Hello everyone! Today I'll be going back to one of my very early posts Cosplay Tips 1 and basically rewriting it since I've had a lot more experience with cosplay since then (I might have cosplayed twice at that point?) and since the availability and pricing on many cosplay items have since changed. I hope you all enjoy my more current advice as well as cringing slightly at my old post along with me. ;)
#1: Wigs and Hair
As many of us may notice when looking for anime characters to cosplay, many of them have unnatural colors and gravity defying hair, or just a color or style that's not easily achievable for you (like going pink when you have to have a natural color for your job or magically growing your fade into flowing, manly locks in a week). While closet cosplays or simple cosplays based off of your current hair color and style (or lack of hair) can be fun for a low budget or last minute cosplay, trying to do more advanced cosplays with natural hair can be costly and difficult. For example, several years ago I read a post by a lady who used her natural hair for a Sailor Mercury cosplay (if memory serves me correctly). One of the biggest cons she noted was that any time she wanted to do that cosplay, she had to get a haircut so that her hair would be accurate. If you're getting a haircut for a cosplay every two to three weeks when you normally would get your hair cut maybe twice a year, that becomes really expensive. Even if you cut your hair yourself, it can be frustrating and time consuming. While this can be less of a problem if you have longer hair that easily works for the character, you may still want to consider the fact that that cosplay will need a wig should you decide to change your hair in the future.
Wigs nowadays are generally easy to find at reasonable prices and in good quality, so I highly recommend getting a wig if possible. Not only are wigs generally easier to maintain than natural hair, it gives a cosplay that extra something to make you more recognizable. (Granted if you cosplay horribly obscure characters like I tend to do, it won't help much outside of the accuracy department.) I've gotten several wigs off of sites like Amazon and Storenvy that are very nice quality that I use for J-fashion and my cosplays. However, when ordering wigs online, be cautious of wigs without reviews or ones that look like party wigs and thoroughly check reviews to make sure there's no complaints of the wig being poorly made or thin. Unless you know the seller is a reputable wig seller, I wouldn't recommend buying any wigs that don't have reviews unless you're willing to take a chance. There are also many reputable wig sellers aimed at cosplayers, such as Epic Cosplay and Arda Wigs, that have a variety of wig colors and styles available.
One of the main disadvantages of getting a wig is that you have to style it for your character and while in my old post I had recommended World of Wigcraft, it seemed to have disappeared completely, but it seems to be available again: World of Wigcraft. Unfortunately it is rather expensive, but if you plan on doing more advanced techniques or complicated wigs, I'd advise getting it. Fortunately, there's a wide array of character specific wigs available as well as pre-styled ones, so many times trimming the bangs to the right shape is all that's necessary. For bang cutting tutorials, I highly recommend looking up tutorials on Youtube or ask a hairstylist friend to show you how (or do it for you) if you can. Remember, it's always better to cut less off than you think you need to and always use nice, sharp scissors so you don't maul your wig.
Wigs also require different maintenance than natural hair since the fibers don't grow back when they're pulled out of the wig cap. Usually a brand new wig will have some shedding when it's first combed through, but normally you shouldn't be getting a lot of fibers with every comb-through. For typical wig maintenance, I recommend getting a styrofoam wig head and a pin or pins to hold the wig on it, some sort of stand for said head (I've been using my camera tripod recently), a wide tooth shower comb, and Motions At Home Oil Sheen Spray. (You can easily get the spray from Amazon or Sally's Beauty Supply.) After putting the wig on the styrofoam head and a stand, pin it in place so that it won't slide around while you comb it. I usually just put an obvious pin in the center top so I can easily find the pin again. You can also secure at the back and the temples of the wig if you so choose. Spray the entire wig with a coat or two of the oil sheen spray, both outside and inside of the wig and let it sit for a minute. Comb it gently in sections, working from the ends of the wig upwards and starting a new section if a tangle goes across a larger area than yous section. If the wig has curls, you may want to comb them separately to avoid them frizzing out or otherwise losing their shape or you can wash the wig after in cold water to help the curls resettle. Work on the top and bottom sides of the wig to make sure you get as many tangles out as possible. If you find that two of the fibers have tied themselves into a knot, take a sharp pair of scissors to cut as close to the knot as you can. I highly recommend gently combing your wigs out using this method after every wear, but be careful not to overdo it as you don't want to damage your wig by over combing it as it could damage the fibers.
