A brief guide to wigs, part 1 - Fiber types

Halloween is just around the corner, and I am sure a lot of you guys are planning your costumes already :) I figure that now is a good time to talk about something that I love as much as makeup: WIGS!

I am obsessed with wigs, and I own over 20 of them (not counting those that I threw away over the years!). There are different types of fibers that make up the "hairs" of the wigs, and I will talk about three of the big varieties today. 

The first type, which tend to pop up a lot around this time of the year, is your party-store variety nylon-like fibers. For folks that don't normally wear costumes, this is what comes to mind when they think of wigs: Shiny, coarse and fake-looking. Obviously I don't own many of this variety, as I really hate how they look, but I did get this fun punk wig for $1 that I plan to style extensively for a joke costume. 

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 As you can see in the above photos, party-store wigs look quite tragic in most lighting, and not like real hair at all. :\

The second type of fiber, which can be easily found in most wig stores and online, is Japanese Kanekalon. They are a lot less shiny and much softer than the party-store wig fiber, and looks quite good in most light. They also come in every color under the rainbow, and can be easily dyed using oil-based dyes like Sharpie markers.

This gorgeous cyan wig is provided by KKCenterHK, by the way.

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Kanekalon wigs are comparable to real hair in most light, but the fiber is not heat-resistant, and cannot be styled with hair irons and similar tools (the fiber will shrivel up and become kinky under heat).

The final type of fiber I am showing you today is Futura. It is a heat-resistant fiber that looks and feels like real hair, but they usually only come in natural hair colors. Similarly heat-resistant wigs in crazy colors can be found on eBay, but they don't have a specific name for the fiber.

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Futura wigs are sold in beauty supply stores and online, with plenty of everyday styles available.

Here are all three wigs side by side:

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Next time I will show you how to properly prepare your own hair for wearing wigs. I have long hair that goes all the way to my butt, and I can wear wigs with no problem, it just takes a bit of time and effort!