Also, there are other reasons. Maybe you detangled your curly wig just to realise it had lost its shape. Or maybe you just need to curl a part of your wig and keep the rest straight. No matter the reason, using the hot water method to curl your wig is not always an option as it takes too long to dry. Here comes your hair iron to the rescue.

How to curl your wig

Wigs are different from human hair so do not expect them to be as easy to style as your everyday look. Very often they will resist you, but with a bit of patience and the right tools you will manage to win the battle. Always make sure you have a heat resistant wig and try your iron on a hidden side before you start. I recommend you the wigs from Uniqso, as they are high quality and great to work with. You also get a discount if you enter the code ALICECOS and believe me, they make a difference from the cheap one I am using for this tutorial.

Getting ready

For my wig I decided to use a hot iron wand that came as an extension of my hot iron, they come in different sizes and you can make very different styles with them. Using a normal hot iron is a possibility but can prove more difficult and you will get bigger curls than with a wand. Always use the lowest setting of your iron if possible. Curling your wig with hot water is also a possibility if you don’t have a wand, but you will have less control over it and you wig will need time to dry.

The easiest way to work with your wig is by using a wig head. Clamp it to your table or stick it to a pole that you can comfortably move. A wig stand is very inexpensive and will save you a lot of trouble and messing around.

First steps

In order to curl your wig you need to make sure that your hair is detangled and smooth. You also want your wig to be as straight as possible, you can use your straightener to do this or if you have time to let it dry use the hot water to straighten your wig method. Also, it is the time now to trim your wig if necessary.

Once the wig is prepared you will want to section it. You are going to be working with a strand at a time. Flat clips and bobby pins will be your best help here. Start by sectioning the bottom of your wig and clamp the rest away in a not too tidy bun.

A curl at a time

Grab a strand of hair at a time no bigger than the width of your iron wand circumference. Comb it again until it is completely smooth. This step is crucial for a perfect mess free curl. You will start by heating your strand of hair sliding the iron and straightening the fibers once or twice.

Then, position your hair half way the length on your wand, start twisting slowly and opening the wand an inch at a time. Pull down till you reach the bottom and try to keep as much hair touching the wand as possible as you roll it up to your wig cap.

Hold your iron a few seconds and slowly release the hair. The trick here is to hold the curl in your hand for a minute to let it cool before you let go. Letting go will create a nice wave, however do not let go yet if you are aiming for a really tight curl.

Really tight curls

If you are aiming for really tight locks the best thing to do is to keep the locks in place with a flat clip. Bobby pins can be used but they may leave a mark on your hair and tangle more easily. Don’t be like me and get your supplies ready before you start.

Once your wig looks like an old lady’s at the hairdresser’s gently spray with strong hold hairspray all over the wig and let it dry. My favourite is got2b by Schwarzkopf. A fine layer will be enough. If you are in a hurry you can use the hairdryer in a low setting to speed up the process. And remember not to leave your iron on the wig for too long or it will finally melt.

Extra tips

I find my ringlets will keep their shape more easily if you use hairspray on each one just before you curl it. Also, if you make sure all the curls face the same way your wig will look tidier. Consider this specially for the fringe and locks surrounding your face.

It takes trial an error to get the curls right. If you are not happy or your curl didn’t stay as you wanted, straighten the fibers and start from the beginning. Also, you may need to tidy your curls to make sure they are all in the right direction. You will neeed to loosen them and place them properly after you take the pins away.

Finally, I use a net like the ones where you usually store your wigs to keep my ringlets from falling down while I store it. You can actually wear one of these to the con as long as it is a similar colour to your wig. They are hardly noticeable and will avoid tangles. You may get away detangling your curly wig if you are careful but keep in mind that you will need to repeat all the process if it gets too messy.

It is now time to practice those tight curls on you wig. If you are stuck for new ideas to sew, make sure you check my pattern collection. Also, if you liked this review and want to give me you support to keep me going consider supporting me on Ko-fi, it all goes to new projects and there is no subscription needed!

The post How to make tight curls on your wig appeared first on Alice in Cosplayland.

In this article I show you how to get rid of the shine and make a more natural looking wig. It is quick, easy, and you will only need one ingredient. And this ingredient is, dry shampoo.

I bet you didn’t expect that. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it is a spray that cleans or rather hides the dirt of your hair. Basically, it takes away the greasy shine, which is exactly what we want. 

When you apply this spray it feels pretty much like using talcum powder, but much less messy. You need to be careful and clean the excess on your wig or it will end up looking white. Tap your wig gently to remove the excess and spray again as many times as you need. Make sure to cover all the wefts, specially the roots.

I used this wig for my Wonder Woman cosplay. Here is a YouTube video showing how I improved it.

I hope you liked it, and don’t forget to check other tricks and tutorials with wigs

The post How to make your wig look less shiny appeared first on Alice in Cosplayland.

