How to Straighten a Synthetic Wig Using the Hot Water Method | Daily Style Post

Hey guys! Today I want to do something a little different. Tutorial time!

A few months ago, I decided that I wanted to straighten my red Empress wig from Rockstar Wigs. Having always relied on my flat iron, I sat down to watch a movie and straighten a super curly wig on low heat. For this method, you need a hair straightener and more patience than I have. 

After nearly two hours, it looked like this:

Not bad, but not as straight as I had wanted. I would hold the straightener on the ends as long as I dared and they still curled despite my efforts. When straightening high temp synthetic wigs (like wigs from Gothic Lolita Wigs and RockStar Wigs), you have to be really careful not to melt the fibers because there is no way to get them back once they are damaged from heat.

Fast forward to September. I pulled my Empress wig out of the bag that I store it in and... Wtf! It's curly again!!! Noooo! So much effort wasted!  How is this even possible?! 

Time to try another method. I had always heard of the hot water method but had never tried it myself. Now I will never straighten any other way. It is soooo easy! 

First, grab a tripod or some sort of stand that you will be able to attach your foam head to that will allow your wig to hang completely straight when wet. When I thought of using my regular tripod, I got nervous about drenching it in hot water. However, being a photographer, I fortunately have spare tripods laying around. I picked my cheapest tripod (I think it was like $15USD) for my hot water tester tripod. I'm sure the water wouldn't damage a tripod but I didn't want to take the risk with my nicer one.

Turn the handle of the tripod straight up. It conveniently fits a foam head perfectly and securely. Insert the head onto the handle. 

Put the wig on the head. Attach with pins so it doesn't slide off the head during the process. Brush all the knots out of the wig with a wig brush or wide-toothed comb.

Put the tripod and wig in the bathtub. You'll be drenching the thing so you'll want to have it somewhere safe for water.

Fill a pot (or kettle, if you live somewhere that people have kettles XD) with water and put it on the stove. You'll want to keep an eye on it so the water gets hot, but not so hot that you will completely melt the wig. Between 180℉ and 185 is a good temperature.

I'm using a meat thermometer because I don't have a regular thermometer hahah.. Not even sure why I have this. I've been a vegetarian for ten years. Hahaha..  >.<

Once the water is at the ideal heat, say your final goodbye to your wig's curls.

You want to make sure the wig is completely soaked. It would be fine to just start with pouring the water over the top of the wig, but I quickly dipped the ends in the water and swished it around really fast to make sure they got wet. This particular wig style has two long pieces that are much longer than the rest of the wig, so that was a precaution I took to ensure the pieces got wet. 

Then you just pour the water over the top of the wig and watch the magic happen. The heat allows the fibers to be reshaped right before your eyes. Remember, the wig must hang completely straight for the wig to dry straight. It may take a few pots to get the wig completely soaked. I think I heated and poured three pots for this wig.

Never brush a wig when it's wet!!! You can mess up the fibers.

Then you just leave it alone and let it dry for a few hours. Allow the wig to dry fully before taking it off the stand. You don't want to risk messing it up because you're impatient. Maybe you can watch a movie or go get ice cream while you wait. :3

And then.... You revisit your wig a few hours later..... And behold... The straight beauty....

!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's soooo pretty when it's straight!!! The layers! They are amazing! It's like a totally different and new wig. 

Check out some before and after shots of the Rockstar Wigs Empress wig in Red. 

By the way, this wig is on clearance from Rockstar Wigs for $34.50. Get it before it's gone forever!!!

After straightening and falling in love with this wig all over again, I put this outfit together based around the wig. How about this for a Tutorial x Daily Style combo post?! 

