#wig ventilating

[deesukun]

Progress of my first time adding a lacefront hairline to a wig. The overall process was a lot easier than I was expecting but it is still very tedious and time consuming.

Base wig is an Arda Le Tigre in Lilac. The hairline was made entirely out of harvested wefts from the wig itself, which is still thick even after the wefts had been removed.

[searincosplay]

I can’t stop laughing at how odd these pictures look. Anyway, over January and February I worked on hand ventilating facial hair for Hamilton. Before I graduated from college, my costume professor relented to my pestering to do a life cast of my face for me and it’s coming in handy 😂.

I used leftover fine lace scraps from the beard my brother bought for Jon Snow and human hair wefts from Sally Beauty. Of course, I had to tie the hair long then cut it short, hence the ridiculous long goatee in the corner. I was a nervous wreck trimming it all down since I had about 50 hours of work on the line.

As I’ve been starting Washington, I’ve decided I want to use facial hair for the costume because I will look like a 14 year old Washington if I don’t 😂. So I’m debating: Should I just use this goatee or get a full beard? On the one hand, it might be handy and fun to be able to quick change into Hamilton anytime, but on the other hand, it might look odd if I’m clearly wearing facial hair designed for Hamilton 🤔

[voodoosocks]

@lawrichai 💕 I’m about 10 plus hours into ventilating a wig for my migi doll /miracle doll hybrid. I love this color and can’t wait to see the finished results 😁

I’m still trying to figure out the hair line so I’ve left it blank and fill it in as I go higher up. The length is amazing I know I’m not going to want to cut it. The fiber is from : https://www.etsy.com/shop/BoutiqueLawrichai?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=615759482

[andsewingishalfthebattle]

The good news: With the addition of four custom-dyed shades of blonde fiber, my wig is finally starting to lighten up toward the color I wanted it in the first place!

The bad news: I’ve added about an additional 20% to the fiber content of this wig. It’s almost too thick to braid now.

Well, I guess that’s still better than the opposite problem. I may have to do some thinning when I actually style this thing, though...

[voodoosocks]

The first picture is about 10hrs into tiny knot tying.

The second picture is around 20hrs of work.

I’m getting the technique down to muscle memory, so things are moving along nicely. I’m above his ears 🎉😃 @lawrichai

[searincosplay]

Here are a few progress pictures of my Arya wig while I was altering the ventilation! I started with a Whitney in Cool Brown from Arda Wigs. Arda’s lacefronts are great as is for most applications, but I was going for as naturalistic of a look as possible. The original hairline is on the left. I used a ventilating needle to remove a lot of the hair that was knotted at the very front in groups of three or four hairs. I then re-ventilated it with single hairs, shaped the hairline to match Arya’s, and made the hairs less dense at the front to mimic a real hairline.

[andsewingishalfthebattle]

I can’t find the right color/length combination ANYWHERE, so I’m having to dye my own extension hair to ventilate this wig. Whyyy does nobody sell 72″ honey blonde? >.<

[andsewingishalfthebattle]

Podcast recommendations?

So this is what I spent my entire evening on:

If you’ve ever done any wig ventilating, you know what a slow, tedious, mind-numbing task it can be. I like to listen to audio dramas while working (to keep my sanity), but I need to find a free source of entertainment before I go broke buying the entire Big Finish catalog. :)

I’m sure I’m not the only one who likes to listen to something while working. If you have a favorite podcast, audiobook library, or other streaming audio entertainment, please share your recs! I especially like programs that are educational (e.g. Stuff You Missed In History Class), as well as old time radio-style shows (e.g. The Thrilling Adventure Hour).