How To: Transforming a Synthetic Halloween Wig

When it comes to Halloween for college students, sticking to a budget for costumes is a must. Usually we grab and make use of the things we already have in our closets, makeup collections, and hair products. In the case we do have a little room to buy something, we’ll go ahead and go the less expensive route. For Halloween wigs, usually this means a cheaply made, and obviously fake looking wig. Since the goal is to look as realistic as possible on a budget, we can conquer the same challenge for that Halloween wig.  

Some of the cheaper wigs are usually made by gluing all of the hair or sewing all of the hair without lace to a cap. Because of this, there is no indication or resemblance of a scalp underneath. The hair is usually full around the top with synthetic very sheer hair strands. Because of this is will be important to first go through the hair and brush it gently but effectively. Get out any tangles that may be there.  

The second step is for you to refer to a picture of what exactly your costumes hair calls for as fair as style, shape, and color. If you couldn’t afford or couldn’t find the colorful wig you wanted, that’s ok; it will be addressed in a later step. For now, find the look and determine what part you need, if any at all. Once this is done, you want to take some eyebrow tweezers and an eyebrow razor and begin to pluck and tweeze the hairs that you would in a normal wig. This will give the hairline and parted area a more realistic look to them. The plucking will take a while so be ready to sit for about twenty to thirty minutes doing this. Once finished go through it with your fingers, your brush, and a fine-tooth comb to make sure all loose hairs are out of the wig. 

The third step is creating the scalp look. Once you’ve gotten the hair plucked, you want to apply the wig and adjust any clips or bands. Once in place, choose a color that fits the makeup of your character’s skin. If the character is green, grab some green concealer, or any other color that will match the color of the character’s skin. This concealer color will be going on the plucked out parted area you just created. Be sure to make the line a crisp as possible by building the product on the area. Once this part is done you will be clear to style to your liking.  

Extra tip: If you couldn’t find the color hair you needed, that’s okay. Pick up a cheap can of colored hairspray and spray the hair all over before styling. When you get to the area of your part, lay a pencil down the part and spray so the line is crispy and doesn’t cover the part. You can conceal the area after the spray has dried.