What do you guys do about your hair when you cosplay? Let me know in the comments!
Check out my Insta: @animelolitacouture
Showing posts with label wigs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wigs. Show all posts
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Bodyline Wig Review
Hello everyone! A while ago I got two wigs from Bodyline (my first wig purchase from them), so I decided to write a bit about them. I'm sorry there aren't any pictures, but I've been having a little trouble uploading pictures for my blog posts lately (thus the reason they've mostly been text). So let's get started!
So for a while, I've been wanting to get a couple different styles of wigs to wear with Fairy Kei, so I decided to get a couple from Bodyline since I was already planning on making an order with some other items. Price wise, Bodyline's wigs are surprisingly inexpensive. Prices range from about $10-20 USD (after converting the page to yen for the cheaper prices) for short and longer wigs without attachments. Wigs with clip in ponytails (which seem to be a Lolita staple anymore) aren't that much more coming in at a bit under $30 USD and clip on ponytails by themselves are typically around $8 USD. Bodyline also offers plastic wig stands and wig caps for a bit under a dollar each. For variety, there's a good choice of colors for all of the wigs, but the ones intended for Lolita only come in natural colors while most of the cosplay ones come in a variety of natural and unnatural colors.
Quality-wise, Bodyline's wigs are surprisingly good for the price. Seeing as how most cheap Halloween wigs cost about the same as Bodyline's wigs, I was a little worried about quality. Fortunately, the wigs are made with uniform fiber sizes (as opposed to the large, scratchy fibers hidden under smaller fibers typically found in Halloween wigs) and feel nice and soft. The fibers aren't overly shiny or plastic looking at all. The overall amount of wig fibers on the wig is a little sparse compared to some more expensive wigs and the underlying wefts and cap can be seen a little bit if the hairs aren't positioned right. Both the wigs I got were lighter colors, so this may be a bit less of a problem with darker colored wigs. However, with normal wear the underlying wefts and cap showing through shouldn't be a problem as long as the wig's styled properly before wear.
Overall, I would have to say I'm pretty darn impressed with Bodyline's wig's quality and price and definitely plan on buying more from them in the future. For reference, the wigs I got were W014 in purple 3 and W175 in separate 5-10. In addition to the wigs, I also got a wig cap and stand from Bodyline. The wig cap was open topped and works pretty well, but the elastic band on the bottom is rather thin and kinda weak compared to a mesh wig cap I got at Sally's Beauty Supply. I probably won't be ordering any more wig caps from Bodyline and wouldn't recommend getting one unless you're unable to get a better one from a beauty supply store. The wig stand's a little flimsy, but is overall good quality and easily stays upright even with a longer wig on it (with the ends hanging off the edge of the surface it's on). I'm glad I got it as it makes detangling my wigs easier than it was with my stand-less styrofoam head. I would highly recommend getting at least one of these for detangling purposes, but would still recommend getting a styrofoam head for storing or displaying styled wigs as it's a bit smaller in overall diameter.
Check out my Storenvy: animelolitacouture.storenvy.com
Make sure to check out my Facebook page too: facebook.com/CelesteChoCho
So for a while, I've been wanting to get a couple different styles of wigs to wear with Fairy Kei, so I decided to get a couple from Bodyline since I was already planning on making an order with some other items. Price wise, Bodyline's wigs are surprisingly inexpensive. Prices range from about $10-20 USD (after converting the page to yen for the cheaper prices) for short and longer wigs without attachments. Wigs with clip in ponytails (which seem to be a Lolita staple anymore) aren't that much more coming in at a bit under $30 USD and clip on ponytails by themselves are typically around $8 USD. Bodyline also offers plastic wig stands and wig caps for a bit under a dollar each. For variety, there's a good choice of colors for all of the wigs, but the ones intended for Lolita only come in natural colors while most of the cosplay ones come in a variety of natural and unnatural colors.
