Hime Gyaru Wig Styling
Mar 31, 2011 by Violet
As carrying on from yesterdays post on Fashion Addict here is how I styled the blonde one into a hime gyaru wig :D
The technique I’m using is pretty much the exact same technique for standard hime style hair but because it’s a wig there’s no fear of damage so you can pretty much go nuts. Or if you are happy to brush out lots of tangles this is a perfectly fine way to style your actual hair.
As per usual with these I point out that this is just the way I do it and there are lots of other techniques or methods that you could use. I’m certainly not an expert!
So this is the wig to start with, it’s just a plain old multi-tone blonde wig. The cut is layered and it has a light wave to it. As you can see it has very little volume.
The way the top of the hair is parted is also important, this one has a zigzag pattern. It would be better if it was a straight part of even no part so it’s less obvious when you brush it all backwards.
So what we want to do is create a lot of volume at the top and sides to make the big lion’s mane effect. The first step is to grab a section in the middle/top and pull it up. I am using a teasing comb to do this, it’s awesome because it has alternating long and short bristles so it catches all of the short hairs and teases perfectly… which it should being a teasing comb and all. Back to it, grab a section at the top towards the back of your head. Leave around 2cm of hair between the section you’re taking and where you want the fringe/bangs to start. At the moment we just want to create a lot of volume before we use the front to cover it all up.
Pull forward and tease the back of the section around 3-4 inches from the root. By teasing/backcombing what I’m doing here is combing from the middle back down to the roots. The teasing brush catches all of the shorter hairs and meshes them together into a tangle which gives the piece of hair volume and texture.
Once you’ve teased it a reasonable amount it should have volume all on it’s own, you will of course look like an extra out of a Dr Seuss book at this point.
So that’s the volume part but the front looks terrible so to fix that we need to smooth down the front. Take your comb and using light short strokes brush lightly back over the front section. You may need to hold the wig in place while you do this. Don’t let the bristles of the comb sink into the hair too deeply or you will basically be undo-ing all of the teasing you just did.
Once you have smoothed the front over it should look something like this from the side…
That’s really all there is too it, just a lot of teasing, smoothing and eventually hair spraying. This wig is perfect for styling like this because it has lots of short layers. Clip the section you just styled out of the way, we will come back to it later. The next step is to give the wig more volume all over so it start to get into the right basic shape: lion’s mane XD Starting with small sections from the sides, hold the piece of hair out at a 90 degree angle and tease the 3 inches closest to the root.
Repeat this until you’ve done every piece of hair on each side. Don’t touch the front area between the first section we did or the fringe.
Now keep going to the back. Pull the sections upwards and tease at the roots. You can see in this photo the individual tracks of hair and my pink tips showing through XD
Don’t forget to do the underneath sections too, they are very important because they hold the rest of the style up!
Below you can see how much volume is created just by teasing at the roots. Because this wig is more wavy than actually curly I decided to play up the curls by teasing them at the ends slightly too. To do this, you grab the end of a curl by the tip and run the comb from the tip up a couple of inches. Only do this once per curl otherwise you disturb them rather than accentuating them. Basically you’re pushing the curl up the strand of hair so it looks… curlier.
Now it’s time to finish the top section finally! Unclip it and we’ll get to work :D
At this point it should look something like this…
The final step involves the sections between the top and fringe that we’ve been saving. Taking a small piece of hair from that area at a time, tease the back of it lightly and then sweep it backwards.
At this point hairspray will be your friend. I’m taking a lot of spray. You can see below I’ve started sweeping the front back on the left side but not the right yet.So it’s starting to come together.
Because you are trying to brush pieces of the wig in directions they weren’t designed to go in, doing this will take some trial and error. Getting mine to stay took a whole lot of hairspray and then a lot of teasing and smoothing over the front…. tease, smooth, spray, tease, smooth,spray over and over. This is starting to look more like the finished product now but not there yet.
Half finished from the back it looks very messy so this area needs to be combed and sprayed as well.
