HOW TO DYE A SYNTHETIC WIG | Alexa's Wig Series #7 - YouTube

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Hey everyone!

It is wig tutorial time!

In today's video, I will show you how to dye a synthetic wig.

If you have ever tried to dye a synthetic wig with real hair dye,

you probably discovered that it doesn't really work.

Hair dye is made for...

you guessed it!

Hair!

And not these synthetic fibers that these wigs are made out of.

But there are ways to change the colors

of light-colored synthetic wigs.

So let's go!

Alright so there are a few different ways you can dye synthetic wigs,

so we are just gonna cover as much as we can in this video.

The first thing you'll need, no matter what method you use,

is a light-colored synthetic wig.

To add color to any hair, real or fake, it has to be light enough for the colors to show up

and since you can't bleach synthetic hair,

it has to just start off lighter than the color you want to dye it.

This means wigs that are white, silver, blonde, pastels, etc. will work the best.

Synthetic fibers can be dyed by using a combination of ink and alcohol.

My personal favorite way to dye wigs is by using acrylic ink and 70% isopropyl alcohol,

but you can also make a similar ink combo by mixing rubbing alcohol

with the ink from Sharpies, which are alcohol based markers.

Okay, so to get started, I'm going to mix up my DIY synthetic hair dye.

Pour the acrylic ink into the spray bottle and then mix in some rubbing alcohol.

The amount of alcohol that you'll want to use depends

on how light you want the color to turn out.

Use more alcohol to dilute the ink if you want a lighter, less-opaque color,

or use less alcohol for a more vibrant, richer color.

I usually land somewhere in the middle and will go for a ratio of 1 part ink to 1 part alcohol.

But with this purple ink that I'll be applying first,

I went heavy on the alcohol to make it appear more of a deep pink color

rather than dark purple.

Put on some gloves to keep your hands clean

and then go ahead and apply the dye to the wig by just spraying it on!

I spray it on in sections and then just dig my fingers all up in there

to make sure the hair is saturated, uh, not just on the top,

but on the underside too and is coated all the way through.

Make sure you move the hair around as you go so you're not just dyeing the top layer of hair.

So as I continue my way through the purple dye application,

I am going to also show you an alternative method for making synthetic hair dye

which is the sharpie method!

For this method, you'll need Sharpies of course,

rubbing alcohol, a spray bottle, pliers, a knife, and gloves.

Use the pliers to pull the Sharpie apart.

Your goal is to get the ink tube out of the marker.

So grab the colorful front section of the Sharpie with your pliers

and wiggle it around and pull it until it all comes apart.

This can take some practice!

It can be hard at first.

But you got this!

I believe in you!

So once it's apart, put the ink tube aside.

Then use your pliers to remove the little tip from the front of the sharpie

for a little bit of extra ink.

This part should come out much easier.

Go ahead and drop that into your little spray bottle.

And then using something sharp,

slice open the ink casing so the ink will come out easier.

I use an XACTO knife which is probably the easiest way,

but if you don't have one, you can also use scissors or a knife.

Drop the ink tube into the spray bottle and add some alcohol.

Then you just gotta let it sit for a while.

The longer you let it sit, the better.

Here is what the dye looks like just minutes after mixing it

versus what it looks like 24 hours later.

So it's definitely best to leave it overnight

to get the most out of the ink casing.

Then you just apply it the same way as the acrylic ink mix that I'm doing here.

Okay, so it looks like my purple dye is all super saturated on the upper portion of this wig.

so now I am going to move on to the pink dye!

The color I'm using now is magenta

and is a color similar to what the purple dye should become

after diluting it down with that extra bit of alcohol.

So even though the two dyes will be close in color,

the reason I didn't just use two bottles of magenta

is because I want the colors to be slightly different

for some color variation and adding general dimension to the hair.

I mix the magenta dye with a 1:1 ratio.

Saturate the rest of the hair with the pink dye.

Of course, depending on what you're trying to do with your wig

and what color you're dying it, it's totally fine to just use one color throughout.

The main thing that is the most important is just to make sure that it is fully saturated

because it is just the worst to wash it out later

and discover that you've missed a patch of hair!

I start using a comb to brush the dye through

to make sure I'm getting it on all of the hairs, all of the layers,

front and back, roots and everything.

Once you're satisfied and think you've got it all covered,

it is time to step back and let it air dry.

If it's fully saturated, it's probably going to drip everywhere

so I definitely would recommend covering your workspace beforehand

with trashbags, a plastic tablecloth, newspaper...

anything.

Save your table.

I usually give it at least an hour to dry but sometimes it takes a little bit longer

depending on how thick and long the wig is.

Once you can touch the wig and not get dye all over your hands,

it's probably dry!

