MeltingMirror Cosplay

I made a sparkly wig for an Alexandrite cosplay fit for the Land of the Lustrous. All the decorations are removable so that I could reuse the wig for other costumes. 

• wig (Cut and styled) - I used a Silky Venus in Cerulean from Arda
• craft scissors (sharp ones)
• Clear tape
• Needle and thread to match the wig
• Measuring tape
• E6000 glue
• Glitter that matches your wig
• Felt or buckram (that matches or wig - if not get some paint that does)
• Two-tone Cellophane/wrapping plastic that compliments your wig 
• 15+ bobby pins
• Hair clips
• Gloves (latex, vinyl, whatever works for you)

1. Expose the row of wefts where you want to install your cellophane wefts and pin the excess hair away using a hair clip. Measure the length of your wefts to determine how long your cellophane pieces need to be (ex. 32in/82cm). Measure the distance between one side of the wig to the other where you plan to install the wefts (ex. 15 in/38cm). I installed two rows, one slightly above the nape of my neck and another one slightly below where the top of the wig where the weft pattern change and you can't us bobby pins.
2. Cut out a segment of cellophane in those measurements (ex 32inX15in / 82cmX38cm).
3. Fold over the edge on the short side to fortify with clear tape
4. Cut vertically up to the tape, without cutting through it, making cellophane stands of hair. I made mine about 1.5in/3.8cm wide.
5. (Optional) Taper the ends so it looks more hair like, since the square ends don't blend well. Keep the square ends if your character has blunt edges.
6. Secure your cellophane wefts to the wig with bobby pins.
7. Repeat for a second row of wefts.

1. Cut out a piece of felt to act as the base of your new cellophane hair part. Since the wig I`m using has a round skin top, I cut out a small circular piece. I used Flexifirm but felt or buckram will do the trick. In retrospect, I would make mine a little smaller, 1in/2.5cm would have been better than 2in because it would be easier to blend into the wig. Paint it to match the wig if it doesn't already.
2. Once dried, hand stitch to the top of the wig.
3. Put on your gloves, then apply a thin layer of E6000 to the round then cover in glitter. Note: E6000 is pretty toxic so use gloves and be sure the place is well ventilated.
4. Measure lengths for cellophane strands and pay close attention to any curves to your wig. For example, Alexandrite has bangs parted to the side, so I had to cut curved pieces to match how the hair sits. Also taper the ends of the strand that will be glued down. You don't want blunt edges sticking out of the sides.
5. Add more E6000 to attach cellophane strands. Let dry between layers of application or else the lower layers may come loose. I had to build up about 3 layers to get the coverage I wanted by overlapping cellophane pieces. You can add a little more glitter on top once done.

I added some extra glitter to my wig to blend in my "glitter top" by hand applying chunky glitter to cellophane strands using toothpicks and E6000. I've seen people use rhinestones or glitter flakes and I've seen people make cowlicks with cellophane. Do what you want to be your true gem self.

General Notes:

• Results vary depending on the type of fibres.
• You cannot dye a wig a lighter colour. You can airbrush it lighter - more on that in the  Airbrushing section.
  
• I highly suggest starting with a white wig or wefts. If white is not available then light colours like silver or titanium blonde.
• If you are dyeing a coloured wig, stick with colours within that range (lilac to purple to dark purple to black).
• Only heat resistant fibres can be used with fabric dyes and tea dyeing.
• For my sample results see the bottom of the blog.

Anime North is my year tradition and it was a whirlwind like every other year. There are not enough hours in a day to do all the things you need to do at AN.

I'll keep my blog brief so you can all enjoy my shaky cellphone photos instead :)

There are so many ways to dye a wig here’s a breakdown of several methods. Follow the flow chart to a preferred method the read the corresponding write-up. But first...

General Supplies:
Wig head or clothes line for wefts (see photo above), hair clips (for sectioning off wefts),  gloves (latex or rubber), mask with a  filter if you are using alcohol, covered working area (plastic sheeting)


General Notes:

• Result of dyeing varies depending on the type of fibres. I mostly work with Kanekalon fibres.
• You cannot dye a wig a lighter colour.
• I highly suggest with starting with a white wig or wefts. If white is not available then light colours like silver.
  
• If you are dying a coloured wig, stick with colours within that range (lilac ->purple->dark purple).
• Only heat resistant fibres can be used with fabric dyes and tea dyeing.
  
