I’ve got long, thick, and slippery hair. Any one of these would be a pain to deal with under a wig, but with all three factors, I definitely have to think ahead. Luckily, with just a few simple tools, I can get wig-ready hair in 5 minutes flat.
Step 1:
Hair in two braids. This method should work pretty well for you even if your hair has a different texture than mine, but try to compress your hair into the braids as much as you can. I comb my hair thoroughly to make my braids as smooth and small as possible. Two is important for balance in the next step. You could split your hair into more sections, if needed, but I’ve found that 2 works well enough for almost every wig.
Yes, the top of my hair is frizzy. I didn’t bother to fix it since I was going to cover it up. The key is compression, not beauty.
Step 2:
You’re gonna need some hairpins and tools. My absolute hands-down easiest-peasiest favorite tools are these helix-shaped hair pins. They’re sometimes called spin pins or spiral pins, and they’re absolutely worth your investment. I have them in two different sizes. They really truly keep my hair in place without any further thought. If you don’t have those, then the regular U-shaped hairpins will work pretty well, you’ll just need more of them. Bobby pins (aka kirby grips) will do okay, but they never work as well as I want them to.
Take one braid and coil it as flat as you can on the back of your head.
I’ve tucked the end underneath. If your hair is shorter, focus on keeping it flat instead of making a full loop. The key is balanced flatness as much as possible. Pin it in place. I use one helix pin at the top of the loop, making sure to twirl it in to catch both the braid and the hair underneath. Then I use one U-shaped hairpin to keep the tail of my braid in place. For the U-shaped hairpin, do your best to squeeze the tips of the U together and weave it through your braid and hair equally, as much as possible. Just poking it in straight won’t hold very much together.Repeat to the other side. Don’t worry too much if the pins show or it’s a little messy, you’ll cover it up in the next step. Just make sure it’s secure — if your hair slips underneath your wig, it can start slipping. That usually means I end up with a headache! No fun.
Step 3:
Add your wig-control items. I like the mesh wig caps, but nylon (stocking-looking) work just as well. I do absolutely, positively swear by the velvet wig band! For slippery hair, it is indispensable. One $10 wig band is worth 30 hairpins on my hair. Even the helix kind.
Wig cap on the left, wig band on the right. In theory you should match the colors of these to either your hair or your wig. In practice, I use these exact items for every color of wig I own. Wig cap first. I like the mesh kind because it’s a tube, so I can pull it all the way down to my neck, then back up to catch all my hair.Wig band over it. Make sure it’s pointed in the right direction. When you pet it across the short way, one direction will feel very smooth, and the other direction will feel almost scratchy. You want it placed on your hairline so that the scratchy direction goes from your face back to the wig cap. This prevents your wig from slipping back. You can check this again after you put it on your head, if you’re not sure. (If you get it wrong, you’ll usually learn within a few minutes when you wig starts slipping.)Ready to go. The wig band helps keep the bottom of the braids in place, too, which is why I don’t bother with extra pins. I also don’t mess with knotting or pinning the wig cap down on top — I’ve never seen it make a difference for the wigs I wear.
Step 4:
Add wig. There are plenty of instructions on how to put on a wig, so I won’t go into step-by-step. Start at the front of your hairline and pull it back. Make sure to stretch it over all your hair and get it tucked over the wig band all the way around.
Step 5:
Add any hair accessories and you’re done! Enjoy wearing your wig with a smooth head and confidence that it will not slip.
Leave a Reply