How To Transform A Drag Queen Wig

Hey everyone right, okay, so as promised, I am here to help you with little tips and tricks on wigs and what I do as the wig mistress to help all the queens and performers out there right. So I have been given this really dreaded. Tatty wig. I won't mention who gave it to me, but didn't say their name. Did I so yeah so this week? Okay, it it even feels rough okay, it feels very dry. I don't know how it was styled before, but it just feels slightly odd right. So before you get started on a wig like this, I do apologize if I keep on looking over there, but I've got a view cam thing, so I can see what I'm doing, but I shouldn't really be doing that. I can't even get my fingers tourette. It'S so matted, so the first thing to do before you do anything is to give it a brush through okay. So let me get my brush one sake boom. I do like a paddle brush. Okay. Now, when you, when you, when you're gon na comb this through okay, so just literally hold the hair and start from the bottom, Oh sweetheart, what have you done if you've had sex in this wig? I won't be happy. Well, maybe I will be very happy. So just start from the bottom: if you literally tug on it, you may rip the lace, so be gentle with her you, okay, one week later, she is done. Oh my God, my thumb is killing me. She was matters something chronic right, so she's old, rostro she's still very very dry now the brief that I've been given is this, so this big volumize hair just isn't gon na work. For that look, as I said, she is dry and I don't think it's been washed well, I think since she's had her so while it's nice weather outside I'm going to wash her I'm going to condition her and hang around the line. Now let me talk about what to use when you're there's this such a myth about this. So I've been hairdressing 23 years this year and I it's not about what you use it's about, how you use it so there's that people are saying that you need to use washing up. Oh sorry, you need to use washing powder and I've no fabric, conditioner and all that kind of stuff. But I'm gon na be honest, shampoo, it foams up. So it's going to remove the the debris and the the dust and the dirt and the hairspray it's gon na, remove all that so but don't scrub your wig, that's the biggest thing. I'Ve actually known a queen to put their wig in the washing machine. What the so don't do that what I would suggest is use a mild shampoo work on a downward motion where the hair Falls. Don'T don't go over, I'm crazy, crazy because you're just going to mass it, no matter if you use washing powder or what it is. If you're doing that with wet fiber hair, it's going to matter so just use a cheap shampoo, just make sure it's gentle and then and then condition it now. The conditioner is in good condition the way it does human hair, but it does make it softer. So as long as you keep on getting that conditioner out of the hair in a downward motion when she's home and she's under the shower you'll be fine and then out to dry, never comb a wig well synthetic way. That'S my dog! Never comb a synthetic wig or brush it when it's wet, because, oh my god, you will just you will create maths, you will not get out, don't be, don't even bother. So hang her out to dry or hang her in your bathroom. Let her dry completely! Then work with her once she's dry, guys, I'm gon na get washing because I've got another five wigs. I need to get out today. So yeah. I shall see you when she's all dry see you soon bye, bye, bye, hey right, okay, so I am back and she is feeling so much softer guys. Oh yes, like a big cloud so, like I said I shampooed and conditioned her very gently, walk working in a downward motion, so I didn't kind of like mess it up now they decide to drill outside. So please ignore the drilling, but it's too hot to have the door shut so right, so she was hung out on the line. We'Ve got great weather here in the UK, so didn't tell them to dry. So the next step is to get the style that we are looking for. We are going to need to steam her and that's what I wanted to talk to you about as well, so steaming with hair dressing. You'Ve got a hair dryer, you got a brush with wig work, you've got a steam room, you've got a brush, okay same technique, different tools and usually with hairdressing. You would go into a hot cross bun, they call it. So it's like right down the center. So Center piloting right down to the nape and then ear to ear with wig work, I'd recommend going into a tree, so you've got ear to ear and then none in the back sealed you're going to be working the whole back section as a whole. Okay, so pretend she has an ear, use your finger and just go down just pretend that nut isn't there, and you will move that out of the way so I've got these clamps are really good. Okay, just clamp her. There just clamp her out of the way there. Okay and then you go to the next one. Pretenders and their pretenders never turn, there's an ear and plump that out the way done right. So what you're left with ashes will caught up in the thing and everything now is the whole back area. Okay, so the front area is there, so your face would be here, that's taken out side to side and then you've got the whole back area. Okay. So next step is plug the steamer in okay, so I've got this baby. I got this from a charity shop for ten pounds, which is really good, takes a couple of minutes rotate up. But what I need you to do, you can use a handheld steamer as well. Don'T feel that you've got to go out and buy this massive like industrial thing and she's pinned all the way around, but you can it. It doesn't have to be a perfect section. It'S not like you're doing highlights or anything like that, so just take out an area, let's call it an area rather than a section, alright guys so clip that out the way trying to clip it into the the base cap. If you can and then just quickly like yesterday, I've given it away it's not the same day, it's not the same day, it's the day after a whole, I'm in trouble! Now, that's to me right! Oh, it is busy right. Let'S T me to take pice on that starts to behave like regular, say let the da da