Wigs to the rescue

So, it has been well documented that I love wigs, I wear them as often as possible. I have my favourites, I have wigs that I wear more often, or that I wear for longer periods of time. I also have wigs that may not be treated as well as they might, I store them all over my house, on the stairs, on my desk, on stands, in bags. On top of that I style my wigs, and use them around special effects make up. 

So, as much as I love my wigs, I have to be honest and admit that they sometimes need a little TLC. You might remember a while ago, a lovely friend took in one of my more problematic wigs after it got ruined on a night out. Well, that we so well, I thought I would give her a much bigger job, and this is my review of the work on the wigs! 

The lady in question is Scarlett Von Trapp Eco-Uture CLICK HERE for her Facebook page. She also makes costumes and general dress making, up-cycling and re-purposing material to make sure it is as eco-friendly as possible as well as unique.

But that isn’t what we are here to discuss, we are here to discuss wigs, before and after! I sent 3 wigs to Scarlett, 2 were well loved wigs, and another was a poor quality Ebay wig that needed attention desperately. I only have photos of the first two, which were bought from Geisha Wigs, Watermelon and Red Riding Hood :

These were (and are) 2 of my favourite wigs and therefore the ones I would reach to immediately. I started to notice that the crimp was slowly dropping out of Watermelon, as you can see in the photo, and Red Riding Hood was a slightly defective wig from the outset but I had waited so long for it to come into stock, I rolled with it. As they started to wilt, I stopped wearing them which was sad. The third wig in the batch was another crimped wig, which was unmanageable from the outset. I attempted to straighten out the ends to help but this i also didn’t work so I ended up leaving it in a bag to be forgotten. 

I happened to be discussing this with the lovely owner and woman behind Scarlett Von-Trapp who suggested that she would love to give them a make over, so off I bundled them knowing from our previous transaction, that the wigs would be in good hands. I didn’t discuss exactly what needed doing or what I wanted prior to the wigs being received as I wanted to get an honest opinion on the wigs and what would be possible so I wouldn’t be going into the transaction is misguided expectations. 

Once she confirmed receipt, we discussed the wigs, and initial thoughts on what she could do with them and what she felt would be best. We agreed for a simple re curl on Red Riding Hood, and she suggested tight curls on Watermelon. I didn’t really know what to expect but I was pretty excited to see what she would come up with. The last wig, the taro, I again gave her a pretty free reign on, I really just wanted a wearable wig.

At every point, I was kept in the loop, I got progress reports and pictures. Every step was discussed with pictures being sent so I could see what the wigs looked like. This is pretty important when you are dealing with people online, it isn’t as simple as popping to your local high street.  

As you can see, quite a transformation and I really do love the progress photos, it is interesting to see the stages of the work! I am so happy now the wigs are happily back with me, and I cannot think Scarlett Von-Trapp not only for the care and attention, but for the work that she has put into the restoration of the wigs. And there are the little touches with the packaging, it is always feels as if it is an actual present you are receiving in the post. And seeing the care in the wigs, considering that Watermelon has had a complete restyle, she has made sure that the tracts and the wig cap is still in perfect condition. And I have to say, although it looks as if it should be super heavy, it is light and very easy to wear! 

A brief interlude to appreciate the wigs as they are now :

I honestly cannot recommend this lady enough, she cares deeply for her craft, for wigs, and is amazing at restoration and restyling. There is not a safer pair of hands to place your wigs in. She does do international work, and is very responsive to messages. If you are curious about what she can do and what the charges are. At no point is there any pressure to commit to anything. And like I said earlier, she also does other work so it is worth checking out her Facebook page to see what else she can help you with 🙂

Two faced? No, I have many!

No secret, I don’t have one, I don’t have two, there are many faces that I show to the world. This really isn’t a surprise to many of you, as I have been fairly open, well, prolific in my love of make up, making up and changing the image you show the world. I have been equally vocal on my feelings toward body shaming of any type.

I have had comments directed at me over the amount of selfies I take, if you go onto my makeup page, and combine that with my IG … well it is the tip of the iceberg. I rarely take just the one and think it is perfect. In my defense, I am trying my best to capture whatever I managed to create with makeup. But you know, sometimes, like the last couple of days, I just feel fabulous and take a selfie. I have said it before and I will say it again, I often don’t recognise myself when I have put makeup on, and that is part of the reason.