Quality-wise, Bodyline's wigs are surprisingly good for the price. Seeing as how most cheap Halloween wigs cost about the same as Bodyline's wigs, I was a little worried about quality. Fortunately, the wigs are made with uniform fiber sizes (as opposed to the large, scratchy fibers hidden under smaller fibers typically found in Halloween wigs) and feel nice and soft. The fibers aren't overly shiny or plastic looking at all. The overall amount of wig fibers on the wig is a little sparse compared to some more expensive wigs and the underlying wefts and cap can be seen a little bit if the hairs aren't positioned right. Both the wigs I got were lighter colors, so this may be a bit less of a problem with darker colored wigs. However, with normal wear the underlying wefts and cap showing through shouldn't be a problem as long as the wig's styled properly before wear.
Overall, I would have to say I'm pretty darn impressed with Bodyline's wig's quality and price and definitely plan on buying more from them in the future. For reference, the wigs I got were W014 in purple 3 and W175 in separate 5-10. In addition to the wigs, I also got a wig cap and stand from Bodyline. The wig cap was open topped and works pretty well, but the elastic band on the bottom is rather thin and kinda weak compared to a mesh wig cap I got at Sally's Beauty Supply. I probably won't be ordering any more wig caps from Bodyline and wouldn't recommend getting one unless you're unable to get a better one from a beauty supply store. The wig stand's a little flimsy, but is overall good quality and easily stays upright even with a longer wig on it (with the ends hanging off the edge of the surface it's on). I'm glad I got it as it makes detangling my wigs easier than it was with my stand-less styrofoam head. I would highly recommend getting at least one of these for detangling purposes, but would still recommend getting a styrofoam head for storing or displaying styled wigs as it's a bit smaller in overall diameter.
Check out my Storenvy: animelolitacouture.storenvy.com
Make sure to check out my Facebook page too: facebook.com/CelesteChoCho
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Wigs VS Hair
Hello everyone! Today I'll be talking about my experience with wigs versus natural hair. I'll be going over some of the pros and cons of natural hair and wigs in comparison to each other.
Maintainance
First things first: Maintaining your hair or wig. Both need to be brushed or combed out to prevent tangle, from the bottom up so as to avoid damage as well as even more tangles, as well as cleaned. Wigs require different cleaning products compared to natural hair due to some main diferences in the fibers from natural hair. For example, you would most likely not use fabric softener on your natural hair, but oftentimes it's recommended for maintaining wigs. Likewise, you wouldn't want to use regular shampoo on a wig as it's formulated to clean natural hair as well as your scalp of dirt, oil, and other buildup. Another diference between natural hair and wig maintainance is that hair grows back, but wig fibers do not. This means that oftentimes one has to be a lot more gentle when combing a wig out than with natural hair. I've found that, timewise, wigs can take as long or longer than natural hair to maintain depending on how long it is and how long it takes to dry it.
Color
Like natural hair, wigs can also be dyed. Unlike natural hair though, wigs should not be bleached, don't need root touchups, and typically are sold in a variety of colors. While dying natural hair typically involves bleach (to ensure more even coverage), hair dyes which have to sit and saturate the hair, and lots of careful maintainance to make the color last as long as possible, wigs are comparitively easy to dye. While I haven't had the opportunity to try for myself, I've seen one method for dying wigs where you essentially mix ink from sharpies with alchohol (or water? I'd have to find the vidoe again and I'm not sure it's still up) and spray your wig down to color it. If done properly, your wig shouldn't need to be dyed again. However, for best results, you have to start with a white or other light colored wig to have the color show. Since wigs can't be bleached, you can't exactly take a dark wig and lighten it up (at least to my knowledge)
Styling
Wig styling is VERY different from styling natural hair. The products can range from glue (which you should NEVER use on your natural hair) to regular styling products like hairspray or hair wax. One of the biggest diferences between wig and natural hair styling is that wig fibers tend to hold their shape. You can curl a wig and it'll stay curled unless you straighten it. While you can soften the curls by combing the wig to blend the curls, you can't take them out completely without using heat of some sort. Also, a lot of times a wig may be styled in such a way that it shouldn't be washed or gotten too wet unless a new style is wanted for it. With your natural hair, if you style it, it will likely lose shape over the course of a day and you'll need to redo it the next day unless you find a way to avoid having it mushed while you sleep.