• For sample results see the bottom of the post, detailing my experiences.
  

INK *My preferred method*
Supplies: Acrylic ink (FW Ink recommended), 70% alcohol, and a spray bottle
Technique(s): Mix ink and alcohol in spray bottle and spray onto wig. Can use for gradient effects.
Note: The pearlescent shades of FW ink have a fine glitter which can rub off and will make your wig shiny.

Pros: Easy to coat large amounts of fibre, little ink required, good for getting consistent colour, easy to make new colour by mixing inks, good for applying gradient effects, and easy to detangle fibres after dyeing
Cons: Strong smell, not as precise as hand drawn Sharpie, messy, and hard to find product.

Tutorial/links: Arda tutorial &  Cosplay.com thread

FABRIC DYES for POLYESTER
Recommend for: Dying large amounts of fibres
*Fibres must be heat resistant*
Supplies: Polyester Dye (iDye Poly recommended), a stainless steel pot with boiling hot water
Technique(s): Boil water, add dye, add wefts/wig, stir while boiling, and remove after a few minutes (see Arda Dye chart linked below)

Pros: Colour is true to the package, can dye large amounts
Cons: Boiling water curls and tangles the wig (Ex: see 1st image) which means you have to detangle and straighten it afterwards (Ex: see last image), cannot use on curly wigs, cannot easily add gradient effects, colour can be patchy if not stirred properly, messy and can stain your floor/tables/appliances.

Tutorial/links: Arda colour dyeing chart

FABRIC DYE (REGULAR)
Recommend for: Dying large amounts of fibres, a stainless steel pot with hot water
*Fibres must be heat resistant*
Supplies: Dye packet, a big pot with boiling hot water
Technique(s): Boil water, add dye, add wefts/wig, stir while boiling, and remove after satisfied with colour. Rinse with cold water and hang to dry.

Pros: great for large amounts of fibres,
Cons: Boiling water curls and tangles the fibres which means you have to detangle and straighten it afterwards, cannot use this method with curly wigs, end result colour is uncertain, cannot easily add gradient effects, colour can be patchy if not stirred properly, messy and can stain your floor/tables/appliances.

Tutorial/links: Arda colour dyeing chart

SHARPIE – PENS
Supplies: Sharpie/Alcohol based Pens, Alcohol (depends on technique)
Technique(s): Various techniques. See tutorials/links

Pros: Precise if done by hand, certainty of colour results,
Cons: Strong smell, sometimes rubs off or runs, very time consuming (by hand), messy, and can stain your floor/tables/appliances.

Tutorial/links:
By hand - Grab some wefts and go! I prefer doing this on a flat surface. So I lay out some newspaper and some white paper on top so the newspaper ink doesn't stain your wig. No alcohol needed. When complete rinse with cold water until clear.
By Spray bottle - Epic Cosplay
By batch/bucket 
By sponge


TEA BAGS
Recommend for: Dying large amounts of fibres to natural looking light blonde.
*Fibres must be heat resistant*
Supplies: Dark tea bags, hot water
Technique(s): Boil water add many tea bags and let it steep, and drench wig.

Pros: Natural look.
Cons: Very limited colour choice (white > pale blonde), takes a long time to set.

Tutorial/links: Example for a doll wig & Danika's notes 

I had to dye a lot of fibers for a project and I used many of the methods above. Here are the results of dyeing white wefts.

From the left:

1. Royal blue Tintex - left in boiling water for 5 mins after completing another batch (See #3) It looks nothing like the package - almost purple
   
2. Hand-dyed orange Sharpie - This took a long time and the colour rubs off a bit even after rinsing it 
3. Royal blue Tintex - left in boiling water for about 8 min. Results match the packaging
   
4. Hand dyed light blue Sharpie - also tedious to colour
   
5. FW ink in canary yellow - Mixed with alchohol and sprayed onto wefts. It almost looks neon, very crisp and bright colour
   
6. Idye poly dye in red - left in boiling water for 3mins with half a packet of dye and it matches the packaging
7. Yellow-gold Dylon dye - Left in boiling water for about 9-10min with the full tin to make sure the colour stayed. The result is more yellow (lighter) than the packaging
   
8. Two shades of green Tintex dye in boiling water for 7 mins