How to Make Wigs Stand Like Anime Hair

One of the most intimidating and crucial parts of cosplay is wig styling. Fictional characters like Cruella De Vil, Kirishima, or Starfire have unrealistic hair expectations that only a wig tin can fix. Plus, having the perfect wig can completely alter your appearance to help transform into the grapheme. Using your own hair can work, but a wig is recommended considering it volition stay styled, expect polished, and reduce your hair harm.

The variation of wigs you lot tin purchase is vast, and if yous are new to the cosplay circuit, information technology can be daunting. Especially if the cosplay is Goku, almost wigs don't come completely styled, or if they practise, they may cost y'all an arm and a leg. To avoid breaking the bank, some cosplayers have learned how to run up and style wigs on their own time.

Cosplay Wig Styling Tips — ThunderCats cosplay of Wily Kat and WilyKit fabricated by Pros and Cons from yarn. Photo credit: @bpassow

Two cosplayers, in particular, caught our center. They are twin cosplayers from Missouri who share a joint Instagram account called @prosandconscosplay. After going to a local convention called Naka-Kon, where they thought they had to cosplay otherwise they'd look weird, they barbarous in dearest with the cosplay scene and have been cosplaying ever since. Prosandconscosplay are by and large known for their duo cosplays like Wily Kat and Wily Kit from Thundercats, a Sakizo styled Evil Queen and Snowfall White, and the Dora Milaje from Blackness Panther.

For this article, we talked to Con from Pros and Cons Cosplay since she does most of the duo's wig styling. Her showtime major wig styling was Rikku from Final Fantasy X. On account of hating that procedure, she swore off styling wigs until cosplaying Pidgeot from Pokemon, where she tackled an incredibly complex wig. Afterwards successfully completing that, she renewed her interest in styling wigs and has experimented with wig styling and techniques always since.

She gave us plenty of tips and tricks to make wig styling less intimidating and more than achievable. Hither's our in-depth interview with ProsandConsCosplay for more than insight on how to way wigs similar a pro.

Pro tip: At the end of the twenty-four hour period, styling wigs comes down to personal preference and what makes you look smashing and feel comfy. Y'all got this!

What products are a must-have for styling?

Essentials:

Wig head/stand
Abrupt shears
Combs in various sizes (rat tail/fine tooth, wide-tooth, medium tooth)
A hairdryer
Potent concur freeze spray
A apartment iron with multiple settings
Pilus clips: Alligator clips (and the alligator clips that extend for clipping thicker hairpieces)
Mini rubber bands
Various sizes of hair rollers (without velcro!)
Hairpins
Wig clips
Quilting pins or T-pins
Tacky glue
Needle and thread
Patience!

Exceptionally nice, merely ever not essential:

A steamer (bang-up for apace creating curls or generally straightening)
Perm rods
Teasing castor
Wig tape
Razor
Crimping atomic number 26 (great for adding texture and volume)
Ventilating hook/needle
Swiss lace
Silicone gum
Lots of fourth dimension on your hands

When cutting a wig, what are some tips to make sure you don't overdo it?

Whenever I get-go something that I'm worried well-nigh, wigs or otherwise, I think about how difficult it volition be to fix information technology if I mess something up. I immediately plan out a safety net, haha. The good news is that depending on how bad you butcher your wig, y'all tin can sometimes fix information technology by adding in more hair/replacing wefts, but the best way to avoid issues is practice. If you can, get a junk wig to practise basic cut techniques.

When starting a new project, I usually showtime cutting in the back get-go to go into the feel of it before going after a part that will actually evidence. Sharp hair cutting shears are a great investment. You want skillful, precipitous scissors. Never merely cut horizontally straight beyond, but instead, utilise feather cuts or bespeak cuts to create the shape. Information technology will keep the hair from looking edgeless and chunky. Try your wig on and use clips to mark your desired length. Don't just approximate!

For straightening or curling a wig, what are the steps you utilize to ensure non to harm the wig?

E'er bank check to make sure your wig fibers are heat resistant! That's the most crucial footstep. If information technology isn't heat resistant, you should not use heated styling options. Exam a slice in the back if you aren't sure. Wait until the fibers take completely cooled if you are using curlers/ a curling iron so the fibers agree the shape and y'all don't accept to keep going over the department repeatedly.

Best tip for flyaways?

To manage flyaways, some skilful sometime hairspray volition aid proceed them downward. Smooth the fibers with your fingers or a fine-molar/rat tail comb, so striking information technology with freeze spray. You tin as well clip them away with your scissors. I like Got2B Glued, but others work well also. You merely desire to brand sure it is strong-hold hairspray. If y'all have quite a few, sometimes I use a flat atomic number 26 to continue all the pilus together.

What are your tips for combining wigs to make one wig?

Try your wigs on first! I recommend getting two wigs from the aforementioned company so that the sizing will be similar. Mark where y'all would like to cut your wigs and where you would like your second wig to kickoff. When cut, employ small pair of scissors and just cut the connectedness points (exist that the rubberband, the lace, the pare cap, and/or the netting), non the fibers themselves. Cut your other wig later on taking the same measurements, and sew together securely with skilful thread. You tin trim the hair a bit nearly the join sections to help blend everything together nicely.

What is the best mode to create a widow's peak for a wig?

Personally, I prefer creating or buying lace front wigs for widow's peaks. Creating a lace front is time-consuming, and buying is generally more expensive than your boilerplate wig for a good reason (You'll very quickly see why if you attempt to brand your own!). Yous'll demand swiss lace that is a similar color to your pare tone, a ventilating tool (a hook or a needle), and additional fibers. It requires yous to individually tie hairs in the lace to create a more natural-looking hairline.