As a final note, one of the best things about wigs is that you can change your hair every day and not have to worry about damaging your natural hair by coloring it constantly or cutting it and waiting for it to grow out. I've got a nice collection of wigs that I like to wear randomly, as well as some extentions and clip-on ponytails that I'm using until my hair grows out more and it's really nice being able to see how I look with different hair styles and colors without having to commit to them as I'd have to with my natural hair.
I'm on Twitter: @animlolicouture
Check out my Facebook page: facebook.com/CelesteChoCho
Maintainance
First things first: Maintaining your hair or wig. Both need to be brushed or combed out to prevent tangle, from the bottom up so as to avoid damage as well as even more tangles, as well as cleaned. Wigs require different cleaning products compared to natural hair due to some main diferences in the fibers from natural hair. For example, you would most likely not use fabric softener on your natural hair, but oftentimes it's recommended for maintaining wigs. Likewise, you wouldn't want to use regular shampoo on a wig as it's formulated to clean natural hair as well as your scalp of dirt, oil, and other buildup. Another diference between natural hair and wig maintainance is that hair grows back, but wig fibers do not. This means that oftentimes one has to be a lot more gentle when combing a wig out than with natural hair. I've found that, timewise, wigs can take as long or longer than natural hair to maintain depending on how long it is and how long it takes to dry it.
Color
Like natural hair, wigs can also be dyed. Unlike natural hair though, wigs should not be bleached, don't need root touchups, and typically are sold in a variety of colors. While dying natural hair typically involves bleach (to ensure more even coverage), hair dyes which have to sit and saturate the hair, and lots of careful maintainance to make the color last as long as possible, wigs are comparitively easy to dye. While I haven't had the opportunity to try for myself, I've seen one method for dying wigs where you essentially mix ink from sharpies with alchohol (or water? I'd have to find the vidoe again and I'm not sure it's still up) and spray your wig down to color it. If done properly, your wig shouldn't need to be dyed again. However, for best results, you have to start with a white or other light colored wig to have the color show. Since wigs can't be bleached, you can't exactly take a dark wig and lighten it up (at least to my knowledge)
Styling
Wig styling is VERY different from styling natural hair. The products can range from glue (which you should NEVER use on your natural hair) to regular styling products like hairspray or hair wax. One of the biggest diferences between wig and natural hair styling is that wig fibers tend to hold their shape. You can curl a wig and it'll stay curled unless you straighten it. While you can soften the curls by combing the wig to blend the curls, you can't take them out completely without using heat of some sort. Also, a lot of times a wig may be styled in such a way that it shouldn't be washed or gotten too wet unless a new style is wanted for it. With your natural hair, if you style it, it will likely lose shape over the course of a day and you'll need to redo it the next day unless you find a way to avoid having it mushed while you sleep.
As a final note, one of the best things about wigs is that you can change your hair every day and not have to worry about damaging your natural hair by coloring it constantly or cutting it and waiting for it to grow out. I've got a nice collection of wigs that I like to wear randomly, as well as some extentions and clip-on ponytails that I'm using until my hair grows out more and it's really nice being able to see how I look with different hair styles and colors without having to commit to them as I'd have to with my natural hair.