Outfit Rundown

Hair: Rockstar Wigs Empress in Red

http://www.gothiclolitawigs.com/empress-collection-red/

Lashes: Dolluxe Lashing Out Loud x Underlash B

http://www.dolluxe.com/1-lashing-out-loud/

http://www.dolluxe.com/8-underlash-b-3-pack/

See my review of these under lashes here:

http://alexapoletti.blogspot.com/2013/04/dolluxe-all-dolled-up-and-underlash-b.html

Contacts: Pinky Paradise Super Size Nudy in Green

https://www.pinkyparadise.com/Geo-Super-Size-Nudy-Green-p/a1-xch623.htm&Click=90989

See my review of these contacts here: 

http://alexapoletti.blogspot.com/2013/08/circle-lens-review-pinky-paradise-geo.html

Necklace: Tobi Spike Gang Wrap Bracelet (worn as necklace)

http://www.tobi.com/product/47062-tobi-spike-gang-wrap-bracelet?color_id=61442

Top: Newbreed Girl Tokzilla Girls Tee (altered into a tank)

I don't think they sell this tee anymore, but they have the same print in a hoodie which I like even better!!! Hoodies are a girl's best friend.

http://newbreedgirl.com/hoodies/tokzilla-hoodie.html

Arm Band: Dollface Deconstruction (actually a hair piece)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/WreckingDolls

Cami: off brand/unknown

Shorts: off brand/unknown 

Sock: non-active eBay shop

Boots:  T.U.K. Red Leather Combat Boots

http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/Girls/Shoes/Boots/T.U.K+Red+Leather+Combat+Boots-726596.jsp

Post by Alexa Poletti.

Watch out! We've got a tough guy over here! *growl*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and Daily Style post! Are you going to straighten your wigs with the hot water method? I'd love to see your straight wigs in the comments or on my facebook page! xoxoxo

Daily Style!~ Bunny Bunny

Bunny Bunny!~

Ears: Target (Borrowed from Grace Valentine) 

Bow: Hypnotic Sweet Treats Oversized Melting Chocolate Bow in White

http://www.etsy.com/listing/130120950/princess-super-cute-over-sized-lolita?ref=shop_home_active

Hair: Gothic Lolita Wigs Daily Doll in Mint

retired

Lashes: Dolluxe Whiplash Attack x Underlash B

http://www.dolluxe.com/6-whiplash-attack-3-pack/

http://www.dolluxe.com/8-underlash-b-3-pack/

See my review of these under lashes here:

http://alexapoletti.blogspot.com/2013/04/dolluxe-all-dolled-up-and-underlash-b.html

Contacts: See Clear Twinkle Chocolate

http://eyestylez.com/stylez/beauty/circle-collection/twinkle-choco.html

See my review of these lenses here:

http://alexapoletti.blogspot.com/2013/09/circle-lens-review-see-clear-contacts.html

Top: off brand/unknown (thrift store find!)

2-way Bow: handmade

Skirt: LoveCulture.com Suspender Skirt in Mint

retired

Tights: Romwe Contrasting Bunny White Overknee Tights

http://www.romwe.com/contrasting-bunny-white-overknee-tights-p-62661.html?alexapoletti

Shoes: non-active eBay shop

I hope you like!~

Post by Alexa Poletti.

Circle Lens Review: See Clear Contacts | Choco Circle, Vibrant Color Circle, and Black Circle Lens Product Review

Hi everyone! Today I bring you the next entry in my Circle Lens Review series! We have a very exciting post today for all of my American readers. Welcome See Clear!! See Clear Contacts are unique because they are based in the USA! AMERICAN FRIENDS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEAN?! Circle lenses that ship domestically get to you so fast!! No more of this waiting 2-3 weeks thing! I got these lenses in less than a week. *dance party*

That said, unfortunately you cannot buy from See Clear directly. Because they are USA based, federal law requires a prescription to get contacts. After you have a prescription for contacts from your eye doctor, you can buy See Clear lenses from their authorized distributors like EyeStylez! EyeStylez is also USA based so you can expect faster shipping. Yipee! See Clear also works closely with optical stores across the nation- from New York to Los Angeles, so they may be easily accessible through your local optometry clinics. :3 

I know getting a prescription is a pain in the butt, but even if you buy lenses from another country, you really should have a prescription anyway. Your eyes are not worth messing up for life just because you want to look cute for a little while. Don't be a dummy. Get a prescription.

