From the category archives:

Wigs

La Jay Half Wig Review

by kcurly on December 22, 2011

in "Hair raising" Experiements and Recipes,Cornrows,Styling,Wigs

 

I’d seen rave reviews about Vanessa Half Wig La Jay (Color 1B). We all know how hard it is to find a wig that resembles natural hair without being silky smooth or crazy looking. Even though the pictures of the wig on the model  looked kind of crazy, I still went ahead and ordered it due to the reviews.

I ordered from Amazon.com and the total cost ended up being around 24 dollars. I always get the same color as my natural hair since my goal is to emulate my own hair as much as possible.

It arrived promptly and once I tore open the bag, I saw how huge this sucker is. I’d seen in the reviews that it was a lot of hair, but seeing as I have a lot of hair anyway, I didn’t think I’d be fazed.

It is a lot of hair. Even to me. Especially for a half wig.

I was fluffing it up and getting a better look at it when my 12 month old comes toddling over, points to the wig and said “dawg”, gave it a pat, and toddled away. Silly girl, she doesn’t know about Mommy’s hair obsession yet.

There were some frizzy areas on mine which is perfect. I didn’t find it to be particularly shiny but I did pat a little cornstarch on it just to be safe. It is a synthetic wig and has two combs that attach near the crown and at the nape, though I may be cutting out the comb at the nape.

So I decided to go ahead and try it out. Warning, this first time was a disaster!

I washed my hair, deep conditioned, rinsed, and set to styling. After applying moisturizer, I did some ill formed, terrible looking cornrows.

Sopping wet, huge cornrows! Next time I think I will do them on dry stretched hair. (Side note: A lot of you newly natural ladies write to me about how you feel like you just can't style your hair and you wish you could do your hair like I do mine. For what it's worth, when I tell you that you just have to practice and experiment, you really do! I've been wanting to learn how to cornrow for a long time. I have not been practicing it and that's why I still suck at it. This is the closest I have come to getting it right, but the main thing is that I know that if I keep trying, I will get it right! And you will too!)

Anyway, even though they looked horrible, my hair was moisturized and protected in the area the wig would cover.

I thought long and hard about whether or not I should trim the wig. First, I was afraid of messing it up. Sure it was only 24 dollars, but, shoot it’s a recession (I have been waiting to say that!)

Second, I wasn’t sure how it would look on my head anyway, so I thought it best to wear it out first and see how I felt about it as it was. I have a big head so what might look huge on some people looks appropriate on me.

I viewed quite a few suggestions online as how to wear La Jay. I settled on a puff-like style. I hesitated to do a puff because my ends are still recovering from the horrors of postpartum shedding,  but I knew if I didn’t pull it back too tight, I’d be ok.

I just applied moisturizer to the front of my hair and tried to scrunch the ends a bit. I then applied the wig and brushed all the hair back lightly, followed by an ouchless band to make the puff. At first, I thought it looked great and blended pretty well with the rest of the hair.

Then it dried.

The difference in the textures looked pretty obvious in the mirror but once I took pictures, I was a little ashamed that I’d worn it out like that! I was also surprised because several people thought it was my real hair. I also realized, after I took picture, that I had a bit of a cornrow showing. Bleh!

That looks a little better but you can see the start of that darn cornrow above my ear. Fingerparting is getting me in trouble, lol.

In addition to my own mistakes, the wig also was too long for my taste. My fro does not fall like that so I took it off when I got home and got to cutting.

As you can see, I didn’t cut that much but what I did cut made a world of difference.

The next day, I tried again. Oh, and here is how much hair I left out.

I loosely braided it up over night.

I thought about trying the style I’d seen in this video because I thought it would be easier to blend. I may still try that style, but  I ended up rewetting and using Fantasia IC gel  and my Denman to define my curls in the front. I really didn’t want to use a gel and I can’t tell you the last time I’ve used one, but I was curious to see if it would work.

I’m no expert on wigs, but I’d say it turned out pretty well!

 

Back--None of that hair is mine...very pretty though!

I just used a few bobby pins to pin my hair back from the forehead area.

My edges are growing back nicely, so I pretty much left them alone instead of brushing them back. The wig and my hair ended up covering them nicely.

Overall, I give this wig 2 thumbs up. I’ll be wearing it the rest of this week and also a lot in the near future. I’ll try to update how it holds up to wear and tear and any other styles I try out with it.

{ 6 comments }

HairCoverings Review/Getting Wiggy Wid It!

by kcurly on April 8, 2011

in Braids,Hair Accessories,Wigs

I redid my plaits the other day. I thought about doing a different style, but ya know what? I’m just enjoying my plaits in an updo! Well, I did for a day or two…until I fell asleep after forgetting to wrap my hair (this never happens) and they got really frazzled looking.

