Cosplay Wigs - Modifications, Customisation, Repairs Q & A + Tutorials

[Dev]

Cosplayers of YO!

 

I wanted to start this thread to talk about the various methods of:

 

* Repairing wigs

 

* Reviving your old wigs

 

* Modifications (what can we do to make our wigs SCREAM sugoi!)

 

I would appreciate if you would leave comments with questions for me, I can then sift through them all and attempt to make tutorials for them.

 

I am very passionate about wigs and have been working on various wigs to revive them to wearable condition. I am currently working on a NON Heat Resistant Ponytail extension, removing the fuzz, kinks and tangles BUT maintaining length!

 

50% complete (don't worry I will make a tutorial on it )

 

My experience:

I own mainly human hair wigs so the majority of my expertise lies in how to bring human hair wigs "back to life", colouring/dying, styling, natural applications (work in progress) and ,modifications (adding hair strategically + other things).

However, I have owned ONE kanekalon cosplay wig, I own a synthetic lace front wig (more info on those later) and have been able to gather some experience with working with synthetic hair.

 

NOTE: The tips for synthetic hair will work perfectly for dolls if you are a collector or own BJDs

 

 

I hope you all enjoy this post! I anticipate in reading your questions!

 

The first tutorial will be on bringing Non Heat Resistant synthetic fibre to a near new condition. We want to reuse those expensive hair pieces and wigs for longer!

[Dev]

Konbanwa Cosplayers!

 

Here is the tutorial on reviving synthetic hair. I have tried this on:

 

* Non Heat Resistant Fibre

* Low Heat Resistant Fibre

* Regular Heat Resistant Fibre

 

Tried and tested, used 3 or 4 times on different wigs of different fibres. I have used similar methods (no heated tools used) on commercial dolls from brands such as Mattel.

 

I apologise for the size of the images. I thought they were going to be large and put text in the images. Sorry about the text being so tiny!

OH! LOL Mind my floral print bedding XD I love this bedding! Don't judge

 

I hope you find this tutorial helpful.

 

 

You will need:

 

1) Brush

 

2) Spray bottle filled with water (add a drop of fabric softener IF YOU want to)

 

3) The patient

 

4) Hair straightener (you need one that can do MINIMUM temperature of 80oC or less)

 

 

Separate a section of hair, detangle then spray it lightly with water. You want the hair to be damp NOT dripping wet.

 

I am using a Tourmaline coating hair straightener by the brand Halo. ANY hair straightener will be fine, NOTE the temperature! I am using the lowest option (which is 80oC). If you don't have a hair straightener that has 80oC or LOWER temperature please consider getting a cheap one from ebay or a local thrift store!

 

If you use heat TOO hot you will melt the hair (like I did when I used my OTHER hair straightener - the lowest temp on my other straightener was 170oC and it fried and melted the hair).

 

Be aware of the heat!!!

 

Straighten the hair out slowly.

 

I went fast 3 times then went slowly twice to ensure a sleek straight and frizz free finish.

 

Explanation for the water:

When the hair is being heated by the straightener plates the water will be drying AND the heat will also be softening the synthetic fibre. The water (my theory behind it) acts as a delay so there will not be a severe heat directly to the synthetic hair.

 

 

Clear view of the differences in the hair before and after the thermal pressing method.

 

 

End result!

 

It is sleek, shiny, soft and beautiful! I will NOT be wearing this ponytail LOL I got it free in a lot of hair related goodies. 3 wigs, 2 packs of micro ring extensions and then this frizzed out ponytail.

 

Perfect opportunity to show you guys how I revive my synthetic hair

 

 

Please leave comments below if you use this tutorial, if you would like a tutorial or information on something else (I hope you have read the FIRST POST) please comment below and i will do my best to respond and get something together for you.

 

Take care guys,

Dev xo

[Lady.Taser]

...i might suggest that to kat for her Grell wig... and that might help one of mine too XD

[Dev]

...i might suggest that to kat for her Grell wig... and that might help one of mine too XD

 

If your wigs have curls, I can give advice on getting a curl pattern back into the wig!

 

But remember... hair will need to be detangled and frizz free using the above tutorial. It is pretty easy to get a curl, wave into synthetic hair!

 

If a curling tutorial is requested I can do it with a small piece of Kanekalon fibre I have lying around. I was using this hair for rooting bald dolls.

[Lady.Taser]

both the wigs are straight XD

[Dev]

Wondering if anyone would want a tutorial on Human Hair lace wig prep work?

 

I need to customise my wig with dark roots and bleach the knots (product of the lace wig construction technique) so there is a more realistic "scalp" look.

 

This post kind of went dead after a point LOL

[Dev]

*Thread Revive*

 

Hey guys!