da okay so always have the hair in between the hair and the brush in the steamer yeah and work down what down you'll start seeing. It goes straight, not cold. If you go through a knot and then you let go, it will bounce my captain, so calm occur a curly frizzy thing. Oh my powers, disorder stay ready, nice and straight when she drives she'll, be beautiful when she's, wet and stration of the severe unfinished. You wouldn't be really happy with them, but just to allow it to dry because it changes completely okay, so I am back she's. All dried, like I said, really nice with her outside. I just put her out like this and she's drive really quickly. So let's talk about ponytail, okay, so and there's a couple of little tricks that I will suggest to you. The first part is again section in like a cross down to ear each way. It just helps you out in the long run, and I will explain why actually actually, no right so I'll show you what I'm doing right. Let'S get that up way and get that out of the way right, so I've sectioned the front area that I'm leaving down as you see on the picture again, but she has her hair all back on the top. Some who make sure I'm in focus. Let'S get that out the way! First, let me talk you through what I've done there off the big block. This section here is going to her partings about here. She'S gon na have half coming down that side, a bit of hair coming down that side. These bits here that I've just done I'm putting them up afterwards, so I'm going to create the ponytail first and then I'm gon na use these to kind of disguise any areas. So it's nice and kind of like neat and then we're gon na start working up. So I'm gon na change brush and you use this Denman. It'S a brushing brush brushing dressing Brassard brushing brush, got a brushing brush huh. You want a brush and brush to come and see me yep, yep yep. Let'S get her John get up back now on this. Let me come close now. I'Ve been twisting this round and I've got this much less left. Now, I'm not going to be able to get that hair through that. It'S not going to happen. So let me show you a trick: don't fall down okay, so some people call these bobby pins. I hate that word bobby. It'S horrible! Get! Your bobby pin put it in there and twist that around okay, so you can twist it and twist it and twist it around. I wish I could go closer guys, but when you got one pair of hands you see that so I've twisted that around the top of that. That'S made that nice and tight and then I'm gon na fold it inward. So I'm going to go in to that. Ponytail and you're just get in so I'm going to go in that way and they're gon na forward it through that way. Okay, so that's made that really nice and tight now and then you get another one and you cross over that. Okay, so I'm so sorry I'll keep on looking at the screen and not on you guys, okay, so that that's pretty high, that's better! Alright! So she's got our high pony now I will be setting this but be if you set it in the way she is now honey. The pony tail will drop down, so I'm gon na have to kind of like lean her over. So I wedge her against something and then set right. Let'S get to this bit right, okay, so it's not all perfect, perfect chance, and let me just put this into a bun. I'Ve got nothing here where all my clips gone one. Second, I'm so different right put her into a bun, so that she's out of the way like that, doesn't that's been a it's. I need to get her other way and then you've got these sides right or so. I think a bit of that rushed through and now rather than going straight back, so this is gon na up that ponytail as well. We'Re gon na be going underneath the ponytail okay, it's the pace house here nice, then you're, gon na go underneath her making sure she's all nice and tight cuz she likes head sides. Great stuff. Schwarzkopf got to be really good, it's called glue and then you're going to wrap, but twist so twist around slightly wrap it around that pony grip get a grip. Yes, gay grip, you're gon na go through that twisty bit that you've just done. You'Re gon na go through that you're gon na attach her to the base and keep her nice and nice, and solid you're gon na have little bits here and stuff. This is this is why you need a bigger headlock. If you were to do this on a smaller head block and your head was bigger than the head block baby, you wouldn't get it on and if you did, it wouldn't stay on no nope nope again we're just gon na clip her underneath. You won't see the underneath unless just let's swing it around which no, I know what she's like on stage and she don't do that so you're gon na clip her in she's cooked in she's done and now you're gon na move on to the other one. So you can understand what Paige feels weird right? Okay, so I'm going to be setting her now, but this is gon na really annoy my clients, so I'm going to lightly backcomb this out of the way guys do it from behind. Do not do it from the front because it will just look a mess. Yeah, that's better out of the way, a little bit better just needs a little bit of roughage like a bit of rough sorry. What we gon na do right! So we're going to do the curls slightly differently in the front: okay, so you're gon na start from the top keep your fingers really tight towards the roller and twist round okay. So it's almost like a tube of hair and you're gon na do that again up in the top and down again, George is ruining my display. Stop err. I'Ve got pretend him in a studio and people see in my dining table, which I never use. I might as well get rid of it. This is gon na be so cute on her she's, the young Queen as well. So it's like SH, it's gon na, be quite cutie, cutie right, okay, everyone right! Okay, she's done! I got the approval as well. For my client, which I always asked for so we have got a big punch out here - absolutely stunning and her she's been crystaled. So I put a massive glitter panel here and I've got a glitter panel going underneath here. I'Ve actually decided to lift this up and have it come like this, as I was speaking to my client and she's all for it, she is got loads of schwa ski crystals on there as well. She'S done