Another benefit of See Clear being USA based is that all of their lenses are US FDA approved, which is not always the case from other suppliers. I feel safer & happy knowing that US FDA thinks these lenses are cool too. 

Anyway, now that we got all that fancy information out of the way, let's start the review!! See Clear sent me some samples of their Circle Collection. So exciting!!

Let's start this off with mail day! Yeaaahhhh!

Heck. YEAH! 

I wish yall could see the excitement on my face when lenses arrive. XD

Let's open 'er up!

What an awesome package!! A brochure of all of See Clear's circles, a guide to opening vials, and 4 pairs to review!

Wheeeeee~

You may remember my tutorial from last month's Pinky Paradise review, but in case you still need help, here are See Clear's instructions on how to open glass circle lens vials:

Let's start with See Clear's Vibrant Color Circle Lens Collection!~ For this review, I will be showcasing "Silver Gray" and "Vivid Green"!! Here are all the colors this collection comes in~

Beautiful!! 

Let's start with Silver Gray! I love gray lenses!

Pretty!!!

These lenses, as long as the other Vibrant Circles, are 14.5mm & are one month disposable (with daily wear). After letting them soak in solution for 6-8 hrs, it's time to try them on!

I love them!!! They are so nice and pretty! I love the enlargement too!

These lenses make my dreams of being a kawaii bear come true!~

My eyes look so big!

What do you think?

Overall Rating

Design~ 4/5

This design is very cute! The black dots in the design help it to blend into your natural eye color, while the dark outer rings gives a huge doll eye effect. I wish the dark outer ring was a little thicker for an even more dolly effect, but that's just a personal preference. I do love them just how they are as well!

Color~ 5/5

These lenses are a lovely silver gray color. I personally love gray lenses, so that's a bonus!

Enlargement~ 5/5

The enlargement is definitely extremely noticeable. I really like it!

Comfort~ 4/5

The Vibrant collection is pretty thin when it comes to contacts. The upside is that you can barely feel them, but the downside is that they are harder to put in because they are a bit flimsy. Also, they are one month disposable so you can't wear them comfortably for as long as year disposables.

 Naturalness~ 3/5

Nope. Not natural at all, haha. But who wants to be natural when you can be a KAWAII BEAR. Rawr.

You can find See Clear's Vibrant Silver Gray lenses here:
http://eyestylez.com/vibrant-silver-gray.html

Next up, my other sample from the Vibrant Color Collection~ VIVID GREEN!

You guys know by now that I *love* green lenses! So excited to try these on!

It's magic!!! Such a lovely blend on my naturally light green eyes!! ♡♡♡♡

I feel like a fairy princess (obviously) when I wear these lenses!

Overall Rating

Design~ 4/5

Same design as the Vibrant Silver Gray, but in green! So of course, I still love them.

Color~ 5/5

I like that these lenses are a little bit darker than my natural eye. It makes my eyes pop and I look like some kind of fantasy creature. No complaints here!

Enlargement~ 5/5

So big and pretty! ♡

Comfort~ 4/5

Same as Vibrant Silver Gray~

"The Vibrant collection is pretty thin when it comes to contacts. The upside is that you can barely feel them, but the downside is that they are harder to put in because they are a bit flimsy. Also, they are one month disposable so you can't wear them comfortably for as long as year disposables."

 Naturalness~ 3/5

They look more natural on me than some circles, but that is because they are green like my eyes. If you got them in your eye color, I bet they'd look great! Lenses this big are never going to look very natural though.

You can find See Clear's Vibrant Vivid Green lenses here:
http://eyestylez.com/vibrant-vivid-green.html

Other than the Vibrant Color Collection, See Clear also offers a variety of brown and black lenses, so they get their own separate category.

These are See Clear's Choco Circles. Two beautiful brown lenses to choose from:

Today, I will be reviewing the KB-21 Style! On the EyeStylez site, it's called Twinkle Choco! :3 Cute name!

I'm very interested to try these! Like the Vibrant Collection, these are also 14.5mm and one month disposable.