Materials you will need

The materials you need to dye a wig are:

• Wig (preferably white)
• Permanent markers of your chosen colour
• Rubbing alcohol
• Spray bottle
• Knife
• Water.
• Gloves

Keep in mind that this process can get messy, I highly recommend you to wear an apron, gloves and cover your workspace to make sure you don’t stain anything during the process. Also, note that I didn’t use any special brands when I chose my marker but many people like the brand Sharpie.

Preparing the dye

In order to get the dye, I first opened the marker and I used a knife to open the ink cartridge. Then, I put the cartridge with the ink inside the spray bottle. After that I filled it with 2 thirds of 96º rubbing alcohol and a third of water, You can also use 70º alcohol and no water instead. Once you have your mixture ready, close your bottle and shake it well.

Dye a wig with permanent ink

Make sure to start by a hidden strand or some cut leftovers to make sure you got the right colour. Darker colours may need a higher concentration of ink. Also, remember that while the wig is still wet, the colour will look much darker than it actually is when dry.

Always start from the bottom of the wig as it will be easier to move upwards later. Get little strands at a time and make sure to cover well the roots rubbing them with your hands. For larger wigs, use hair clips to keep the extra hair away.

Once the wig is completely dyed let it dry or use the blow dryer on a low setting. Although it is not likely in some occasion dyed wigs like these may bleed. Make sure you test it first.

Re-styling the wig

If you are using a heat resistant wig you can use the iron and a hairdryer to shape it. You can also remake the curls or create any other style. However, keep in mind that some hairsprays may make your wig bleed so it is better to test it first. With a bit of love, your wig will be perfect.

Don’t forget to check my goals on Ko-fi, I will be ablet to create more cosplays and more tutorials with your support, and I will share them with you! Some of my cosplay patterns will end up in my patterns and cosplay related downloadables make sure to check my current collection! Also, don’t forget to download my Cosplay Planner to start your own list!

The post How to dye a wig with permanent ink appeared first on Alice in Cosplayland.

I fell in love with this purple wig. I was very excited when I ordered it but very disappointed when it arrived. It looked nothing like the wig in the picture, and not only that, they had sent me the wrong one! One of them had blond wefts so I asked the seller to send it again. The second was as awful and still didn’t have enough hair. Howver, it gave me the idea to make this tutorial and get that extra volume I had seen in the original photo.

Sewing the wigs together

Before you start you need to choose your base wig. This wig will stay as it is but we are going to add extra wefts from the other wig. The second wig will be sacrified for the sake of cosplay.

First thing to do is to unsew the wefts of hair with the help of a seam opener or the tip of your scissors. As you see, the hair is sewn to the wig in rows. A mannequin will help, remember to pin your wig to it so it doesn’t slide out. If you have a mannequin head stand it will be even better.

You will get many wefts like this. Keep them tidy and brush, you will be needing them for the next step. Also, keep in mind that they will have different lengths, so may be worth it to tidy them accordingly

And now comes the fun part, you are going to sew all those extra wefts to your base wig. At least as many as you want. If you happen to be a lazy person or the convention is just around the corner you may consider glueing the wefts with a gluegun or fabric glue instead.

Here you have a comparison after sewing two wigs together. You can see from the before and after how much it changes. I believe it now looks much better. Once you get the fringe cut, it will be ready for you next cosplay project.

This is how it looks with my Kuranosuke Koibuchi cosplay. An what about you? What is the most dreadful wig you have ever bought? Where you able to fix it? Let me know in the comments!

The post Double volume sewing two wigs together appeared first on Alice in Cosplayland.

Detangle a curly wig

The key to detangle your wig is patience. You will need to work with every lock separately. Just get a lock, comb it, and twist it around your finger, then you can let go. If the lock is too tangled use detangler or a mixture of conditioner and water in a spray bottle. If it is two wet to keep its shape gently dry it with a hairdryer.

To make it easier for you I recommend you to use hair clips. Keep your tangled hair from the untangled one. Also, do several layers of curls to make them look more natural, about a finger thick.

I would suggest watching a film while you do this as it may take a while. If your wig is particularly stubborn you may want to make all those curls from scratch. If you decide to do so, I recommend you to straighten your wig first.

One of the quickest ways to recurl your wig is curling the wig with hot water, but it is also possible to use a curling iron and hairspray. It will depend on the desired effect you are looking for.

Do you like my posts? Remember you can support my blog in many ways, using my affiliate links, buying me a Ko-fi, or visiting my Cosplay Store! Following me on my Social Media and sharing my posts helps too! With your help I can create more cosplays, articles and tutorials to share with you!

The post How to detangle and style a curly wig appeared first on Alice in Cosplayland.