There is nothing wrong with using makeup, wigs, extensions, corsets, padding, colour, anything that makes you feel good. Confidence is key, if it takes a dash of red lipstick, or a full contouring routine, it makes no difference. 

So who hasn’t seen this MEME over the last few months? It has been shared, tweeted, copied, updated more times that I care to guess at. I will be the first to admit at commenting on someone else’s heavily/badly edited picture. Okay, so to me, it didn’t look so good. So what. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We have no real control over how we are perceived by others 99% of the time – no matter how hard we try, something may go wrong – I for example, ran into one of my consultants at work, looking bedraggled. I had just been swept in and he asked if I was okay. It wasn’t until 10 mins later looking in the mirror, that I realised that my hair gave the impression I had been dragged backward through a bush on the way to work. (as much as I normally love my short hair, not being able to tie it up into a pony tail is testing at times!)

My current hair style with end of day makeup, so you might say, a little different from how i look in most of my photos. Et voila :

So this isn’t a vanity post, this isn’t a post asking you to bask in the glory that is my face. (although you are more than welcome to!)  This is just a post stating, it is okay to look how you want, wear as much paint, synthetic hair, layers of clothing. Don’t let others make you feel bad for doing it. Most of the time people won’t realise what they are saying is upsetting, it is just a thoughtless and throw away comment.

Cosplay by Beth

In a recent show, I talked about Cosplay, I love cosplay, and embrace the fact it has become more mainstream. I follow a few cosplayers on line – I love seeing the process and the costumes they come up with. There is a different level of interaction with different artists, and I approached a couple to gain some insight to their experience of cosplay and the community. One of the cosplayers I approached was Beth Yuka. Beth is a British cosplayer, the only one in this line up! Sorry guys, next time I will drag some more local artists into the love in! Beth is cute as a button, and so sweet! We met through wigs – but I really love her attention to detail and the fact that she shows the entire process. It gives you a glimpse into what it takes and the skill involved.

Beth is a really sweet person, go give her Facebook page a like for gorgeous costumes, some great art work and possibly posts dedicated to noodles. I can’t promise poetic dedications to noodles… but I am sure if you ask Beth nicely! Anyways, enough of my waffling, this is what the lovely lady herself had to say !

 

1. How did you first get started in cosplay
2. Why do you cosplay?
3. What are your favourite aspects of cosplay
4. How do you find the community
5. How do you select a costume – do you go for ease, comfort, do you consider your body type
6. Do you design and create your own costumes? And do you stay true to the source material or ‘inspired by’ designs?
7. Have you ever faced any negativity while in costume or in the wider community?
8. Have you ever faced or found yourself in an unsafe situation?
9. Tips for staying safe and having fun while in cosplay?!

1. I first got into cosplay back when I was 12 years old, I didn’t fully know about cosplay at this time but I was a textiles student and I had begun making bags and pillow cases ect and I was getting really into video games, anime and sci fi at this time too. I remember when I was around 14 planning out to dress at Princess Peach for Comic con in London but because I was 14 I wasn’t allowed to go.
2. I cosplay to become awesome characters. To leave behind boring Beth and bring to life Korra, Lady Loki, Thor or whoever I want to be. Also it gives me a pretty good reason to own a load of wigs.
3. My favourite aspects would be a majority of the community. They’re very loving and welcoming and accepting of anyone. I also love the fact that there are companies out there who have pre made costumes for people who don’t sew or build/craft like me. It means it’s available to everyone.
4. The community for the most part is great, there are a lot of people who are very supportive of you and the costumes you make/wear and will give you advice if you need it. However there is a side that’s become more apparent as cosplay ha gotten more popular and that’s the ugly side of it. There are a lot of people who will put others down for no reason and that can be really off putting for a lot of new comers but it’s all a game of just ignoring the haters (lol). You need to be tough and prepare yourself because there are people who will be dicks for no reason.

