Your Ultimate Guide to Fabulous Wig Styling

Your wig just arrived in the mail, in time for the costume party or cosplay convention you’ll be attending during the weekend! You open the package carefully and take out the wig to admire it; however, you find that the length, style, and/or color are not the same as in the pictures when you bought it online. What do you do then?

This kind of horror story has happened to one too many cosplayers, and sadly, it is a common error when ordering wigs online. Thankfully, there are ways to style your wig to fit your character. Listed below are some dos and don’ts about wig styling:

Wig Styling Essential Tools

For styling fragile, synthetic hair wigs, you need to use a brush that has flexible, short bristles to minimize tangling and hair fall. Meanwhile, to help you achieve more voluminous and creative wig styles, your best options are a teasing brush, bobby pins, and hairspray. Using these tools will help you create more volume and maximize the potential of your otherwise flat wig. If you have the money, a less time consuming option is to purchase a pre-styled wig from a site like etsy.com

For wig maintenance, you need to have a wig head or stand and hair products. Depending on the type of wig, you need to wash it to preserve its durability and beauty.

Tips on Cutting Wigs

1# Do not cut any fringe or bangs using a normal pair of scissors.

2# Don’t use a horizontal or a straight cut when cutting off hair on a wig so you won’t end up with unnatural-looking fringes. Instead, you can cut hair using an up and down motion while applying a little bit of pressure to the part where you want the hair length to be. This way, some hair strands will be longer and shorter, resulting in a more natural look.

3# In doing any wig style, it is best to use typical hair-cutting scissors.

4# Be sure to brush the part of the hair that you are cutting so you can see if you’re achieving your desired look. If you need to thin out some parts of the wig, you can use vertical cuts so that it will look more natural.

5# If you need to add more volume to your new wig, you can use a teasing brush from the top of the hair strands to the wig cap or the roots. Then, you can use some hair spray and get a blow dryer to preserve the volume.

Tips on Wig Styling

Ponytails – Wig hairstyles like ponytails and braids might seem easy, but styling your wig this way can be quite difficult. This is because tying up the hair on the wig might expose your real hair and the cap inside, which is not a good look. What you can do to make a simple ponytail is to tie a low ponytail first, then tie another ponytail below the first one. Lift the second lower ponytail up to the desired placement and secure it with a hair clip. Hide the clip using some of the hair on the actual ponytail, bobby pins, and hair spray, and you’re good to go.

P.S. It’s always good to wear a skin colored wig cap just in case your wig rides up during the day! Here’s a guide on how to put on a wig cap for beginners.

Spikes – If you want to make anime hair spikes, all you need is a teasing brush, a hair blower, and some hair spray. Cut the hair spike and tease it with your brush. To preserve the volume and the spike style that you just made, use a can of hairspray and your hair blower.

Curling – If you want to curl the hair on a long straight wig, you can use your normal hair curlers. Avoid using a curling iron especially on synthetic wigs because there is a high chance that the strands will melt under the heat of the iron. To safely curl the hair on a synthetic wig, you can use your normal hair curlers and some steam from a steaming iron or even a garment steamer. After steaming it for a few minutes, you can leave the hair to cool down. Remove the hair curlers and fix the curled hair to your liking.

Just like real hair, your wig will get dirty overtime especially after a day out at a cosplay convention. View our guide on how to wash a wig.