TC

TUTORIAL 1

Let’s cut bangs into a wig!

What I’m using for this tutorial:
(items subject to project and personal taste)

As always, when you wear your wig, you get much better results when you use a color coordinating wig cap and bobby pins to secure it to your head. CosWorx has those, too! http://www.cosworx.com/home.php?cat=2453

So, you’ve found a wig that’s perfect for what you want to cosplay, but it doesn’t have bangs. Cutting into a good wig that you just invested in can seem scary at first, but fear not! With a few handy wig styling tools and these techniques, you’ll be able to cut bangs into a synthetic hair wig just like a professional in no time.  

In this tutorial, I’m going to take an Amanda wig from cosworx and turn her into a beautiful Sailorvenus wig. My first wig for this character has lasted me almost five years and it’s time for an update. Venus has the quintessential poofy anime bangs we all know and love, so you can apply these techniques to a variety of characters. I like the Amanda wig because it has extremely long hair and lots of it, just like in the anime. Ready? Let’s go!

Get all your supplies gathered and set up your wig peg on a table or other favorite working spot. Just like with cooking, you want to have everything ready at the beginning to avoid frustration!

Take your wig and pin it to the foam wig head with the T-pins or large head sewing pins. In this tutorial, you’ll see I’m using a canvas wig block rather than a foam head. Both work the same way- I just happen to have a battle worn old wig block at the studio that I like to use.

. First, make sure the ear tabs are centered over where the ears should be and pin them. Measure the distance between your nose tip and hairline and pin the center front at the same place so you have a good ballpark reference. Then pin the center back. Stretch the wig a little to get a nice, tight fit. Keep pinning the perimeter of the wig until you feel it is secure. Usually, 5 or 6 pins will do you just fine. Place your pinned wig on the wig peg.

With your fingers, separate out the section of the hair you want as bangs. Use a small claw clip to keep it separated. The little claw clips I use have a hole in them that’s very handy for pinning right to the wig head. Again, it’s a matter of taste, but I find it makes things a little easier.

 Take a large claw clip and put the rest of the hair in it. Use the wig brush to gently brush the hair out a little. I’m a big advocate of using a wig brush because the teeth are metal and go through synthetic hair like nothing else. Remember, this is not your own hair and you don’t need the gentleness of people hair brushes. Also, consider using some spray-on wig conditioner while you work. I find it makes the hair brush quite easily and the kind that CosWorx sells smells wonderfully tropical, too!

Now, we’re going to take our hair cutting shears and make the initial cut. You can do a plain blunt cut straight across, but I find simple layering to be much more natural and forgiving to work with, plus it just looks better on the face. Here’s how I cut for bangs:

Make an initial cut about chin length. The shorter length is easier to work with on a long wig like AmandaS. This doesn’t have to be too straight or fancy as we’re going to go shorter.

Get an idea about where you want the bangs to fall and eyeball a couple inches longer to compensate for the undercurl poof. Keep this length in your memory for the next step.

Brush the hair into a center wedge and hold it straight out from the forehead. You’re going to sandwich the hair between the fingers of your non-dominant hand like so:

You want your cutting target length to be about an inch or so past your fingers.

Start cutting, bottom to top. For a slight bit more undercurl, I cut the bottom of this wedge a few millimeters or so shorter than the top. Work a little bit at a time, bottom to top. It’s okay if it’s not PERFECTLY straight. That’s the beauty of layering!

Let the bangs go and check the length. You can repeat the above step if you want to go shorter. Remember to allow some room for the undercurl!

Now, you might have an interesting mess of bangs going all which way. This is due to the initial style of the wig and how it was made. No fear, though. We’re going to show that wig who’s boss and make it behave! Depending on the wig you’re using, your bangs may be pretty close to what you’re after just from the cutting.

It’s curling time! Separate out two sections, a top and bottom layer. I’m stacking layers because I want poof, but you can curl a single layer if you cut thin bangs or want just a slight turn under. Most characters I find it better to do the layer stack and brush the poof down as needed. Use a small claw clip to clip up the top layer.

As a matter of personal taste, I like to use a slightly smaller curler for the bottom layer. This gives a foundation for the upper layer to rest on and helps keep some hair out of the eyes. The slightly longer upper layer kind of uses the underlayer as a chair to rest on, if that makes any sense.

Separate out the layer into two parts. Take a plastic curler and roll under. Pin it directly to the wig head with corsage pins (these are longer than normal sewing pins). Do the other side. You may find this step easier by wetting the ends of the hair slightly before wrapping. For this you can use a dab of hairspray, water, or even some of that yummy smelling wig conditioner.

 

Repeat with the top section. You will now have a rolled bang area of hair with pins sticking out. Attractive, I know.

Take the steamer and shoot steam into these bangs. Shoot a few bursts, let it cool then burst again. For more volume, get the steam in real good right at the roots.

 Spray on some hairspray and let it dry for a while. Depending on how wet you got it, an hour or so is usually fine. If you feel unsure, let it set overnight. Be patient and let it dry- resist the urge to work with it before it dries!

*A note on curling irons, hair dryers and other heating implements*

Can you successfully use these things on a synthetic hair (Kanekalon) wig without ruining it? Yes, but not always. Steam really is the safest thing to use on a synthetic wig. It’s how I learned from professional wig stylists while working on shows in Las Vegas. You can use other items in a pinch but your mileage will vary and there’s a lot of trial and error involved. Steam stays the same temperature and is gentle, so that’s what I recommend. Trust me, you’ll get great results with a steamer. The one shown in this tutorial cost under $30 and it doubles as a costume steamer for when I travel to conventions.

Now that your wig is dry, unpin and unwrap leaving some crispy, tight little curls.

 Brush your poofy new bangs out with the wig brush gently.

  Now, it’s time to style as desired. This wig is going to be Venus, so I’m going to brush part of the bangs to the side. When you get it exactly as you want it, respray with the hairspray of your choice. If you are going to use a glue solution, do that now. Just remember if you set your bangs with glue, you won’t be brushing the bangs out after it dries! Double check to make sure the style is exactly as you want it!

Mission accomplished! V for victory! Enjoy the bangs you created!