False hairlines are a bang-up style to achieve this look also. They look a bit less natural-looking, but they are much faster and easier. You tin create a new hairline by gluing boosted hair along the hairline of the wig using a flexible glue such as tacky glue or silicone-based mucilage.

When styling a wig, how practice yous keep the wig in place? Is at that place a head stand that you recommend purchasing?

I recommend getting a wig head that is the same size as your caput. The more feminine-looking Styrofoam heads are smaller than a typical human caput. The masculine-looking Styrofoam wig heads are a bit closer to size, but I accept a giant noggin, and so I needed a bigger one. I purchased 1 online for most $25. You lot can also pad a Styrofoam wig head with duct tape, batting, or fifty-fifty rolled-up socks in a handbag to create enough additional padding to become it sized to your head.

This is particularly helpful when styling wigs with ponytails or that will require some size-specific heavy-duty gluing. A wig stand up is also an excellent investment. I have a tripod-manner wig stand with a leveling guess I purchased from Amazon for well-nigh $30. Even so, Arda Wigs sells both wig stands and wig heads that are also very good!

To keep the wig in place, I use long quilting pins since they are easy to remove, just T-shaped pins are swell if y'all plan to do any rough styling. I have a split up set up of pins that I employ in my wig head than what I use for my sewing projects since these tend to take quite a bit of a beating.

When pinning lace front end wigs to a wig stand up, place a slice of bias record over the lace so pivot to keep the lace from fierce as you mode.

Can you lot walk through a step-by-pace process of putting a wig on and securing it into place? (Wig cap, wig glue, bobby pins, etc.)

The most crucial stride is to flatten your hair. The technique you apply will depend on your hair type and length. I take extremely thick 4C hair, then I usually cornrow my hair in 8-vii braids and apply a nylon wig cap. The key is to become your hair as smooth and shut to your head as possible. If I have my hair straightened, I sometimes only wrap it around itself and secure information technology with the wig cap. Others may prefer to utilise a mesh wig cap instead of a nylon wig cap. These are a chip more comfortable simply aren't as helpful if yous accept thick hair.

You may opt for no wig cap at all if your pilus does not need to be pressed down, and/or you demand exposed hair for wig clips in the wig to agree to your head. Make certain the hair is evenly distributed around your head (no obvious bumps and lumps).

You may consider using a wig grip for extremely heavy wigs, which volition keep the wig in place.

Once your pilus is squared abroad, hold the wig from the front, and slide it on starting from the dorsum. Line the wig up in the back and front before fully pulling it on. If you take a lace front end, you lot may need to put the wig gum/ wig record on get-go earlier putting on your wig. Apply the gum shut to your hairline on your forehead, and trim the lace down a few millimeters from the hairline of the wig. Slide the lace front onto the glue. You'll demand to be careful not to pull much on the lace. Instead, slide the lace frontward.

Adjacent, you can add any accessories, use hairpins to keep the wig in place if needed, and brand whatever additional adjustments. If you take sideburns you would like to hide, utilize a washable mucilage stick over this expanse and lay the wig pilus sideburns on superlative, and let it dry.

What is the best way to detangle a wig?

Begin by assessing the damage. You can utilise some silicone spray to help the hair as y'all comb, but the best method I've used to date is just to use a wide-tooth comb. Kickoff from the stop of the pilus and carefully detangle without pulling the fibers too much. Once you have removed most of the tangles, go back over the wig again, and go out the remaining tangles. The wig volition likely look frizzy. To fix this, employ a flat iron on a medium-low setting and a rat tail rummage to straighten the fibers. Y'all may need to trim a bit off the ends.

How do you keep your wigs looking fresh subsequently wearing them a few times?

I wash my wigs with baby shampoo to freshen them up. The all-time way to go along your wigs looking good is to shop them properly. Detangle the wig before storage. If it is long, I do a single loose braid or twist downward the dorsum, stuff the cap with tissue paper, and store them in wig bags. If information technology is heavily styled, I pin them to a wig head. Wigs might need a chip of TLC, such as additional hairspray to set up any fallen spikes or a re-curl. Don't be agape to give your wigs some honey. If it has been in a bag for a while, leave the wig pinned to a wig head overnight then the fibers can relax.

What is the most mutual misconception for wig styling?

That at that place is no way to fix a wig if you make a cutting mistake. Believe it or not, in that location are a few creative ways to cover up your cutting sins. If yous cut your bangs as well curt, for example, you might exist able to buy a bang prune to encompass it and outset over. If yous overcut the side, you can remove wefts that are too short and supplant them with additional wefts if you have leftovers and endeavour once again. Other cutting errors tin exist stock-still by getting creative with where spikes are placed. If your ends are all over the place, turning the ends under slightly with a flat iron can visually smooth everything out.

Do you have whatsoever advice for beginners who desire to get into wig styling but are intimidated?

Don't let a agglomeration of plastic strands scare you! It is like any new technique you've had to learn. Wig styling only takes exercise, and many styles go through quite the ugly duckling phase earlier they expect proficient. Y'all only have to meet the beauty across the rat's nest (especially when you lot are creating spikes). Keep trying, get some super inexpensive wigs to practice cut on, and get for it! They can really make your cosplay pop.

To run across more of their cosplays, exist certain to check out their Instagram, Facebook, and Ko-fi, likewise as their online events POC Creati-Con and Terminate. Driblet Cosplay.

Similar this guide? Be sure to too check out our guide featuring 10 online shops to purchase your next wig!