#wig tips

Reading time: 4 min

Hello llamas! We are talking about how to fix an old wig. We will be using one that I borrowed and bringing it back to life. 

You will need:

- An old sad wig like this one that just needed a little love♥

- A mild shampoo with no sulfates/silicone

- Fabric softener

- Wide tooth comb

- Hair clips

- Scissors

- A lot of patience, because this will take some time if you want to do it right

Let’s start!

How to Put On A Wig

I got into wearing wigs to events because I’m pretty terrible at styling my hair. I can straighten it, and do some basic pigtails, but it always stresses me out. Wigs became a fun alternative for me, and added so much fun to my looks.

For me, I find wigs all over the place, online, in wig shops, and even Forever 21. Depending how much you want to spend, of course the quality goes up, but I’d say you can spend $20 on a decent wig if you’re looking in the right place.

That said, I’d avoid Party City wigs unless it’s Halloween. They don’t look real and are really plasticy. I’ve tried with them a few times, and I hate them. Waste of money. Best place to find them is in your downtown area where there’s some cheap shops and look for a wig shop specifically. You’ll find better quality ones for sure. The most I’ve ever spend is $60 for a wig, which yes was a lot, but the number of times I’ve worn it, it’s so worth it!

Let’s get into how I put my wig on, and some tips along the way.

I always start by washing my hair. I do this for a few reasons. First, It’s a heck of a lot easier to braid hair that is usually thick when it is wet. It also helps then keep all the little flyaways down, which I have a problem with too.

I also do it because when I braid my hair and let it dry in braids, I get really cute crimps, which is an easy day 2 look for an event!

Next you start braiding one side. It took me a long time to learn to do braids, and even now I can only do them to myself and they are inside out! I used to watch my mom braid her hair (she could also not french braid anyone else’s!) and after watching a lot I started trying on my own.

Braid the other side the same way. Practice doing braids whenever you can, and you’ll get better over time. Even now mine aren’t perfect, but especially for just going under a wig or for crimping my hair they are good enough! It helps to have a friend watch you as you braid to help direct if you’re missing any pieces as you go.

Next I cross the braids in the back making like a crown on my head. Don’t lay the braids on top of eachother as that will make them super thick and your head larger, but lay them right next to each other. Then use bobby pins to pin them down. I usually do pins at the bottom where they cross, at the top to keep the ends down and then a few in between.

I usually give my head a good shake to make sure nothing feels loose. It’s important to make sure these braids feel secure, because if they don’t you’ll feel loose under your wig and won’t really have a way to fix it. So make sure you keep this nice and neat from the start.

I try and smooth my wig as much as I can before I put it on. I do any little brushing I need to do as well before it is on. It’s really important to store your wigs nicely so you can wear them multiple times, that is a true key to this.

Also some wigs have little adjustable sizes in the cap of the wig before you put it on. If you know what size adjust before placing it on. Sometimes this is easier to test what size you need when your hair is down so you can take it on and off until you know exactly where it will need to be later.

Then, starting from the back, put your wig on, placing the bulk of the braids on the back of your head into the wig. I usually have my hands inside the wig as much as I can to then pull the whole thing over the front of my face.

Use your fingers to tuck and push any pieces of hair that snuck out around the edges. I then always add a hat of some sort because it helps keep my wig on. You can also instead use bobby pins to pin it again into the braids, just be sure to lift some hair and then insert the pins so you can’t see them.

Since I have cheaper wigs too, wearing a hat helps make it look more “real” by hiding the fake looking part. As I’ve gone through more and more wigs I’ve also learned that while wigs with bangs initially felt weird to me, they are the most natural looking because of the part. So I also try to get wigs with bangs now, which I can style to a side if I don’t like them in the middle, but it helps it look more real!

That’s about it! That’s how I put on my wigs. When you’re done wearing it for the night make sure to brush it out and pack it back properly for next time!

If you wear wigs everyday either for medical reasons such as myself , or for fashion reasons you have probably run into the issue of when they start to get frizzy, tangled , itchy and just don't look as good as they used to. Especially if you wear less expensive cosplay wigs because nicer ones are very expensive.

Using a hair straightener on the wig will actually fix that. Now of course always always check online or on the tag if your wig is heat resistant but I would recommend you use the straightener a lower setting. If your not sure you can also heat test on a part of the wig in the back or near the bottom of the hair. It may take a while but I found that it helps restore a wig to it's original state better then just washing and combing. I also found that putting the wig on a Styrofoam head also helped make the process easier but it's not fully necessary if you don't have one.

I'm aware that this will only work with heat resistant wigs and I'm sorry for that but If you have a heat resistant wig from Arda, rockstar, gothic lolita wigs or some wig website of the sort it should work. Amazon or eBay wigs you need to be careful with but again , heat test it or try contacting the company or seller to find out.

Haha. A lot of us do those cheapo solutions for fun occasionally.

To start with, scour your wal-Mart carefully for the best of the cheap wigs. The less modifying you need to do, the better. Keep in mind it’s probably not going to look very much like the photo on the front, but depending on your goal look, a blonde wig with blended colors is probably going to look nicer than plain party yellow. – There’s only so much you can do with lesser material as your starter because chances are it’s not going to be made of heat-resistant synthetics and thusly it can’t take the same tricks nicer wigs do. – What I’m saying is, it’ll probably melt if you try to take a curling or straightening iron to it, so don’t do that.

So you’ve got your Wal-Mart/Party City/etc Wig…

Try it on. Brush it out with a wide tooth brush. Look at what you’re working with.

Trim it to the lengths you need. Add layers and face-framing cuts if you think it’s appropriate. Between short and long wigs, get one that’s longer than you need and trim it, don’t try to add hair with this type of wig.

Reducing the shine on the wig will go a long way towards making it look nicer. Putting a little dry shampoo or baby powder on the wig then brushing it through so it doesn’t look “dusty” will reduce the cheap high-sheen look of a cheap wig. You can also rub down the fibers with a dryer sheet to a similar, but lesser effect.

If you need to style it (and you almost certainly will need to), use a round brush and your blow dryer on a low setting to style. Be ready to spend some time doing this, slowly. 

If the wig has really difficult to remove kinks in it, a warm water bath followed by a low temp blow dry may be necessary to get them out. Again, given halloween wig materials, do not use high heat treatments

Hair spraying the wig while holding it upside down and waiting for the spray to dry before flipping it back (then styling further) will help add lift and body to the wig. Some texturizing spray or volumizing gel can also aid with styling. – Spray the wig with with a “freezing” hair spray to get it to stay styled once you’re happy.

So! I don't know if I've uploaded this video or not but I am currently in the process of uploading my Vergil wig styling video and I remembered I had this Vergil wig washing one as well. Please spread this around if you found it useful 😘😈💙