Curly Wigs: Choosing and Caring for One

Reading the pattern

Curly units run from loose spirals through defined ringlets to tight coils and kinky textures. Tighter patterns hide the cap and the knots better and look fuller for their length, since a tight coil shrinks. Looser spirals show more of the parting and read as longer. Whatever the pack says about length, assume the tighter the pattern the shorter it wears, sometimes by half.

Detangling without ruining it

Never take a brush to a dry curly unit. Work with the hair damp, with conditioner or a slip spray through it, in sections, from the ends upward with fingers or a wide-tooth comb. Every pass through dry curls pulls the pattern apart into frizz, and on synthetic fiber that separation is permanent, since there is no cuticle to close and no way to re-clump it.

Moisture on something that has no scalp

A leave-in conditioner through the lengths and a light oil to seal is the whole routine. Do it after every wash and again whenever the hair feels rough. The mistake people make is reaching for heavy creams and butters, which coat a synthetic curl and flatten it into a limp, greasy version of itself. Light and often beats heavy and occasional.

Reviving the curl

A spray bottle of water with a small amount of conditioner is the single most useful thing to own for a curly unit. Mist, scrunch upward with your hands, and let it dry undisturbed. Many synthetic curly units also respond to a dip in hot water, which resets the fiber's memory and brings back a pattern that has gone slack. Check the label first, since heat-friendly and standard fibers behave differently.

Sleeping in one

If you sleep in the unit, gather it loosely on top of your head and cover it with a satin bonnet. Flattening curls against a pillow for eight hours undoes a day of definition, and cotton pulls moisture straight out of the fiber. If you take it off, put it on a stand rather than dropping it curls-down on a surface.