So I pulled out two items that I’ve been wanting to try.

HairCoverings.com sent me a snood to try out (see my love for snoods here). Thanks so much to them! I’ve never had a long snood before so I was interested to see how I would like it.

 

The color is grey but it looks a little off in this picture.
You can adjust how tight it is around the hairline.
Your hair is not exposed, as it has an inner lining.
I liked it! Very comfortable and it swings a little when I move. Of course my plaits don’t fill up the whole thing
The only thing I can think of to improve the snood is if the lining was made of silk or satin.

Next I have a really cheapo wig that I bought  from Sam’s Beauty. It’s from the Vanessa line and it’s called Armara. The color is 1B, I believe.

Please ignore my red eye. One of my contacts attacked me the other day :(

I am enjoying the wig. It cost me about 16 dollars and the shipping was really fast.The back falls at about BSL on me. This wig sheds a lot. It’s also very shiny, so I had to put some cornstarch on it. I know it still looks shiny in the picture, but that’s mostly the flash.

Now, usually I put on a satin bonnet, followed a wig cap, and then the wig. As most of you know, wigs can be torture on your edges. I am trying to see if I can just moisturize and oil my hair  before applying the wig cap as adding in the satin bonnet can make things pretty hot. As my hair is growing (ie getting bigger), it’s also making the application of the wig more difficult.

Wearing the wig also gave me my straight hair fix. I’d been feeling like flat ironing  for the last week or so, but didn’t want to use heat just yet. Also, I have to go swimming this weekend and don’t want to spend all that time straightening just to go to the pool in a few days. So, after wearing that wig all day, I was ready to be done with straight hair…all without potential heat damage!

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Post image for Ask Kcurly-Potassium Hydroxide/Weaves/Hair Idols

Ask Kcurly-Potassium Hydroxide/Weaves/Hair Idols

by kcurly on January 15, 2011

in Ask Kcurly,Body and Mind,Healthy Hair Tips,Ingredient Information,Wigs

An email from Lolita:

Hi Kcurly,

I read your blog almost everyday.  I would like to start off by saying thank you for all of the research and information that you share with “us curlies”.  If it were not for your site, I would not have known what to do when I first went natural. You are my hair idol.

I recently bought some Uncle Funky’s Daughter Extra Butter and read the ingredient list.  This is supposed to be a natural product, and I purchase it as a moisturizer.  However, I noticed “Potassium Hydroxide” as the 12th ingredient.  I am concerned about this ingredient.  Do you know this to be “Lye or No Lye” like in relaxers and is it dangerous to the hair.  I did some research and all I found were negative things about this ingredient.  Have you heard of Uncle Funky’s Daughter and what do you think of Potassium Hydroxide in a hair care product.  Should I use this product.  I have not used it as I am afraid that it will damage my hair.

Thank you so much for all of the great informatio that you put out.  I hope that you have the time to answer my question.

Your Curly Fan,

Lolita F.

Hey girl, thanks for reading and for the email :)

The presence of sodium hydroxide (lye) and potassium hydroxide in hair products (non straightening products, I mean) often cause alarm in the natural hair community. I myself had a bit of a conniption upon discovering it in my shampoo while transitioning.

Is it damaging to the hair? Will it relax the hair? Short answer: No, it should not. Since I am was very happy to leave chemistry behind after graduating college, I will refer you to the Natural Haven for a more complete answer. She does a good job of explaining the difference between lye in a relaxer as compared to lye in say, conditioner.

As for the safety of the ingredient itself, you can check out Skin Deep for a more detailed effect as far as health is concerned.

An email from Kunbi:

hey kcurly:

My name is kunbi. I just want to start off by saying that I absolutely love your website. It has inspired me to rock my hair natural. My hair is natural now. I started my transition in 08 and I cut off the last of my perm hair this march! BUT I’ve been rocking my hair in weaves. But now I am interested in rocking it completely natural but I’m bit scared. I read about the different products to use and what not to use but I’m scared bout experimenting and I also am very self conscious about my huge forehead! Also, I dont think my hair could get like yours…..i feel like genetics and the fact that my hair is real coarse wont allow me to get to that point

Basically, what advice can you give me bout getting through this and getting to “all natural” potential!! Also do you think the weaves could be hindering my growth???

Thanks for setting up a website like this! it has been very informative!

look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks,

Kunbi

Kunbi,

Congrats on being natural! Hmm, what to address first…

The weaves hindering growth? No ma’am it won’t. Hair will grow as long as you are healthy and there is no damage to the follicle.