After continuing with the combing and spraying, paying careful attentions to the sides as well as the top this was my finished product:
From the side:
Now looking at the photos I can see areas I intend to improve, for example cutting more layers into the back and using that to creating more defined curls. You can see below that it definitely needs a few more layers to make the top pouf look more natural with the loose hair below. Until I do that (or if you don’t trust yourself cutting into a wig) this can be temporarily hidden with a big bow. From the back:
With the addition of some accessories I’m quite happy with the way it turned out considering it was a first attempt. When I make the changes I’m planning I will be sure to post photos of that too :)
Bonus photo: Taking off the wig and scaring the hell out of James with by real hair because he was so used to the wig XD
The wig by itself from the front:
The back:
Side:
So there you go, that was my first adventure into wig styling and I’m quite happy with the outcome. Of course there are a lot of areas that I need to improve in and this isn’t the best example of a hime style wig but I can see where I want to go from here and that’s all for another post! I think to style the back and sides I will make James wear it so I can see what I’m doing better hahaha!
Hope you enjoyed my bout of Hime Gyaru wig styling ^_^ |
So cute!
Also HI JAMES’S ELBOW! Haha can totally see him in the mirror.
My favourite picture is your Dr Seuss extra one, adorable!
LOL James’ elbow says hi back!
I love it! I think I will be attempting this with one of my wigs. And PLEASE, take pics with James wearing the wig. It will be epic! Hehe. Btw, I really like your makeup. The gold looks really nice.
Thank you! I will see if I can hold him down long enough for a photo XD
it looks nice on you,sweetie!
^_^
it really compliments you!
Thank you very much!
wow that wig is just so beautiful!! honestly, I like that color on you much better than your actual color *o* it makes your face look sooo soft and summery… <3
Haha thanks Jenia, I like it too, though I prefer my current colour for every day because I fell this one doesn’t suit my personality as much. It’s kind of close to my natural colour so many when I’m tired of dying them I might go to this colour ^_^
The mirror! love it^^
wow it’s amazing the heights the bouffant can reach!
How long does it stay that way?
Great for bad hair days and instant makeover/disguise ^__^
It stays as long as you want it :D Perfect for quick shopping trips when I’m feeling lazy or don’t want to dye my roots haha!
This is such a cute tutorial. I wish I could get those kinds of wigs here in the US. I would love to start a collection of different hime wigs (of different shades and cuts of course!) so that I could save my hair from getting fried because of my constant dyeing!
I’m sure you could get them from ebay or cosplaywigs. Also Fashion Addict (where this wig is from) ships to all countries. Hope that helps! <3
That’s so cool! I love that wig, the colour is just gorgeous!
Thanks so much Rachel!
I’ve done a lot of wig styling back in my hardchore cosplay days (oh how many wigs people gave me to “restore” lol), and you did a great job! :D
BTW this colour reallllllly suits you, you should consider dying your hair this blond one day! :D
I think once I get sick of bleaching I will go this colour because it’s similar to my natural one XD Thanks Shmu, I totally respect your skills with wigs so your compliment means a lot! <3
You look like Princess Keiko(do you remember??) from JD:))))) YOu’re super cute in the princess hair!!
I remember her!! I was so sad when she retired *_* That is the biggest compliment ever Minnie! <3
Thanks for the tutorial. I have a similar wig but in brunette, but I guess is ok since I am Asian.
Again arigatou
No problem, thank you for commenting <3
Absolutely GORGEOUS! I can’t wait to get a wig and try this myself. The color suits you very well, also. :)
Thank you very much ^_^
This is such a cute tutorial. :) I haven’t seen many tutorials on how to style Hime wigs so thank you.
No problems! I’m so glad to help <3
This was a fantastic tutorial. I have quite a lot of wigs, but I’ve never actually tried styling one like this before. I’ve trimmed them a bit, but nothing this dramatic. That said, I did have to perform a bit of wig-surgery on a wig Ross bought for a costume last weekend. It was rather hilarious.
XD Wig surgery sounds like the best crime/drama show ever.
Love it! I really want a wig but my bf is creeped out by them.. :c
Haha James is totally creeped out when I take it off at the end of the day XD
You look so adorable with this hair style :) Are you going to buy more wigs from now?
Also, how can James take such good indoor pictures? Im really jealous!
Thank you! Yes I’m going to get more wigs and start experimenting more :D James builds a lot of his photography equipment himself, he writes about it on his blog here with tutorials too if it helps ^_^ http://www.jimmyamerica.com
Hello!
I luv your blog, is soo cute, complete and awesome
*-* zomg i luv your hair.is soo cute
Thank you so much Akane <3
So lovely! A Really need to style a wig like this – it’s awesome.
