Contrast Wigblog

Many of you will know that Contrast Wigs, together with a large number of other sellers, offer wigs on eBay. eBay is a great place to grab a bargain, but recently we have found some worrying trends in the items offered, particularly by sellers based in China, for sale on eBay.

It has come to out attention that a number sellers have taken images of our own, exclusive wigs, and are passing them off as their own. We invest a great deal of time, effort, and money, to make our product pictures of a high quality, so perhaps it is not surprising that they become the target of such tactics. However, it is the consumer that ends up getting a raw deal. The fact that these wigs are designed and made exclusively for us, means that the product eventually received by the customer is unlikely to look the same as the item pictured when it arrives.

Just yesterday, whilst looking at the feedback of one such seller, I came across a complaint from one buyer; “It isn’t Human Hair, it isn’t Full Lace front and it doesn’t look a bit like Beyonce’s”. Given that the buyer had only paid £1.20 for something that should have cost hundreds of pounds, it is perhaps hardly suprising that she was disappointed. However, it does illustrate the point that perhaps we need to think twice about whether a deal looks too good to be true before reaching for our PayPal details.

Whilst we recognise that there are bargains to be had on eBay, inluding some that we at Contrast Wigs advertise ourselves, it pays to be cautious, especially when dealing with a seller based in China, where there is little in the way of consumer protection such as that we enjoy in the UK.

When you think of fashion accessories, wigs may not be at the top of your list, but is a wig something that every woman should have in her wardrobe? Our answer to this is, of course, an emphatic “yes” but if you’ve not experienced wigs recently you may take some more convincing.

If you’re like me, you will be able to remember being dragged around the shops on the weekend by your Mum, or your grandparents, and maybe seeing wigs perched on top of strange looking plastic heads as you passed through the bigger department stores. I’m thinking here of an era which is not far removed from that of Grace Brothers - the fictious store that is the location for the once popular “Are you being served?” TV Comedy. The wigs you used to see around this time looked something akin to birds nests, and I often wondered if they were made of some derivative of straw; certainly, you couldn’t imagine anyone seeking glamour to be found anywhere near one of these products!

Fortunately, the modern wig bears little resemblance to its old fashion forerunners. Advances in synthetic fibre technology, better colour blending, and so on, have resulted in wigs that are lightweight, comfortable to wear and actually look like natural hair. The styles have also moved with the times and you can find a huge range of wigs that are inspired by the popular hairstyles of today.

Still not convinced? Well, let me illustrate further with some common situations where wigs can come to your rescue:

You’ve had a long, tiring week and it’s finally Friday night. You have an evening out with friends to look forward to, but by the time you’ve gotten home from work you haven’t time to wash and blow-dry your hair. In fact, you’ve got just about enough time to change your clothes and put on some makeup before the taxi arrives. Luckily, you have a new, shoulder length wig in a dramatic flame red. It takes just a minute of two to put it on and brush it and hey presto - perfectly conditioned and perfectly straight hair!

You have had the same hairstyle for years and hardly anyone has ever known you to look any different. On some level you yearn for a change, but are worried that that change of colour or style could go horribly wrong, and you can just imagine some of the comments you will be getting at work. Wouldn’t it be great if you could experiment with a new hairstyle, without the risk of using your own hair into the bargain? Better yet, wouldn’t it be great to go for a really different colour and out of the ordinary style, and then to be able to reverse the effects painlessly (and without the months of waiting)?! Well, I think it goes without saying that wigs can help you here too.

Many women already know what a boost to their wardrobe a quality wig can be - isn’t it time you were one of them?

This article provides a brief introduction to the different types of wig caps that may be used in the construction of a wig. It does not go into as much technical detail as some other articles you may find on the internet as this intended to be a simple guide that for those new to wigs.

Put simply, the cap upon which a wig construction is based has an effect on what you can do with your wig, how it looks, and ultimately, is one of the main contributors to the price you pay for it. Which type of wig is right for you will depend a great deal on why you wear it (necessity, fashion, etc), how often you plan to wear it and how much you plan to spend.

Regular Caps

There are a number of terms which are used for this type of wig cap; regular cap, machine-made cap, wefted cap, etc. Below is a picture of a wig of this type which has been turned inside out:

There is a large section at the top of the wig which is made from a lace-type material, from which thin lace strips radiate to the edges of the wig. Onto this base, wefts of hair/fibre are sewn horizontally in layers. The wefts are made by sewing the hair/fibre onto thin material in long strips first; if you think of how a grass skirt looks when opened out, with strands hanging down from the fabric they are attached to at the top; then this is how the wefts look.

As most of the work involved in making this kind of wig can be done on a sewing machine, this is the quickest and easiest type of wig to make, and is also the cheapest to buy.

Below is a picture of the outside of this type of wig, taken from above. As you can see, the parting does not look particularly natural, and this is limitation of this type of wig in that you cannot change how it is styled to any great extent. In many cases though, particularly if simply worn occasionally as a fashion item, this is quite acceptable.

Monofilament Caps

Monofilament refers to the translucent fine mesh material used in this type of wig. If you look at the picture below, you will see that, on the particular wig pictured, it replaces the lace crown section we saw on the wefted cap wig we saw previously:

This fine mesh material allows fibres to be inserted through it, one at a time, and hand knotted on the inside to attach them. Because this technique is much more labour intensive, monofilament wigs tend to be more expensive - the greater the proportion of monofilament used, the higher the cost.

The advantages of this approach however are that it allows the hairs/fibres in this area of the wig to behave much more naturally as they are not attached in anyway to their neighbours like they are in wefted sections. This means that the hair/fibre can be parted anywhere within the monofilament section. Because the mesh is translucent, the scalp of the wig wearer is also allowed to show through to a certain extent and the parting looks much more like that of natural hair, as shown below:

Other advantages of the monofilament are that they lighter and more breathable and therefore cooler to wear.

Note that we would refer to the example shown here as a “three quarter” monofilament, because of the size of the monofilament section. A “full mono” would have a slightly larger monofilament section. There are also other terms such as “mono crown” (just a small section at the crown is monofilament), mono part (just a small section either side of the pre-chosen parting position), invisiline (monofilament at the fringe), are used to refer to the different combinations and relative sizes of monofilament of wefted areas used by different manufacturers in their various products.