have you / do you wear wigs? (cut, color, gel, head)

[KittenSparkles]

Just curious if there are any women here who wear wigs on a regular basis - for fashion purposes, or just because they want to.

I get so tired of dealing with my super thick hair, I sometimes wonder if cutting it short and then wearing wigs might be easier - although I am sure they are itchy...

[_ataraxia]

as a performance artist, i wear a wig often.



my hair is short, so it's effortless to pin it up under a wig. never had problems with it being itchy. people often think it's my real hair. i've also thought of buying a bunch of wigs to wear just for the hell of it. i wear hats frequently because i'm too lazy to style my hair most days; wearing wigs for the same reason doesn't seem crazy at all. my favorite source for wigs is High-Quality wigs for cosplay, Halloween, clubbing or just for fun. - great wigs, very reasonable prices.

definitely learn about proper wig care before diving into it though! can't treat synthetic fibers like real hair.

[KittenSparkles]

thanks for the link! its quite possible that wigs will be in my future at some point!!

have you ever worn a lace front wig? I am curious what those are like to put on - from what I have read, it sounds like a bit of work to get them on.

[_ataraxia]

i've never worn lace fronts. they seem like such a hassle. much easier to just get standard wigs with bangs and not deal with hairlines at all.

[Opsimathia]

You don't have to cut off your hair. You can just wrap it. Wigs can be hot but I only wore cheap ones that only have a few wears. I really want to make or buy a long black wig that looks like typical asian hair. They are $$$$ though. Its cheaper to make you own pieces if you want to get crafty.

[AnonChick]

I've been wearing wigs for over 25 years. For me it's not an option (unusual disorder that doesn't cause any "problems" but it does prevent hair growth), but I really enjoy picking them out. Some tips:

1. If you're planning on sweating a lot (dancing or summertime outdoorsy stuff), get an open wefted wig. With an open weft, you can even pull locks of your own hair through the wefts and integrate it into the wig hair, if it's close to the same length. Bonus points if the colors are completely different, for a dramatic flair.
2. Lace fronts are great if you don't want to wear bangs, because they look more like your real hairline. There's nothing fancy about them as far as putting the wig on. Just slip it over your head, and adjust back and forth til the edge of the cap lines up with your own hairline.
3. If your wig isn't custom-made (if you're buying it at a store, not a wig-maker shop), then invest in some double-sided tape. You affix the tap to the cap _near_ your hairline, but not too close (1/8 to 1/4 inch away from the edge of the cap in front). That'll keep pretty much any wig from slipping/sliding when you move vigorously. Get the tape meant for wigs, mostly because they're a good width and some of them are curved to fit against the curve of the wig's edge.
4. Wigs are expensive, even the synthetics. Never EVER use any heating element (blowdryer, straightening iron, etc) on a synthetic wig. Do *not* wash your wig daily, or even weekly. Once every other week, or else you risk stretching and wearing out the fibers. Synthetic hair is essentially the same material as pantyhose.
5. Real hair wigs are VERY expensive, but can be worth it in the long run. You won't see the ruined fibers at the nape of the neck after the first 2 weeks of wearing like you will with synthetics. Real hair wigs, if made right, can last a few years. Even the "off the rack" real hair wigs can last a year or more, and that's for people like me who wear the same wig every day to work, 5 days a week, up to 8 hours a day. You can also heat/straighten/perm/color a real hair wig. Just remember wig hair doesn't grow back, so make sure you know what you're doing. You can't grow out a mistake with a wig. Also, use conditioner ONLY on the ends. Do -not- apply conditioner to the cap or the knots holding the hair to the cap will loosen and it will shed.

In both types of wigs: brush from the ends up. Never start from the scalp and comb through, until you have -completely- detangled it from the ends upward to the scalp. Use a comb only if it's wet, and use only synthetic bristles on all wigs. Remember you're *not* wanting to spread scalp oil around to give it shine and gloss. You're trying _only_ to detangle and style. For gloss, you can apply a glossing gel but go easy on that stuff because you're only washing your wig once every couple of weeks, and dirt can cling to that gel.

[redfish1]

wigs are just silly

[KittenSparkles]

AnonChick- thanks for that informative post!!! You're making wig-wearing not seem as bad as I thought it could be.

Do you like how the wigs look on you? Do you wear the ones with real hair?


I prefer to wear bangs on my hair, so it sounds like I would not need to worry about lace-front wigs. That's one less issue to deal with.

