lace-front-wig

Isn’t it exciting? When you finally find that product, something so elusive, something that can easily change your appearance without compromising the health of your hair or your scalp. A wonderful alternative to weaves or braided extensions. Most women usually feel a sense of euphoria when they discover lace front wigs.

Once restricted to use by celebrities and the well-heeled, lace front wigs are now affordable to the working woman. Combining style versatility with a virtually undetectable hairline, the ability to part your hair anywhere on the wig, and with a full lace wig you can even wear your hair in a high ponytail.

You’re learning about all your options and it seems so confusing. Well, we’re here to help you figure things out.

A first time wig owner should start with an affordable wig. Don’t spend all you can afford on your first wig. One good reason is that as a first time wig owner, you’re likely to be a little rough on the wig as you’re trying to figure out how to position it, how to apply adhesive, how to remove and clean it. It would be a shame if you purchased a fragile, delicate, swiss lace wig only to tear it. The other reason you don’t want to spend all you can afford upfront is because you really won’t know what you want until you get it. You will get your fist wig and chances are you are going to want to purchase other styles once you experience how versatile lace front wigs are. Many customers start off with a wavy or curly wig so they have the option of straightening it, but soon realize they would like a separate straight haired wig.

We recommend that our customers “graduate” to more expensive wigs. Start off with a wig that’s reasonable and affordable for you, and graduate into more expensive wigs once you are experienced with wearing the wig and once you settle on a style.

all text and images © zarawigs.com

We all have certain routines and products that we resort to in various situations with our own hair. One of the first lessons in learning how to care for a full lace wig is always about products. Many have learned the hard way that the products we use day to day for our hair is not what we will use on a full lace wig.

The simplest rule to remember is “no alcohol”.Products with alcohol dry out the hair, strip the natural oils from the hair and will cause damage that cannot be repaired. By selecting products based on ingredients you are always going to take the safe route and thus protect your investment.

Another rule to remember is less is more. The less of any product you put on the wig, the more it will respond in the manner you have grown to love it to. No matter what the product, there is a side effect or two. Some are good, but most have lingering side effects that do not always make the hair savvy. Inexpensive shampoos can even have ingredients in them that are not helpful to your hair. To be safe always buy quality products and use sparingly. By being an educated consumer, you can protect the investment and love you now call your hair.

all text and images © zarawigs.com

You placed your order, waited weeks for it to arrive, spent the money for a good quality unit, now what? Simply put, this is when the most important aspects of owning a full lace wig set in. The care will either protect your investment, or waste it away.

One of the key factors in Full Lace Wig Care is understanding what you have exactly. Human hair, and plainly put, human hair that is around 5 yrs old. Why is it this old? Because hair only grows on average a half inch per month. One year equates out to 6 inches a year and the average is 30 inches used for a 26 inch unit.  This is at minimum, 5 years that the hair has been exposed to the elements, and now that hair has been removed from its nutrient source to be made into your fabulous full lace wig. Care becomes the hair’s life support.

There are five main tools you will need in properly caring for your wig. They are shampoo, conditioner, a rake, your pillow case and your hair wrap. These are the 5 key players and unfortunately not all options are created equally.

A good rule of thumb for shampoo or conditioner is that if it costs between 20.00 and 30.00 for 8.5 oz’s then you have the right stuff. Products like Aveda & Pureology are just what the hair doctor ordered. As the shampoo and conditioner are key to protecting the hair’s natural oils, these are two items that you will be best to invest into.

Beyond washing your unit, your going to want to style it and that is where our Rake comes in. Brushes and combs provide too much tension on the hair and will cause breakage and shedding. There is just no way to avoid this. However, purchase a Rake or Pick and toss the brush and comb and your going to reduce the tension put on the hair and the knots and preserve your unit far longer and look great doing so.

If your wearing your full lace wig to bed, then the same attention to detail must be made for sleep habits as we do for when we are awake. Having the hair wrapped in a satin or silk wrap will reduce the tension of your sleep habits and allow the hair to move freely with your own movements. The key here is that the pillow case MUST be the same material as your wrap. If your hair is wrapped in satin, have a satin pillow case. If the hair is wrapped in silk…you get it right? This reduces tension and resistance between the two fabrics and allows the hair to remain protected.

all text and images © zarawigs.com

The short answer is yes, you can swim in a lace front wig, with a good application and solid adhesive, it will not float off your head. Medical grade adhesives are used to attach full lace wigs wigs and they stay on when exposed to water. The long answer is that the water in swimming pools damages hair.

