Tip Tuesday: Amazon Sapphire Headband Wig - Shorten And Thin It With Me!!

Hey everyone. Thank you so much for being here today. My name is Denise, I'm also known as Hey wig's sister on Instagram and Facebook. Today, I'm here to bring you a tutorial. I have promised that I would show you how to cut the cheap Amazon headband wig that I reviewed a few weeks ago. It is a wig from Sapphire wigs. I purchased this on Amazon for about 25 or so on. Prime and I actually purchased it in this color and I practiced cutting with it, cutting it and thinning it, and then I purchased a new one so that I could do a tutorial, video and show you guys what I did and the bonus is you get to See it in two colors. So if you want to know more and want to see how I cut and thin a cheap headband wig, so that maybe you can do it too then stick around and I will walk you through everything. Okay, so before we get to the tutorial, I want to just give you guys a quick look at the two colors that I have, because that sometimes is one of the hardest decisions to make. So I have this, one is the original one that I reviewed. I will link that review in the description. This one is the color mix brown, that's what it's called on Amazon and it is basically a beautiful and I've been tossing it around and playing with it. So it looks a little messy, but you guys these fibers are amazing. I mean look at there's some slight Tangles but nothing serious. I cannot believe how nice these fibers are for the price I'm just so impressed with these, but anyway so mix brown is a beautiful chocolatey medium dark brown with auburn highlights running throughout, but it's not really red. Overall, it's just a gorgeous rich brown, so pretty and then the one I bought that I'll be using today is in the color natural brown highlight and that's this one fibers feel the same So Soft, so silky so smooth and you watch me run my fingers through This - and this is pretty much out of the packaging - it's just so awesome, and so this one is much more Auburn. I would say this is a medium Auburn. Overall, it has some lighter Auburn highlights, but it is definitely more of an Auburn in general. So here they are side by side mix brown uh natural brown highlight so so pretty I'm just so excited I actually reached out to Sapphire wigs. They are on Instagram and I asked them if they would be interested in partnering with me to maybe do some more reviews of their pieces and if you guys want to see these headband wigs and some other colors leave it in the comments, because I'm gon na Take them or I'm going to send them a link to this review and if they see that there's huge interest in seeing more of these in other colors, maybe they'll send me some and if they do, I will do giveaways, because I do not need all of These headband wigs, so whatever they send me to show the color, I will give it away so leave the comments give blow up those comments, letting me know if you'd like to see more of these headband wakes in other colors. Alright, let me get set up and then we'll get started. So I'm going to give you a Lowdown of everything that I have here that I'm going to use. I will link everything that I can in the description any product. I show - and I will warn you this may be a longer video, because these tutorials I can make it shorter by speeding a lot of it up. But I get comments all the time from wig sisters that that's too hard to follow. So if you don't need as much detail as I'm going to provide just hit the if you're on a mobile device, just double tap over to the right and it will skip ahead 10 seconds for every double tap, so you don't have to watch every little bit Of this, if you do the best they can, so let me tell you the tools that we're going to use here in this tutorial. First of all, a canvas blackhead if you are going to be a wig, wearer, full-time or regularly or forever I highly invest at you, I highly invest. I highly recommend that you invest in a canvas, Blockhead they're, not super expensive. If you're going to be doing any styling modifications, it can be invaluable, you can use a regular mannequin head, you can use a foam head, you can get creative and create your own method of setting a wig on something. But the benefit to this is It's sturdy and it comes in sizes. So I got the 22 because I have a 22 inch circumference. I especially if you're going to be cutting wigs. I think finding something that's as close to your head size as possible is going to be super beneficial. It'S already a challenge to cut on a mannequin head and then have it. Look the exact same on you because wigs lay differently on whatever you're putting them on which will impact the cut the layering all of it. So getting one of these is so helpful and I have a tripod that I set it on. I'M not madly in love with this tripod. I think it works fine. It was super cheap, um, 20, some dollars, I think and um, but it works great for my videos. But let me show you one other thing I just recently purchased and I love this thing. It'S a table top tripod and the mannequin head fits right on this. I love this because it's easy to store it's fairly sturdy, not super. I mean this is a little more sturdy, but for curling hair for trimming hair for styling your hair on a mannequin head. This thing works amazing. I just set it on the table and then I can kind of do it anywhere. Then the next thing, if you're going to go this route, is you might want to purchase some t-pins? They just look like a little tee, because then you can pin your wig to the canvas head. I have a new method, though I have been using a wig grip on my canvas head. It works amazing and I don't need to use t-pends either t-pins or a wig grip to hold your wig on the head securely and then you need your tools for the doing the cutting. So I am going to be using a straight scissors, potentially a thinning, shears I'll kind of see what will work the best for me and this razor right here. Potentially, this is my number one tool that every wig wearer should have is one of these razor combed things. I talk about it in tons of videos. It is wonderful for trimming up bangs for creating little wispies and an updo invaluable. I use it all the time. A rat tail comb. It is helpful to have the rat tail section to section out your hair, some sort of way to clip the hair up. So I just have these alligator clips that I got from launch when I purchased a couple of launch heat tools or just any kind of a clip claw Clips. Whatever will work for you any kind of a clip. I really like these because they're easy to slide in, but you'll want some way to section out the hair and then your wide tooth comb um and pretty much. I think that's it for the tools that you'll need to start working on it it'll be quite far away from you guys in the very beginning. Until I get some of this length handle, then I can move closer to the camera. I forgot to tell you what wig Ivan though this is Ellen, Villa desire in the color sandy blonde rooted. It is a short fully hand-tied cap. I love love, love this all right. So the very first thing you want to comb out your wig very well. You don't want any Tangles now this is brand new and it's just gorgeous. I mean oh, my gosh. You guys look at how just like butter, it's so nice, so you want to make sure you've combed out any tangles now, because this has so much hair. I mean it's super super thick and long, I'm gon na start by shortening the link make sure that your block is straight. That'S the one thing I struggle with with this particular setup. Is this likes to tilt and no matter how much I tighten it doesn't like to stay straight. So that's my caution. I I mean I'm happy. I have this, but I constantly have to be reassessing. If this is moved, you can see it shifts just a little bit that doesn't happen on the tabletop one. I just really don't have anywhere to film. With that tabletop you're new to this I really recommend you start out with a wavy or curly piece. If you're going to be thinning and cutting a lot more forgiving than a straight style, you're really going to see unevenness and choppiness in a straight style in a way you will not see in a wavy and a curly piece. So I need to give you that caution, because when I practice on the original that was one thing I noticed as it was just tilted and my cut was kind of ink okay, I turned up the lighting a little bit because I'm so far away, it might Seem really bright, but I really want you to be able to see what I'm doing I'll adjust that as I get closer so now. What I'm going to do is I'm going to separate the hair into two. I said I'm trying to get to a manageable link. Then I'll start really managing layers, and this is so long. I think it'll give you a little bit of like you can cut a little bit, maybe not as much as you are hoping to cut off, but just to get a feel for what you're doing. That'S the benefit of this being so super long. So I'm just going to gather the hair and I'm just going to chop off, probably about right here and I'm just gon na hack off the length just like when people donate their hair uh for like Locks of Love. They put it in a ponytail and they hack that off. That'S what I'm doing right here. So that's the length that I cut off initially and that's where we're at with it and then I'm just going to drop this other side down and I'm just going to try the best that I can to match up. So I don't have as much cleanup to do so. What I'm going to do - and I can see it's a little angled, but that's okay. So what I'm going to do here is I'm actually just going to take little sections of this part and I'm going to take a little bit of my original so that I can have a template for where I need to cut and then that way, so I'll. Just kind of go like this, I don't know if you can see me, I'm holding it and I've got some of the shorter pieces in here so that I can just cut that link similar just like that, you don't have to do it this way. If you don't mind having some extra cleanup to get it all, even just get it to a manageable length. That'S really the goal of this first step here, something like that. It'S not perfect, but it gets me closer to where I need to be, and some of these front hairs didn't get in with the back. So I'm just going to turn it look at see how this front section. I don't know if you can see that it's longer right here, I'm just going to turn the mannequin head and I'm just going to get some of that out of there, and so that's where we're at see how much like I can move a lot closer now To you guys, because I've got it a more manageable length. This may not be my final length, but it's where I'm starting caution, please put the wig on your head and determine where to start cutting, don't make an assumption with it on the mannequin head. It is not going to lay on you the same, no matter how close that canvas head is to your head. It'S not going to lay the same on you. I recommend that you start with it on your head and then maybe cut a little piece off. So maybe have it on your head, look to see where you want it cut that little piece to get it there and then use that piece as the template for the room. Okay. Now, depending on how you're going to wear this wig, that actually may be all you want to do if you're just going to put it in messy updos and you're never going to see these ends really because they're going to be all swirled up in the messy Updo, maybe all you need to do is cut off the length, so I recommend once you get that initial length off. You put it on your head and you see where you're at always go slow, always pause and assess, because you can't undo anything that you do so. That might be my recommendation because, honestly, I think this doesn't look too bad. I just think it will look weird in a ponytail, so if you're going to be wearing ponytails a lot, then I recommend once you get some Cuts done you take it off, you put it up in a ponytail, however, you want to wear it and then you See how that ponytail lays sometimes when you cut across, like I just did you get this really weird bluntness to the end, and it doesn't look great in a ponytail, so that is think about how you're going to wear this. That will help to dictate what you're going to do, how you're going to manage what you're you know what you need to do, and after every little thing that you do make sure you comb through it now we're ready to move on to the next step. So what I want to do is I want to take a little bit of the bulk out of this. To me, this is just really thick and heavy, and it is hard to put into an updo because of that, even though it's going to be much easier when it's shorter, I still want a little bit less bulk in here. So that's our next one. What you want to do is you want to get into the wig and start pulling up the hair and leave. So what I'm doing is I'm looking at these wefts wefted. Wigs are great for this they're, so much easier than hand-tied caps, because you can work on individual wefts, so I'm taking the hair, and this is where a rat tail comb will come in handy. This is so much hair. It can be a real challenge to kind of separate it out. So I'm going through and I have decided this is the weft I want to work on and I'm just pulling out, I'm pulling up the hair and making sure all the hair for that weft is down and everything above it is up and I'm just going to Clip it I'm just going to use it all right. So now we've got just this section down here now. This is also a technique that you would use. If you want to cut it in layers, you don't want to do a cut straight across or you feel the need to even up at that point. What you're going to do is you're going to separate it out and then start evening up I'll show you that in a little bit I want to thin it before I even it up. So what do we do now? So I pulled that out and now I've still got wefts underneath this isn't the bottom left and now what I want to do is I just want to cut some of the hair from just this weft. Let me see if I can show you what I mean: lift this camera just slightly. So what I have here is a weft. Do you see what I mean? There'S a weft underneath this one's on that one. I want to just trim off the hair up at the cat and that's going to take this little bit out. That will help to start debulking it. So I'm just going to go all the way up to the left, I'm not going to cut into the cap and I'm just going to cut this hair off, be cautious not to cut into the cap. There you go and now I've cut all the way up. Can you see that now the reason why I'm doing it this way is because I don't want any of that hair left to add just the tiniest bit of bulk in that I'm just going to go across now, you don't have to cut all the hair on This one weft on some of the more expensive ready to wear wigs like John Renault and Estetica and Renee of Paris and all of those wigs you might do every other. So this is one long weft, but sometimes that knows the wefts are small and there's spit. There'S like the small weft they're in a line but they're individual West, you could go every other. Whatever will allow you to get closer to your goal without doing too much that you can't get back makes sense, but on this one, because it has so much hair. I am very comfortable cutting this entire weft, the hair, not the weft. If I cut the weft I go, I damage the cap. I would pause, assess that's, not very much hair. I really didn't cut that much off. It'S not likely enough to really thin this wig, but that's a start now. What I would do is, I would drop the hair down. Thank you, I'm having a hot flash you guys, I'm gon na need to pause this video, I'm gon na stand in front of a fan. That is why I wore short hair today, all right so we're going to comb this out now, there's a few little tangles in this, because it's just so long and when I gather it all up, but not bad, you guys, I mean really not bad. This was such a good find, I'm just thrilled to have found such a budget-friendly headband wig, okay. So now that I would want to go back in so now. What I want to do is I want to pull that weft Above It Down and then the weft above that I don't want to cut the next weft up. I want to skip a left and then go back to the next one and then I'll cut there. You don't want to cut two wefts in a row because that can create a big gap, especially in a cheap wig like this. The wefting is really far apart compared to ready to wear wigs. You don't want to create a gap like that. So that's the next step, pull it down comb it out, go two lefts above or even three wefts above and cut again, if you feel you need to do more thinning, so that is the safest way to thin away. Okay, we're getting there you guys! Now! Let'S talk about evening out the length and then I'm going to do one last little thinning technique once I've got it where I want it to be as far as length, so I've separated out the hair because it's the easiest way to make sure that it's even This is where I tell you guys make sure your mannequin head is straight that it's not cocked to the side or a little bit uneven, because that will result in an uneven cut. It'S also where I tell you stand straight onto the wig, so you see what you're doing I'm not going to be able to do that. So please show me some Grace if this is