How to Make a Costume Wig

If you enjoy dressing up in elaborate costumes for Halloween it’s likely you’re going to need a costume wig at one point or another. You can purchase costume wigs online or at local retail costume stores or wig shops. However, the quality isn’t always the greatest and the wigs can be pricey. Costume wigs at retail stores tend to look chintzy and feel uncomfortable while wigs from wig stores tend to have more quality but cost a lot of money. For a fraction of the cost and a little bit of time, you can make your own costume wig at home.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Styrofoam head
• Hair
• Bonding glue
• Scissors
• Styling utensils
• Wig cap
• Comb

1. Decide on a style. Before you go out and purchase anything, it’s important to decide what kind of wig you want to make. Decide on a hair type, hair color and hair length. Make a decision whether or not you want to use human or synthetic hair.

2. Gather the products. It is likely you will have to take a special trip to a beauty supply store in order to gather everything you need to make your wig. Make some calls and find out if there are any hair supply stores in your area. Pick up weft hair, a Styrofoam head, a wig cap and bonding glue.

3. Set up your work area. Once you’re ready to start working on your wig it’s time to set everything up. Put your Styrofoam head on a table and place the wig cap over the Styrofoam head. Make sure you have enough room to work and store your wig making materials.

4. Glue the hair on. Begin gluing the wefts of hair to the wig cap. You want to start at the bottom of the wig cap and work your way up. Apply the hair in sections. Be careful to not move freshly glued hair. This will cause your hair application to be uneven. If you are going to have bangs on your wig, apply those last.

5. Allow the hair to dry. Once you’ve finished gluing the hair wefts to the wig cap allow it to dry for a minimum of 2 ½ hours. Once the time is up, check the top pieces to make sure that the glue is completely dry. If it isn’t dry yet, allow it to finish drying for a couple more hours. If it is dry, proceed to Step 6.

6. Add the finishing touches. Once your wig is completely dry it’s time to touch it up. If you desire, you can trim or cut the hair. Now is the time to fix the bangs and even everything out. If you’re using human hair, you can use heated styling tools to add extra curls or to straighten the hair out. Congratulations -- you made your own wig and saved a few bucks in the process!

Tips & Warnings

• Use human hair instead of synthetic hair for a more natural looking wig. It is important to know that you will pay more for human hair.
• Do not used heated tools on synthetic hair. This will cause the hair to burn or melt.