Video Highlights:

0:05 - today we are going to do a how to video

1:25 - you don't have to go through all this expense

3:01 - now watch

5:01 - smooth again, smooth again, smooth again

6:45 - the first thing I do is I have brushes

8:35 - see how I curled that

10:38 - I'm going to go straight down

12:22 - this is yellow when it's low heat

14:13 - if you wanted to make it even bigger, you go to your big one

16:16 - real hair is poures and it has these little holes in it

18:02 - these are more

19:45 - have a great day

Video Transcript

Hi. This is Patti from Wigs by Patti's Pearls, again. Today we're going to do a how-to video, a tutorial. So many of you have written me, have called me. I promised to do this video for you. Where you're having trouble is defrizzing the synthetic wig. This is not heat-defiant. This is not human. Hundred percent synthetic.

Specifically, you've asked about Julia. So this is Julia in 1426, and she's a little roughed up. I'm fixing her, refurbishing her, for a client, and I'm going to show you today how to defrizz it. And then what do you do with it when it's bone straight? I'm going to show you how to re-curl it and make it look wonderful.

I'm not going to go through, Pumpkin, all of the tools of the trade until the end of the video, because if you see me do this, and you're like, "Hmm. Not so much. I'll pay to have that done. I'm not doing it," then that's okay. Why listen to all the tools?

If you decide you might want to do this, you can go to the end of the video, and I'll tell you what tools to use. It's very important to use the right tools. I've got an actual wig tripod, where you put the canvas head on. You don't have to go to all this expense. As I told you, you can get a Styrofoam head from the beauty supply in your hometown, or you can even order a canvas one. They're a little pricey. And then we have suction cup, little stands, and we also have a plastic wig clamp that you can hook on to a ladder or the countertop or whatever, and that gives you some stability, so you've got your hands free to do the work.

Now, I hope you can see this well. Right in this area, it's really kind of a mess. The first thing we're going to do is we're going to take out the frizz. Then we're going to re-curl it back. To take out the frizz, you're going to need a handheld steamer. This is one you don't have to spend a lot of money. You don't have to go and get the floor model, because truthfully, I tried that, and the wig went flying across the room. I don't want to blow it out. I just want to straighten it.

So you get your little handheld steamer. I think you can get these at target, and whatever, and when this starts steaming - I'm going to turn it on - I'm going to take, first, a wider tooth comb, and I'm going to put the comb right here with the steamer. The steamer goes first. The comb goes after. I'm going to start at the bottom, so that I don't pull on the wig. Now watch. Okay. We get that closed in. I'll give you time to zoom in. See how it's frizzed? Watch how I'm following the wide tooth comb all the way down.

Now, if it's underneath a little bit, you take your comb like that. Slip it in. Even practice going down. Now, you go with the steam. Go with the steam, and it's making it straight. The important thing when you do this, I know this looks easier than it is, but I've got to tell you, you do it a couple times and you've got it. Just like your wig, that was a new experience too. You go in the bathroom. You put it on four times, you own it. Here's the steam, and we're just going all the way down.

Now, if it's still a little messy, as this one is - I don't know, maybe she stuck her head in the oven and got this all frizzy here - big comb, smaller, and this is really going to get them out. See how it's going down? I'll do like this. Look, can you see that up close? While you're steaming, it's important to have this smooth motion.

I know I look like a nut, because I get my whole body into it, but if you get stuck like this . . . All right, let me try it, and then I'll get it stuck. Okay. See how that's all stuck there? Can you see that end? What happened was that the steamer and the comb got kind of messed up. It's right here. All you have to do is steam it again. It's like painting. You mess it up, you repaint it.

So I'm going to go now, and I'm going to take those little crooks and those little phrases out, right there, and we're going to do it smooth again, smooth again, smooth again. Now, I know that the wig is a little damp. Won't hurt a thing. Remember, this has memory, so as it dries, but now, the memory that I make for this is really straight. And now I'm going to have to put some of the movement back. I know this is a little Orphan Annie curls, but we do want to have some kind of movement, unless you want to have a bone-straight hairdo, and usually you like a little bit of movement.

I'm doing this as we talk so you can watch me and see how smoothing that is. All of those little tangles are gone, and I'll show you over here, here they are tangled a little bit again. So you just take the big brush or the bigger comb, or this comb, this seems to work well, and you go down and down and down, and it takes all of that frizz right out.

The steamer is so wonderful once you really get into it, because you can do so much with it, and you don't have to keep running to the hairdresser or sending it in to me to get refurbished. You can do it yourself, Precious, very, very easily, with just a little bit of practice.

Now the frizz is gone. Many of you have gotten this far, but now you don't know what to do with it. I'm going to show you. The first thing I do is I have brushes, and these are just kind of rubber brushes with a little spikes. Don't go with boar's head or a regular hairbrush, because it won't pick up the fiber. It will just kind of mash it down.

What we're going to do, and this is particularly for you girls out there that asked about Julia and these layers, what you're going to do right here - we'll start right here - I have three different kinds of brushes, a bigger one, a medium and a very small, and we're going to do this vertically. I'll start with the bigger one. You're going to go down. See where this layer is, and it's just kind of sticking out? You take the bottom, and you use your curling iron on low, low, low, low. We'll tell you what kind to get. And you can go like this or like that, and you can get a curl. You can use a bigger one and get a bigger curl.

Where you're getting stuck are these little layers, and you try to get them in, and they're sticking out all over the place. The brush is the answer, Babe. This is the trick. I'm going to use the medium one, so you can really hone in and see it. You're going to start holding your little steamer. You don't need to worry about getting this one, because this is a special one for designing. The regular steamer will work, handheld.

I'm going to put my brush vertically. I love the around handles because they move. Don't get a square one. It's hard to manipulate it. And you're going to go down, down, down. Watch me. Watch me. Watch me. Watch me. See how I curl that? And I'm going straight down, so we have a little bit of movement, but not a lot. If you want to get more, different brush, and you go down a little bitty, and then see, it's even more. Or if you just want to smooth it out and blend it all, you'd use the big brush, and what I suggest you do when you're first starting this, start with the big brush, because it's easier to handle, and it's easier to get all the little hairs in.

Now, all of a sudden I followed with the steamer. Why? The steamer starts with an "S," steamer for setting. This is like your iron on a blouse. Remember, I've told you so many times, you're beautiful synthetic wig is like a silk blouse. Whatever you can do or not do to a silk blouse, is probably what you're going to do with this synthetic wig. When you iron a silk blouse, you let it cool before you put it on. Have you ever ironed it, put it right on? You run out the door, and it's totally wrinkled again, because the fiber wasn't set. When you do the steam, and you're doing the heat, then you let it set, and that's the memory that it will have, and the next time that you wash it, it will still go like that until you set it again with the comb, making it straight, taking out the frizz.

I hope this is very clear to you guys, because if you get this trick, you will add, probably, a year onto the life of your wig, and you know what? These wigs are getting more and more expensive, because everything is. So we've got to learn a little more about them.

I'm going to go back to the middle one again. This is the one I use most of the time. I'm going to do it one more time for you. You go straight down. You don't even have to use the steamer. Just kind of practice it. See how I'm picking it up, and I'm turning it, turning it, turning it, and if you want to just keep turning it, and then do that, remember, the steamer is setting. Now see, you even have more curl. You can get curl way up here if you want. I hope you're getting this on the pictures.

Now take a look. Now, instead of having this straight flyway, or right over here, see how it's just kind of flying out? This looks good, and you don't know what to do with that. Well, look over here where we've steamed it, Love. See how it has some movement? And it's got a little bit of movement and poof and smoothness to it, versus over here that we didn't do.

I hope you have a great day, and I hope this has helped you so much. One other thing before you go, I know you've asked about bangs, "What the heck do you do with the bangs?" Okay. We've got the steamer. We've got the bangs, and we've kind of just straightened them because they were all frizzed, especially this side. Now it isn't frizzed.

There are a couple things you can use. Number-one, and we've talked so many times about, I want you to be cheap, cheap, cheap. This is like Bed Head. I think it was $24, but the good thing is, it's got low heat. This is yellow when it's low heat. Then you can move it up to medium heat. It gets green. Then go all the way up, and that's very hot for human. This thing is wonderful. I got mine on the Internet, and I just went under TIGI, or I went under Bed Head tools, styling tools for hair.

Anyway, you've got to go all the way down to low. The reason I like this is I never can get screwed up. If I put that on green, I'm going to fry this, and it's going to be frizzed, and we have to start all over. So we're going to go down to yellow. It's Teflon coated, so it moves slowly and smoothly. If you want, you can go like this, but see, this is what you're talking about. You're missing them, and you're going, "What the heck am I going to do?" You can take this bang, and instead of going vertically, like this, you can go back like this.

It's almost like your palate and your drawing. Once you get it free of the frizz, now you're going to draw it. You can either do it like this, and I do it at an angle, at an angle. If you want, you can hit it with a little steam. That will really set it. And I usually count to about 10, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, and then you let it go. Now you've got a little curl there, you've got a little movement. If you wanted to make it even bigger, you'd go to your big one. I would have used a big one had I had it here, and maybe not so fast, so that it just curls around.

So you made a mistake. This looks really screwy here. All right. You take your little comb. I know you've got to practice. Take your little steamer, and we're just going to go here again and make it straight. Vertical, vertical. This is why you need your hands free, Sweetie. Now all of a sudden, you've got a whole different, new look for the Julia.

I'm going to cut off now, and I'm going to talk about the tools. So if you want to stop looking and say this is not for you, that's okay. If you want to hear about the tools, I'll tell you that in a minute. Have a great day, guys.

Now, for those of you who are still with me after this long verbiage, I want to tell you about the tools. When you're working on a synthetic wig, what I want you to remember, the first thing to remember, cheapest is the best, and the reason I say that, if you get into hot tools or if you're going to pay $139 or $250 for curling rod, trust me, Baby, that wattage is up there so high that you will literally fry this thing, and you'll have no synthetic hair left. So that's great for human hair.

Synthetic hair is a surface. This is the finest synthetic hair that you can buy. This Jon Renau synthetic is fabulous, because the denure of the fiber is so very fine. Remember my silk analogy? But this is a flat surface. Real hair is porous, and it has these little holes in it, and you're going to feed it, and that's what you do with your conditioner and your hot oil treatments and blah, blah, blah, and you leave them on. You don't rinse them out. Usually you leave them on until it soaks into the fiber. Then he rinse off the excess, and it slides, but what it needs it holds in those little pores, pockets, on the hair shaft.

The synthetic is straight as a board, and what you have to do after you've had it for a while, or you've worn it for a day or two even, you need to recoat this fiber, so that it's nice and smooth, and it won't tangle. That's why you put the conditioner on and you leave it on synthetic, because we want to coat this and make it nice. So you leave the conditioner on. Now, when you go like this, you're going to use your tools to make the curls back. The cheaper, the better, as we told you.

I want it to be low. Low is about 170. Some of these you can get actually have degrees. Hundred and seventy is great. Three hundred, 325, no more, for heat-defiant, and then of course hot for your human hair, so that the curl will grab. This one is down on low, about 170. It's fair. Always get Teflon-coated, because then it will slide easily.

There's another one. This is called Bed Head. You can look up these online. There's another one you can also get at Sally's Beauty Shop or any beauty shop. Now these are more. This is about $65, but this is called Gold Hot Tools, Gold Elite, and it's by Belkin, B-E-L-K-I-N, and it has designated, on the handle here, and it says "Synthetic, Fine, Medium," and "Coarse." This is a joy, because I turned it on, and it's synthetic, and the red light will light up, and I know that it's synthetic. If you're going to do heat-defiant, you go to "Fine." If you're going to go to human hair, you go to "Course" or "Medium." I usually go to "Course."

So what this one does, again, Teflon coated, spring handle, very easy to work. You buy the one tool, and it's good for synthetic, for heat-defiant and for human. So this covers it all. Sally's Beauty Supply. A lot of beauty supplies. Look online under "Belkin," B-E-L-K-I-N, Hot Tools. Okay?

The steamer I told you about. You get it at Walmart. You get it at target. You can look online, "hand-held steamer." This when I made so that I can point and do what I want to do, but what you want, really, is just the handheld steamer, like this. If it's got an on-and-off button, that's terrific. If it doesn't, that's okay too, and you can steam a wider swath.

So that's about it, Babe. Tools, comb, wide-tooth comb, round handle and round brushes, smaller comb, and then your hot tools, and there you go. Have a great day. Thanks.