Dark, re-fronted commercial wig

When I first started learning about ventilation, I bought a few inexpensive (and a couple of not-so-inexpensive) 'lace front' wigs, to see how they were made.

In hindsight, the commercial wigs really weren't much help – the knotting was not great for the most part, and all but one of them were knotted on stiff, scratchy monofilament mesh, not lace at all.

As a result I have a small collection of mediocre commercial wigs that are just sitting on a shelf in my office.  I decided, rather than let them go to waste, that I would re-front them using decent lace and finer knotting.

I just finished the first one.  The main body of the wig is good, and even the knotting wasn't terrible, it's just that the scratchy monofilament (aka 'German' lace) was very uncomfortable.  Also the shape of the hairline was very round and unnatural.

I have redone the entire lace section using only single (2-way) knotting, and I think the final result is much more natural.  This is high temperature synthetic hair, so it probably wouldn't work as a hair-replacement wig, but I think it would make an excellent theatre or opera wig or even a fun fashion wig.

As a side note, I have the wig on a cheap plastic mannequin head that I bought to help when I'm working on hairlines.  I find the eyes really disturbing, which is why I have it wearing sunglasses... :P

Thor No More

At long last I plucked up the courage to start the final cut-in on the blonde synthetic wig that I had made previously (see: Making Waves).  Its long, Thor-like locks have given way to a much more respectable pompadour style.

I worked on it most of the afternoon, and it's getting close to where I want it to be, although it still needs some finessing.  I have realized that I really need to take a barbering course.  My cutting skills are not good enough for this kind of work!

The synthetic hair also made my job a LOT more difficult!  The synthetic is great for longer styles, but requires a lot of work with the curling iron to make it look natural after it has been cut.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos of the cut-in so far: