Things You Don’t Do When Wearing a Wig

Ah, wigs. The trick to wearing a wig — as I’ve learned from experience with my childhood cancer and my current alopecia — is to not let the fact you’re wearing one make you self-conscious. If it’s long, remember to leave your hair down and enjoy your length!

If it’s short, wear it up and rock those pixies or bobs! Wigs shouldn’t dictate your mood, but they shouldn’t make you feel bad, either.

Here are some things you should never do when wearing a wig:

Brush it off. – Remember the last time you saw that one weird friend of yours where their hair was all over the place all the time and you didn’t want to be near her? Yeah. Don’t do that to your wig. Washing and brushing help, but anything beyond that can pull at the hairs and cause breakage or worse: bald patches.

Be rude about its construction.- Now, we all know there’s a broad spectrum of quality when it comes to wigs. It’s okay if yours didn’t come out quite as you wanted or, God forbid, it got a little ratty and you had to resort to last-minute fixes. But don’t worry! It happens to the best of us, and we all get swept up at the moment at some point. The key is to never blame your wig if you’ve done something wrong. If it’s really not working out, talk to your stylist about what went wrong, and don’t give up on it completely! Even when things go wrong with a human, we still love them unconditionally.

Walk in the rain.- Water is generally bad for wigs. There are some wig-safe rain protectants you can buy for your precious, or wear a hood when it’s coming down. Just don’t be that person who insists they’re “just gonna mop it up real quick” and ends up with soaking wet hair…and an expensive dry-cleaning bill to boot.

Fall asleep.- Some of us are tired of hearing or reading about this, but it’s still a no-no. If you fall asleep with your hair down and tangle it up, you might find yourself crying over lost hair the next morning.

Wear the same wig every day.- Let your wigs have their own lives. That means unless there’s a particular wig you’re loving on at the moment, rotate your wigs. Don’t treat them like some sort of prisoner, but don’t give them all your love and attention either.

Talk smack about its color.- Even if it doesn’t come out exactly right or is a few shades off from what you wanted, remember that many things can affect the color. It could be your hair, or maybe you’re not sure why it’s a little redder than expected. If this happens to you, don’t blame your wig!

Do anything terrible to it.- You know what I’m talking about here. Don’t cut off bits and pieces of your wig to make it work, don’t pull on bits that are tangled, and for the love of all things, don’t try to dye it yourself. Why? We talked about the water thing earlier. Dyeing wigs is not something you should ever do at home, even if you have some experience with dying your hair. There are chemicals in the dye that are not good for your wig! We all do it on occasion but remember to take care of your wigs.

Be a jerk.- Don’t forget about the corollary. Sometimes things happen, and you have to brush off some pieces or you might have an especially bad hair day every once in a while. But if someone asks you, “Can I help you with something?” and all you say is “NO!” then that isn’t good. Sometimes we forget what it’s like to walk a mile in another person’s shoes, so be nice and treat your wig as well as you would hope to be treated.

Don’t pull on the hair.- It’s okay to go fishing for bobby pins or clips, but only if you’re gentle about it. If you’re playing with your wig and your fingers get stuck in the hair, just take them out! We know it hurts sometimes, but better than hurting the actual hair by pulling on it!

Don’t be afraid of styling.- You don’t have to let your wig sit there and look pretty. You can style it as much as you want! It might take a little longer if it’s been styled before, but that’s okay. There are some wigs out there designed to mimic real hairstyles too, so check those out if you’ve got the time and patience.

It’s also easier to style wigs that are human hair, but synthetic wigs are still great too. Just remember to be gentle if it’s long or layered so you don’t disturb the cuticles or mess up your wig!

Don’t keep it on when you sleep.- Unless you have a special wig-safe headband, leave wigs for the daytime. They can get all tangled up just like real hair, and you might be surprised by how much it hurts to comb out some of those tangles. Plus, they might not feel so great if you have them on too long.

Be happy with your wig.- A lot of people think that wigs are a fashion statement, but they can also be a form of self-expression. Don’t let the opinions of others get you down, and if someone says something, kindly remind them that it’s your hair, not theirs! Wigs are there to help us through life when our hair just won’t cooperate.

Introduce yourself before asking questions.- This is especially true if you’re talking to someone who has a really sweet wig. You don’t need to compliment the wig right away, but it’s polite to say “hi” and wait for them to respond. Remember that there are people behind wigs, and we all have feelings too!

Don’t be scared.- Wigs aren’t so scary once you get to know them. They’re just good friends that want to help us live the best lives we can!

Don’t singe or dye your wig.- As we said before, it’s dangerous and bad for hair to use heat on a wig. Heat is what causes damage, so there’s no way you could win this fight! If you want your wig to look a different color, just buy another one and dye that.

Use care when washing.- You should be washing your wigs every once in a while if you’re wearing them often. Washing is an important part of taking care of any hair, human or synthetic. The water needs to be tepid at most and you can use a gentle shampoo (or wig cleaner, if you prefer). Then you need to let the water drain completely and let your wig dry in an “open” position.

Don’t wear it while swimming.- Not even for fun. Water is just terrible for hair, and no amount of sunscreen could keep it safe anyway. If you want to have fun in the water, just buy another wig for when you go home.

Make sure it’s clean.- This is important especially if you wear your wig often. You should be washing it every so often depending on how much you wear it and what activities you do when wearing it. Sweat might stain your wig, so just give it a quick wash with water and shampoo.