Wig Studio 1 News
Why do You Have So Many Wigs? And What’s a Rooted Color?
Recently a friend asked me, “what’s the deal with all the rooted wig colors?” She was looking through my collection as I called it. “And why do you have so many wigs?” Since she is not a wig wearer, she had many questions about my wig collection. “But you can only wear one at a time,” she said as she opened my wig boxes.
I took a deep breath and I tried to explain to her about the realities of wig wearing.
· We fall in and out of love sometimes
· We like to try new colors
· We like different styles for different occasions
· Our tastes change
· Rooted is a personal preference I explained & there are many other options
Still mildly confused, she shrugged and tried on one of my wigs and stood looking at herself in the mirror for some minutes. “Oh, I look so different, a bit younger,” she said as she looked at me for confirmation.
Yes, I think you do, but you’re not getting my wig, but if you want to wear it for a day or two to decide if you want to order it, you may. Of course, then I had to give her a brief tutorial about wig care and how to secure it. By the time I was finished with my mini-lecture I know she wondered if it was worth it. But hey, she was going to walk off with one of my favorite and not inexpensive wigs.
Explaining wigs and wig-wearing to someone who has never even touched a wig before can be a challenge. But I knew if I took the time to explain things, my friend would walk away with a new understanding and appreciation for those of us who wear wigs, and she might decide to try it herself. She kept looking at herself in every available mirror as we finished the task we had before us. She might, just might, have been bitten by the wig bug herself.
As our opening of boxes, inspecting wigs, re-labeling boxes, and putting aside the ones I wanted to donate continued, she asked more questions. “Tell me about the caps, the fibers, and the colors,” she said as she continued to hold up each wig to her face. I began to worry she may walk out with half my wigs. “But first, tell me about the rooted colors. When did showing roots become a good thing? I grew up coloring mine at the first opportunity.”
I don’t know exactly when the root thing started or why, but experts seem to agree that the best way to get the most natural look from a wig or topper is with rooted colors. Ideally, the process is all about the art of starting with a darker (and complimentary) darker root which gradually blends out into a lighter tone or color through to the ends. Well, some brands do this better than others. Also, there is a personal preference involved. For example, I don’t like and won’t wear the high contrast styles/colors that have super dark roots and light blonde fibers/hair. But, some like it and some wear it well.
In theory, the root color gives the appearance of re-growth from the scalp thereby making it look “natural” as it would if one had their hair colored or lightened.
Rooting is, no matter your personal preference, a bit tricky, especially with the blonde shades. Again, some brands seem to do it better than others. There are so many blonde shades, that it can be overwhelming to decide on one, and then add rooting or not-rooting to the equation, and it might take a long time to decide on a wig and wig color.
Most women do seem to consider a rooted blonde to be more natural-looking. This said, others don’t like the idea of a dark root, and some find the root to be too dark in contrast to some wigs (I am one of those). Another thing to consider is the “lace front dots” are easier to see against the skin color. Again, some brands are better at addressing this issue than others.
The blending factor—what I love and so many others seem to as well, is that if your bio hair is darker than the lighter shades you love, having a dark root will allow you to pull out your bio hair on the side for a very realistic look. Any hair at the nape or if you put the wig into an up-do will also be much better camouflaged.
As always, your opinion is the one that counts, and you are the one who must like the wig you choose. Everyone that I know has made a mistake is two, and we learn.
As lovely as some of those all-blonde wigs look on some (I have one in the closet that has never been worn), I can’t see myself ever giving up a rooted wig.
I am grateful we have so many choices in wigs, colors, and styles, and that we have access to the wonderful instruction videos, and wig reviews that those at Wig Studio1 do for us.
It’s a great time to be a wig wearer!
Until next time,
Vickie Lynn
Intervention: Box Hair
At long last! You’ve been stationed at the mailbox, sitting on your beach chair waiting for the UPS driver’s impending arrival; the updated UPS text message informs you that the moment of unmitigated joy is just around the corner. And here she is! You cradle your next acquisition to your ever-growing collection and embark upon the process of disengaging your new hair unit from its packaging.