1. I don’t really have a process of selecting costumes. I mainly just fall in love with a character and want to be them so I go ahead and make that costume.
2. I sew/build all of my costumes, I’ve never bought one. I also like to stay true to the source material however I do enjoy seeing steampunk versions or armoured version and even mashups too, I’ve just never gotten around to making one.
3. I personally haven’t faced it yet but I feel it’s inevitable. At one point I think someone will start following my page and sending messages telling me I’m ugly and my skills are bad but I don’t care. I do it for me not to please them.
4. I haven’t found myself in bad situations before but I’m also a very safe and cautious person when it comes to conventions and what not.
5. Be part of a group, and make sure that the group are your friends. Whenever I’ve been in costume to a convention I have been in a group with people who care about me and help keep me safe. Also never send pictures to people over facebook, tell them that if someone wants to do business so photographing/doing a shoot then make sure you use email as it’s more professional and you can keep emails as proof just in case something bad happens. And something that every cosplayer in general should know is to always carry a bottle of water with you. If you’re in heavy armour it can get hot and in the summer it can only get worse so drink water and keep yourself hydrated. ❤

 

 

Make me younger

On last weeks show we discussed life hacks and cheats, I was challenged with putting together tips for looking younger… I cannot imagine why!

Tips on using makeup to look younger

1. Don’t use heavy makeup. I know we have all been there, convinced that we need to layer on makeup to cover imagined blemishes. But I have found that the older I get, the less I wear. It is aging to wear a lot of makeup, it settles in lines, and pores, it high lights the areas we want to avoid. Use a light foundation, and if you are worried about things like dark circles, use a light weight cream concealer and blend in well.
2. Switch to a tinted moisturiser and translucent powders to help make your skin look younger – I would suggest using something like a colour matching BB or CC cream. They contain iridescent particles that reflect the light. They are a light liquid which will hug the skin and not highlight any lines. The translucent powder applied with a brush will help set the foundation for the day and control any oil without settling anywhere you want to avoid.
3. Open up your eyes – simple things, don’t go heavy on the liner, just line your upper lid to give the impression of longer lashes, use a black mascara to help bring out whites of your eyes (no, seriously), use lighter colours in eye shadow during the day and If you must use liner on both lids, pencil half way and blend to the inside corner.
4. This may sound old fashioned but using blusher and a complimenting lip colour during the day, will help keep you looking fresh. It is the trick we all grew up with, suck in the cheeks and apply the blusher to the ball of the cheek. Use a rose colour for both lips and cheeks – the cheeks will help give you a glow, and the lips will just give a natural colour that can start going as we get older – and you have plenty of tinted lip balms through lip velvets to choose from. Keep it in the rose spectrum as this is the most natural looking colour and pick darker shades the darker your skin tone.
5. Going back to lips – lips change as we get older, not only do they loose their colour, but the shape can change. Use a lighter liner to give a better shape, and using a light colour will help reflect light and give the illusion of a fuller lip without looking drawn on. Again when you aren’t wearing lipstick, having a good balm is going to be your friend.
6. A personal tip – brows. Eye brows frame the face, so it is important to look after yours – go get them looked after professionally. It doesn’t need to be expensive, and you will reap the benefits – get your brows tinted ones a month – a good technician will match it to your hair colour to make them look as flattering and natural as possible. A nicely shaped brow will help you stay looking younger.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t still have fun with makeup – play around with colours, try different eye shadows, high light your best features. This is just a basic walk through on how to many your skin glow and not over load. One thing that I would also suggest, go to makeup counters, and see which do makeovers – I know Benefit do great ones, but off hand I can’t recommend any! Sorry! But it is a great way of exploring new looks and products. Never feel obligated to buy anything, if they offer a discount don’t fall for it unless you can use it on another day – you need time to see how the make up lasts and how you feel about it. And let us all be realistic, you can find dupes for many products, if you really like something you can try a cheaper version to see if you still like it before committing! And who doesn’t like a little pampering!

feline persuasion

So, over the past few months i have written about a number of topics ranging from my rather public wig addition, my out of control love of nylon and I have discussed makeup, how wonderful it is, done a couple of walk through for you. And I have thrown in the odd photo of my cat.

Barbeque. It is surprising that I have managed to last this long without writing about him. I have taken a little break (sorry!) which was much needed as I was suffering over the last couple of months. Not really taking a day off for 4 months will do that to a girl! 