Most people know that chlorine is in swimming pools, most people also know that we have chlorine in our drinking water. Most people assume that a swimming pool is simply a large basin filled in with regular water, the same as what we drink. At some point it was. However, a swimming pool is a standing body of water, swimming pools are rarely, if ever, drained. What this means is that chemicals are constantly added to the water in a swimming pool to keep the bacteria and micro-organism levels low. More chemicals are added during hot weather and frequent use.

In a nutshell, repeated exposure will damage the hair in your lace front wig, just as much as it would damage your own hair. Especially when chlorine exposure is combined with sunlight. It is best to wear a wig cap when swimming, but in addition to that you have to make sure that you use a mild clarifying shampoo and quality deep conditioners.

all text and images © zarawigs.com

This is the million dollar question! Everyone wants to know how lace wig adhesives will affect their hairline. The honest truth is that adhesives can cause hair thinning along your natural hairline, when used without care. The one thing we like to stress is that the longer you want to keep your wig on without reapplying, the greater the risk for damage to your hairline. At zarawigs.com, we really do not like to recommend applications longer than 5-7 days at a time, so that’s bad news for those of you who want weeks of hold. For health reasons, your full lace wig should be removed regularly. This will allow your scalp, natural hair and wig to all maintain their beautiful presence.

We like to encourage our clients to not be afraid to remove, clean and reapply their wigs. This keeps the adhesive fresh and clean, and the bond strong. All adhesives will break down over time, and a rushed removal process can cause the hair to be pulled out when you remove the lace front wig. With proper use, careful application and removal, and reasonable application periods, you can maintain a healthy hairline and wear a full lace wig.

all text and images © zarawigs.com

Bleached knots help make the hair appear as if it is growing from the scalp. When hair is tied to the lace, there is a dark knot where the hair is secured. Bleaching or “lightening” the knots reduces the visibility of this knot. On black, off black and dark brown hair, the knots are lightened to a light brown shade. Very light brown and blond and shades usually do not need bleached knots.

Bleached knots are best if kept only at the hair line. They generally are not needed through out the entire unit and are traditionally only done at the hair line of the full lace wig as to preserve the integrity of the hair and knots.

all text and images © zarawigs.com

With Summer approaching the big word that seems to be heard over and over is COLOR! This is the time we take chances with new colors and experiment to our hearts desire. As exciting as it can be, color can also mean a horrific end to your lace front unit.

Always consult a professional when considering after production hair coloring to your lace front wig. The application, processing time and products used are not the same as when we color hair on the scalp. Sure, the color you buy without a license will work, however the life of your lace front wig usually will be shortened by doing so. Invest in a professional color job with only top of the line color to preserve the unit and your investment.

Custom Coloring services are always available at an additional cost for the units purchased from Zarawigs.com. It is best to consult our team before placing your order so that a proper time line can be estimated before your order is placed and help you to determine cost.

all text and images © zarawigs.com

There is nothing worse than getting your order and realizing it does not fit. All too often we get calls and have to stress the critical importance of the cap measurements. In order to help cement the understanding of measurements we will cover the basics here.

The primary purpose of a full lace wig is to project the image that this is YOUR hair. In order to do that, the wig cap must have a good fit. The basic rule of thumb is: the better the fit, the less altering that will be necessary to conceal this as a wig and to project the unit as your own naturally grown hair. There are a couple measurements that you have some “play” on when there is a stretch lace panel that makes stock units workable. However when you have the option to have the cap made to your measurements (custom units) you want to make sure the measurements are accurate for that added edge. When stretched out to adjust for poor fit, the stretch lace panel is not able to do it’s primary job of providing comfort and reducing tension on the hair. In short, in a unit where the stretch lace panel is fully extended, it may as well not even be there.

So now that we understand the importance a little better, we will talk about HOW to get a good set of measurements. What we like to suggest is that you take your measurements for your cap construction before looking at styles. Only because we understand how exciting it is to find that right unit for you and the urgency that we MUST get that order in. If the measurements are all complete and accurate then you can enjoy that moment of pure innocent excitement without worry.

Your first step is going to be to gather your necessary tools. For our customers this means to print the How To Measure page so you have it accessible. Make sure you have a measuring tape made of fabric or other flexible material. It is always best to have an extra set of hands, but if not a paper clip will suffice. Now you need to prep your hair. It is ideal to remove any tracks but in some cases that is not possible. Try to get the hair down as flat as possible where you are laying down the tape measure and make sure your not pulling too tight or leaving the tape measure too slack, you want a nice good tension that will be comfortable. Think of the tape as the lace cap, how does the amount of tension your applying feel.

all text and images © zarawigs.com