Cute!!!

To be completely honest, this was my least favorite pair of the samples that See Clear sent me. I really love all of the others, so it's not to say I don't like them, just that they are my least favorite of the bunch. There are a few reasons, to be discussed below~

Overall Rating

Design~ 3/5

To me, the colored bit of the lenses is too thin. I think that it would look beautiful on brown eyes, but I don't think it offers much value to people with lighter colored eyes. The design is thin and small, so it really just looked like a solid thin dark ring around my light green eyes. The design was kind of lost, which was unfortunate because it is lovely. 

Color~ 3/5

The brown ring is very dark and as I said before, just provides with you a dark circle around your iris. Because the design is thin, it doesn't make your eyes appear brown at all. It just gives you the ring. 

Enlargement~ 4/5

They are big, but for some reason, the didn't seem to enlarge as much as other 14.5mm lenses. The definitely do enlarge though!!! O.O

Comfort~ 2/5

I have no idea what was going when I wore these lenses. I'm not sure if something was wrong with me or the lenses. I will give these another go in the future and update this blog accordingly. I had a hard time putting them in, and then once they were in, they floated around in my eye if I didn't blink often enough. In my line of work, you have to keep your eyes open for a long time so the camera doesn't catch you all wonky-eyed (hehe), so floating lenses are particularly a problem for me. Model or not, you don't want your lenses floating around. I don't know if it's the shape of my eye or what, but it doesn't normally happen with other lenses. One side even popped out of my eye! I've never had that happen before. I don't know what was going on. Not sure if the lens is to blame, or if I'm to blame. :x

 Naturalness~ 2/5

The dark ring is unnatural on me. I would really love to see these on someone with brown eyes.

You can find See Clear's KB-21 Style, AKA Twinkle Choco, on EyeStylez here:
http://eyestylez.com/stylez/beauty/circle-collection/twinkle-choco.html


Finally, let's see See Clear's Black Circles!

Your options~

I will be reviewing the KB-6 Style, known on EyeStylez as "Doll Eyes Black"!

Oooh! I am not normally much a fan of black lenses, but this may be my favorite of the samples from See Clear! I am so excited for these!

Oh my god! YAY! I love them! 
Now you may be confused. How are these that much different that the Twinkle Choco lenses that I just said weren't my thing? They are both simply dark outer rings around your green eyes?
Sit tight for my review!

Meow!! Speaking of meow~

Kitty is not happy about the love, hahaha.

Overall Rating

Design~ 5/5

I really like these! The design covers enough of the lens to where my green eyes just peak through. This is the thick ring that I wish the brown lenses above would have had. It's pretty and it feathers into my natural color nicely, even for such a harsh contrast.

Color~ 5/5

Well... it's black. And it looks black.

Enlargement~ 4/5

They are so big and pretty! Like the others, they are 14.5mm.

Comfort~ 4/5

Comfy! I didn't experience any of the problems I had with the brown pair. Like the Vibrant pairs, they are a little floppy but comfortable.

 Naturalness~ 2/5

These might look natural if you are a vampire in 30 Days of Night.

You can find See Clear's KB-6 Style, or Doll Eyes Black here:

http://eyestylez.com/stylez/beauty/circle-collection/doll-eyes-black.html

Well, there ya have it!!! A (very thorough) review of See Clear and their Circle Collection!!! I hope you enjoyed reading! Please wear lenses responsibly and stay cute and not a vampire! But if you want to be a vampire, you should stay tuned for my See Clear Halloween Fierce Theatrical lens review coming soon... >:D

See Clear doesn't just carry circle lenses. They also have colored contacts, theatrical lenses, and sclera lenses!

Check out all of See Clear's lenses here:

See Clear

And shop See Clear here:

EyeStylez

Tell See Clear what you think of my review on their Facebook wall here:

See Clear on Facebook

And of course, follow me here:

Alexa Poletti

To have your shop reviewed, email me here:

AlexaPolettiOfficial@gmail.com

with the subject "*Shop Name* Product Review"

Thanks for reading!