Thursday, April 8, 2021

Everything I Know About Wigs Continued

My previous post described everything I know about buying wigs. In this post, I will describe everything I know about wearing and maintaining wigs.

Before I get to that, I should have mentioned yesterday that I don’t know a lot about real hair wigs because I never owned one. I do know they are more expensive than synthetic wigs and they are high maintenance. 

Now on with the show.

Wearing a Wig

Not too much to say about wearing a wig. 

If it is the right size for your head, it should stay on your head. All those tales about the wind blowing a wig off some poor femulator’s head are mostly just tales. I recall walking around the UCONN campus on a very windy day – so windy that it blew off one of my clip-on earrings, but it did not bother my wig. It did mess up my coiffure, but ny wig stayed in place.

Swimming is another matter. I recall a friend, who shall remain nameless, losing her wig while swimming in the ocean.

Like real hair, you can use hair spray on your wig to keep every hair in place. But unless you have a real human hair wig, do not use human hair spray – it can ruin a synthetic wig. Instead, use a hair spray made for synthetic wigs. 

Put a Cap Under It

As a novice femulator, I always wore a wig cap under my wig. Not sure why. Other wig wearers wore wig caps, so I assumed they knew what they were doing and I just followed their lead. I thought that maybe it helped hide your real hair (if you had any), but I was never sure.

Large cap size head that I have, most wig caps were too tight and left red welts on my forehead. Occasionally, a tight wig cap would give me a headache, too. Also, wig caps added an extra layer underneath the wig, which cooked my head and resulted in perspiration especially in the warmer weather. Sweat running down loads of makeup did not make for a pretty picture.

The last straw was when a tight wig cap worked its way off my head and ended up all balled-up under my wig! After that, I swore off wig caps and since then, I had no more wig cap welts, headaches and perspiration. And my wigs did not notice the difference – they stayed in place and did not stray from my head.

There are some benefits to wearing a wig cap. You can read about them here, but they do not apply to me and I will remain wig capless ’til the day I dye.

Caring for Your Wig

Like real hair, a wig gets dirty and should be shampooed after a few wearings. I usually clean my wigs after three or four wearings – sooner if I used hair spray.

And like hair spray, don’t use human hair shampoo to clean a synthetic wig. Use a synthetic wig shampoo. In a pinch, I have also used liquid Woolite® to shampoo my wigs. 

Detangle the wig with a wide tooth comb before shampooing it. Then fill a sink basin with cold water, add the shampoo, add the wig and swish it around in the basin for a few minutes, then let it be for a few more minutes. 

Drain the basin, refill it with cold water and swish the wig around in the cold water to remove the soapy water (three to five minutes should do the trick unless it’s a long wig). Drain the water, lift the wig out of the basin and hold it over the basin to let the excess water drip off. Wrap a towel around the wig to sop up more water, but don’t wring out the towel/wig to remove more water and don’t use a hair dryer on a synthetic wig (you’ll melt it). 

Don’t take a comb to a wet wig. Instead, hang the wig somewhere to dry – like on a wig stand (I usually hang it on my shower head) – and it will dry overnight or sooner. When dry, just shake it out and it should return to its original shape if it’s a synthetic wig. Only then, use a wide tooth comb to neaten it up if necessary. 

When your wig is not on your head, you should store it carefully. A wig stand is the perfect way to store your wig. But I own own lots of wigs and just don’t have the room for a wig stand for each of my wigs. So I resorted to storing my wigs in a dresser drawer. I simply lay the wigs flat in the drawer, usually on top of other wigs that are laying flat in the drawer. 

Some say to turn the wig inside-out when storing it this way, but I don’t see any advantage to that. It just means more work styling the wig when you are ready to wear it. So I just lay the wigs flat in the drawer au natural and they seem to get along fine.

That’s All, Folks

That covers it as far as what I know about wigs. If you have any questions, I will gladly answer them; just e-mail your questions to stana-stana at-sign sbcglobal.net  

Warning: I have no formal training in the femulating arts. However, I do have over 50 years experience practicing those arts and have become so adept at them that I pass more often than not.



Wearing Rue La La
Wearing Rue La La



Michael Cavadias femulating in the 2000 film Wonder Boys.
Michael Cavadias femulating in the 2000 film Wonder Boys.

13 comments:

  1. I recommend turning a wig inside out when traveling with it in a packed suitcase. The reason should be fairly obvious as the wig hair is semi-protected from the jostling it will endure. I learned this the hard way.
    Angel Amore

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  2. I too have been wearing wigs for many years and have learnt a thing or two.

    First of all, leave your male clothing at home too, it doesn't work trying on wigs en drab. I remember my first wig fitting. The propriatrix laid out six or so wigs on the counter and she pointed to a wig and said you'll go with this one. I thought she must be mad, it was a spikey Rod Stewart type wig but it was the last one I tried and she was right! So, leave your preconceptions behind. Forget colour (what colour is Cher's hair?) shape, everthing. Remember hair is a frame for the face, you'll soon find the correct frame for you. Mind you, it's more difficult for us, most of us don't have a feminine face which goes with feminine wigs. More difficult but fun! My favourite wig is a popular Japanese brand which cost me £140 some time ago and I'm often asked "is that your real hair?". Buy a few and enjoy yersel!

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  3. Thanks so much, Stana, for the insight AND humor...

    "...'til the day I dye!"

    Love it!

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  4. Wow ! This is much needed advice on wigs, Thank You , I will keep this for future need , there's no denying it's very important to look one's best in public or posting pictures . Well , there's also no denying one's transgender idenity when I'm thinking in transwomen mode like -All The Time !.

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    Replies
    1. I deleted my email because I felt maybe I'm not accepted here . Was I wrong ?

      Delete
    2. Don't know why you feel that way. For what it's worth, I replied to your emails, but my replies bounced because of your email account deletions, so I stopped replying.

      Delete
    3. Thank's , I completely understand .

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    4. Thank's , I completely understand .

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  5. I highly recommend looking up the "Patti's Pearls" Youtube channel. She has lots of tutorials, as well as reviews of different wigs and styles. There are many other tutorials and reviews, but I find Patti more entertaining - she's a hoot.

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  6. Due to the pandemic and the closing of my wife's favorite hair salon, we both wear wigs!
    Both of our natural hair cuts are currently a complete 1/8" buzz cut (which I do at the home for both of us), and yes this lack of natural hair can change what wig size is used.
    The other advantage of the buzz cut is that the short hair acts as a 'natural velcro' and helps keep the wig in place!
    Velma

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  7. I was just out shopping at the grocery store on this very lovely day and I like dressing as an attractive guy most of the time . But Today it was difficult being dressed in men's clothes  because I was thinking and so wishing I was wearing that Rue La La  dress you posted, or maybe a 3/4 length cute cotton long sleeve dress with 3" comfy wedge heels to do all my shopping , but I can dream .

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  8. Thanks so much Stana

    I need to wash my wig and yes the one with the dark roots is more natural and I find looks better for me

    I remember long time ago using Halloween wigs and cried after realizing that I could never pass

    I was never brave enough to visit a wig specialist but found several good choices at the thrift stores

    I am a casual part time femme so that works for me but really derp down inside I need to do better in the hair department


    Hugs
    Brenda

    ReplyDelete