Let's Talk About When the Wig Is Wearing You
We've all had it happen. You get into cosplay, you put on the wig, and uh-oh! the wig is somehow just Too Much. You're getting lost under all that hair and it just doesn't feel right.
Add more makeup.
This is the quickest and easiest thing you can do, and should be one of the first things you try (along with #2 down below). Especially if you aren't used to wearing cosplay makeup, you can think that your makeup is super heavy (and it might be out of costume!), but the moment you put that wig on, it vanishes. This is especially an issue with very brightly colored wigs and very stylized looks. Everything needs to be in balance in order to look right, and sometimes the wig can stand out too much if your face doesn't have enough oomph to stand up right beside it. If you're doing a full head-to-toe green Jojo character, you will need a lot more makeup than you think for it to not look like too little in comparison to the full outfit and wig. If you're doing a cute idol girl with very naturalistic hair, you won't need as much makeup to stand up to the costume and wig.... but oh wait, she has a very different hair color than you do, which is washing you out a bit, so better up that blush and glitter so your features show up.
More blush often helps the most if you get easily washed out, but also deepening eyeshadow colors or packing them on heavier more more opacity if a bright color can help a lot. Also never judge the full look until you have your lashes on if you are a fake lash wearer, since that can change the entire balance.
If you aren't wearing makeup at all, put some on! Check out my post on Cosplay Makeup for People Who Don't Wear Makeup
This is the quickest and easiest thing you can do, and should be one of the first things you try (along with #2 down below). Especially if you aren't used to wearing cosplay makeup, you can think that your makeup is super heavy (and it might be out of costume!), but the moment you put that wig on, it vanishes. This is especially an issue with very brightly colored wigs and very stylized looks. Everything needs to be in balance in order to look right, and sometimes the wig can stand out too much if your face doesn't have enough oomph to stand up right beside it. If you're doing a full head-to-toe green Jojo character, you will need a lot more makeup than you think for it to not look like too little in comparison to the full outfit and wig. If you're doing a cute idol girl with very naturalistic hair, you won't need as much makeup to stand up to the costume and wig.... but oh wait, she has a very different hair color than you do, which is washing you out a bit, so better up that blush and glitter so your features show up.
More blush often helps the most if you get easily washed out, but also deepening eyeshadow colors or packing them on heavier more more opacity if a bright color can help a lot. Also never judge the full look until you have your lashes on if you are a fake lash wearer, since that can change the entire balance.
If you aren't wearing makeup at all, put some on! Check out my post on Cosplay Makeup for People Who Don't Wear Makeup
Glue your wig to your face.
This is the other main thing to try. You know how anime characters often have those perfectly face-framing bangs, or that lock of hair that stays perfectly in the middle of their forehead, or whatever else, and it just doesn't work that way irl? This is what wig glue is for. I use a roll-on glue meant for the purpose, called Face Cover Glue and sold by Assist Cosplay, but you can use eyelash glue or whatever other skin-safe but not ultra strong glue you have around. I don't recommend the types of wig glues you can get at beauty supply stores, since most of these are meant for installing a wig for longer term than a single day at a convention.
Often times, a wig will stick out a bit from your face in an odd way, so you want to stick that down so it doesn't move, but more importantly, that it stays close to your face and in a flattering position.
This is the other main thing to try. You know how anime characters often have those perfectly face-framing bangs, or that lock of hair that stays perfectly in the middle of their forehead, or whatever else, and it just doesn't work that way irl? This is what wig glue is for. I use a roll-on glue meant for the purpose, called Face Cover Glue and sold by Assist Cosplay, but you can use eyelash glue or whatever other skin-safe but not ultra strong glue you have around. I don't recommend the types of wig glues you can get at beauty supply stores, since most of these are meant for installing a wig for longer term than a single day at a convention.
Often times, a wig will stick out a bit from your face in an odd way, so you want to stick that down so it doesn't move, but more importantly, that it stays close to your face and in a flattering position.
Choose a wig with different undertones and/or color contrast.
Sometimes a wig can be completely accurate in isolation, but not look right on you because the undertones of the color don't work with your skin tone. While I believe that anyone who wants to can find a flattering blonde, blonde is one of the worst offenders for this. I can't wear blondes that are too ashy or else my skin turns tomato red, for example. This can happen with any color, though, so learn which colors look good on you and which don't, and use wig swatches when possible to check. As a rule of thumb, if you have warm undertones, warmer colors look better, and if you have cool undertones, cool undertones look better, but of course this can vary, and it gets complicated when you get into olive and neutral undertones.
