How to Make a Human Hair Wig Look Natural

Whether you’re wearing a wig to hide your hair-loss like me, or just because you like experimenting with your looks – I think we can all agree that we want our wigs to look as real as possible. There’s nothing more uncomfortable than having someone move their eyes up towards your hairline when you’re having a conversation, am I right?

I know that feeling of staring in the mirror, wondering “how do I make my wig look natural?” I’ve been there! And on bad wig days (my version of a bad hair day) I still struggle. But I have found my ways of fixing those worries!

That’s why I’d like to show you how to make a human hair wig look natural. I have plenty of years of experience, so let me walk you through my personal wig tips and tricks. Seriously, this is a life changer!

Table of contents

• Can wigs look natural anyway?
• How do you wear a wig without anyone knowing?
• How to make wigs look natural: for beginners
  • 1. Know your size
  • 2. Go for a lace front (or full lace)
  • 3. Wig density
  • 4. Length of the hair
  • 5. Learn about your skin tone
  • 6. Dimensional colors
  • 7. Shaded or colored roots
  • 8. Plucked hairline
  • 9. Bleached knots
  • 10. Baby hairs
  • 11. Cut the lace in a zigzag line
  • 12. Ear tabs or side burns
  • 13. Face framing layers
  • 15. Lift the roots along the hairline
  • 16. Place the hairline correctly
  • 17. Blend the hairline with your own
  • 18. Imperfect parting
  • 19. Concealer on the parting
  • 20. Scar tape on the parting
  • 22. Try a half updo
  • 23. Use glue if necessary
  • 24. Always check all sides
  • 25. Use the right products
• How to make a wig looks real in the front

Can wigs look natural anyway?

Yes!! I never get clocked for wearing a wig anymore. It might take some practice to wear and style them right, so just try out my tips, have fun with it and see what works for you.

How do you wear a wig without anyone knowing?

Of course we’re going to dive into wig styling tips, but I just want to mention it also comes with confidence.

If you’re constantly focused on the fact that you’re wearing a wig, you might act a little uncomfortable (e.g. touching your hair a lot, avoiding eye contact, making weird head movements, not moving your head at all, etc.). It changes your body language and non-verbal communication. People will probably notice something’s off.

Whereas if you’re just acting normal, people won’t notice. Even if the wig doesn’t look perfectly natural to a trained eye.

As you’ve probably heard a million times, we are our own worst critic. Every flaw we see in ourselves gets magnified, while others might not even notice. They aren’t looking at you with those same critical eyes. They are likely too busy dealing with their own flaws!

So while you are super focused on hairlines and the way your hair moves in the wind, other people aren’t looking at those things. Wigs are constantly on your mind, but not on theirs. They won’t notice!

How to make wigs look natural: for beginners

So we know that your confidence and body language play a huge part in wearing a wig without other people noticing. But obviously you want the wig itself to look like it’s growing out of your scalp as well! Here’s my tips and tricks to style and wear realistic human hair wigs.

1. Know your size

This might sound obvious, but it does make a world of a difference. And I had to find out the hard way!

I would strongly recommend writing down your measurements, like your circumference, front to nape and ear to ear. Every wig retailer has different sizings, so better be safe and know how many inches you need instead of blindly relying on S, M or L sizings.

Also keep in mind that having bio hair makes a wig more snug, so always take that into account!

2. Go for a lace front (or full lace)

Always go for lace front (or full lace)! This makes the hair along the hairline look like it’s growing out of your scalp. I think it’s worth mentioning that not every lace front looks equally realistic. The cheaper ones have very full hairlines, which looks a little fake. You want the hairline to be thinner than the rest of the wig for the most realistic look!

There’s also silk caps. Personally they are not for me, but some people prefer silk over lace. Silk looks more like skin when looking at the parting, because the silk acts as your scalp, but the hairline tends to look a little less realistic than lace. The hair falls forward more, and the transition between the silk and your forehead looks less seamless.

Some silk wigs have a strip of lace in the front, to make the hairline look more realistic. But the transition from silk to lace isn’t seamless either.

3. Wig density

You will find that human hair wigs usually have a % of density. Don’t disregard this number! Depending on the thickness and fullness of your bio hair (or what looks natural on you) you might want to keep this number on the lower end.