I think if I want to pursue this further I should consider buying a wig and seeing if I can wear it over my own hair. Part of the problem is that my hair is very thick and somewhat long (bra strap length), so when I tried to wear a wig for Halloween, it was challenging to get it all smoothed down under the wig.

But I can practice working on that too.

I think my longer term goal would be to find some wigs that look good, and once I am confident about wearing them, I would cut my hair to a shorter length so it would be easier to put the wigs over it on a regular basis.

[Opsimathia]

Originally Posted by AnonChick

I've been wearing wigs for over 25 years. For me it's not an option (unusual disorder that doesn't cause any "problems" but it does prevent hair growth), but I really enjoy picking them out. Some tips:

1. If you're planning on sweating a lot (dancing or summertime outdoorsy stuff), get an open wefted wig. With an open weft, you can even pull locks of your own hair through the wefts and integrate it into the wig hair, if it's close to the same length. Bonus points if the colors are completely different, for a dramatic flair.
2. Lace fronts are great if you don't want to wear bangs, because they look more like your real hairline. There's nothing fancy about them as far as putting the wig on. Just slip it over your head, and adjust back and forth til the edge of the cap lines up with your own hairline.
3. If your wig isn't custom-made (if you're buying it at a store, not a wig-maker shop), then invest in some double-sided tape. You affix the tap to the cap _near_ your hairline, but not too close (1/8 to 1/4 inch away from the edge of the cap in front). That'll keep pretty much any wig from slipping/sliding when you move vigorously. Get the tape meant for wigs, mostly because they're a good width and some of them are curved to fit against the curve of the wig's edge.
4. Wigs are expensive, even the synthetics. Never EVER use any heating element (blowdryer, straightening iron, etc) on a synthetic wig. Do *not* wash your wig daily, or even weekly. Once every other week, or else you risk stretching and wearing out the fibers. Synthetic hair is essentially the same material as pantyhose.
5. Real hair wigs are VERY expensive, but can be worth it in the long run. You won't see the ruined fibers at the nape of the neck after the first 2 weeks of wearing like you will with synthetics. Real hair wigs, if made right, can last a few years. Even the "off the rack" real hair wigs can last a year or more, and that's for people like me who wear the same wig every day to work, 5 days a week, up to 8 hours a day. You can also heat/straighten/perm/color a real hair wig. Just remember wig hair doesn't grow back, so make sure you know what you're doing. You can't grow out a mistake with a wig. Also, use conditioner ONLY on the ends. Do -not- apply conditioner to the cap or the knots holding the hair to the cap will loosen and it will shed.

In both types of wigs: brush from the ends up. Never start from the scalp and comb through, until you have -completely- detangled it from the ends upward to the scalp. Use a comb only if it's wet, and use only synthetic bristles on all wigs. Remember you're *not* wanting to spread scalp oil around to give it shine and gloss. You're trying _only_ to detangle and style. For gloss, you can apply a glossing gel but go easy on that stuff because you're only washing your wig once every couple of weeks, and dirt can cling to that gel.

There is a synthetic that can be heat styled:

Doctored Locks Professional ShapeShifter Monofiber (http://www.doctoredlocks.com/catalog/ShapeShifter-Monofiber/ - broken link)

Up to 400 degrees!

I thought that was awesome when I found it. I know the flat iron I have has an adjustable temp. Its on my "to buy" list. I can't wait to try it out.

[AnonChick]

That monofiber is for extensions though, not for wigs. I suppose a wigmaker could use it to make wigs, but you'd have to find a wigmaker. And then you'd have to pay for the cap to be custom made, and then you'd have to pay the wigmaker for the time to hand-tie every strand (or 2 strands at a time, maximum) into the cap. This can take up to 60 hours of work, since it's being done by hand (those extension lengths don't come pre-wefted). At the going rate for wigmakers, you're better off paying for real hair. That's IF you can find an actual wigmaker. Most of them are in Korea now.

I wear real hair wigs exclusively. I used to wear the synthetics but I was going through one every 3 months and the prices went up. Cheap wigs don't last even a month, when you're wearing them all day every moment you're in public, including in the swimming pool or lakes or the ocean or out sweating doing yard work or at the gym. So you really have to get a decent quality fiber. And even the good quality ones won't last more than 3 months wearing them -that- regularly. At $300 a pop, it ends up being around $1200 per year in wigs.

For $1500 I can buy a real hair wig that'll last me 3 years if I'm careful. So that's what I do. In the long run, it's around the same price as getting your hair professionally cut every 2 weeks, and a color and professional deep-conditioning treatment once every 2 months at a spa-style salon.

Except - you never have to worry about the roots growing out