Your First Wig: What to Buy, What to Skip

Your First Wig: What to Buy, What to Skip

Your first wig is mostly a learning wig. You'll learn how it sits on your head, how long it takes to put on, what colour actually suits you, and how much fuss you're willing to put up with on a Tuesday morning. Buy for that, not for the most beautiful photo on the page.

Here's what we'd tell a friend.

Buy: short to shoulder length

Short wigs are lighter, cooler, tangle less, and are far more forgiving if the fit isn't perfect. A long 24-inch wig looks stunning in a photo and then catches on your bag strap, tangles at the nape, and gets heavy by mid-afternoon. Start at chin to shoulder length. You can always go longer on wig number two.

Buy: synthetic fibre

Synthetic wigs come out of the wash with their style already in. Curls come back on their own; nothing needs a hot tool. For a first wig, that is exactly what you want. They also cost a fraction of human hair, so a mistake is cheap.

Human hair is wonderful, but it behaves like your own hair: it needs washing, drying and styling every time. It makes sense once you know you'll wear a wig most days. Our Synthetic vs Human Hair guide goes into the trade-offs.

Buy: no lace, no glue

A lace front gives the most natural hairline, but it asks something of you: tinting the lace, laying the edges, and sometimes adhesive. That's a skill you can learn later. For a first wig, choose one that just pulls on:

Not sure what lace front or wefted actually mean? Cap Construction Explained covers it in five minutes.

Buy: a colour close to your own, or one shade lighter

A colour near your natural shade looks like you on day one. If you want a change, go slightly lighter rather than darker: very dark wigs, especially jet black, can look harsh against lighter skin and show the cap more. Soft brown, dark brown and off-black (often labelled 1B) are the safest starting points. Save platinum, pink and ombré for wig two.

Buy: a wig cap

It's the cheapest thing in your order and makes the biggest difference. A cap holds your own hair flat (or protects a bare scalp), stops the wig sliding, and keeps it cleaner. Our Stretch Mesh Wig Cap is $9.99.

Skip, for now

  • Glue and adhesive. You don't need it for a first wig, and it's hard on sensitive skin. A well-fitted wig on a cap stays put.
  • Very long lace fronts. Two skills at once (length and lace) is a lot. Pick one.
  • Expensive human hair as a first buy. Learn what you like on a $30 to $60 wig first.
  • Heat tools on synthetic fibre. Unless the product page says it's heat-friendly, a straightener or hot dryer can melt it.
  • Buying the night before you need it. Give yourself time to get used to it, and to finish it to your face. Our wigs ship from our supplier and usually take two to four weeks to arrive, so order early.

Budget: what a first wig should cost

About $30 to $60 buys a good synthetic first wig. Add $10 for a cap. That's enough to learn what you like without a big regret if it isn't quite right. Everything in our Under $40 collection sits in that range.

Still have most of your hair?

If your hair is thinning rather than gone, you may not need a full wig yet. A clip-in volume piece adds thickness at the crown and comes off in seconds. See the Invisible Volume Piece, $34.99.

Shopping for a man?

Same rules: short, synthetic, pull-on. The Men's Short Crop Wig ($28.99) and Men's Short Curly Wig ($35.99) are both good places to start.

When it arrives

It won't look like the photo straight out of the bag. No wig does. Read Why Your Wig Doesn't Look Like the Photo for the three steps that close the gap.

The short version

Short. Synthetic. No lace, no glue. A colour near your own. A wig cap. Order early. Or skip the deciding and start with our Start Here collection: five styles picked for exactly this.

Questions? Ask us anything. We'll give you a straight answer.

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