But I am straying from the point of the post, which is my cat – whoops! I understand that not everyone likes cats, but I am assuming anyone who hates cats will have twigged before stage that this is not the article for them! 

So, a little bio I guess is in order – I bought Barbeque just over 10 years ago now. When I first met my partner, he had a cat which was sadly run over. When I moved in with him, I begged him to let me have a cat and eventually her agreed to this – on the condition that it is a male cat. He didn’t really go into it more than neutering is less invasive. So the hunt was on. 

Eventually I saw a post in the local pet shop, called the number and arranged to go pick up the only male kitten. Now – I know it sounds ironic for me to be saying this on the back of previous blog posts – so I should explain. At the we were living about the family shop in a flat with no real access to and from, near a main road. We knew we would not be granted a rescue cat.

We got to the address, and went through to the kitchen, near the door was a box with 2 very inquisitive tabby kittens, and at the other end of the kitchen was the mother and a black kitten studiously ignoring up from the top of the scratching post. One of the tabby kittens planted herself on Pete’s show and started doing her level best to tie herself onto it. Yes, both the tabby kittens were female. Our cat was the one on the scratching post. It broke my heart not to take the kitten attached to Pete’s show. I would have done, had I bought more money with me. We left with a black kitten bundled into my coat – at 10 weeks he was still tiny.

When we got home, we set everything up in the living room, there being plenty of room for him to explore and allowing us to keep an eye on him. And it was heart breaking watching him and listening to him look for his mother. 

I didn’t know what to call him, and we got him to the vet within a week … so he was registered as Bob…. not inspiring really… shortly after, I was sitting with him in the living room trying out other names, Pete was (and still is to a degree) convinced he was deaf as he refused to respond. So I rattled off names, in the hope he would acknowledge on of them (scene very similar to the movie Beethoven) and I was getting frustrated, and threaten to Barbeque him …. well the rest is history I guess?! For the record, he still does his level best to ignore Pete. Which I have pointed out, is an entirely male habit so he has only his self to blame. 

Fairly sure the cats ears were burning has he has just come back in from making sure everything is in order in the garden, and is curled up next to me. I got a Notebook for Christmas which allows me to do a lot more of my work from the comfort of my living room. The added benefit, is not only comfort, but my cat not shouting at me for being out of place. But that is for another blog post! 

I will write more on my silly old bag puss, but for now, wee will love you and leave you.

If you love leggings as much as I do, check out Wild Bangarang

And for always amazing hair – Revenge Wigs – remember to use gill15 for a 15% discount code on your order xx

New Year …. New You ?!

I hate New Year resolutions. I am not the biggest fan of Christmas and it is getting worse with ever passing year. Whereas once it was a lovely time to spend time with family, share gifts to make someone smile. Now there is a lot of pressure, both financial, pressure to find perfect gifts, family members causing additional drama, have you forgotten anyone, getting them posted in good time, work pressures…. Yeah okay, being an adult sucks. 

But there are ways of combatting this – to try and remember the good things, positive vibes, even spread some of the positivity around! 

So to keep with the season, I have seen some suggestions about using the 12 days of Christmas to post twelve things that are nice, good, happy, beautiful etc. There have been many incarnations of this – posting a super hero, 3 positive things a day, pictures of baby animals, a week of flowers etc. Not only does it prompt you to look for happy things, seeing it crop up on your news feed will also encourage others. And I feel that the one positive a day, is entirely more manageable than 3 + per day for a week. Sorry, that sounds negative but it might seem a lot for people and stop them from even joining in. And as one friend on my news feed pointed out, it can be anything, including seeing a beautiful sun set/rise.

Another thing, that I have enabled in others, is a hope/wish/cheer jar. It comes in many names, and formats. I enjoy glass painting so I have made these for friends before. On New Year’s day, you start writing out on a note, scrap, anything, something happy, positive, something that made your day, made you smile. You pop it in the jar. Now this is a long haul kinda thing, you then keep going all year. And when, like many of us, you are starting to feel the pressure of the last year, all those things you didn’t do, all those resolutions long forgotten, all those missed adventures, you open the jar and all those happy memories are brought back to you. There is nothing stopping you from looking at them throughout the year – It is a personal thing. 

