Howl’s wig

This weekend I cut and styled our Howl wig! It was a really simple cut. All I did was add bangs. I put in a little bit of product to help make the wig jut a tad piecey. This wig is going to be in the cosplayer’s face all day because Howl’s bangs are so long, so adding a little bit of product to the bangs makes them softer and easier to keep out of the eyes. Just a gentle reminder to everyone, I do take commissions on cutting and styling wigs for cosplay. 😀

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Finished Sophie! Set to Debut at Anime Boston.

The final touch to my Sophie (Howl’s Moving Castle) costume, the wig, is now complete! I am ready for Anime Boston! I’ve got my ticket, my costume and my cosplay group. Now, I wait.

I am really happy with how the wig turned out. I started with a plain, just-off-the-shoulder length silver wig from ebay. This is a really thick wig, and I am very happy with my purchase.

To start off the styling, I first cut in bangs in two layers; the bottom layer of bangs is a little shorter than the top layer, because I wanted to give them a little bit of volume and life. Sophie’s bangs are all over the place in the movie. Epic hair. I knew that I didn’t want to use a lot of styling product in this wig, because I want the hair to move a little, so I spent more time on the cut. Most of my time was spent thinning. I thinned each layer of bangs separately, holding my shears vertical, and cutting out small bits of fiber at a time.

Then I cut the sides and back of the wig. Sophie got her short hair when a fire demon burned off her long braid. I would imagine that this left her hair slightly uneven. Now, I don’t want to look totally disheveled in my costume, but I do think that a shorter-in-the-back cut is a great way to interpret Sophie’s hair. I didn’t want to get too modern, so I only stacked the back a little bit. The sides are left long, and taper very slightly to the shorter back. The result is a very cute little bob. Then, once again, I spent a lot of time thinning the bottom of the wig so it wouldn’t look so perfect. It was burned off in the story after all.

Finally, I curled the bangs just a touch to give them more volume, and sprayed the wig with a lusterizer to make it shiny and to prevent tangles. Then I used a TINY bit of manipulating gel to make the ends stay together nicer.

Because there wasn’t any intense styling involved in this wig, and because it is short, I am not afraid to wear this thing outside on a windy day. Bring it on, nature! I believe that this wig is simple enough to handle it. 

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How to Style a Plausible Officer Jenny Wig

I started with a wig I got off eBay that was the PERFECT color. (Looks a little too blue in these photos though) It is mid-back length with super long bangs. First, twist the bangs into three sections and apply light heat with a hair dryer for 5 seconds at a time at the roots to train the fibers to separate this way

once the sections are molded, cut the bangs to the desired length.

using combined heat and got 2b glued hair gel, mold the bangs into chunky, spiky sections. Additional cutting to shape bangs may be needed.

Now cut the back of the wig into three sections of subtle, LONG LAYERS. Keep it soft and wispy. And imagine the spikes you’re going to make as you cut.

Another view of the cut.

Working from the top down, wrap chunks of hair around a drinking glass and apply heat to curl slightly. Then, holding the hair into ring-shapes, spray each spike with got 2b glued BLASTING SPRAY to get the curls to stay in the air.

work you’re way down the rest of the wig, curling one spike at a time, and finishing off the ends with got 2b glued gel/cream.

Finished!

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How to add spikes and volume to a wig.

This tutorial used to be located on facebook, with a link on the Tutorials page leading to it, but because of Facebook’s ever-changing privacy policy, some guests may have trouble viewing the tutorial on facebook, so I decided to move it here in post form. The link on the tutorials page will now lead to this post.

This tutorial will show you how to add moderate to heavy volume to a wig. It is also a helpful method for spiking short wigs.

Items that you need: a foam wig head, scissors, a wig, a toothpick, string and sewing pins. Styling gel and hairspray are optional but recommended.

stick the tooth pick through the bottom of the wig so that it sits in the middle of the opening.

pin your wig to the foam wig head. Pin around the base of the wig and in a few spots around the crown

Cut the wig into the desired style, leaving the hair long around the nape.

Also, it is a good idea to leave the wig a little longer than you would like throughout, because once spiked, the style may look shorter than you expected.

tie a string to the toothpick that you stuch through the bottom.

tie the wig hanging upside down in the shower.

heat a sauce pan of water to 180 – 185 degrees Fahrenheit and bring it into the bathroom with a big cup. Dont worry, the wig won’t melt.

use the cup to pour hot water over every part of the wig that you want to add volume too. Get it soaking wet. Now let dry for 7 or 8 hours.

Flip right-side up. Do not attempt to brush wig until it is completely dry. Use hair spray and spiking gel to hold style.

Shorter haircuts are easier to spike. For dramatic spiking, try applying hair glue while wig is upside down. Elmer’s glue, and got 2b Glued are good products to try.

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