I bet you have seen this tutorial many times, but in case you missed it here you have it again

Seguro que os habéis encontrado con este tutorial muchas veces, pero si no lo habíais visto antes aquí os lo dejo

Everybody loves looooong wigs, well, everybody loves them till you finish your first convention and you discover that you got a dead cat instead of a wig, full of knots and horribly shaped. Once I saw a girl, with a very very veeery tangled wig and I asked, why don’t you comb it? and she answered, the hair will come off. My face was like this o_o you may pull some hairs out but I think it is worth the risk trying, with some patience and lots of conditioner you can do it!

A todos nos gustan las pelucas laaaaaaaaaaargas, bueno, nos gustan hasta que terminamos nuestra primera convención y descubrimos que nuestra peluca se ha convertido en un gato muerto, llena de nudos y con una forma que da pena. Una vez vi a una chica con una peluca muy muy muuuuuy enredada y le pregunté porqué no la peinaba, ella contestó que si la peinaba se le caía el pelo y me quedé con esta cara o_o vale que es posible que se te caigan un par de pelos pero creo que merece la pena intentarlo, con mucha paciencia y mucho acondicionador se puede hacer!

First thing you need to know is… start from bottom to top! No matter how hard you think it is, do it this way, otherwise you will get more knots in the end (don’t start on top because it is less tangled, ha, skipping hard work first chance won’t help!) Ido usually do it over a flat place, with a wide comb (widest you can) and always holding the top of the wig

Lo primero que teneis que saber… id de abajo a arriba! No importa lo difícil que penséis que es, hacedlo así o sólo conseguiréis más nudos (no empecéis en el medio porque parece que está menos enredado, ja, huís del trabajo duro a la primera de turno, no os va a ayudar!) Yo prefiero hacerlo sobre un lugar plando, con un peine ancho (lo más ancho posible) y siempre agarrando la parte de arriba de la peluca para no arrancar pelos.

Now the trick, you will get some parts, specially around the neck area that are totally hell, a dreadlock almost. Get a puverizer and fill it half with water and half with conditioner (hair one or fabric softener), spray over the knot and you will see its much easier to detangle them. If you get a impossible knot you can choose to cut it or leave it there, but you will only get a few if you ever get one. If you get really frizzy tips you can always use a hair iron if your wig is heat resistant.

Ahora el truco, hay algunas partes, especialmente la zona del cuello, que son un infierno, casi rastas. Conseguid un pulverizador y llenarlo a partes iguales de agua y acondicionador (del pelo o suavizante de ropa). Pulverizad sobre el enredo y veréis que es mucho más fácil desenredarlo. Si hay algún nudo que no podéis desenredar las opciones son cortarlo o dejarlo ahí, pero serán pocos. Si las puntas quedan muy feas y despuntadas siempre podéis pasarles una plancha del pelo siempre y cuando vuestra peluca sea resistente al calor.

To store the wig I like to wrap it around my arm like this so it gets lets tangled, some people prefer to do a loose plait instead

Para guardar la peluca me gusta girarla alrededor del brazo hasta que queda una especie de churro, así se enfreda menos, hay quien prefiere hacer una trenza ancha.

Lastly, get your wig inside a net and store it with your collection 😀

Por ultimo, meted la peluca dentro de una redecilla y guardadla con el resto de vuestra colección 😀

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Steps to curl a wig with hot water

Before you start, make sure your wig is heat resistant. A good quality wig is always a good idea, lately all my wigs come from Uniqso. A good wig, not only will make your job easier but it will keep the shape for much longer and with less struggle. A straight wig is the best base for your new hairstyle. Detangle your wig thoroughly and use an iron on a low setting to straighten it. The same method of the hot water works as well to make your wig straight. If your wig is too long, now is the time to trim the ends.

The first step is to to put curlers on your wig. Make sure you choose the ones without velcro, otherwise they will tangle very badly and will make it very difficult to get them out. If you prefer you can curl it halfway through the wig. The width of your curls will depend on your curlers. Set them in place with flat clips.

Submerge your wig on boiling water for a few seconds. It is a good idea to test this on a strand of hair before you commit. Some synthetic wigs may melt. I used my kettle and some tongs to make sure my wig was completely submerged. Let it rest for a few minutes and dry lightly with a towel. The best thing to do is to let it dry overnight on top of a wig head and near a window.

once you take the curlers out, your wig may look like the photo above. I used the velcro type of curler which made my hair very fizzy at first. If that is your case don’t worry. Just pick a strand at a time and twist it around your hand until it gets the shape you need. You can keep the curls like this just by spraying some hairspspray on it or you can run your fingers through it to make the curls less obvious. If you, however want a less obvious curl place your curlers half way through the wig like below.

I hope you found this tutorial useful. If you feel like it, remember you can support me on Ko-fi, there are no subscriptions and you will help me create more cosplays and more tutorials to share with you! Also, if you are looking for patterns and cosplay related downloadables make sure to check my collection!

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