst ... ir+styling