a little uneven, it's just because I'm to the side and I'm not skilled enough, a skilled hairdresser would be able to do that. I am not, but it's still going to give you a sense of maybe the a technique to use again. I want to say this again: I am not skilled, I'm not a professional. This is how I am doing this based on my abilities. There'S lots of other ways to do these things. I urge you to watch other tutorials get advice from others, I'm just giving you a place to start, and I'm also just trying to encourage you. You can do this. If I can do this, you can do this. I know that's such an overused cliche, but it just is so true, I'm not any better than you. I'M probably a lot worse than most of you guys at this kind of thing and I'm braving it and I'm plowing in because I want to be a successful, wig wearer and I want to be a little self-sufficient at it. So that's why I want to do these and what I want to show you all right, so we're going to start and again make sure you've, combed and now that I'm straightening it out. I want to use a not a wide tooth comb. I want to use a more narrow comb because I want to make sure it's very even and there's no chance that there's Tangles. Typically, you don't use Combs like this on especially heat friendly synthetic, because it's a lot of friction on the wave, but for just the styling that we're doing today. I think that's okay! So now what I'm going to do is I'm just going to start with this section right here and this hair is going to confuse me. So let me get it out of the way all right so now what I'm going to do is I'm just going to take a section and I'm so uncoordinated. I know a lot of good hair stylists can like hold the comb and hold their scissors, and I can't do that so and now I'm just going to pull it down, and I'm gon na just create myself a template uh that I can follow. Now, when I go throughout the whole wig, so I'm just going to go like this and I'm just going to cut just a nice straight cut right at my fingertips. So now I can use that for the next section. So I'll go to the next section. I'Ll comb through it I'll pull it down I'll see my shorter. Can you kind of see this is my template right here? It'S shorter than this piece right here, so I'm going to have them both in my finger. I really hope you guys can see what I'm doing and now I'm just gon na go across and I'm going to even them up. I'M not super good at this, but that's the idea. So then, I'm going to continue to do that all the way across the bottom I'll grab the next section and a little bit of that second section. I just cut because I need it as my guide foreign and so I'm going to pull it through and then I'm just going to cut and so on and so forth, and I'm going to do that all the way across the bottom and then I'll lay down The next layer I'll show you that when I get there, thank you foreign foreign section, and then I laid down a few more left, and now I'm gon na go with the next section. You can use as thick of sections as you want to. You can skip this part all together. Like I said in the beginning, it depends on how you're going to wear your wig. How important this part of it is all you're ever going to do is messy updo. You really probably don't need to go to this. To this extent of getting it evened out, maybe you start with what I first showed you where for not in an updo for a while and then maybe you decide, you want to wear it down or in a ponytail and then you come back in and you Even it out, so I'm just letting you know that there's lots of ways to do this. This is just for me what I believe to be the safest way to teach you if you don't know what you're doing so now I lay it down the next layer, and now I've got to find my shorter pieces on the bottom. So when I pull this out foreign pieces on the underside, because that's where I cut so I'm just gon na have to pull this through and trim it up even with those shorter pieces just like I just did, and then I'll have my new template that I Can use when I go all the way across couple of warnings for you guys if you have really sharp scissors, be really careful when you're new at this? It is super easy to cut your fingers. I have done that many times, so it may be smarter. Instead of pulling it all the way down like that, maybe leave yourself more room, it'll be in less precise likely, but you won't be as close to your fingers and - and I would stop before you get to the very end because hold on my phone is ringing. I got to turn it off um because it's easy to cut into the palm of your hand. You just don't have the sense of it like you will get as you get more experience. So just be really careful. I'Ve cut my fingers so many times, because I've been going too fast, not paying enough attention so now I'll go through and I'll do exactly what I just showed you on this layer and so on which sides on you guys, because I'm going to show you one Last thing, but I want to tell you that I did take the top layer down and I followed the same technique that I've been following this whole time time I just didn't film it. I got ta straight on my mannequin head. I'Ve been having to do this. Quite frequently, to make sure it's straight, I've been um. I figured this video is so long, I'm sure already, because you know I've been doing a lot, so you didn't need to see me do that top layer so now for you, this might be good enough. I think the ends look very good they're, very straight um. You might just leave it like this. I want to soften up these ends just a little bit more, so I'm just going to go in with just a little bit of Point cutting and um texturize. Those ends just a little bit, so I'm just gon na demonstrate uh. I I'm not gon na. Do it in a really systematic matter because