I'm on Twitter: @animlolicouture
Check out my Facebook page: facebook.com/CelesteChoCho
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Lolita on a Budget: Bodyline Clothing
Not too long ago, I discovered a very nice, inexpensive online store to buy Lolita from. Bodyline has many different types of dresses, most for under $100, along with blouses, shoes, and lots of different accessories. They also sell some cosplay costumes too as well as wigs, making this an excellent place for beginner cosplayers, as well as those on a budget, to buy from. Many girls into Lolita can be found wearing Bodyline clothing such as Living Doll Venus Angelic. She can be seen wearing the Bodyline polka dot dress in her Real Life Anime: Kawaii Cupcakes video that she made a few months back. I have yet to order from bodyline, but I look forward to increasing my Lolita collection with their cute affordable pieces in the future. Look forward to outfits I've assembled using Bodyline clothing that can be purchased for less than the price of a brand name dress!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Cosplay Tips 1: Updated!
Hello all. This will be a continuing series of tips and suggestions I have for cosplayers and anyone interested in cosplaying or just dressing up for Halloween. I'll try to do a few examples if necessary for each of these posts. So, without further ado, here is
Cosplaying tip #1: Wigs and Hair
One thing that I find difficult about cosplaying is the hair. Many Anime characters have gravity defying hair or hair that is an unnatural color. Thanks to wigs, the task of looking like you have 6 inch purple spiked hair is made much easier. However, good wigs tend to be expensive, and not everyone has the time to style wigs or the money to buy a wigs styled like their favorite anime character. So my main solution is: choose a character that has hair similar to your own. For example, I have long blond hair. This is a fairly popular combination in anime and it gives me some versatility. Some of the characters I've cosplayed in the past were Patty and Liz Thomas and Maka Albairn from Soul Eater along with Chi from Chobits. It's true, my hair wasn't perfect, but it was enough to get the point across
Wig allow a lot more versatility, but also have a lot of their own problems. For one thing, the fibers most wigs are made out of behave differently from real hair. This can have it's advantages, namely when you style the wig, it stays styled, unlike real hair. However, this also means that wigs behave differently from real hair. I found a really nice book about 'wig crafting' recently that has lots of different suggestions for how to style wigs. It's called "World of Wigcraft" by Katie Bair. I haven't had the opportunity to try out anything from it yet, but it was very informative and I hope to use some of the tips in the future. If you are interested in making your own wigs, I would highly recommend you buy "World of Wigcraft." Some of the things that I found the most helpful were using hot water to style the wigs instead of a curler of straightener so as to not melt the fibers and not treating wigs like real hair since they aren't attached to a scalp like real hair and lay differently.
Update:
I've noticed one of the main struggles with wigs, especially long ones, is that they tangle fairly easily. One could just try combing the wig out to get the worst of the tangles out, but this isn't always the best choice. If you've got a wig that's super tangled or just really messy the best choice is to wash the wig. Here's what you'll need:
-A tub, I just used my bath tub, but you can use a sink or plastic tub if you have a shorter wig
-Shampoo, I'd recomend using a less expensive shampoo for this since you'll likely be using a lot
-Wide tooth comb, I used a plastic shower comb for this
Start by filling the tub up to a few inches deep so you have enough water to submerge the wig in. Get the wig thoroughly wet, both the outside and the inside of the wig. Pull the wig out of the water and apply some shampoo to the ends of the fibers on one section of the wig. work it through the fibers and then use a comb to gently work the tangles to the ends of the fibers. Always work from the bottom to the top of the wig to avoid pulling out as many fibers as possible. If the fibers start feeling less wet, dunk them in the water again and reapply the shampoo. It's easiest to work on a small section at a time instead of the whole wig. I did one side in sections until it was mostly tangle free, then switched sides of the wig. Once you finish with the outside of the wig, flip it inside out and work on the inside fibers the same way as for the outside ones. Afterwords, turn the wig right side out again and fix the outside fibers if needed. This process can take anywhere from half an hour to several hours depending on the length of the wig and the severity of the tangles, so be patient. You don't want to get impatient and tear out too many wig fibers when you do this. Once the wig's detangled, wash all of the shampoo out and gently pat off excess water with a towel. The wig can take several days to dry, so make sure to put it somewhere where it can hang freely and let it air dry. Make sure the wig is 100% dry before storing it.
