We’ve all seen them…those amazing lace wig and lace frontal installs on social media. But some of you may be wondering how? How do they create that amazing illusion of realistic scalps and hairlines? How have they perfected their lace wig applications? We’ll be the first to admit it, lace wigs and lace frontals can be a daunting and overwhelming concept for a newbie but they are very possible to master with a little education and practice. That’s why we are giving three very essential tips to make your lace wig or lace frontal look like it is growing from your scalp.
Tip #1 Customize Density
This is honestly not our favorite task when it comes to lace wigs and lace frontals. Though it is very time consuming, this is a step that should not be skipped. Density is very important, especially at the hairline. Most lace wigs and lace frontals come with VERY dense hairlines. However, this is not done to irritate us, as some may think. The reason for dense hairlines, specifically on stock wigs is simply that all hairlines are not created equal. Lace wigs and lace frontals are made to be fully customizable so it is important that the hairline is customized to match your specific hairline for the most natural look. The manufacturer’s philosophy is that it is better to have too much hair than to not have enough hair, giving you the freedom to pluck as you please.
Tip #2 Bleach Knots
Bleaching your knots is essential to making your lace wig or lace frontal look natural. There are several ways to do this. The main two options are bleaching and faux bleaching. For this blog post we will focus on actually bleaching knots since it yields the most natural results. First, we should probably explain what “knots” are. Lace frontals and lace wigs are made by hand, in which the stands of hair are inserted through the grids and then knotted to hold the hair in place. The region that is knotted are subsequently called knots. For dark hair strands these knots are very visible and resemble “ants” in appearance.
The purpose of bleaching the knots is to lighten them to make them invisible. You can do this by using hair bleach. The bleach will lighten the hair to make the knots less visible and give you a realistic looking scalp. You will simply mix powder bleach with developer and lightly tap the bleach onto the lace. For lace frontals, we recommend allowing the bleach to process for 30 minutes. With lace wigs, we recommend allowing the bleach to process for no more than 15 minutes as we have found that the knots lift fairly quickly on lace wig units.
Tip #3 Tint Lace
Lots of women and stylists opt to skip this step by using foundation, but tinting your lace does wonders for making your lace wig or lace frontal look realistic. Tinting your lace simply means coloring it to match your skin tone. We prefer to use Rit dye for this technique because it is a fabric dye and will give you results in seconds. It is a permanent process and will only need to be done once. Rit dye also comes in many colors so you can mix colors to get a perfect match for your skin tone as well. Some women use semi-permanent hair dye as well. Hair dye will also give you quick results in about 30 to 45 seconds. The only con with semi-permanent hair dye is that it will fade after a few washes and you will have to repeat the process.
We can assure you that completing these steps will give you an install to die for! If for any reason you are not confident doing it yourself, an experienced stylist can complete these steps for you. If you are thinking about crossing over the lace wigs or lace frontals we encourage you to take the plunge and reach out to us for more tips and assistance.