As you do so, there appears to be a slight issue. Something about the wig seems wonky. The lace front looks perfect, there seem to be no defects whatsoever as you thoroughly examine the piece. Ah, you now come to the realization, your wig has been asleep; more accurately, oversleeping in her box for way too long and now has suffered from the affliction we now know as the dreaded “BOX HAIR”.
Fear not, in this video we will view a Do It Yourself (DIY) Intervention to ameliorate this situation. Our subject for the video demonstration is Arrow by Ellen Wille in the color Platin Blonde Rooted 60.24, regular synthetic fiber. This method is applicable to heat-friendly fiber as well. Arrow was provided to me by Wig Studio 1. Additionally worn by me during a portion of this video is the style Scorpio, basic cap in the color Moonstone by Rene’ of Paris, also available from Wig Studio 1.
I hope you enjoy my intervention video, as I think outside the box on how to wrestle with the box hair challenge. And always remember; if I can do it, so can you.
Best,
MichelePearl
Wig Rescue
Our Old Wigs – or what was I thinking and why do I still have them?
I went on a wig hunt this week—inside my own closet. I retrieved a dozen or so boxes of wigs from the area in my closet where I kept the “maybe someday” things. You know what I mean, like those jeans that used to fit, and I might get back into them “someday” maybe. In the case of wigs, these were from my earlier still learning days. And as tried them on one at a time, one thought kept going through my mind—what was I thinking? I must have thought they looked good at one time, but now, not so much. So, what happened?
Most of us are all pretty hard on ourselves, very critical of every perceived flaw, and I am no exception. But I think that when I first started out wearing wigs, I didn’t know what to expect, and what looked good (meaning believable). I think I was more concerned with that than comfort, finding the right color or style. I didn’t know how comfortable they were supposed to be, nor did I understand much about caps and how they were made or supposed to fit. I picked a few that looked good on the model, and well, lived with them. We all go through a rookie stage, and I think mine lasted through a half dozen wigs at least, maybe more. We live, we learn, we make corrections, and that includes buying wigs. So, maybe we should give ourselves a break about it, especially starting out.
Out of the dozen, I removed from my closet, only two were worth trying to salvage. I am going to see if I can bring them back to life this week. They are totally different in style and color so it will be interesting to wear them again if I do manage to rescue them. I have learned a lot about caps, fit, style, colors, and what works best for me now. So, when I shop for a wig now it is pretty easy for me to put my own filters on before I begin the shopping phase. I know what I want: mono top or mono part at the minimum, lace front, and heat-friendly fibers. I don’t have the patience for human hair care, and I don’t have the talent to style them as I would like, so synthetic works best for me. But I do like the look of human hair and I get that much easier in the heat-friendly fibers. Knowing that I am free to look at styles and color and that makes it easier to shop. Now that I don’t go to an office and see the same people every day, I am free to wear different wigs out and about. Before I didn’t discuss wigs with people I worked with but that locked me into wearing the same wigs all the time.
As I tried on my old wigs, I tried not to be so hard on myself about how they looked because after all, they had been boxed up for some time. Also, I have aged, I am paler now after the lockdown, and that is not a good look under the harsh bathroom lights. But I did have to keep wondering—what was I thinking when I bought them? I can’t answer that, but I also wondered why I kept them after looking at the condition some were in. Clearly, I liked them enough to wear them a lot! In the end, I decided it was the same as looking back at anything, your clothes from years ago, old picture of yourself in different hairstyles, shoes, whatever. Wigs are the same. We pick them for many reasons, and it seems right at the time.
If you have some old wigs put away that should be taken out and donated or revived or tossed – do it. They are serving no one in the closet. It is like the clothes rule, if you haven’t worn something in a year, get rid of it. You will feel better afterward, I promise.
What I need to buy now is not more wigs, but some good products that might help me revive two. I have put a link below to some of the products that I will be trying on my two rescued wigs I will post pictures of them in my next blog if I am successful. Wish me luck. One is a short one that I would love to wear this summer, so I have high hopes for that one. The other is a chin-length, straight bob-style in an unflattering color—which I wasn’t aware it would be at the time I ordered.
So, until then, see if any of these products might help you rescue a wig, or maybe make your current favorites last much longer. If we care for them, they will not be sent to the toss pile too soon. Oh, that conditioner and conditioning spray looks promising!
Vickie Lynn