I used a straight wig for this, so I don't know how this method would work on a wig with curls. If your wig has curls, make sure to use cold or lukewarm water as hot water can make the wig fiber change shape. This should ensure that the curls will stay better intact on your wig.
Cosplaying tip #1: Wigs and Hair
One thing that I find difficult about cosplaying is the hair. Many Anime characters have gravity defying hair or hair that is an unnatural color. Thanks to wigs, the task of looking like you have 6 inch purple spiked hair is made much easier. However, good wigs tend to be expensive, and not everyone has the time to style wigs or the money to buy a wigs styled like their favorite anime character. So my main solution is: choose a character that has hair similar to your own. For example, I have long blond hair. This is a fairly popular combination in anime and it gives me some versatility. Some of the characters I've cosplayed in the past were Patty and Liz Thomas and Maka Albairn from Soul Eater along with Chi from Chobits. It's true, my hair wasn't perfect, but it was enough to get the point across
Wig allow a lot more versatility, but also have a lot of their own problems. For one thing, the fibers most wigs are made out of behave differently from real hair. This can have it's advantages, namely when you style the wig, it stays styled, unlike real hair. However, this also means that wigs behave differently from real hair. I found a really nice book about 'wig crafting' recently that has lots of different suggestions for how to style wigs. It's called "World of Wigcraft" by Katie Bair. I haven't had the opportunity to try out anything from it yet, but it was very informative and I hope to use some of the tips in the future. If you are interested in making your own wigs, I would highly recommend you buy "World of Wigcraft." Some of the things that I found the most helpful were using hot water to style the wigs instead of a curler of straightener so as to not melt the fibers and not treating wigs like real hair since they aren't attached to a scalp like real hair and lay differently.
Update:
I've noticed one of the main struggles with wigs, especially long ones, is that they tangle fairly easily. One could just try combing the wig out to get the worst of the tangles out, but this isn't always the best choice. If you've got a wig that's super tangled or just really messy the best choice is to wash the wig. Here's what you'll need:
-A tub, I just used my bath tub, but you can use a sink or plastic tub if you have a shorter wig
-Shampoo, I'd recomend using a less expensive shampoo for this since you'll likely be using a lot
-Wide tooth comb, I used a plastic shower comb for this
Start by filling the tub up to a few inches deep so you have enough water to submerge the wig in. Get the wig thoroughly wet, both the outside and the inside of the wig. Pull the wig out of the water and apply some shampoo to the ends of the fibers on one section of the wig. work it through the fibers and then use a comb to gently work the tangles to the ends of the fibers. Always work from the bottom to the top of the wig to avoid pulling out as many fibers as possible. If the fibers start feeling less wet, dunk them in the water again and reapply the shampoo. It's easiest to work on a small section at a time instead of the whole wig. I did one side in sections until it was mostly tangle free, then switched sides of the wig. Once you finish with the outside of the wig, flip it inside out and work on the inside fibers the same way as for the outside ones. Afterwords, turn the wig right side out again and fix the outside fibers if needed. This process can take anywhere from half an hour to several hours depending on the length of the wig and the severity of the tangles, so be patient. You don't want to get impatient and tear out too many wig fibers when you do this. Once the wig's detangled, wash all of the shampoo out and gently pat off excess water with a towel. The wig can take several days to dry, so make sure to put it somewhere where it can hang freely and let it air dry. Make sure the wig is 100% dry before storing it.
I used a straight wig for this, so I don't know how this method would work on a wig with curls. If your wig has curls, make sure to use cold or lukewarm water as hot water can make the wig fiber change shape. This should ensure that the curls will stay better intact on your wig.
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