12 Common Wig Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Wig veterans and newbies alike can be guilty of making some mistakes. If you also have committed some wig mistakes, don’t fret. But it is worth noticing although these mistakes may seem minor, they can cause some serious damage to your hairpiece. and we've put together 12 common wig mistakes and what you can do to avoid them.

1. Buying A Wrong Size Wig 

As we all know, wearing a wig that doesn't fit does not only look unflattering, it can cause discomfort. For instance, if you need a large size wig, but opt for an average or even a petite one, you will feel tight and probably have a headache. While, if you are petite-sized and buy an average-sized wig, your wig won’t be secure steady and could slip around!

Therefore, wigs should always fit just right and snug enough that wearers feel secure without causing pain or discomfort. 

Solution: To avoid buying a wig that doesn’t quite fit right, make sure you’re familiar with your head size before purchasing by measuring it and comparing it to the size of the wig you’re interested in purchasing. Check out here for tips on how to measure your own head for a wig.

The 3 common wig sizes are: Small 21.5” Medium 22.5”, and Large 23.5”. If you’re in between sizes go up to the closest size, never go down.

If you have already bought the wrong wig, please learn How To Tighten A Wig That Is Too Big or What Do You Do If Your Wig Is Too Small? to adjust your wig to better fit your head.

2. Opting For The Improper Hair Density

Getting the hair density right can be trial and error, especially if you’re buying a wig online. Although everyone’s density preference is different, a too-thick wig can look very unnatural and a too-thin wig just won’t look right.

Solution: In order to make the right decision when it comes to density choice, please refer to a density chart like the one we’ve put together below.

3. Not Attaching It Correctly 

One worry every wig wearer has probably come across is how to attach their wigs without any damage. After all, incorrectly attaching a wig can cause a mountain of wig issues, such as fearing the wig fall off in public, being afraid of causing some damage to your natural hair and your skin.

Solution: There is a professional video about how to put on a lace front wig available for wig lovers as a reference.

4. Using Too Much Glue

Even though wig glue or adhesive is a popular way to attach wigs, particularly full lace wigs and lace frontal wigs, it may cause damage to your skin and hair, it can also damage your wigs.

Solution: Luckily, there are various options about How To keep A Wig From Slipping available.

5. Not Applying Or Removing Wig Glue Correctly

There is no doubt that not applying and not removing it correctly will all create a wealth of problems. For example, it can damage your skin, hairline, and delicate lace wigs.

Solution: If you’re a die-hard lover of wig glue and not yet ready to move to other more gentle and easy-to-use attachment methods, always use wig glues sparingly and remove the wig glue safely to avoid creating extra problems.

6. Neglecting Natural Hair

Wigs are definitely an amazing protective style. However, a common mistake people can make when wearing wigs is to neglect their natural hair underneath. Even if your hair is hidden under a wig, it doesn't mean you can forget about it.

If you have natural hair under your wig, particularly if that hair is weaker or thinning, it's extremely important to take care of your natural hair underneath to keep it healthy.

Solution: In fact, the steps to keep your natural hair under a wig healthy are easy, including taking off your wig at night, regularly washing your natural hair, keeping it moisturized, and soon. See our full guide about How To Protect Natural Hair Under A Wig in our previous blog post.

7. Not Braiding Your Hair Underneath Your Wig

The key to making sure your wig isn’t lumpy and looks natural when you wear it starts with how you prep your hair underneath. But we learn some people are not even putting braid foundations under the wig cap. They're just putting their hair back in a bun or a ponytail and are putting a wig on top of their hair.

It’s a mistake you should never make because if your hair isn’t laying completely flat beneath a wig, it will appear bumpy or like the wig is just sitting atop your head, which is the last thing you want.

Solution: Everyone needs small braids that are going straight back to maintain that flat foundation underneath the wig. Before placing a wig on your head, don’t forget to braid your hair in cornrows.

8. Over Plucking Your Hairline

Overplucking hairline eventually causes the balding of your wig is also an all-too-common mistake wig beginners frequently make. Being slightly heavy-handed with tweezing can be a costly mistake.

Solution: No one wants a sparse, patchy hairline, especially on a new wig. So, please tweeze in sections and pluck just a few hairs at a time, then look at the hairline to determine if you should keep going. Besides, don’t go over the same area too many times and go slow when plucking the hairline yourself. Finally, keep in mind to use sharp, pointed tip tweezers.

9. Over Bleaching

Over bleaching your knots Bleaching the knots on a wig has become common practice when it comes to creating a wig that looks as realistic as possible. However, too much bleaching can cause damage to the delicate lace.

When bleaching the knots on your wig, always do this carefully and keep a sharp eye on your timing to avoid over-bleaching and damaging your wig.

Solution: Make sure your bleach consistency is thick and not runny and then use a spatula to apply the bleach evenly. Remember to leave the bleach on the wig for no longer than 45 - 60 mins.

10. Cutting Off Too Much Lace

A common lace front wig mistake is cutting too much lace, which can disrupt the line of the wig. After all, you can always cut more off, but you can’t put back what you’ve already taken off!

Solution: If you’d like a lace front wig but you’re not confident in cutting the lace yourself, please have a look at pre-cut lace front wigs. Learn more about How To Cut Lace On A Lace Front Wig on our blog.

It is best to use a cuticle scissor to cut your lace in a zig-zag line rather than a straight line.

11. Over-styling Your Baby Hair

While overly styled baby hair continues to be all the rage, it’s actually best not to overdo it when wearing a wig to ensure the unit seamlessly blends with your hairline.

Solution: When you’re wearing a wig with baby hair, you have to make it look as natural as possible without doing too much. Less is more. Though it may be tempting to elaborately mold your edges, simply slicking them back with some edge control should suffice.

12. Using Too Much Heat

When it comes to human hair wigs and synthetic wigs, applying too much heat almost always leads to irreversible damage.

Solution: Make sure you have a heat-resistant synthetic wig and use hot tools as less as possible. Learn more about How To Curl Hair Without Heat in our previous blog post.

Have you ever made any of these wig mistakes? Don’t be embarrassed! Share your experience and what you learn from these mistakes with us in the comments!