Something else, that I do on my makeup page – giveaways. This has no personal gain for me, although it is a selfish act. I like to see people happy. So every so often I announce a giveaway. It mostly involves makeup (funny that) and anything else that takes my fancy – I don’t plan too far ahead as I want to make sure that the recipient can use it – so I ask for any allergies, dietary restrictions etc. There really isn’t any reason other than I want to make people happy. Often we don’t treat ourselves so having a surprise turn up in the post can make someone smile. I have been lucky enough to make friends out of this so that is another bonus. In the last giveaway, I had a couple of pairs of Wild Bangarang leggings to give away and a voucher for Revenge Wigs which went down really well. 

And something else I started this year, well 2 fold, I started writing to pen pals again. It is a lot of fun getting to know people and sending little gifts to each other. It isn’t regular, and can be a while in between but it is always nice to come home to a letter, and making time to stop and read! And there are ‘swap projects’ being organised – some local, or international where you write a short piece, state if you would prefer a local or international partner and write a short bio so your match partner is a good fit but has something to go on when writing to you. I joined the Oh Comely Magazine Perfect Strangers swap project and recently had a care package from my partner. I really enjoyed the whole process – not the bio part of it, because I always end up reading someone else’s and thinking.. WOW they put that so much better. But this particular project is great because it gives you a theme as well as guidance. I loved reading my partners letter, and her stocking was full of amazing things. It was also really nice putting together something for her. And in fact have another little package and letter ready to go out. 

What I am trying to say, is … don’t be hard on yourself, don’t pressure yourself to do or be anything. And it is nice to share and spread the love. Giving to others, even if it is just a postcard, can make you feel good 🙂 

Ps. I will be holding a give away again this week on my page – so comment here or on my page if you are in the UK and interested 🙂

 

And if you do pop over to revenge wigs, use GILL15 for 15% off your total order – Happy Shopping xxx

All tangled up!

So, I have done a couple of posts recently on caring for your wigs. Well…. I don’t always care for mine. I try my best, and what I have previously shared is best practice. But what if you have something in mind for your wig? 

I bought a long, blonde crimped with in the sales early last year, I love crimped wigs, but having naturally dark hair, I wasn’t sure what blonde would suit. This blonde for me, felt too light… so it wasn’t ever going to be in my daily rotation. As you can see from the featured image, I have had a little fun with the wig 🙂 And that I am the Queen of derp faces – I cannot take myself seriously, clearly not a model heh

I was asked by a neighbour if I could come and help at her daughter’s birthday party, and we somehow agreed that I should do it dressed as Elsa from Frozen… so the wig was transformed, which to be honest was pretty easy! 

The only thing you really need to be aware of when styling a wig like this, is making sure that the wig cap is covered. As these wigs are not really designed to be pulled up and around you can easily show the cap, and even worse (especially if you have dark hair) your own hair line!

I don’t think I made a bad Elsa, all things considered, and thought that would be the end of it. I could drag the wig out for make up, if if anyone needed an Elsa wig (or a plus size Elsa LOL).

Early last year, I got talking to Wechselberg (Wechselbalg Facebook Page – give him a like!) about Hazel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and we were both inspired by the witches, more so the concept art attached (which is another post!) and I knew exactly which witch I would tackle first. You see, I like a challenge – I had a wig I didn’t really care for, so it was the perfect excuse. 

So I set about making the wig resemble the hair of my chosen witch, including plaits and braids, tangles and general untidiness. I had no intention of ever returning her to her former … glory? So I really had a lot of fun, back combing, pinning, sewing… just treated the wig as badly as you can imagine!

 

And this is the result of my hard work! I really had a lot of fun, and it felt quite liberating treating my wig with such disregard. The worse I treated her, the better she ended up looking. It was the first time I really put together an entire outfit to complement my makeup, and it turned out rather well!

I haven’t really had any cause to use the wig again, but figured it would be beyond my capabilities to get her back to normal, and that I might need a message up wig again. Into a cupboard she went.

Until thursday, when my friend called and asked if she could borrow my ‘elsa wig’ … well, like I said earlier, I do like a challenge. I knew the basic principles, combing out gently, fabric softener, steaming, washing in warm water, and praying to the gods of good hair. 

