QuoteReplyTopic: **Custom Colored Lace & Wig Caps Tutorial** Posted: April 21 2008 at 9:08pm
Okay ladies, I stumbled upon something by accident that has made my app routine a lot easier while giving me a more natural scalp appearance no matter where I part my unit. A couple of months ago I received a unit from an AV that had dark lace instead of the transparent and light brown lace that I normally get.The lace on the left side of my hand is the light brown I normally get and the lace on the right side is the darker brown that I got by accident - not sure if it's medium brown or dark brown.
I started to send the unit back but the hair quality was the best I'd ever seen and I really wanted to make it work so I cut the lace, put it on and was amazed that the darker lace melted right into my skin. Here are some pics of the unit with the dark lace. I have on a light beige wig cap underneath and it looks just like my scalp. Dark lace + light cap ==> beige scalp:
There is no tape, Sally Hansen spray or make-up used on the parts shown above - just the dark lace w/ a partially dyed wig cap underneath.
I've now gone back and dyed all my units with transparent and light brown lace to a darker brown lace color that is about 2-3 shades darker than my face. I also dye the eges of my wig caps to match the color of my face.
If you would like to do this you will need the following items:
1. Rit Fabric Dye - depending on your complexion you may need to blend several different colors of dye to achieve the color that works with your skin.
2. salt
3. laundry detergent
4. a piece of scrap lace from the unit you are going to dye
5. several light beige wig caps
6. a large bowl
7. a plastic spoon
8. paper towels
Here are the steps for dying your lace and wig caps:
1. Heat 4 cups of hot water in a large glass bowl in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. You do NOT want the water to boil and it should NOT be hot enough to scald your skin.
2. Put a 1/2 of teaspoon of Rit Fabric Dye in the hot water.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of laundry detergent .
4. Stir with a plastic spoon until all 3 ingredients are disolved.
*****Please note: these directions are different than the ones on the back of the RIT box. You DO NOT want to pour an entire box of the dye into the water because you want to be able to gradually add a little dye at a time to get the exact color you want. You should not put more than 2 full teaspoons of dye into this amount of water because doing so may darken your knots and/or make your lace too dark too fast. If this happens you will have to use the Fabric Dye Remover and start all over again so be sure to use the diluted mixture recommended here*****
5. Mix colors: You may need to use several different Rit Dye colors adding a little to the water at a time before you get it to match the hues in your skin. I used coco brown and taupe to get it to match. Be aware that the water mixture will look much darker than your skin.
6. To test if the color is right allow a single drop to drip from the tip of the spoon onto a white paper towel and then hold the paper towel next to your face to see if it matches. If it's the same color as your skin you will need to add more dye to the water a little at a time until the test spot on the paper towel comes out 2-3 shades darker than your skin.
7. Once you've got your test spot the right color you are ready to dye the edges of your wig caps to match your face. Because the nylon will grab the color quickly this takes very little time. Just dip the edges of your wig cap into and out of the bowl approximately 4-5 times:
Make each dip slightly deeper than the previous dip to creat a gradual color transition.The completed wig cap should look similar to this:
If you think you accidentally dyed the edge of the cap too dark just rinse it underneath cold running water and the color will gradually come out. If the color is already the way you want just allow it to air dry and the color will set. Once the color is set it will stay wash after wash.
Now turn your lace cap inside out, tuck the hair inside and dip the lace in the same batch of dye you used for your wig caps. If the dye mixture has cooled down just put in back in the microwave to warm it up. Remember that you want to get your lace darker than the edge of the wig cap. The lace does not grab the color as easily as the nylon wig cap did so you may have to carefully dip each section of lace in the dye bath about 20-30 times before you get the color you want. I only dye the front of my lace because no one can ever see my lace in the back.
When I finished dying my cap it looked like this. The dark lace on the right is the front of my unit and the lighter lace on the left is the back back of my unit that I did not dye:
Once the lace is as dark as you want it rinse the lace and the hair under a cold stream of water to get the diluted dye mixture out of the hair and off of the knots.
NOTE: I would not recommend doing this on blond units because I don't know if the diluted dye would completely rinse off of blond hair. This method is intended for hair colors 1-6.
After you have rinsed the unit allow it to air dry so the color will set into the lace and become permanent. Once the unit has dried wash and condition as usual.
Once you apply the custom colored lace and wig cap you should find that it:
1. blends into your skin perfectly
2. conceals the edge of your wig cap
3. does not require the use of tapes, Sally Hansen Spray or make-up to make the parts look natural
4. allows you to part the unit anywhere you want and have a natural looking park that mimics scalp
These apps were done with 2 of my units that now have custom colored lace and wig caps:
Even though the edge of my wig cap is right underneath the lace in the pics below you can't see it because it's dyed to match my face and the darker lace color makes it nearly impossible to see the edge of the wig cap:
wow!!!....very nice trick...my new lace is a litle darker than usual so i am halfway there and i have some old caps that are very light and the dye will be on overtime this weekend.
How did you prevent the edges from being tight? thats the only thing that drives me nuts so i normally cut the edge and sew it or tape it before applying my LF
do yo know if the brown rit dye turns red like i have been hearing?
Yes, the Coco Brown Rit Dye does have some red in it and you can see some of the red granuales dissolving as you mix it in the hot water. That's why I like it because a lot of people's skin has red undertones. However, as long as you completely dissolve a little bit in the hot water it does not turn your lace or your wig cap red. If you don't dissolve it all the way you will see red streaks and spots in your wig cap.
wow!!!....very nice trick...my new lace is a litle darker than usual so i am halfway there and i have some old caps that are very light and the dye will be on overtime this weekend.
How did you prevent the edges from being tight? thats the only thing that drives me nuts so i normally cut the edge and sew it or tape it before applying my LF
Are you referring to the edges of the wig cap? If so, I get mine from the local bss and they're sold as nylon wave caps for men even though they're basically just wide knee highs They come 2 in a pack for a dollar. I know some women use knee highs and I've tried it and even cut a slit in the back to make more room and I just can't pull off the knee highs. They're too tight and uncomfortable for me to wear for a whole week let alone an whole hour.
Fabulous tips! Your hairline and scalp are ultra realistic looking. I, too, like a slightly darker lace than my natural scalp color. I don't wear a wig cap since I shave my head, but my scalp is a very light beige color, much lighter than my face. The darker lace balances the color out perfectly.
Excellent advice
griff
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This is pure genius! I can't wait to try it on my new unit. Now we must get this info out to hollywood so they can get it right. Naw, let's wait and let them fall behind us. Beyonce and her thousand dolla lace front's can't handle us!
Fabulous tips! Your hairline and scalp are ultra realistic looking. I, too, like a slightly darker lace than my natural scalp color. I don't wear a wig cap since I shave my head, but my scalp is a very light beige color, much lighter than my face. The darker lace balances the color out perfectly.
Excellent advice
Weren't you scared that a dark grid would show up when you put the dark lace against a light background ?
I was and I was shocked when it turned out so much better than lighter colored lace. I also noticed that the knots are a lot less visible when the lace is closer to the color of the hair. I guess it's similar to how blond knots are hardly visible against light brown or transparent lace.
This is pure genius! I can't wait to try it on my new unit. Now we must get this info out to hollywood so they can get it right. Naw, let's wait and let them fall behind us. Beyonce and her thousand dolla lace front's can't handle us!
You are SO not right P&B
prettyandbrains
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What'd I do??? You know we are so ahead of them. Tyra Banks and them gurls with their dang white hairlines. Don't let me get strated with B's scary hairline mishap where her skin looked burned (I'm gonna find that darn picture for ya'll). OOps, they could be lurking. Uhhh, don't get offended just follow our lead and we can help you out for a small fee.
this is an excellent tip, i'd like to add it to the newbie thread, i'd also like for lovely Lisa to add to this b/c she came up with this tip originally using the rit's dye to change the color of the lace.. so i hope she'll chime in so i can have both instructions on how you ladies do this.. b/c i think her's is making it darker (could be wrong) and your's is making it lighter..its a great tip and those that have the wrong color lace need this information.. oops i forgot Breh also came up with the rit's dye pen but i already have this instruction in the newbie thread..
Edited by sexibeach - April 22 2008 at 5:30am
NClady
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Great tip. I can't wait to try this out! I think it may solve my problem of creating natural looking parts. Kudos to you and all of the other wonderful ladies
OMG, CurlyGirl11... You've just expanded my ability to purchase transparent cap units. I would never get them because of the cap color. THANK YOU, THANK YOU for this AWESOME tip.
Wow, simply amazing. I am going to have to try dying my wig caps edges darker. My lace is already a brown and matches my skin perfectly. Thanks Curlygirl for the tip. You rock!!!!
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