Okay so now now that the wig is dry,

you can rinse the dye out in cold water until the water runs clear.

Get all of that ink out of the hair so that it doesn't transfer to your clothes later.

Also make sure you rinse the cap out because while dying it,

you probably got some ink in there

and you don't want that transferring to your hair either.

After it's all rinsed out, lay it out on a towel to dry.

After it dries, brush the wig out.

And depending on what your plan is for this wig,

this could be the end of your synthetic wig dyeing journey!

This blonde wig is now pink.

It's dyed.

But since I'm me,

a wig-loving tutorial-making overachiever,

I am also going to show you how to root a wig too!

Adding roots to a wig is one of my favorite way to customize a wig

and I think it makes dye-jobs look so much better and more complete!

So my favorite way to root a wig is by using alcohol-based markers like Sharpies,

70% isopropyl alcohol, Q-Tips, hair clips, and a comb.

This is different than the alternative dye I showed you earlier

because we aren't pulling the ink out of the Sharpie.

We are leaving it as a normal marker

and are just going to be coloring it straight onto the hair.

I know it sounds weird, but let me show you what I mean.

Starting at the bottom of the wig cap, use your comb to separate out the hair.

Parting wigs is easier than parting real hair because you have wefts you can follow

so you know you are going in a straight line.

Once you have a starting section at the base of your wig,

clip all of the rest of the hair up out of your way.

Using a sharpie that is whatever color you want your roots to be,

just start coloring them on there.

You can make them however long or short you want.

Just color across the whole weft.

And then, not sure why I didn't do this on the first weft

because I do it on literally every other weft on the whole entire wig,

but I put my rubbing alcohol onto a Q-Tip

and use it to blend that root edge out.

The alcohol on the Q-Tip will make it so that you can manipulate your dyes a little bit,

so you can pull down that Sharpie color

and blur the lines between Sharpie and pink dye.

And then you go just weft by weft,

starting at the bottom and working your way up.

Weft by weft.

Parting the hair, coloring across,

and then using alcohol on a Q-Tip to blend it down.

I'm not gonna lie to you guys- this process takes a long time,

but it really is the best way.

Just put on a movie and get to coloring!

And if you are in a hurry, you could just do the top half of the wig,

but for best results, I always just root the whole thing.

Following along the wefts is a great way to make sure that you get every little hair

and aren't missing any patches.

There is literally no hair on this wig that isn't attached to either a weft

or the top of the cap,

so you can't miss any hairs if you go weft by weft.

Covering all of the roots on the wig is going to make it look the most natural

because roots grow all over our heads!

Speaking of making it look more natural,

you can use medium to dark brown or black Sharpies

to create natural colored roots.

I have been adding dark brown roots to so many wigs now

because I love the look of it.

You can add them to any wig and any wig color except like..

maybe black because it wouldn't show up.

But yeah! I think they look great.

Oh, let's briefly talk about color transfer.

Like, the ink transferring to your clothes or costumes.

Sharpie ink that hasn't been rinsed out, like these roots for example,

can transfer to your clothing, but since roots don't really touch clothes,

I usually just leave them as is.

And I don't usually have an issue with color transfer

when dyeing with acrylic inks either,

but that's not to say that it can't happen.

If this is something you are worried about,

there are ways to seal these dyes

but I've never done it so it would be weird to try to teach you about it.

If you google it though, you can find people using floor wax, hairspray,

all kinds of things to seal Sharpie.

So if you try any of these methods, let me know in the comments below

if it works for you!

I'm very curious about them.

Once you get to the top of the cap, depending on your wig,

it may have a skin part, which doesn't use a wefting system.

If that's the case, just section off thin layers of hair and keep on keeping on.

After that, I do the bangs and that's it!

But I can't be the only one who thinks progress timelapses are kinda satisfying to watch

so, let's take a few more seconds to finish off this wig.

Okay, so now our wig is dyed and rooted!

I am loving how this wig turned out.

The pink color is beautiful and vibrant and I'm just living for that purple root!!

You can see when I brush it around that it's rooted all the way through

so I don't have to worry about wind blowing and revealing a half-rooted wig.

Or if you like to run your fingers through your wig like I do,

you know it's gonna look bomb.

So enjoy your wig customization journey

and if you do try any of these methods,

definitely tag me in your before and afters on Instagram and Twitter!

I love to see what you guys create!

Have fun!

And that's one way you can dye a synthetic wig!

This series is full of other tutorials to help you live the wig life more easily.

So if you have more questions,

please do feel free to check out the other videos in this series.

They are listed here and should be clickable for you.

And if you have any wig tutorial suggestions or questions,

let me know in the comments below what you guys want to see.

I will see you guys next time!

Thank you so much for watching!

Bye!