Love Your Hairline? Consider Losing the Lace Front Wig

Some women wear lace front wigs for the simple convenience of shielding their own hair from damage and changing their style. Others use these wigs to conceal severe hair loss from illness such as cancer or even stress.

In essence, women hope that their usage of lace front wigs increases not only their style, but the recovery of their own natural hair from damage or the risk of damage. However, many women fail to realize that over time, lace front wigs can gradually inflict the same damage they were trying to avoid from other styling methods.

Unlike other wigs with netted under wire and combs, lace front wigs are equipped with a thin, lace-like mesh material the extends slightly front of the wig. Hair stylists use lace front wigs to create the illusion of a seamless hairline with double-side strips that they attach in front of women's hair lines.

Then, they glue the lace front on the adhesives, or directly on the skin, if the client opts not to use adhesives.
The lace material of the wig is glued to the front of their hairline, and the excess lace is trimmed away and discarded.

Celebrity pop stars have long sported lace-front wigs in the entertainment business, because these wigs withstand tousling, and painful hair styling that typically causes hair damage. Even men experiencing problems with male pattern baldness have

Everyday women also wear more affordable lace front wig styles to conceal already damaged hair, to protect their own hair from damage, and to exude their style. Alone lace front wigs are not problematic, but any technique involving hair requires a specific level of competency and care that some women overlook in the name of beauty.

If not applied properly, lace front wigs can cause both traction alopecia and traumatic alopecia. Traction alopecia is the gradual hair loss, because of constant tension to hair follicles through excessive pulling, scratching, and tension.

Generally, hair styles that lead to hair bumps along the temples and front of one's scalp are an indication of the risk of traction alopecia. African American women are the largest group of women who suffer from traction alopecia, because often they wear various creative hairstyles that involve tension, such as braids, hair weaves, and ponytails.

Because lace front wigs often involve cornrowing or tightly braiding one's own hair underneath the lace front wig, traction alopecia can occur when braids are too tight, and the lace front wig aggravates the tension, since it is placed on top of the braids. With no relief of the tension, the hair follicles start to thin and with repeated tension, the hair follicles stop producing hairs.

On the other hand, traumatic alopecia is hair loss that occurs when hair follicles are damaged from excessive heat or chemical processing that ultimately results in burns that may permanently damage one's scalp. Evidence of traumatic alopecia is seen in women who have loss hair around their temples and front foreheads due to improperly applied hair relaxers.

With lace front wigs, the hair glue creates the risk of traumatic hair alopecia, not because it causes burns, but it can function as a hair remover taking out pieces of natural hair along with glue clumps. If the hair glue is accidentally applied to a woman's hair line, hair stylists use oil to try to loosen the hair adhesive from the scalp.

Unfortunately, some hair stylist will also use rat tail combs to attempt to scratch up the hair glue and comb it through their clients' real hair with a solvent or an oil during the glue removal process. This technique can cause not only tangles, but also painful tension along the hairline, which is already delicate.

Over time, continuous tension combined with the drying ingredients in the chemicals leads to hair loss and balding. Many hair bonding glues contain ingredients, such as hydroxide, rubber, and ammonium, that can further dry out already brittle hair.

Ideally, lace front wig wears are advised to remove glue every 5-7 days to clean the area where the wig is attached by the glue adhesives. The longer a woman wears a lace front beyond a week, the more likely her hairline will begin to thin, when the glue adhesive is actually removed, since it may make the wig tighter and more difficult to remove.

When lace front wigs are difficult to remove, women are forced to rely on harsher chemical solvents, such as alcohol and acetone, to dissolve the glue residue along their hairlines. These harsher chemicals further dry out hair and increase its brittleness. Eventually, the repeated severe glue removal techniques damages hair follicles.

Overall, lace front wigs offer great alternative hair styles because of the convenience they provide. As with all hair styling techniques, lace front wigs should be applied skillfully with care and in moderation to the hairline.

Sources:

Admin. "Types of Hair Loss in Women," WebMD.com.
Admin."The Good News? Traction Alopecia Fully Preventable," HairLoss.com.
Admin-BM." The Ideal Glue for your Skin and Lace Front Wig," TheWigMall.com.
Michelle LaRae. "The Truth About Synthetic, Human, and Virgin Hair," HouseofBeauty.com.