manner, because I'm not great at this - this is the one thing I'm not very good at well, I'm not very good at any of this and just practicing and learning, but this is the thing that I think can help, But I'm sure I need technique Improvement, but so basically you're just going to take some of the hair and then you're, just gon na sort of hold it out and then you're just gon na kind of point cut into it with the point of the scissors. So you're not doing a blood cut, you're, just sort of Point cutting in be very cautious not to cut into your hand and then so just kind of go through like that. So you know start on one side and then work your way around. I probably should have started in the back, but um so that you don't over cut an area, but I would just take some of it and then I would sort of hold it out now. The thing I've seen professionals do this really close to their fingers. I do not recommend that until you get good at this, I've cut my fingers doing this more times than I can count. So it's not good like I said it's not going to be as precise, but that's okay, I'm just going to hold it and I'm just going to go in and sort of just point cut. And then I sort of look to see how it looks and if it looks nice and texturized like I'm looking for, then I consider that a success and I'm done with that section. So then I'll just go in to another section and I'm not layering out this hair. You certainly could do that as well, and I'm just going to hold it again and I'm going to point cut into it. What bearing in mind my finger back here, that's folded in so I don't like go in and cut my knuckle, see that little texturized end and then just all the way throughout the whole thing, so I'm not really cutting any meaningful length off of it. I'M just sort of texturizing those ends, so this one I haven't cut. Yet it's not perfectly blunt, but it's you know a little bit more, even so, I'm just going to go in and now it's a little bit more texturized and so on and so forth. Throughout the whole piece, just try to be mindful of where you've already been. You could go through this and comb it. You know each section as you grab it like. I showed you on the other ones, a little more texturized and so on and so forth. All right, so I finished that final kind of touch up is just to go through and look at the ends and look and see if there's any significant pieces that you feel like you missed, for example, this piece right here. I feel it's just a little bit too long, so I'm just going to go in and I'm gon na more point cut just up into it and try to remove any of those longer pieces that I feel like. Maybe I just didn't I missed now. If you wanted layers in this, which I'm not going to show in this video - I'm not good at that, but what you could do is you could take some of the hair um comb it and kind of pull it out at an angle. I can't even barely demonstrate it and then kind of cut up at an angle which will then, when you drop it down, will create a layer. I'M not good at that. Another thing that you could do - and I will do this sometimes just to give it a little bit of an added texturizing - is I'll go through with my scissors and I'll just sort of we see. I can't know if I can demonstrate it from this side. Let me go over here is I'll, go through and I'll just kind of I'll I'll sort of Shear it down like this, I'm not really cutting I'm just sort of shearing down on it. This is a dangerous thing to do if you're not good with Scissors, because you could accidentally snip it and then you'll cut a huge chunk off of it um. So I think, for now this is probably good enough for those of you watching this video, who don't have a lot of experience with this. I think this is something what I've shown you today. I really think you can do this, there's some more advanced techniques that I am not really good at good at that you can um aspire to, but for now I really think that this is going to get you at least started. So, let's summarize this. First of all, make sure you have sharp scissors, it's so hard to work with these wigs. If your scissors are dull, synthetic fibers will dull your scissors very fast, so don't spend eighty dollars on a pair of shears. You don't need the high-end super expensive scissors for synthetic wigs. I will link the one I have it's working. Just fine just expect that, after a couple of maybe two three times you might find they're starting to get dull. That is why professional hair stylists won't use their super 100. 150. I don't even know how much they are. I know they're very expensive shears on synthetic wigs because it just dulls them and you don't necessarily want to do that with nice scissors. But if you have, if you just want to grab your scissors, that you have in the junk drawer that you use to cut up pieces of paper and things like that, I wouldn't recommend it. I just think you need sharp scissors to have the best chance of success. It will go a lot faster and you won't Fray those ends with a dull scissors. So that's it you guys. I hope this will get. You started with if you purchase one of these and you've been waiting for this video. I hope this was everything that you would hope for and that it really helped me know. If you have any questions, please tell me how this was. Was this helpful? What could I do better in a video like this? I am very inexperienced with these in-depth tutorial videos. I want them to be as good as possible for you guys. I need your feedback, though, if I could improve in some way. Please tell me how that is so that I make sure you're getting everything you need from the videos that I put out for you. Thank you. So much for watching everything I use today is linked in the description. I'Ll talk to you guys soon. Foreign