I know it feels irresistible to get yourself a 200% density wig. Who doesn’t want dreamy mermaid hair? But in reality, it’s very difficult to make that much hair look natural. Personally I have extremely thin bio hair, so I feel comfortable in a density of 135% or lower. I’ve had 150% before and that was just too much. But it’s very personal!

4. Length of the hair

Again, I am definitely one to drool over mermaid hair that flows down your lower back. But I’ve learned that super long wigs make it way harder to pull off a natural look. So I definitely suggest going for a more realistic length!

Remember – you want to feel confident in your wig. So keep it realistic!

5. Learn about your skin tone

Yep, your skin tone is important when you’re looking for the perfect wig! You either have a cool-toned, neutral-toned or warm-toned skin. Some hair colors might look STUNNING on someone else, but they might wash you out or just look wrong.

Picking the right match for your skin tone is so important! That’s why you shouldn’t just look at the pictures listed on a website. Certain types of lighting can make the hair look warmer or cooler. Plus the wig heads have different skin tones that are carefully selected to match the wig they’re displaying. No matter how cute the wig looks in the picture, it might look completely different on you!

Always read the product information carefully to look for color descriptions!

6. Dimensional colors

What makes a wig look super ‘wiggy’ instantly? When it’s just one color, top to bottom! Our natural hair has different shades of highlights and lowlights, because of the sun and the products we use.

So always pick a wig that has dimensional colors. Look for subtle lowlights and highlights that looks natural all together. I personally love balayage wigs!

7. Shaded or colored roots

You might want to opt for a subtle shaded root to add to the dimensional colors. That way it looks like your own roots are showing a tiny bit. Those are the imperfections that real hair show! So we want them in our wigs too. Just make sure the color of the root also goes with your skin tone and your eyebrows.

8. Plucked hairline

Most high-quality wigs come with a pre-plucked hairline, to make it appear a bit thinner and more natural. But if you are trying to improve a synthetic wig or aren’t quite satisfied with the amount of pre-plucking of your human hair wig, you can have a go at it yourself.

I personally don’t like plucking hairlines because not only is it a tedious task, it’s also easy to rip the lace or over-pluck. But some people swear by it! Again, a personal choice.

9. Bleached knots

When looking at a wig’s hairline up close, you’ll notice tiny knots where the hair meets the lace. For the most natural look, you want these knots to be invisible, so they melt into the scalp. This can be done by carefully bleaching the knots. I would NOT advice you do this by yourself unless you are VERY experienced! Because over-bleaching can cause breakage right at the root, making all of your precious and expensive hair fall out! It can also result in brassy tones or even discoloration of the lace, if not done properly.

Look for wigs with bleached knots and always do your research. Read about the brand and look up experiences of people who have purchased their wigs. Because even some wig brands tend to over-bleach the knots, and you don’t want to find out the hard way!

10. Baby hairs

Human hair wigs usually have subtle baby hairs (some synthetic wigs do too, but I find those less convincing). These baby hair need some styling! Personally I like to use a small barrel curling iron to make them a little wavy and wispy. But you can also leave them straight of course.

The best way to keep your baby hairs from pointing straight down or forward is to use a little hairspray on a toothbrush and brush the baby hairs in place. Seriously, try it!

11. Cut the lace in a zigzag line

A brand new wig usually comes with the lace uncut. Obviously you want to cut the lace before the first wear, but that’s a very daunting task to some. Here’s my two cents:

A natural hairline is never a perfect straight line, so don’t cut your lace in a straight line either! I always cut in a tiny zigzag line. It might look weird to you up close, but when you’re wearing it it really does make a huge difference!

12. Ear tabs or side burns

Some wigs come with ear tabs that cover the side burn area. You either love them or you hate them! If you’re on the second team you can just cut them off. You can easily pull out your own bio hair to create sideburns, this also gives the wig a natural look!

But if you’re like me and your hairline is too far back or you don’t have any bio hair at all, you might want to keep the ear tabs to make it look like you have sideburns.

