Celebrating Black Female Innovators in the Wig Space

Black History Month (US calendar) may be over, but we’re dedicated to celebrating Black excellence, innovation and creativity all year round. Today, we’re dedicating this blog post to Black innovators in the wig space. From Ivy’s game-changing flip-over method to Chia V’s ventilated tinsel innovation, we’re giving the girls their well-deserved flowers.

 

Flip-Over Method - Ivy 

It seems like it was only yesterday when Ivy had us in awe with her flip-over method. 8 years ago, she showed over 3 million of us on YouTube how to achieve a natural, seamless leave-out look that we still use today. Described as a movement by her community, Ivy has since given us a few updated tutorials throughout the years and we couldn’t thank her enough.

 

Image Ivy's Flip Over Method, YouTube

Popularisation of Wig Bands - Lovely Bryana

Now we all know how loyal Bryana is to her wig bands - she’s made it super clear through the feature of adhesive alternatives in countless hairstyling videos. From silicone grips, tape, and strips, Bryana has undoubtedly popularised lace glue alternatives. At a time where a lot of our edges were suffering and foreheads burning due to lace glues, we’ve got to thank Bryana for showing us another spin on lace installs. A community favourite has to be her silicone grips, similar to The Wig Fix, that keeps wigs secure through harnessing the natural gripping abilities of silicone. Check out our blog on wig maintenance products that you must have to keep your wig feeling secure and looking natural!

 

Creative Hair-Colouring - SITB

If there’s anyone that knows how to bring some much-needed sunshine to our Instagram timelines, it’s definitely @sheisthebeauty! Her feed is sure to brighten any hair-lover's day. If you haven't checked out her page before, then don’t walk, run! From strawberry-blondes to emerald-greens, to hundreds of multi-dimensional tones, SITB has taken hair-colouring to a new level. We’re currently loving her newest soft lavender & pink up-do, and her LV-printed units, will always be a creative fave. If there’s a colour you can’t see, please come back and report it in the comments - we’ll wait!

 

 Ventilated Tinsel Installs - Chia V Hair

One of the most transformational wig innovations has to be the ventilated tinsel installs. Created initially for a Halloween look by Chia V Hair in 2020, the game-changing innovation saw the wig community frantically do two things:

1. Spam Chia V with purchase requests…
2. Spam Chia V with tutorial requests!

It didn’t take long for inspired hairstylists to start incorporating the new invention into their looks and we now have several step-by-step YouTube tutorials on this. Most recently, we’ve seen celebrity stylist, Kellon, use this method on Grammy-winning-client, Megan Thee Stallion. This look is a huge yes from us!

 

 Image Chia V Ventilated Tinsel Install

 

Pixie Wigs - Official Honey Hand

Our favourite pixie-cut page, @officialhoneyhand obviously deserves a spot on the list. The short-wig specialist has given us years of short-hair inspo, and cuts to perfection that we’re seriously obsessed with. The 40” bundle trends have been exciting (and expensive!) but in the midst of them all, @officialhoneyhand has remained consistent with their classic short hairstyles. Check out Nayz’s pink wig from the company that we’re absolutely swooning over! 

 Image Official Honey Hand Pixie-Cut Wig

 

Pixie Wig Connoisseur - Nayz

We’re always quick to double-tap that like button when we see our pixie-cut queen, Nayz, upload a post of her rocking a new short wig. She’s blessed us with tutorials, pink-wig-pixie uploads and jerry-curled styles. It’s safe to say we’re obsessed! What’s your favourite? Pink or black? Let us know in the comments!

Image Nayz Pink Pixie-Cut Wig

Shaved-Side Technique - Aaliyah Jay

Aaliyah Jay has been holding us all down for years, whether that's been in the hair or makeup realm. Her bubbly personality, informative techniques and eye-catching aesthetics make her videos an instant hit, and we’re especially thankful for the shaved-side wig technique. Today, we’ve seen more and more celebrities and wig consumers alike try this hairstyle. Check out Tokyo Stylez’ side-shaved mullet on our fave, Cardi B! Let us know if you’ve ever tried this daring style below in the comments!

 

 Image Aaliyah Jay Shaved-Side Wig 

 

Glam’s Corner - Hiding Knots

From black, visible knots to skin-tone matched hairlines - we have come such a long way! Do you remember the dark times when our frontals and closures literally looked like hats because, well, that’s what we treated them like? Dense frontals, no wig-grips, and black knots - the thought of those days make our skin crawl! And as popular as bleaching knots has become over the years, the tedious and timely process just does not appeal to some. Glam’s Corner, however, introduced a process where all we need is some good trusty concealer, a steady hand and a concealer brush. Her extremely-detailed YouTube video re-assured all 500,000+ of us that bleach isn’t the only solution to hiding knots. What method do you prefer? Bleach or some good-old-concealer?

 

A Special Thank You

Wigs can be difficult just to maintain alone. They are not easy to dabble with, and there isn’t an instruction manual on how to do anything with them. So when people find ways to make the experience more enjoyable, natural and creative, this has to be celebrated! Huge amounts of time, skill and thinking went into these methods, so we’ll always remain grateful. Black innovation should be celebrated at every possible chance, so let’s make the collective effort to do this more often!