You should totally try it out!
I love how you can see your man in the reflect of the last picture.
Haha he’s a big help with all of my blog, I love him to death!
Uh-mazing :D
I’ve got stupidly long and thick hair and I’m to an event tomorrow night, so I think I’ll be giving this a go!
Oh, and I vote for James in a wig too, but only if there are pictures of hoe pretty he is :P
Mwaha you guys are evil!! Did you end up trying it for the party?
Violet + Wig = Lovely. That cut of the wig is good on you! :D
Thanks very much <3
Violet,
You are so talented. I love your style and your blog, and how you are not afraid to be yourself. It is truly refreshing.
Sat Nam, **(-_-)**
Piper
Thank you so much for your lovely comment Piper, totally made my day!
Fantastic! The wig is incredible and that is an amazing job for a first go. I love the colours you’re wearing, so different for you but suits you really well! And I have to know, did James use some of his swanky new lighting for these? The shots look especially great today!
Thanks so much :D James has been testing out a lot of different new lighting and I’ve been doing a few different make up things too ^_^
agepayo violet …
I love your site … so beautiful … I found your site by cancan hat tutorial …
admired you very much … I don´t know English very well, but wanted to say thanks for the creativity
I love your tutorials
I´m brazilian and I try to follow the style gyaru, but not yet found myself in style
and you with this beautiful pink hair …
perfect …
kisses
Thank you so much Maria Alice! I am so glad you enjoy my blog, please come back and visit soon! <3
Violet,
It’s me Piper again, lol. I forgot to mention something in my last comment, lol. I love your jingle “Can’t say no to the girl with the lashes” Oh man that is cool. You could sell that jingle you know, and it’s infectuous and catchy. At the risk of sounding creepy, lol, I will tell you that it’s so infectuous that whenever I am putting on my lashes or mascara I think of your jingle and you, lol. It makes me feel pretty! Thanks
Hahaha my boyfriend James came up with that jingle! It gets stuck in my head like craaazy too! You are so sweet and I’m so glad you’re enjoying it here, come back again soon!
OMG MISS DOLLY PARTON!
LOLOLOLOLOL!
Waooh! i love yhe tutorial *O*
And you looks very cute!!
I didn’t expect it to be a wig LOL
Haha I think that’s a good thing XD Thank you!
How amazing is the transformation of that wig, WOW !!!!! I do like you with the sandy coloured hair I must say.
Thanks Jaede! My natural colour is fairly close-ish to this so when I get bored of bleaching I might go back to it XD
How are the arms after the styling? I’d give up halfway through because I’m just too lazy that way. Haha. You looked all sorts of adorable, as usual :)
Zomg arms=sore as all hell XD I had to take a break because I had no blood left in my arms. Totally worth it though because I only have to do it once :D
how would you do the pulling back if the wig has a permanent part in it? Mine has a part straight down the middle and then bangs :X
Mine had a crisscross part and I found that the way to do it was force the hair backwards, backcomb the back and then more hair spray. That will give it enough texture to break the part. It might depend on how severe the part is though.
Very nice! I’ll have to buy a wig so I can try it. That color blonde really looks nice on you too.
Thanks so much ^_^
Hi Violet! That wig is great. Can you tell me where you got it from? In melb or online?
The wig was provided by Fashion Addict: http://www.fashionaddict.com.au
Thank you for posting this! This was a great tutorial. Lately I have been thinking about buy a wig so that I can give my hair a break from all the hairspray and teasing.
That’s the exact reason I’m getting in to them too, it really give hair a break!
Aah that really suits you! :D
Clare xxx
Thank you!
awesome tutorial~ just that, in singapore, people will definately stare at you. T^T
Thank you ^_^ I think people will stare at you no matter where you are in the world :)
Hey Violet! ^^
I just accidentally came across your blog and I can already say that I Love it!!
There is so much really useful information! All your tutorials are brilliant! ^^<3
I will definitely visit it more often!
P.S Where did you get this wig? It looks amazing on you! ^_^
Thank you so much Yoanna! I’m so glad you like the site, do come back again soon ^_^ This wig is from: http://www.fashionaddict.com.au an they ship internationally!
can it be washed and back to normal afterwards? :o
Not sure, I don’t see why not though. This spray just brushes out though so in theory you should just gently brush it all out :)