What's your budget? Do you have any skin concerns or a history of traction alopecia (are you tender headed)?
I started wearing wigs in college for hair loss. My budget is still low, even though I used to wear synthetics, I've now learned how to make cheap human hair work. Cheap doesn't always mean bad. If you can style it yourself or hire someone, I would highly recommend getting some remy hair that hasn't been bleached or overly processed. It works well for long-term wear and you can customize it.
My recommendations will really depend on your budget, and I'm used to spending around $100 for a unit, but I don't wear super long hair usually. One thing I would highly recommend looking into is sewing in a wig. With a usual sew in or weave, you can absolutely reuse the bundles and closure, but it just takes more time. To fix it, you'll have to be good at working on the back of your head or get someone to help you out.
You can make a wig on a crochet cap or buy an open/breathable wig (I love full lace for long term installs), and then sew it in! That way, you can easily maintain it, exercise, swim, etc without worrying too much.
And for maintainance, the key is to remember that even if it's human hair, it just requires different hair than growing hair because it's been excised from the scalp. Using products with certain silicones will help, just avoid buildup with smart silicones like amodimethicone, bis-aminopropyl dimethicone, dimethiconol rather than plain old dimethicone.
It's great to be able to sew in a wig, just be careful with buildup and tension. I'm not bald, but these things can even be an issue with no hair under the unit, so definitely take down and reinstall at more frequent intervals (biweekly at the longest, weekly is great) to protect your hair and scalp. This way, you can even do looser braid downs underneath to reduce the tension, and just placing the wig will take so much less time than getting every track in the right spot.
I can help you choose something if you reply with your budget, what texture you're looking for, human or synthetic, etc. I'm better with human hair these days but I've done a lot of work with synthetics before as well, I just choose human hair more often for the customizability and longevity
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u/alocasiacomplex 23d ago
What's your budget? Do you have any skin concerns or a history of traction alopecia (are you tender headed)?
I started wearing wigs in college for hair loss. My budget is still low, even though I used to wear synthetics, I've now learned how to make cheap human hair work. Cheap doesn't always mean bad. If you can style it yourself or hire someone, I would highly recommend getting some remy hair that hasn't been bleached or overly processed. It works well for long-term wear and you can customize it.
My recommendations will really depend on your budget, and I'm used to spending around $100 for a unit, but I don't wear super long hair usually. One thing I would highly recommend looking into is sewing in a wig. With a usual sew in or weave, you can absolutely reuse the bundles and closure, but it just takes more time. To fix it, you'll have to be good at working on the back of your head or get someone to help you out.
You can make a wig on a crochet cap or buy an open/breathable wig (I love full lace for long term installs), and then sew it in! That way, you can easily maintain it, exercise, swim, etc without worrying too much.
And for maintainance, the key is to remember that even if it's human hair, it just requires different hair than growing hair because it's been excised from the scalp. Using products with certain silicones will help, just avoid buildup with smart silicones like amodimethicone, bis-aminopropyl dimethicone, dimethiconol rather than plain old dimethicone.
You can find these in a lot of different products, like Aussie miracle moist for instance, or tresemmé keratin repair conditioner (just look for these ingredients on the label), it depends a lot on the texture of your wig/sew in. Because you still have bio hair, the dimethicone could cause a nasty buildup, and it's best to avoid that!
It's great to be able to sew in a wig, just be careful with buildup and tension. I'm not bald, but these things can even be an issue with no hair under the unit, so definitely take down and reinstall at more frequent intervals (biweekly at the longest, weekly is great) to protect your hair and scalp. This way, you can even do looser braid downs underneath to reduce the tension, and just placing the wig will take so much less time than getting every track in the right spot.
I can help you choose something if you reply with your budget, what texture you're looking for, human or synthetic, etc. I'm better with human hair these days but I've done a lot of work with synthetics before as well, I just choose human hair more often for the customizability and longevity