Now, there can be problems with retaining said growth with a weave. If you’re going to keep weaving, be sure to take care of the hair under the weave. Moisturize it as needed while the weave is in and also make sure not to wear it so long that it encourages matting and tangling.And for goodness sake, please don’t use glue. Be aware that some people experience damage to their hairline and have the appearance of bald spots. See any recent picture of Naomi Campbell as reference.

Eeek!

I know you’re scared to experiment and, trust me, I spent many a day with a disaster on my head while I was trying out my styling skills. I do think that if you stick with weaves completely, you will never get comfortable with your hair.

So, here’s my suggestion: Why not switch to wigs? You can  experiment with your hair and then, if things don’t turn out well, you can pop on your wig. Also with a wig, you can slowly ease yourself into wearing natural styles by wearing your natural hair out a few days of the week.  You may even want to choose a “natural” looking wig to help your brain adjust. Just be sure to continue good hair care practices while wearing the wig.

As for your hair being too coarse to look like mine….well, mine isn’t exactly baby soft. In fact, someone at work mentioned how soft my hair looked. I had them feel it because my hair feels very wiry most of the time. She was very surprised at how coarse it felt. It’s just the way it is.

And your hair probably won’t look like my hair because it’s your hair. It’s nice to have “hair idols” but you have to realize that at the end of the day, you’re going to have your hair and they’re going to have theirs. That was a hard lesson I had to learn. You have to learn to love what is growing out of your head. I had some hair idols whose hair I loved but once I spent some quality time with my own hair, I loved it 10 times more than I loved anyone else’s.

As for the forehead, girl, that’s the least of your worries :) Check out my post on it:

High Foreheads

Another note on foreheads…I was so worried about having my forehead exposed because it was so “big” when my hair was shorter. Now that my hair is long, I still have my forehead exposed most of the time because it’s not like I have bangs. Just like I’ve accepted my hair texture, I’ve accepted that a high forehead is not something to be ashamed of.

Everything above was said with the utmost love.

{ 2 comments }

Winning Combination…ehh…

by kcurly on March 26, 2010

in Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow (Random Hair Thoughts),Protection from Swimming and Summer Sun,Wigs

I tried my winning combination of swimming gear out again, but this time without conditioner or wetting beforehand. Risky, I know! But it’s hard to tell if the hair is getting wet when I’ve already wet it and it’s weighed down with conditioner.

As I was swimming, I could feel some water seeping in around my edges. I was convinced that my entire head was drenched, but I completed my workout anyway. In the locker room, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that only my edges got wet…and not soaking either.

I went ahead and shampooed with Ion Swimmer’s Shampoo, focusing mostly on my hairline. I think, just to be on the safe side, that I will continue to perform my old routine prior to swimming. However, I will be revising it to include my swim cap combination, minus the chin strap caps.

My swimming is about to go into high gear pretty soon. I need to get up to 1/2 mile by June. The most I’ve done is a 1/3 of a mile. Ah the torture!

In other hair news, I’ve bought a wig. I know, I know I said in this post that I was done with wigs.

I was careful in choosing one. I got the same color as my hair, which ended up being 1b. I wanted to get a “natural” looking wig and they actually had one that looked like it could be a kinky curly ‘fro. However, it was rainbow colored (meaning, various shades of brown) and they had no other colors to choose from. So I got the one that looks liked a rod set.

Considering that I never can properly do a rod set (yet!), I really enjoyed at least pretending to have one. Truthfully, I just bought this wig for when I’m letting my hair air dry or doing a treatment under it.

"Plaits" done with shea buttter and sealed with coconut oil

I pinned them back so that they would fit under the wig

Pinned in the back

Here's the wig! Texture shot for ya!

I think it looks ok. It's not that shiny. I saw a tip on NC.com to put cornstarch on it to take out some of the shine.

Under the wig, my real hair is nice and protected in braids! I decided to just use plain raw unrefined shea butter. I’ve been using a lot of products lately,but some of my best hair days have been courtesy of plain old shea butter. Granted, it takes awhile to sink in, but it’s simple, cheap, and works great!

I sealed with coconut oil and also dabbed some on my scalp. My hair is happy! I’ll probably undo them sometime in the next few days for a braidout.

Comments on the wig thus far? From my son’s tumbling teacher: “I just love your hair! I wish mine were curly like that! May I touch it?” From my best friend: “Your hair looks GREAT!” (this was from afar)

LOL! It’s funny, but kind of sad too. The tumbling teacher has seen my hair many times in its natural state and never said anything about loving it before. I almost told her that she too could have curly hair just like this! ;)

Wig tip: If the nylon doesn’t agree with your hair, try wearing a satin cap under the wig cap. That way your hair is protected from rubbing against the nylon.

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