The wig started out like this:

 

And I honestly thought I would be at it all weekend, I figured I had four days to get it to the point it could be put back into a braid and look like an ‘Elsa wig’ again. I sat down in the bathroom with my trusty backcombing brush (ironic I know) and slowly started brushing the messy dreads out from the bottom. I then started on the various braids that had been backcombed so they would stay in place and not unravel. It took 40 mins, and then I brushed out my wig. I was honestly expecting to take long, it was a lot of fluffier but washing would help that. Because I had not applied heat while restyling the wig, it bounced back so to speak. 

After it had been brushed out, I soaked the wig in a lukewarm bowl of water with wig shampoo – any mild shampoo or fabric softener works equally as well 🙂 and dried it overnight.

As you can see, she turned out pretty nicely, and is now braided up as an ‘Elsa Wig’!

(please excuse my lack of a top, I was about to do some body painting!)

While I am not for a moment suggesting that would should all back comb your wig to within an inch of it’s life, it is doable, and you can get some great results, and wigs can be rescued! 

If you have found that your wig it damaged, nearing the end of it’s life, and you are lost as to what to do, you can always speak to Scarlet von Trapp who did an amazing rescue on a wig, which really was beyond my ability! 

 

 

Revenge on thou wig!

Okay, so you have your wig. You have even worn it around the place a few times. It feels okay but you’re still not entirely sure what you are doing. That is fine, that is why I am here!

What you might feel, is that it just looks a little unnatural, no roots, a little shiney… so there are a couple of things you can do to help you feel more confident when wearing your wig!

How about adding some roots to your wig – you can do this to both natural and colourful wigs. It makes them feel more natural and can even help hide a lighter coloured wig cap. If you are unsure, I would start with eye shadow to practise. This will give you an idea of the finished result. You can then upgrade to mascara and even using sharpie pens to help make things more permanent. The first 2 can easily wash out.

Another thing that might help give you a little confidence is using hairbands, and hats. Like I said in my earlier post, it is fairly unlikely that your wig will come off. But some nervousness around this is understandable! The colder months certainly lend themselves to practising – using hair bands, bandanas and beanies among others to hold your hair in place.

 

But what happens when you take your wig off… how do you store it? Well I used to keep all my wigs on wig stands, but my collections has outgrown my ability to do this, so I split it between storing them in the bags that they came in, and wig stands. Wigs that I know I will be wearing a lot tend to stay on the stands, and the rest got in a wig bin. No matter where they are being stored, they are treated the same. I make sure that I brush through the wig once I have taken them off. It is important to start at the bottom of the wig and work back up to the roots. This will minimise any pulling and extend the life of the wig (the hair doesn’t grow back). Now if you find your wig is getting tangles and are struggling to brush through, don’t force it. There are a couple of things you can do to help.

Firstly, you can use a spray, and there are a couple of different methods – one is using a mix of a cap of fabric softener in spray bottle of water. Alternatively you can use hair detangling spray or even a specialise wig spray. I like to make sure that I am storing my wig in the best possible condition so it is ready to wear next time.

Sometimes a simple brush won’t do, or you just realise you have worn it a few too many times and want to refresh the wig. Well then it needs a little wash. Please don’t be scared of washing your wig, it is simple and painless!

Now for this, you will need a sink/washing up bowl, towel, mild shampoo/wig shampoo. You need to fill your chosen container with lukewarm water – it is important to remember that the wig is effectively made up of plastic fibres and using hot water will alter its structure. All you need to do is gentle swirl the wig in the water and let is rest – I usually leave it for around 30 mins. Once I am happy it has soaked enough, I drain the water, then rinse any soap with cold water and wrap the wig in a towel – again about 30 mins because I don’t want to press, just get any excess water from it. And after this time, it gets popped on a wig stand and left hanging over the side of the bath overnight to dry.

And I promise, your wig will hold its shape/curl/wave when being washed!

Now lastly, something people have mentioned with wigs, is that they can look really shiny, and this makes them look and feel more unnatural. Washing them can sometimes help take the shine off but if you want to do something a little quicker, and with immediate results, try a dry shampoo. All you are doing is spraying it on and finger combing it through. I would personally recommend trying out a couple of different travel size before committing as they are all different so they will vary. You are looking for a dry shampoo that has a fine spray and won’t leave a white residue. Really the same thing you would be looking for when picking it for your own hair!