 

Very pleased this thread has had so many views but no Questions have been posted here or sent in VM/PM.

 

 

Unfortunately I have already gone ahead and dyed roots to my human hair lace wig. Successfully protected the lace from dye transfer (bleached knots prior to dying roots). Although the job has been done (and I have no more black hair dye) I can use other products for simulation purposes.

 

Please bare with me as I make this tutorial.

 

 

Today's installment of Wig Talk:

 

If considering buying a wig for cosplay you need to think of several factors:

 

1) Budget - How much are you willing to spend?

 

2) Fibre - Synthetic or Human Hair?

 

3) Styling - Will you style the wig and keep it in that single style? Perhaps change the style?

 

 

1)

I recommend buying wigs from eBay and other places where you can find people selling their "Second Hand" goods.

 

You may be thinking, "Ewww good lord no... What if that person had LICE! Or... Some other disease... Pigeonitis!?". But I can tell you that you needn't fret because wigs, like clothing can be washed and sanitised.

+ What about human hair? It isn't your hair! It has been "harvested" from someone in another country then sold to wig companies to produce wigs.

 

Supply and Demand

 

Keep your options open!

 

 

2)

Advantages of Synthetic Hair:

 

* Holds a style for a very long time

 

* Vibrant colour that lasts

 

* Variety of different colours and styles to buy ready made (curly, straight, wavy, textured - many lengths)

Advantages of Human Hair:

 

* Lasts longer than Synthetic Hair (subjective**)

 

* Versatile in terms of styling (dye, heat style and play with FREELY)

 

* More natural appearance than Synthetic Hair

 

 

What I have noticed is that synthetic hair can loose a curl over time because Synthetic Hair has texture/style "baked into" the strands of hair. When that heat is recreated either with a hair dryer, hot weather, styling tools and the like, the hair loses it's curl and forms a new one.

 

Also if you have seen my tutorial on reviving NON HEAT RESISTANT Synthetic Hair (in this thread) you can see what happens over time. Synthetic hair can become matted, tangled and look really horrid.

 

However, Synthetic hair if cared for can last a very long time. If you follow the reviving tips you can keep your wigs alive for much longer than they would otherwise.

 

 

 

Human Hair is my favourite kind of hair to work with. It is not as shiny as most synthetic hair available and if I want to dye black roots or bleach the hair blonde I can.

 

Options are endless. HOWEVER, if you do not care for your wigs properly then your wig will degrade and become damaged very quickly. Like the hair we have on our heads, if we were to chemically process, heat style often then the hair would become "fried".

 

Here is where I recommend a Sulphate FREE Shampoo, Reconstructing Conditioner (Protein Conditioner), Hair Oil and a good detangling brush.

Method:

 

Brush out your Human Hair wig well to remove tangles.

Fill your Bathroom sink with enough water to submerge the wig under (not too much! No overflowing!!!)

Add some Shampoo to the water and put the wig inside. I like to finger comb the hair to distribute the shampoo and keep the hair tangle free.

Rinse the wig well, fill sink again with half the water you initially used and add 1 tbsp conditioner.

 

If your wig is very dry then I recommend washing the wig with shampoo, covering the wig with a lot of oil and letting the wig go somewhere HOT to "marinade". Then wash the wig with the shampoo again and then condition.

 

Air drying is key! AVOID using heat as much as you can.

 

 

3)

 

Conclusion based on the above two points?

 

If you plan on using one wig for many different looks then you need to think... Long and Hard.

 

I am not a big fan of Toyokalon or Kanekalon fibre. I find the hair tangles very easily with longer wigs. Essentially if you are working on a shorter style then these fibres are PERFECT. Inexpensive and do the job well.

 

 

 

Remaining in the Synthetic Hair area... There are also fibres called Futura hair. This is high heat resistant fibre that can tangle the same amount as others in the market but apparently "HIGH heat resistant" (stated on wig packaging).

 

For Futura hair I recommend FreeTress wigs. Designed for people of colour however, Caucasion people have successfully worn numerous wigs from this company from both the Classic Cap "Equal" collection and the Futura Lace Front collection.

 

Youtube search the wigs you like and you should be able to find several reviews on them!

 

 

 

Human hair wigs come in just as many options as any other fibre but you get that extra realism.

 

I will say that Not All Human Hair is the same. I was checking some packet Extension hair today for a wig repair and found the hair was easy to heat style BUT did not revert back.

 

 

Companies I like for Human hair are:

 

Sensationnel

FreeTress

Outre

Hair Raisers

 

 

If the hair is by a company with NO reviews and it is NOT "Remy hair" (I will talk about this another time) then the hair is most probably not good quality.

 

Be aware of what you buy! Always do your research!