13. Face framing layers

No matter how good a wig looks, I can always clock a wig-wearer when they don’t have any face framing layers. It’s just not very realistic when the hair that grows from the hairline is just as long as the rest of the hair. A subtle amount of face framing layers make the wig look less ‘wiggy’ and more natural.

IMPORTANT! Always get a professional WIG stylist to cut your wigs. Wigs are different than bio hair, so not every hairdresser will be able to work with these hair pieces!

14. Overall layers

Adding some overall layers to a wig makes it look more ‘imperfect’, bouncy and real. Highly recommended! It also thins out the bulkiness that most wigs tend to have.

15. Lift the roots along the hairline

This is something I was never taught, but I just started doing it and I’m a fan! After every wash I use a comb to lift the roots along the hairline up from the lace.

Just look at the hairline of someone with healthy bio hair. The hair never grows out completely flat. It goes up a few millimeters and then goes to the side. Doing this to your wig really makes it look like the hair is growing out of your scalp!

16. Place the hairline correctly

Study your face and figure out where the hairline would start naturally. Most people have a ‘four’-head. Indicating that your forehead is about as high as the width of four fingers.

If you have bio hair I would suggest placing the wig’s hairline over your natural hairline for the best look.

17. Blend the hairline with your own

If you have bio hair and your hairline is thick enough, you can place the wig a bit farther up, past your natural hairline. Now blend your hairline with the wig and no one will be able to tell!

18. Imperfect parting

Again, we are looking to recreate as many imperfections as possible! We do not want our wig to be ‘perfect’, because natural hair isn’t perfect either.

So does your wig have a hairline that is too perfect, too straight and too tidy? Mess it up a bit! Use a comb to brush some hairs to the other side (wet it so it dries in place).

19. Concealer on the parting

Wigs are made of hairs that are individually tied to the lace. So obviously there’s lots of tiny little knots around the parting and hairline. As I mentioned before: some wig retailers will bleach the knots, but they can’t go too far because bleach also damages the hair. So sometimes the knots will still be visible in the form of tiny dots.

Do the knots make you feel insecure or uncomfortable? Use some liquid concealer on them! Set it with a powder so it lasts longer.

20. Scar tape on the parting

Lace wigs have these amazing partings that are a little bit see through so it looks like the hair is growing from the scalp. But if you have (darker) bio hair, you won’t see any scalp, which makes the parting look more dense and a little unrealistic.

You can add scar tape on the inside of the wig cap – right where the parting is – to create a fake scalp! A skin colored wig cap might work too, but I personally find those a bit tedious and uncomfortable.

21. Tame the poofiness

In step 15 I told you to lift the roots at the hairline. But for the rest of the wig we want the roots to lie as flat as possible, to get rid of the poofiness on top of the wig. We don’t want our wig to look like a hat!

So after a wash I brush it down all the way, as flat as possible (apart from the hairline, as explained in step 15).

When the wig is dry I grab a curling wand and press down the roots even more, to make sure they stay nice and flat and won’t double the size of my head.

22. Try a half updo

Sometimes you will have a bad wig day. The hair in front will not stay in place and ends up looking ‘wiggy’. On these cursed days I always opt for a half updo. Keeps the hair out of your face and by leaving out a few wispy baby hairs it will look great!

23. Use glue if necessary

If your wig is the right size, you won’t need any glue on a regular day. Maybe if it’s extremely windy or if you’re doing any high intensity activities (I will spare you the story of me on a rollercoaster without glueing down my wig..).

24. Always check all sides

Done styling? Great! Grab a handheld mirror and check all sides, also the back! You want to make sure everything looks great from all angles, just to put your mind at ease and to boost your confidence for the day!

25. Use the right products

Wigs require different care than bio hair. Even human hair wigs need different products. Always listen to the advice your wig retailer gives you! And please don’t experiment with different products. You do NOT want to dry out your expensive wig!

How to make a wig look real in the front

By following the steps above, your wig will definitely look real in the front! Just remember to line up the hairline correctly, gently lift the roots after every wash and tame the baby hairs.

Bookmark or pin this post if you want to have it on hand on your bad wig days! Or when you’re shopping for a new human hair wig!

Do you have any questions? Leave a comment down below and I will make sure to get back to you!