Lace front wigs are great wig types that makes wearing wigs appear a lot more natural. But, is it worth it at the expense of your natural hair?
Lace front wigs don’t cause damage to your hairline; it’s the glues and too-tight wig elastics that we use to secure our wigs that can cause damage to our hairline. To prevent this, never apply adhesives directly to your hairline; apply it on your forehead, just before your hairline, and ensure that your wig grips and elastics aren’t too tight.
With the right knowledge, this should not be an issue for you! With that being said, keep reading to find out the dos and don’ts of wearing your lace front wig so your hairline stays protected!
Mistakes To Avoid With Your Lace Frontal Wig To Protect Hairline
Lace front wigs are a great addition to the wig market because they come with so many added benefits. It is absolutely possible to follow both the trends and care for your natural hairline if you know how to take care of your wig properly.
The main mistake that women make with their lace frontals, which eventually leads to receding hairlines, is that they apply their wig glue directly to their natural hairline. This will cause your edges/ baby hairs to get pulled out every time you remove your wig. Rather apply the glue on your forehead, just before your hairline.
It is due to this that we have to approach wearing a lace front wig with caution, ensuring that we are not doing anything that could potentially cause any harm to our hairline. Here are some factors, included when wearing lace front wigs, that could potentially damage your natural hairline:
01. Incorrectly Preparing Your Natural Hair
Almost every wig wearer is completely aware of the importance of properly preparing your natural hair for wig wearing. It is important that your hair is prepared in a way that protects it from potential damage when you do choose to rock your lace front wig.
The greatest mistake that many women make when preparing their natural hair is making their hair too tight. Whether you use braiding as a method of protective styling, or you have chosen to clip your hair up, making your natural hair really tight is a huge mistake.
Tight styling beneath your wig puts pressure on the roots of your natural hair and ultimately weakens your roots. Your hairline tends to have the most fragile strands of hair with weaker roots, resulting in easier breakage and damage. Tightly pulled hair will definitely place too much pressure on your hairline and result in damage. If continued, it will definitely result in a receding hairline.
Another mistake that we make when preparing our hair for wig wearing is using a wig cap that is far too tight. A wig cap that is too small will put unnecessary pressure on your hairline, as that is the elasticated area of the wig cap. This friction with your hairline will result in breakage and hair loss.
Lastly, the final mistake that we make when preparing our hair for wig wearing is leaving hair out. The point of preparing your natural hair for wig wearing is to protect it. Leaving hair out, especially your edges that tend to be more delicate definitely leaves room for damage to your natural hair and ultimately your hairline.
02. Adhesive
When it comes to wearing a wig, especially a lace front wig, we learn the importance of adhesive. Lace on lace front wig has the most natural appearance when a really good adhesive is used to keep it in place.
However, using adhesives like wig glue and wig tape, especially the waterproof options, has to be approached with caution. The proper application and removal of wig adhesive are essential to protecting your natural hairline.
03. Applying Your Wig Adhesive
The way that you apply your wig adhesive plays a huge role in the overall health of your hairline. This is because wig adhesive is usually placed along the hairline, and if placed incorrectly, could cause some serious damage to your natural hairline.
This is why it needs to be approached with caution and understanding. Let’s take a look at a few things that you should keep in mind when applying your wig adhesive, to ensure that there is no damage to your natural hairline.
- Make sure that your natural hair is properly tucked. When preparing your hair for wig-wearing, it is important to make sure that any natural hair is properly tucked away, within your wig cap, for ultimate protection. It is important that before you apply your wig adhesive, you double-check to ensure that this is properly done to avoid damage to your natural hair and hairline.
- Prepare your skin. Using a wig skin prep spray, spray the skin on your forehead to prepare it for adhesive. Ensure that you have applied enough to protect your skin from the harsh adhesive. This will also aid in making sure that your pores are properly sealed so that the adhesive does not penetrate your pores.
- Do not put glue/tape on your hairline. Most new wig wearers tend to believe that wig glue or wig tape goes directly on your hairline. This is absolutely false. Placing wig glue/ wig tape directly on your hairline will definitely result in damage to your hairline and ultimately hair loss. The lace front wig will pull at your natural hair when you move around and apply too much pressure to your hair follicles. This tension build-up will weaken your natural hair and hairline and make it prone to breakage.
Now that we are aware of some of the essential tips for properly applying your lace front wig adhesive to avoid damage to your natural hairline, let’s get right into proper wig removal.
04. Removing Your Wig Adhesive
Wig glue and wig tape are made to have extreme hold, especially the waterproof specifications. This is great for any lace front wig wearer because the general desire is for a wig to appear as natural as possible and never fall or slide off. However, caution needs to be taken when it comes to removing an adhesive with such hold.
The key to properly removing your wig glue/wig tape is wig adhesive remover. Simply pulling your wig off or trying to use water to remove your wig adhesive might not be enough and can cause damage to your natural hairline. Wig adhesive remover is made for the easy removal of lace front wig adhesive without damage caused. Here is how you do it:
- Prepare your adhesive remover. Using a cotton pad or a cue tip, gently pour some adhesive remover onto your chosen tool.
- Begin on your forehead. Using your soaked cue tip or cotton pad, gently work at the edges of your lace front wig to loosen the glue. Dab along the front of the lace front wig until the edges begin to loosen and turn upwards.
- Do not pull at your lace front wig. While you are working at loosening the grip of your chosen adhesive, it is important that you do not pull at the wig to remove it. Lace on a lace front wig is extremely delicate and pulling at your wig to remove it will definitely damage the lace on your lace front wig, and potentially damage your natural hairline.
- Continue working at your adhesive. Using the same method that you have used to loosen the front of your lace front wig, continue around the rest of the wig. You would want to focus on all the areas that you have applied wig adhesive. This is fairly time-consuming, however, once you figure out your groove, it will go by quickly without causing any damage.
Not sure which is the best adhesive to use on your wig? Check out our article The #1 Best Glue To Use For Lace Front Wigs (And 7 Others) for all you need to know!
Final Thoughts
Lace frontal wigs are one of my favorites, so there is no need to toss yours in the fears you may be destroying your hairline. With the tips provided above, you should have no problems rocking your lace front wig while also keeping your hairline looking and feeling its best!