Also look at color contrast. Contrast between your skin and features and the wig vs the character's features and wig, can be too bright or too dull for your features
In a pinch, you can nudge your undertones a bit in one direction or the other with makeup (LA Girl sells colored mixers for your foundation that can help make them warmer or cooler, for example), but sometimes that can look weird as well, especially if your costume reveals more of your skin and your face doesn't match or the foundation isn't full coverage and it mixes with your natural undertones. I would say this is a last-ditch effort if you already have a wig that doesn't work on your skin and you want to wear it.
Sometimes a wig can be completely accurate in isolation, but not look right on you because the undertones of the color don't work with your skin tone. While I believe that anyone who wants to can find a flattering blonde, blonde is one of the worst offenders for this. I can't wear blondes that are too ashy or else my skin turns tomato red, for example. This can happen with any color, though, so learn which colors look good on you and which don't, and use wig swatches when possible to check. As a rule of thumb, if you have warm undertones, warmer colors look better, and if you have cool undertones, cool undertones look better, but of course this can vary, and it gets complicated when you get into olive and neutral undertones.
Also look at color contrast. Contrast between your skin and features and the wig vs the character's features and wig, can be too bright or too dull for your features
In a pinch, you can nudge your undertones a bit in one direction or the other with makeup (LA Girl sells colored mixers for your foundation that can help make them warmer or cooler, for example), but sometimes that can look weird as well, especially if your costume reveals more of your skin and your face doesn't match or the foundation isn't full coverage and it mixes with your natural undertones. I would say this is a last-ditch effort if you already have a wig that doesn't work on your skin and you want to wear it.
Thin the wig.
A lot of cosplay wig stylists and people who make tutorials cut their teeth in a time when "add more fiber" was the solution to every problem, but sometimes wigs need less fiber. More fiber is heavier, meaning you will be fighting against gravity to get the wig to hold a style. This doesn't mean you need wigs that are so thin you can see the tracks, but reducing some of the weight will help the style.
Thinning towards the tips will also help quite a bit. This is especially true of styles that defy gravity to some degree, as you will want your spikes and such to be thicker towards the base but thinner towards the tip both to look more natural and to allow the wig to not weigh itself down at the tips, so the spikes will need less heat and product to stay in place.
Thinning the tips can also be useful on any wig you want to look naturalistic, since real hair thins towards the ends. If a wig looks too visually heavy on your head, this can help a lot.
Also play around with thinning areas like bangs if the usual ones overwhelm you. I personally find that my bangs need either a lot of volume (like 90s anime bangs) or they need to be somewhat wispy in order to balance my strong features. My Shizuku-tan wig has wispy bangs for this reason despite the character having much blunter bangs -- it may not be 100% screen accurate, but in cases like this, looking good on the person wearing the costume is always going to look better than 100% screen accuracy but it not looking right in real life.
Thinning towards the tips will also help quite a bit. This is especially true of styles that defy gravity to some degree, as you will want your spikes and such to be thicker towards the base but thinner towards the tip both to look more natural and to allow the wig to not weigh itself down at the tips, so the spikes will need less heat and product to stay in place.
Thinning the tips can also be useful on any wig you want to look naturalistic, since real hair thins towards the ends. If a wig looks too visually heavy on your head, this can help a lot.
Also play around with thinning areas like bangs if the usual ones overwhelm you. I personally find that my bangs need either a lot of volume (like 90s anime bangs) or they need to be somewhat wispy in order to balance my strong features. My Shizuku-tan wig has wispy bangs for this reason despite the character having much blunter bangs -- it may not be 100% screen accurate, but in cases like this, looking good on the person wearing the costume is always going to look better than 100% screen accuracy but it not looking right in real life.
Add or reduce volume strategically.
This one sounds a bit vague, but that's because what you would need to do depends on your own face. It also often goes hand in hand with thinning the wig. Often there's too much volume in wigs and that makes someone's face look too small or like they're being overwhelmed by the wig. Sometimes, a wig is too flat and doesn't look quite right on the person because it doesn't have enough volume. Try playing around with some wigs you own and seeing what the commonalities between the ones you really like yourself in are. You can also put on one, look in a mirror, and either lift hair out to visualize more volume or push it flatter to visualize less volume. You can also scribble on a photo of yourself in your wig to add or remove "hair" to see how that looks.
Typically, there will be specific areas that will look better on you with more volume, and specific areas that will look better with less volume. Personally, I need a lot of volume on the top of my head. big floofy bangs, big 80s curls, 90 hair vents, anything like that will be the most flattering, and even on straight wigs I need a bit more there to balance out my face. If a wig feels like too much, you might have too much volume on the sides of your face so that your actual face is getting lost. Experiment and see what looks best.
This one sounds a bit vague, but that's because what you would need to do depends on your own face. It also often goes hand in hand with thinning the wig. Often there's too much volume in wigs and that makes someone's face look too small or like they're being overwhelmed by the wig. Sometimes, a wig is too flat and doesn't look quite right on the person because it doesn't have enough volume. Try playing around with some wigs you own and seeing what the commonalities between the ones you really like yourself in are. You can also put on one, look in a mirror, and either lift hair out to visualize more volume or push it flatter to visualize less volume. You can also scribble on a photo of yourself in your wig to add or remove "hair" to see how that looks.
