When you cut a lace front wig, it means that you remove the excess frontal lace, namely the visible portion of transparent fabric placed on the frontal part of the unity.
However, you can also cut other components on a frontal lace wig, such as its human or synthetic hairs. The cut of a lace front wig, indeed, serves only to make the wig more natural.
I am Rosalba, a long-time wig wearer who has been gifted with in-depth knowledge about wig and haircutting.
In this guide, I explained how to cut a lace front wig with a few easy and practical steps.
Don’t follow other complicated methods, read this article and learn a procedure that will make the cut of your frontal lace wig extremely easy and enjoyable.
Step 1: Prepare the Tools for the Cut
The types of tools to cut the frontal lace of your wig depend mostly on your cutting skills.
You should be able to use professional scissors with ergonomic holds or the small and common scissors you use daily to cut fabric and your nails.
There are those who prefer to cut their lace front wig with a razor to give the edges of the lace a natural jagged effect. Unfortunately, a razor is a highly professional cutting tool used only by able and popular hairstylists.
If you are a beginner, it is better to avoid the razor, because you could perform wrong cuts with messy jags that would make the wig unnatural.
Hence, to execute the cut, scissors are mandatory.
In addition to them, prepare clips to tie the hairs of the wig backward and get a complete vision of the lace to cut. Don’t forget tweezers for plucking the wig after cutting.
Step 2: Decide Where you Want to Cut your Frontal Lace Wig
On your head or on a mannequin head? These are the only two places where you can cut your lace front wig. If you are an expert wig wearer, no problem: put the wig on your head before performing the work.
If you are a beginner, always put your wig on a mannequin head. I think that a mannequin head should be used by experts, as well, because this tool allows you to have the perfect vision of the parts and edges you have to cut.
When you have your wig on your head, in fact, you must look at the mirror to perform a perfect cutting, but the mirror gives you a frontal vision and only a partial vision of the lateral edges of the lace.
Yes, the lace is frontal, but the cutting must start from the sides of the ears to get performed correctly. Moreover, with wrong strokes, you could injure your skin and ears.
This risk is eluded thanks to the mannequin head.
Hence, in this guide, I’ll explain how to cut a lace front wig on a mannequin head. Consider, anyway, that you can apply my method to cut your lace front wig on your head, also. The difference between cutting on a wig head and on your head is only the installation of the unity.
To cut the wig on a mannequin, you’ll install the unity after the cutting. To cut the wig on your head, you must install the unity before you cut, using all the installation tools to secure the wig, such as stocking cap, glue, clips or adhesive strips.
These tools are not necessary on a wig head. This plastic head is bald and you have only to put the wig on it, tighten knots and straps to secure the unity and proceed with the cut.
Now, we get to the heart of the matter. Follow the subsequent step to learn how to cut the frontal lace with no mistakes.
Step.3: Tie the Hairs of the Wig Behind the Ears
Use the clips to tie the hairs of the wig behind the ears. This way, you’ll have a perfect and complete vision of the frontal lace that you are about to cut. In this stage, indeed, the cut must involve only the lace and not the strands of the hairs.
Step 4: Perform the Cut of the Frontal Lace
With the scissors, cut the frontal lace in three parts. Cut vertically the part on the left ear, the central part on the forehead and the third part on the right ear.
These vertical cuts allow you to perform shorter cuttings instead of removing the lace all at once.
If you cut the lace entirely along the headline, in fact, you’ll remove all the frontal lace, obtaining an unnatural look.
The frontal lace must not be cut completely, a minimal part on the hairline must remain in place in order to let you better style your wig and trim the baby hair.
The golden rule is to keep 1.2 inches of lace, at least.
Optionally, through a pen, you can mark this measure with dots along the hairline.
Now, cut the first portion of lace from the left ear to the center of the forehead; afterward, cut the second portion from the center of the forehead to the right ear.
This way, the frontal lace will be perfectly removed with no additional efforts.
Step 5: Pluck the Wig
After cutting the frontal lace, you can style and trim your wig. This stage is always performed through plucking.
Quality lace front wigs are always pre-plucked and have baby hair, but common cheap wigs have a straight and flattened density that make them look like wigs.
Plucking, instead, allows you to create the effect of baby hair, namely the tiny hairs we naturally have along our hairline.
Pluck gently through the tweezers, with light movements along your hairline, always follow the path seen for the cut of the lace, pluck from one side to the central forehead up to another side. Also pluck the middle line of the hairs of the wig.
Be careful to not pull too much, to not rip the remaining lace or create holes on it.
Step 6: Part and Comb the Wig
Now that you cut and plucked, you can part and comb the wig to your liking. If you have a human hair wig, you can part it with your hands, no comb or brush is necessary.
If you have a synthetic wig, you can part it with a brush for synthetic wigs or a large tooth comb.
Step 7: Style the Wig, Cutting the Hairs
After you cut the frontal lace, you can also cut the hairs of your wig. Cutting is another way to better style your unity.
Remember that after the cutting, the hairs of the wig don’t grow anymore.
However, if you want to give your wig a new elegance, always use the professional scissors and the pointed comb of hairstylists.
Keep the wig on a mannequin head. To cut its hairs, you should divide the strands upon the several hairlines: middle hair, sides, and along the back of the skull. The strands should be tied with clips.
The first cut should be performed from the back.
Create a 90° angle from the strand to the head, to perform a straight cut, create a 45° angle to perform a layered cut.
The angle is an advice I have had from my personal hairdresser, but haircutting is a work of art and it is better if it is performed by a hairstylist. Otherwise, you risk ruining your wig.
FAQs
To get additional information about how to cut your lace front wig, check the section of the FAQs. I am sure they will be helpful to you.
How Do You Cut a Lace Front Wig with Baby Hair?
A lace front wig with baby hair is usually a high-quality human hair wig. However, the tiny layer of baby hair can make the cut of the lace incorrect, because it partially hides the lace, preventing you from cutting it properly.
To avoid this problem, you can flat and straight the baby hair with a gel. This way, you’ll make the baby hair invisible and the frontal lace perfectly visible. After the cutting, you can wash the wig to remove the gel applied to the baby hair.
Do You Cut All the Lace Off a Lace Front Wig?
The reply to this question is No. I don’t cut all the lace off my lace front wig. This type of wig is designed to look more natural and parted in every direction you like.
The frontal lace serves to create a frontal hairline that mimics perfectly your natural hair.
You can keep the excess lace when you wear your wig at home, but if you want to use the wig outdoors, you must remove the visible part of the lace.
As said in this guide, it is better you keep 1.2 inches of lace to hide the hairline of your hair or the protective cap you wore when you installed the wig.
Just To Recap
As you can see, cutting the frontal lace of your wig is extremely easy. Perform the cut on a mannequin head and follow what I said: cut vertically first, to divide the lace in three parts.
Pluck, comb, part and if you want to cut the hairs of the wig, ask your hairdresser for help.
If you have difficulty cutting the lace, as well, always ask him to do the job on behalf of you.
And if you liked my guide, let me know. I will be honored to publish your comment.