Wigs Synthetic or human hair

[Guest Krisina]

Right now I have a nice synthetic monofiliment wig I paid over $200.

I Have heard that wigs need to be replaced every few months.

Which wigs look the best or does it matter synthetic or real?

Which one lasts longer synthetic or reak and why?

Which one looks better on a windy day, the hair moves naturally.

The lady I bought my wig off who sells them and has a little salon in a cancer clinic and sells wigs wears a synthetic wig too. She has alopecia.

Krisina

[VickySGV]

I have several synthetic wigs that are over five years old and are in terriffic shape, the one in my avatar is one of them. I do not wear mine 18/7 by any means, but the trick is to keep them clean and treat them right. Synthetic wigs cannot be self styled too easily, other than to comb them out well. If the lose their set, there are wig salons that can "re-vitalize" them with special variations on the tools usually used in the normal bathroom to do human hair. That is the one advantage of human hair, but its also its disadvantage, that you can style them with ordinary hair tools (hot rollers, curling irons, curlers etc). With the synthetic wigs, go to a salon that sells your brand and see what the manufacturer reccommends as far as brush/comb type to use. Some manufacturers are fine with an el-cheapo drug store hair brush, while a few may want you to use a "ventilatiors brush" which has wide spaced plastic or metal bristles on a flexible rubber base.

The don'ts for synthetic wigs"

Don't store them in a hot dry place like the trunk of your car or stuffed behind the room heater !! (A disasterous habit of CD's)

Don't use hair dryers or curling irons on them. (Some newer ones can be freshened up with hot rollers on the very lowest setting, but check your care instructions. for that.)

Don't brush or comb them when wet, even if you are wearing it in the rain.

Don't put them away without brushing them, particularly the underside on your neck where they tend to mat up.

Don't try cutting them yourself, unless you are a brain surgeon who did your own frontal lobotomy!! (Sorry, mid month on my hormones!)

The Do's

Wash them about 1/2 as often as your own hair (IE every 6 wearings vs every three days) unless you have been in very windy and dusty places.

Wash curly wigs in COLD water to keep the curl. Wavy wigs can be washed in warm water. Straight long wigs will do fine in hotter water. Wash in a sink with about a capful of normal shampoo in two gallons of water, or you can wash them in the shower with you with a palmfull of your own hair suds. Work the suds in to the whole length of the fiber, and make sure to clean the wig base with the shampoo too. You can use a regular cream riinse solution on them too, but it will have to be rinsed out completely. Rinse them thoroughly till water coming out of the wig is clear. Stick them on a plastic hanger threaded up through the wefting and let them dry VERY thoroughly before you brush them out. I give mine a good 10 hours even in dry old So California where I might be OK in less than 8 hours.

Keep the wigs on a styrofoam wig head if you can, and cover them with an old COTTON pillow case to keep dirt off.

Do not get a cheap human hair wig though, it will quickly look like a cheap wig!! (Other than that mistake once, I don't have human hair wigs.)

Since I spent some time as a CD before realizing that I was Transsexual I have over 10 synthetic wigs and since transitioning, have never been asked if my hair was a wig!! The price you paid is an indication that it may be a good quality wig, and with the suggestions I have given you, it will be nice looking a year from now.

[Guest Krisina]

Thanks VickySGV for your post. You have many good points and suggestions

One of the things you mentioned was putting the wig on a styrofoam head. I had heard not to because it would be stretching/expnding the elastic when not in use. To put it on a wig stand, one of those tripods. Good points too about washing them etc. I wash my hair in the sink to wash, wrap it in a towel, for a few minutes, then put it on a stand of sorts breathable.

The human hair wigs thing about getting good quality. I have heard to use either remy wigs from India or European hair wigs if you do do human hair. To make sure all the hair strands have been attached in the same direction as the person they came from with European wigs for example.

Krisina

[VickySGV]

The styrofoam heads are smaller than normal human heads, and you undo the elastic strips at the neck of the wigs, and they will do fine. DO NOT put a wet wig on one of them though. You can use the styro head with wig pins in it to style the hair and spray it lightly before you put it on. Much easier to see that the back is not flat or matted, and even with synthetic wigs, you can put in pins, barrets, or combs to give them a little different look.

A good human hair wig is going to be about US$3000.00 so it is not an impulse item. I have wigs by Revlon, Louis Ferre, and Jon Renau that are alll very good and under US$300.00, all of those makers have the human hair wigs in their lines, another brand is Henry Margu that has good quality wigs too.

For synthetic, while they are up in the US$400-500 range, Lace Front wigs have the most realistic hair line. A Revlon wig that I have has the hair part done with lace and I love it.