I really hope that this has helped you gain a little more confidence when wearing wigs, if you have any questions or comments please drop me a line!

http://revengewigs.co.uk/ – and remember to use Gill15 for a 15% discount on your order!

Wigs, wig, EVERYWHERE

    So, as you all know, I am a wig addict and have a healthy collection. Currently Revenge Wigs are helping feed my addiction but more on that later.

Recently I have spoken to a few people who are new, and maybe nervous about wigs, so I thought I would do a quick intro which I will follow up at a later date!

Firstly, wearing your wig. Now, I do have fairly short hair, and just pop a wig cap (net) over my hair before putting my wig on. Now if you have longer hair, there are a few ways to tidy your hair up before putting on your wig, it will depend on your hair type, and how much you have. You might be able to simply put it into a low pony tail and cap. But if you have thicker hair, you might want to braid your hair first. I would use a cap over any of these as it will help keep strays under control.

 

However, if you have very thick hair and are worried, or want to make sure your hair will look good after wearing a wig, you might want to consider pin curls to keep your hair in place, which will also leave your hair in cute waves once you take them all out. If you have a shaved head, you won’t need a wig cap, but if you are worried about your wig moving, you can use the top of a ‘hold up’ stocking turned inside out to help secure your wig.

When you are first putting your wig on, it is important to make sure that you make any adjustments to the wig :

Depending on how big your head is, you can adjust the elastic fastening/straps at the back into the slots along the bottom of the cap. This will help adjust the wig to help it stay put. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right first time – just keep tweaking. I wouldn’t make it too tight as this can become uncomfortable when wearing for long periods of time.

Another thing to keep in mind when adjusting your wig is that there are ear flaps on either side of the wig, just where the clips are to the side. These needs to be positioned just in front of the ear for comfort. Might need a little moving around, but it is rare to get your wig cap in the right position first time.

Now the picture above shows a cap with clips – this isn’t standard nor does there seem to be a particular reason to have these inside. Some people do swear by them, and find they help secure the wig. Personally I don’t utilise them as I have a high hairline so I wear my wigs a little lower. If you do like them, you can easily buy them on Ebay and sew them into your wig (using the above picture for a reference).

Once the wig is on, you can secure it with pins, I have cut down, but it will depend on the wig, the heavier the wig, the more likely it is that pinning will help it feel more secure.

When you first get a wig, it is certainly worth wearing it for short periods of time to get used to it – I would pop mine on to go shopping etc while still getting used them, or wear them around the house. Once you get used to wearing wigs, the world is your oyster.

One thing to remember when wearing your wig out – it is unlikely to slip, it is unlikely to fly off your head. People are really unlikely to notice it is a wig, and 9/10 will compliment you rather than make a negative comment. Enjoy it. If people are looking at you, strut – give them a reason to look!

Now once you are used to wearing your wig, you can have a play with it – I tend to treat mine like real hair, I put them into buns, put on hair bands, plaits etc. There is nothing you can’t, in theory do with a wig. But I would recommend making sure you are covering the edges of the wig cap all the way around when styling your wig. And when styling changes the weight distribution, make sure to account for this. When I recently re styled a wig with plaits pinned to the back of my head, I made sure I added extra pins to the top of the wig to help it stay up.

Now this is just a little intro, I will go into more detail in my next post, and discuss storage and washing your wigs 🙂

Also, if you are looking to buy a new wig – head over to http://revengewigs.co.uk/ and use the discount code gill15 for a sweet 15% off your order 🙂

I am a little in love with the above wig. It needs to be mine!

Online shopping … customer… served?

So… the internet… it is a bright and beautiful thing, but can also be a dark and scary place… especially when you are shopping online. It might be one thing to buy a product locally, where you can go and speak to a human being if something goes wrong.. but emails, telephone numbers… you are never really sure if you are being treated as a person or a reference number.

I thought I would have a look at customer service from 2 different companies that I have dealt with online, one big, one small.. and what my experience has been.

