I’ve worn wigs for 9+ years, but in that time I’ve actually never used glue or tape. The majority of my wigs are closed front, meaning they have no lace. In 2019 I got this lace front wig in anticipation of my progressively eroding hairline no longer being able to sustain me through wearing my closed front wig wearing life. I do need tiny bits, very tiny – but still needed, of my hairline to make a closed front wig work and look natural.
I didn’t actually start to wear this lace front wig until last year. Side note: when I got the wig in 2019, it didn’t fully work for me because I did grow up with a lower forehead with temple points dipping towards the eyebrows, and even in quite progressed hair loss and thinning hair, they had still been there to some degree over the years making it harder (near impossible) for me to wear a lace front wig successfully, since you need to have that lace in FRONT of your hair line. On me, it was very hard to achieve this since I would need that wig placed way low on my forehead, which is incredibly unnatural, but I wanted the wig anyways, I wanted it as a security blanket.
Last year, I pulled it out to try it…and I’m not gonna lie, I had a meltdown. Why? Because NOW the lace front that didn’t work the year prior for the reasons stated above…. worked. It was an in your face reminder of what had progressed in a year, or the 20 before that, but the measurement I was using was simply the year prior. In one year, my hairline, temples eroded to where now this wig could work. I sat on my floor crying. I actually made a video and sent it to Sophie, there is a clip of that moment in a video I previously posted on instagram. The part you see my tears, that was last year when I put this wig on for the first time since the year prior. This video below:
Hair loss is a journey, I hope everyone really keeps that in mind. I started wearing wigs close to a decade ago, I cut my hair off, I moved forward, but guess what, that’s not the end. It’s not like period, over and out, nail it ! Peace. Of course not, least not for me. I have most definitely accepted my hair loss, but there can also be moments that smack me upside the head as that did. So I had a pity party for myself, party of one, for that day…. And the next day I decided this was a new phase of my journey, and well now I COULD wear lace fronts, so umm silver lining. Yea.
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Back to my wig…. So this wig has always had a lifting issue since day one, since 2019, but it definitely got progressed to the point of being unwearable with the lace curling and lifting and having a wave in it (as seen in video on mannequin) making it look unnatural – Less last year, much more this year. So that occurred with some wash and wear. In hindsight I should have sent it back immediately for repair, but that’s the past.
As the lace loosened and frayed, it started to lift more and it became more obvious, so I trimmed it back several months ago to not have it be AS obvious, it did help, but that is also a Catch 22, because you don’t want to trim the lace too far back because that in itself can likely contribute to it lifting, but mine was already lifted, loose and frayed, so I trimmed it.
Eventually I got inversions (Hair coming through the lace the wrong way, and at the hairline, which isn’t ideal, also it’s not that uncommon for a wig to get inversions, and I used them as a little lever to yank the front down a little and make it more taunt. That worked until it didn’t. I snipped the inversions because the were making the lace, which has lost hair (also expected) look very dark, since it sat beneath the lace. After snipping the inversions, my lever was gone and a couple weeks back, I was like ahhhh crap, now this wig was 100{a2ca4edd6b41bbe0aa2aee03bc791424ed51d90fd68b7905d1abaddbf6d669df} unwearable, no trick was gonna get this lace to go down… without tape.
Enter Walker Tape…
This is a glueless lace front, it’s not meant to be used with tape and the usage of tape or glue on a wig like this is likely to degrade the lace quicker, but lets face it, it’s cooked as it is, and unwearable, so short of sending it in for a lace replacement and being without my wig for 2-3 months, this is really my only option.
One thing hair loss has most definitely taught me, is pivot and turn. Adjust. So here we are. I’m trying tape for the first time in my 9+ years of wearing wigs. It’s my first time, new experience. It worked. I used walker tape and the “lace release” they sell. I also used the LEAST amount of tape possible (which I show in the video) microscopic pieces, to tack 3 points of the front down. It actually felt quite this secure, more secure than ever, since as I noted, this lace never laid totally flat for me.
Massive warning, caveat: Please please don’t be throwing glue and tape on lace not intended for it, unless you are kinda in the same position as I am at this point, with nothing to lose. Plenty of wigs are designed to be used with glue and tape and can’t be worn without, this isn’t one of them. I don’t believe the company advises it. I also would not do this on a new lace front wig I got of the same type, as I wouldn’t want to do anything to potentially degrade, loosen or fray that lace any quicker than time and wear would on it’s own.
I share my journey, I share this because it’s something I’m needing to do for the first time ever, and quite possibly someone else has a wig in a closet with lifted lace they don’t feel good in, so it could very well be something that could help someone bring their wig out of retirement. If you have nothing to lose and aren’t worried about degrading the lace quicker (or ruining it, I mean anything is possible, be careful), then it may be worth a shot. A wig in a closet is of no value to me, so I rather do what I have to do, to make it work.
We evolve, we adapt… that’s how we… survive.
Sending Much Love To All!
XOXO
~Y