Typically, there will be specific areas that will look better on you with more volume, and specific areas that will look better with less volume. Personally, I need a lot of volume on the top of my head. big floofy bangs, big 80s curls, 90 hair vents, anything like that will be the most flattering, and even on straight wigs I need a bit more there to balance out my face. If a wig feels like too much, you might have too much volume on the sides of your face so that your actual face is getting lost. Experiment and see what looks best.
Resize the wig smaller or get a different wig (especially on very sculptural wigs).
Be sure the wig was styled on a wig head that fits you.
This goes a lot with the previous one, but from a more specific angle. Cheap Styrofoam wig heads aren't always sized for a human head. The "male" wig heads (the ones that look like John Cena) are closer to human head size and shape than the "female" ones and can often be padded to fit. Don't even bother with the smaller "female" heads, as they are so far from human you'll just get frustrated. Professional wig heads will serve you better and come in multiple sizes, but are more expensive and harder to get. Wig heads that are too small (or, in less common circumstances, too large) can make the styling look odd when put on our actual human head. Even on non-helmet wigs, styling on a too small head can cause the final wig to not fit, depending on the styling, and will make it so the landmarks of the wig won't line up properly with the landmarks of your face. On short styles, this can also make the wig poof out oddly because the fiber will be sticking out from areas it was meant to lie down on and there isn't enough gravity to keep it there.
This goes a lot with the previous one, but from a more specific angle. Cheap Styrofoam wig heads aren't always sized for a human head. The "male" wig heads (the ones that look like John Cena) are closer to human head size and shape than the "female" ones and can often be padded to fit. Don't even bother with the smaller "female" heads, as they are so far from human you'll just get frustrated. Professional wig heads will serve you better and come in multiple sizes, but are more expensive and harder to get. Wig heads that are too small (or, in less common circumstances, too large) can make the styling look odd when put on our actual human head. Even on non-helmet wigs, styling on a too small head can cause the final wig to not fit, depending on the styling, and will make it so the landmarks of the wig won't line up properly with the landmarks of your face. On short styles, this can also make the wig poof out oddly because the fiber will be sticking out from areas it was meant to lie down on and there isn't enough gravity to keep it there.
Make sure the wig has a similar degree of realism vs stylism as the rest of the costume.
Finally, make sure the wig is visually cohesive with the rest of the costume. If you have a highly stylized costume, complete with cel shading, and a wig that can pass as natural hair, well, the wig won't be wearing you, but it will look out of place. If you have a highly naturalistic costume with a lot of texture and detail you might find in real life garments, but your wig is a highly sculptural piece that looks more like it was carved rather than styled out of hairlike fibers, then the wig will look equally out of place and probably be too loud of the rest of the costume. Swap the styles on those two wigs and the entire effect will be much more cohesive. Helmet wigs have enjoyed popularity, and these are often very heavily stylized, but paired with a costume that doesn't match the stylization of the wig can make the wig stand out in an unintended way and visually dominate the look.
If your costume is overall more naturalistic in style, try a softer-looking wig, blended color fibers, and slightly more muted versions of the character's hair color. This doesn't mean you have to forego accuracy in color or style, but you have to think about what that accuracy means to you. You can still have very brightly colored, almost neon hair, in a bizarre style that only an anime character would have, but you would need to work to make it look like something that is of this world and not something that came off a page. You can also add lowlights to the wig to create your own blends and help unnatural colors like green or purple look more like it could be sprouting from a head. Think to yourself: how would this color or style work in real life?
And if you love highly stylized wigs, I recommend punching up the costume itself to match. Flatter textures, brighter colors, even going as far as cel shading and linework can do a lot. you don't have to go all the way, just make sure it all matches each other.
See my post on Realistic vs Stylistic Cosplays for more information.
If your costume is overall more naturalistic in style, try a softer-looking wig, blended color fibers, and slightly more muted versions of the character's hair color. This doesn't mean you have to forego accuracy in color or style, but you have to think about what that accuracy means to you. You can still have very brightly colored, almost neon hair, in a bizarre style that only an anime character would have, but you would need to work to make it look like something that is of this world and not something that came off a page. You can also add lowlights to the wig to create your own blends and help unnatural colors like green or purple look more like it could be sprouting from a head. Think to yourself: how would this color or style work in real life?
And if you love highly stylized wigs, I recommend punching up the costume itself to match. Flatter textures, brighter colors, even going as far as cel shading and linework can do a lot. you don't have to go all the way, just make sure it all matches each other.
See my post on Realistic vs Stylistic Cosplays for more information.