When it comes to bleaching your lace front wig there are a couple of components involved. This article will tell you how to bleach the right way.
What Is A Lace Front Wig?
A lace front wig is a wig made with lace on the bottom and around the hairline area. Its function is to blend the hairline and natural skin, to give the illusion of the scalp.
A frontal is wider in length than a closure wig – with the lace extending from ear to ear and going about 5 inches to the back of the head.
Bleaching a Lace Front Wig
When it comes to bleaching a lace front wig, two things can be bleached – the hair and the knots.
How to Bleach Knots on a Lace Front Wig
The first thing you need to do when customizing your lace frontal is to bleach the knots. What are knots you might ask? If you look at the root of the hair strands, where the hair is attached to the lace, you may see little dark knots on the bottom.
The reason why this is a problem is that those knots will be visible when you install your frontal, which is not what a natural scalp looks like. The better you can make the hair look like it is coming out of your scalp, the better it will look.
If you are bleaching the wig hair from the roots, then bleaching the knots is an essential step to making the wig color look consistent.
The Products and Tools You Need:
- Bleach powder
- 20-30 volume developer
- Bowl
- Comb
- Applicator Brush
- Hair Clip
- Purple dye (optional)
STEPS:
- Mix the bleach -The first thing you want to do is mix the developer and the bleach well. You’ll want to follow the directions on using the developer and the bleach, but generally, only add in enough developer to give your mixture a thick and spreadable consistency. If the mixture is runny, it will seep down the hair shaft and bleach more than just the knots. The best tool to use when mixing is a small whisk. Either add in some purple hair dye to make sure that the knots do not turn out a brassy color or buy bleach that is already tinted purple.
- Turn the wig inside out and begin applying the mixture. You can start at the hairline and work your way towards the crown. You should not press the mixture down into the wig because then it will also dye the hair. Apply the mixture just to the knots on the hairline. TIP: for natural looking lace, apply the mixture all over the whole frontal.
- After you have applied the mixture, let it sit on the wig for 15-20 mins. Bleaching takes the hair through stages of colors from brown to yellow so it’s crucial to watch the process. Typically, people end up with an orange or yellowish color/tone accordingly.
- The last step is to rinse your hair completely from the bleach and then proceed to shampoo.
You may also like to check out a step-by-step tutorial video on bleaching knots:
How to Bleach the Hair
Bleaching the hair of a human hair wig is very similar to bleaching the knots. Please note that bleaching is very damaging to the hair and will cause the hair to become thinner and less shiny. This is not a process you should do more than once to maintain the quality of the hair as much as possible.
The Products and Tools You Need:
- Bleach powder
- 40 volume developer
- Bowl
- Comb
- Applicator Brush
- Hair Clip
- Purple shampoo (optional)
STEPS:
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Mix the bleach powder with a 40-volume developer. You can use equal amounts of the powder and developer to form the mixture.
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Place your wig on a wig head to keep it steady. You may need to pin your wig to the wig head as well so that it doesn’t fall off as you tug on it.
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Section the hair from the bottom and apply the mixture to it from root to tip. If you want your roots to remain dark, don’t apply bleach to them. After applying the mixture, wrap the sections in foil. Keep sectioning the hair and applying the mixture until it is all covered.
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Wait a while for the mixture to lift the color of the hair. Keep checking the hair to see if it is the color that you want. Don’t leave the mixture on for an excessive amount of time, or breakage may happen.
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When you have reached the desired color, rinse the hair thoroughly and let it soak in the purple shampoo. The purple shampoo will get rid of the unwanted brassy tones.
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After shampooing, you need to condition the hair with an intensive conditioner. Let the hair conditioner stay on for at least an hour for optimal results.
How Long Do You Leave The Bleach On A Human Hair Wig?
A good starting point for leaving the bleach on your wig is 30 minutes. You should continually monitor the color of the hair. Dark toners do not require the bleach to be left on for more than 30 minutes. If you are applying a lighter toner, such as blonde or hazel, the bleach needs to be left on longer. This allows the bleach to lift the hair to a color that will accept the light toner. Bleaching the hair to a platinum shade requires the bleach to be left on the longest.
How Do I Care For Bleached Hair?
When your hair is bleached, it becomes very damaged and dehydrated. Focus on hydrating your hair – hair conditioners and hair masks are key to hydration. Make sure to drink lots of water which also provides hydration to the hair. Ideally, damaged hair ends should get trimmed to keep the hair looking healthy. It is important to refrain from styling the bleached hair with heat because that would further damage the hair possibly leading to breakage or even hair loss.
The Final Word
Bleaching is a challenging process, but can definitely work if you exercise caution. Bleaching your own wig is most beneficial because you are in control of the outcome!
P.S: If you are looking for other options to make your wig look natural, melting the lace is one!.