Now the first is Urban Decay http://www.urbandecay.co.uk/     a large international makeup company renowned for its Naked Pallets. Well I was lucky enough to receive one of their pallets for my birthday this year. I wouldn’t have tried their products without this prompt, as I am nervous about spending so much money and not really being sure if the product will be a good match for me.

This is of course a big issue for us when buying on line, especially if it is for the first time. So when I received my pallet and tried it I was blown away… yes, they really do live up to the hype people. I then decided to give some of their eye liners a go, both stick and gel liner, as this is one product I find difficult to get right. When the gel liner arrived, it looks … well it didn’t quite look right, so I emailed their customer service to check if it was a dud, or if it would be okay. I didn’t really want to use it and find myself having negative experiences if it wasn’t in tip top condition.

I got a swift reply, apologising for the product, and asking if I would send it back to them to check, and replace as needed. This sounded good, I am usually reluctant as the postage can almost cost as much. But it was free, and I put it to one side to do when I next went to the post office. Well, a week later, I realised it had gone missing… couldn’t be found anywhere. I was panicking because I was sure they wouldn’t hold the ticket open forever and I didn’t want them waiting for something that wasn’t on its way. So I emailed and explained the situation. I was assured that they would put a hold until it was found.

Well I won’t say how long it took to find it, I had given up on ever seeing it again when one afternoon it was on the mantelpiece… my BF explained that he had found it and put it there for me. Well.. I emailed Urban Decay and apologised for everything, explaining it had finally been found etc. I received an email back again saying that it isn’t a problem and I could send it to X address. I was more than surprised considering the time that had elapsed.

I am waiting for my replacement – it isn’t like for like, as the product i had initially bought is out of stock so have negotiated a replacement which is on its way. I have to say, the quickness of replies, and the interactions i have had have galvanised me to spend more money on Urban Decay. Which is really one of the primary reasons companies, big and small should be investing in good customer service. To be perfectly honest, I would have been happy without the replacement, I wasn’t expecting it and the level of service I had received in my initial interaction had left me with a positive experience.

Now, onto a small, relatively new company that I have mentioned before, Revenge Wigs. When I first came accross them via Instagram the business was not actually live, so a lot of the emails were updating me on progress, ETA’s, some delays (I say delay, like a day or two). But I won’t go over that, you can see my review in an earlier post.

I have continued to buy from Revenge Wigs, and the level of customer service has not diminished, there is an immediate email to confirm that my order has gone through, and again once posted (next day if done on a working day). The wigs are always labelled and there is always a handwritten note inside. It is little touches like this, that make the whole experience more personal. It feels as if you actually matter to the company and are not just another sale.

As a new start up, I really was hoping that everything I had experienced when I first bought a wig would continue but actually figured it would just be an opening gambit and it would be ‘business as usual’ going forward. But Revenge Wigs are active on both IG and FB so you feel more involved, and even had a new website since launch. (the new website looks amazing, go check it out http://revengewigs.co.uk/)

I did have one stumble in my relationship, which was a wonky wig – not the fault of the business. I fully expected to have to put up and shut up. How would the business be able to confirm there is a problem with the product and not me, or my head.. without one or both of us paying out to return it. It was with a heavy heart that I contacted her. I realised that a lot of wig companies do not accept returns (for valid reasons) and I was so disappointed in the wig. How dare it be wonky. But, within 30 mins, Revenge Wigs responded with a return address and confirmed they would refund me for the wig and postage (which is over and above what I had expected). The wig was refunded, and I responded as any reasonable person would …. by buying another wig 😉

I am sorry if you were expecting a negative post, I wanted to let people know that it isn’t all doom and gloom when buying online, especially with the shopping season upon us. We are all working longer hours and finding time to shop locally isn’t always easy. (conversely I am a big promoter of shopping locally – I am just a realist)

I realise that it is hard for new businesses to compete with larger, and established companies, as Revenge Wigs have found, by relaunching their website. It is all about first impressions and honestly this is no different from window dressing on the high street. If you make your website look good, easy to access, and give people an easy way to contact you.. it will make people more confident in buying from you. And as you can see, it really doesn’t matter what size, or how old the company is…. customer service is important and it is becoming more important now we are doing most of our shopping online. Be confident when shopping online.